XVI. he succeeded in evoking apparitions in mirrors be-

fore many spectators — these including many deceased persons specially selected by those present. His residence was isolated and surrounded by gardens, and here he es- tablished a laboratory. His wife affected great privacy, and only appeared in a diaphanous costume at certain hours, before a very select company. This heightened the mystery surrounding them, and the elite of Parisian society vied with one another to be present at their magic suppers, at which the evocation of the illustrioup dead was the principal amusement. It is even stated that deceased statesmen, authors and nobles took their seats at Cagliostro' s supper-table.
But the grand object of Cagliostro appears to have been the spread of his Egyptian Masonic rite. The lodges which he founded were androgynal, that is they admitted both men and women ; the ladies being instructed by the Mas- ter's wife, who figured as the Grand Mistress of the Order — her husband adopting the title of Grand Copt. There is little doubt that a good deal of money was subscribed by the neophytes of the various lodges : the ladies who joined, each sacrificing on the altar of mysticism no less than ioo louis ; and Cagliostro' s immense wealth, which has never been doubted by any authority on his life, in the strictest probability found its source in the numerous gifts which showered in upon him from the powerful and wealthy for the purpose of furthering his masonic schemes.
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But although he lived in considerable magnificence, Cag- liostro by no means led a life of abandoned luxury ; for there is the best evidence that he gave away vast sums to the poor and needy, that he attended the sick hand and foot, and in short played the part of healer and reformer at one and the same time.
A great deal of mystery surrounded the doings of the Egyptian Masonry in its headquarters in the Faubourg Saint Honore, and the seances for initiation took place at midnight. Figuier and the Marquis de Luchet have both given striking accounts of what occurred during the female initiations :
" On entering the first apartment," says Figuier, "the ladies were obliged to disrobe and assume a white garment, with a girdle of various colours. They were divided into six groups, distinguished by the tint of their cinctures. A large veil was also provided, and they were caused to enter a temple lighted from the roof, and furnished with thirty-six arm-chairs covered with black satin Lorenza clothed in white, was seated on a species of throne, sup- ported by two tall figures, so habited that their sex could not be determined. The light was lowered by degrees till surrounding objects could scarcely be distinguished, when the Grand Mistress commanded the ladies to uncover their left legs as far as the thigh, and raising the right arm to rest it on a neighbouring pillar. Two young women then entered sword in hand, and with silk ropes bound all the ladies together by the arms and legs. Then after a period of impressive silence, Lorenza pronounced an oration, which is given at length, but on doubtful authority, by several biographers, and which preached fervidly the emancipation of womankind from the shameful bonds imposed on them by the lords of creation.
" These bonds were symbolised by the silken ropes from which the fair initiates were released at the end of the harangue, when they were conducted into separate apart- ments, each opening on the Garden, where they had the most unheard-of experiences. Some were pursued by men who unmercifully persecuted them with barbarous solicitations ; others encountered less dreadful admirers, who sighed in the most languishing postures at their feet. More than one discovered the counterpart of her own love but the oath they had all taken necessitated the most in- exorable inhumanity, and all faithfully fulfilled what was required of them. The new spirit infused into regenerated woman triumphed along the whole line of the six and thirty initiates, who with intact and immaculate symbols re-entered triumphant and palpitating, the twilight of the vaulted temple to receive the congratulations of the sovereign priestess.
" When they had breathed a little after their trials, the vaulted roof opened suddenly, and, on a vast sphere of gold, there descended a man, naked, as the unfallen Adam, holding a serpent in his hand, and having a burning star upon his head.
" The Grand Mistress announced that this was the genius of Truth, the immortal, the divine Cagliostro, issued with- out procreation from the bosom of our father Abraham, and the depositary of all that hath been, is, or shall be known on the universal earth. He was there to initiate them into the secrets of which they had been fraudently deprived. The Grand Copt thereupon commanded them to dispense with the profanity of clothing, for if they would receive truth they must be as naked as itself. The sov- ereign priestess setting the example unbound her girdle and permitted her drapery to fall to the ground, and the fair initiates following her example expored themselves in all the nudity of their charms to the magnetic glances of the celestial genius, who then commenced bis revelations.
" He informed his daughters that the much abused
magical art was the secret of doing good to humanity. It was initiation into the mysteries of Nature, and the power to make use of her occult forces. The visions which they had beheld in the Garden where so many had seen and recognised those who were dearest to their hearts, proved the reality of hermetic operations. They had shewn themselves worthy to know the truth ; he under- took to instruct them by gradations therein. It was enough at the outset to inform them that the sublime end of that Egyptian Freemasonry which he had brought from the very heart of the Orient was the happiness of mankind. This happiness was illimitable in its nature, including material enjoyments as much as spiritual peace, and the pleasures of the understanding.
The Grand Copt at the end of this harangue once more seated himself upon the sphere of gold and was borne away through the roof ; and the proceedings ended, rather ab- surdly in a ball. This sort of thing was of course as the breath of his nostrils to Cagliostro, who could not have existed without the atmosphere of theatrical mysticism, in which he perfectly revelled.
It was at this period that Cagliostro became implicated in the extraordinary affair of the Diamond Necklace. He had been on terms of great intimacy with the Cardinal de Rohan. A certain Countess de Lamotte had petitioned that prince for a pension on account of long aristocratic descent. De Rohan was greatly ambitious to become First Minister of the Throne, but Marie Antoinette, the Queen, disliked him and stood in the way of such an honour. Mm . Lamotte soon discovered this, and for purposes of her own told the Cardinal that the Queen favoured his am- bitions, and either forged, or procured someone elsj to forge, letters to the Cardinal purporting to come from the Queen, some of which begged for money for a poor family in which her Majesty was interested. The letters con- tinued of the begging description, and Rohan, who was himself heavily in debt, and had misappropriated the funds of various institutions, was driven into the hands of money-lenders. The wretched Countess de Lamotte met by chance a poor woman whose resemblance to the Queen was exceedingly marked. This person she trained to represent Marie Antoinette, and arranged nightly meetings between her and Rohan, in which the disguised woman made all sorts of promises to the Cardinal. Be- tween them the adventuresses mulcted the unfortunate prelate in immense sums. Meanwhile a certain Bahmer, a jeweller, was very desirous of selling a wonderful diamond necklace in which, for over ten years he had locked up his whole fortune. Hearing that Mme. de Lamotte had great influence with the Queen, he approached her for the purpose of getting her to induce Marie Antoinette to purchase it. She at once corresponded with De Rohan on the matter, who came post haste to Paris, to be told by Mme. de Lamotte that the Queen wished him to be security for the purchase of the necklace, for which she had agreed to pay 1,600,000 livres, or £64,000, in four half-yearly instalments. He was naturally staggered at the suggestion but however, affixed his signature to the agreement, and Mme. de Lamotte became the possessor of the necklace. She speedily broke it up, picking the jewels from their setting with an ordinary penknife. Mat- ters went smoothly enough until the date when the first instalment of 400,000 livres became due. De Rohan, never dreaming that the Queen would not meet it, could not lay his hands on such a sum, and Bahmer noting his- anxiety mentioned the matter to one of the Queen's ladies- in-waiting, who retorted that he must be mad, as the Queen had never purchased the necklace at all. He went at once to Mme. de Lamotte who laughed at him, said he was being fooled, that it had nothing to do with her, and
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told him to go to the Cardinal. The terrified jeweller did not however talce her advice, but went to the King.
The amazed Louis XVI. listened to the story quietly enough, and then turned to the Queen who was present, who at once broke forth in a tempest of indignation. As a matter of fact Bahmer had for years pestered her to buy the necklace, but the crowning indignity was that Da Rohan, whom she cordially detested, should have been made the medium for such a scandalous disgrace in con- nection with her name, and she at once gave directions that the Cardinal should be arrested. The King acquiesced in this, and shortly afterwards the Countess de Lamotte, Cagliostro and his wife, and others, followed him to the Bastille.
The trial which followed was one of the most sensational and stirring in the annals of French history. The King was greatly blamed for allowing the affair to become pub- lic -at all, and there is little doubt that such conduct as the evidence displayed as that of aristocrats assisted to hasten the French Revolution.
It was Mme. de Lamotte who charged Cagliostro with the robbery of the necklace, and she did not hesitate to invent for him a terrible past, designating him an empiric, alchemist, false prophet, and Jew. This is not the place to deal with the trial at length, and it will suffice to state that Cagliostro easily proved his complete innocence. But the Parisian public looked to Cagliostro to supply the comedy in this great drama, and assuredly they were not disappointed, for he provided them with what must be described as one of the most romantic and fanciful, if manifestly absurd, life stories in the history of autobi- ography. His account of himself which is worth quoting at length is as follows : —
" I cannot," he says, " speak positively as to the place of my nativity, nor to the parents who gave me birth. All my inquiries have ended only in giving me some great notions, it is true, but altogether vague and uncertain, concerning my family.
" I spent the years of my childhood in the city of Medina in Arabia. There I was brought up under the name of Acharat, which I preserved during my progress through Africa and Asia. I had my apartments in the palace of the Muphti Salahaym. It is needless to add that the Muphti is the chief of the Mahometan religion, and that his constant residence is at Medina.
" I recollect perfectly that I had then four persons at- tached to my service : a governor, between forty-five and sixty years of age, whose name was Althotas, and three servants, a white one who attended me as valet de chambre and two blacks, one of whom was constantly about me night and day.
" My governor always told me that I had been left an orphan when only about three months old, that my parents were Christians and nobly born ; but he left me absolutely in the dark about their names and the place of my nativity. Some words, however, which he let fall by chance have induced ms to suspect that I was born at Malta. Althotas, whose name I cannot speak without the tenderest emotion, treated me with great care and all the attention of a father. He thought to develope the talent I displayed for the sci- ences. I may truly say that he knew them all, from the most abstruse down to those of mere amusement. My greatest aptitude was for the study of botany and chemistry.
" By him I was taught to worship God, to love and assist my neighbours, and to respect everywhere religion and the laws. We both dressed like Mahometans and conformed outwardly to the worship of Islam ; but the true religion was imprinted in our hearts.
" The Muphti, who often visited me, always treated me
with great goodness and seemed to entertain the highest regard for my governor. The latter instructed me in most of the Eastern languages. He would often converse with me on the pyramids of Egypt, on those vast subterraneous caves dug out by the ancient Egyptians, to be the repository of human knowledge and to shelter the precious trust from the injuries of time.
" The desire of travelling and of beholding the wonders of which he spoke grew so strong upon me, that Medina and my youthful sports there lost all the allurements I had found in them before. At least, when I was in my twelfth year, Althotas informed me one day that we were going to commence our travels. A caravan was prepared and we set out, after having taken our leave of the Muphti who was pleased to express his concern at our departure in the most obliging manner.
" On our arrival at Mecca we alighted at the palace of the Cherif. Here Althotas provided me with sumptuous apparel and presented me to the Cherif, who honoured me with the most endearing caresses. At sight of this prince my senses experienced a sudden emotion, which it is not in the power of words to express, and my eyes dropped the most delicious tears I have ever shed in my life. His, I perceived, he could hardly contain.
" I remained in Mecca for the space of three years ; not a day passed without my being admitted to the sovereign's presence, and every hour increased his attachment and added to my gratitude. I sometimes surprised his gaze riveted upon me, and turned to heaven with every ex- expression of pity and commiseration. Thoughtful, I would go from him a prey to an ever-fruitless curiosity. I dared not question Althotas, who always rebuked me with great severity, as if it had been a crime in me to wish for some information concerning my parents and the place where I was born. I attempted in vain to get the secret from the negro who slept in my apartment. If I chanced to talk of my parents he would turn a deaf ear to my questions. But one night when I was more pressing than usual, he told me that if ever I should leave Mecca I was threatened with the greatest misfortunes, and bid me, above all, beware of the city of Trebizond.
" My inclination, however, got the better of his fore- bodings— I was tired of the uniformity of life T led at the Cherif's court. One day when I was alone the prince en- tered my apartment ; he strained me to his bosom with more than usual tenderness, bid me never cease to adore the Almighty, and added, bedewing my cheeks with his tears : ' Nature's unfortunate child, adieu t '
" This was our last interview. The caravan waited only for me and I set off, leaving Mecca never to re-enter it more
' ' I directed my course first to Egypt, where I inspected these celebrated pyramids which to the eye of the super- ficial observer only appear an enormous mass of marble and granite. I also got acquainted with the priests of the various temples, who had the complacence to introduce me into such places as no ordinary traveller ever entered before. The next three years of my progress were spent in the principal kingdoms of Africa and Asia. Accompanied by Althotas, and the three attendants who continued in my service, I arrived in 1766 at the island of Rhodes, and there embarked on a French ship bound to Malta.
" Notwithstanding the general rule by which all vessels coming from the Levant are obliged to enter quarantine, I obtained on the second day leave to go ashore. Pinto, the Grand Master of the Knights of Malta, gave us apart- ments in his palace, and I perfectly recollect that mine were near the laboratory.
" The first thing the Grand Master was pleased to do was to request the Chevalier d' Aquino, of the princely
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house of Caramanica, to bear me company and do me the honours of the island. It was here that I first assumed; European dress and with it the name of Count Cagliostro, nor was it a small matter of surprise to me to see Althotas appear in a clerical dress with the insignia of the Order of Malta.
" I have every reason to believe that the Grand Master Pinto was acquainted with my real origin. He often spoke to me of the Cherif and mentioned the city of Trebizond, but never would consent to enter into further particulars on the subject. Meanwhile he treated me with the utmost distinction, and assured me of very rapid preferment if I would consent to take the cross. But my taste for trav- elling and the predominant desire of practising medicine, induced me to decline an offer that was as generous as it was honourable.
" It was in the island of Malta that I had the misfortune of losing my best friend and master, the wisest as well as the most learned of men, the venerable Althotas. Some minutes before he expired, pressing my hand, he said in a feeble voice, ' My son, keep for ever before your eyes the fear of God and the love of your fellow-creatures ; you will soon be convinced by experience of what you have been taught by me.'
" The spot where I had parted for ever from the friend who had been as a father to me, soon became odious. I begged leave of the Grand Master to quit the island in order to travel over Europe ; he consented reluctantly, and the Chevalier d'Aquino was so obliging as to accom- pany me. Our first trip was to Sicily, from thence we went to the different islands of the Greek Archipelago, and returning, arrived at Naples, the birthplace of my companion.
' ' The Chevalier, owing to his private affairs, being obliged to undertake a private journey, I proceeded alone to Rome, provided with a letter of credit on the banking house of Signor Bellone. In the capital of the Christian world I resolved upon keeping the strictest incognito. One morn- ing, as I was shut up in my apartment, endeavouring to improve myself in the Italian language, my valet de ckambre introduced to my presence the secretary of Cardinal Orsini, who requested me to wait on his Eminence. I repaired at once to his palace and was received with the most flat- tering civility. The Cardinal often invited me to his table and procured me the acquaintance of several cardinals and Roman princes, amongst others, Cardinals York and Ganganelli, who was afterwards Pope Clement XIV. Pope Rezzonico, who then filled the papal chair, having ex- pressed a desire of seeing me, I had the honour of frequent interviews with his Holiness.
" I was then (1770) in my twenty-second year, when by chance I met a young lady of quality, Seraphina Feli- ■ciani, whose budding charms kindled in my bosom a flame which sixteen years of marriage have only served to strengthen. It is that unfortunate woman, whom neither her virtues, her innocence, nor her quality of stranger could save from the hardships of a captivity as cruel as it is unmerited."
Cagliostro is reticent regarding his life between the period last dealt with, and the date of his coming to Paris. But although proved innocent he had through his very inno- cence offended so many persons in high places that he was banished, amidst shouts of laughter from everyone in the court. Even the judges were convulsed, but on his return from the court-house the mob cheered him heartily. If he had accomplished nothing else he had at least won the hearts of the populace by his kindness and the many acts of faithful service he had lavished upon them, and it was partly to his popularity, and partly to the violent hatred of the Court, that he owed the reception accorded
to him. He was re-united to his wife, and shortly after- wards took his departure for London where he was received with considerable eclat. Here he addressed a letter to the people of France, which obtained wide circulation and predicted the French Revolution, the demolishment of the Bastille, and the downfall of the monarchy. Following upon this the Courier de V Europe a French paper published in London, printed a so-called exposure of the real life of Cagliostro from beginning to. end. From that moment, however, his descent was headlong ; his reputation had Switzerland and Austria, he could find no rest for the sole of his foot. At last he came to Rome, whither Lorenza, his wife accompanied him. At first he was well received there, and even entertained by several cardinals, privately Ftudying medicine, and living very quietly : but he made the grand mistake of attempting to further his masonic ideas within the bounds of the Papal States. Masonry was of course anathema to the Roman Church, and upon his attempting to found a Lodge in the Eternal Citj' itself, he was arrested on the 27th September, 1789, by order of the Holy Inquisition, and imprisoned in the Castle of Saint Angelo. His examination occupied his inquisitors for no less than eighteen months, and he was sentenced to death on the 7th April, 1791. He was, however, recom- mended to mercy, and the Pope commuted his sentence to perpetual imprisonment in the Castle of Saint Angelo. On one occasion he made a desperate attempt to escape : requesting the services of a confessor he attempted to strangle the Brother sent to him, but the burly priest, whose habit he had intended to disguise himself in proved too strong for him, and he was quickly overpowered. After this he was imprisoned in the solitary Castle of San Leo near Montefeltro, the situation of which stronghold is one of the most singular in Europe, where he died and was interred in 1795. The manner of his death is abso- lutely unknown, but an official commissioned by Napoleon to visit the Italian prisons gives some account of Cagliostro' s quarters there.
" The galleries," he reports, " which have been cut out of the solid rock, were divided into cells, and old dried- up cisterns had been converted into dungeons for the worst criminals, and further surrounded by high walls, so that the only possible egress, if escape was attempted, would be by a staircase cut in the rock and guarded night and day by sentinels.
" It was in one of these cisterns that the celebrated Cagliostro was interred in 1 79 1 . In recommending the Pope to commute the sentence of death, which the Inquisition had passed upon him, into perpetual imprisonment, the Holy Tribunal took care that the commutation should be equivalent to the death penalty. His only communi- cation with mankind was when his jailers raised the trap to let food down to him. Here he languished for three years without air, movement, or intercourse with his fellow- creatures. During the last month? of his life his condition excited the pity of the governor, who had him removed from this dungeon to a cell on the level with the ground, where the curious, who obtain permission to visit the prison, may read on the walls various inscriptions and sentences traced there by the unhappy alchemist. The la-t bears the date of the 6th of March 1795."
The Countess Cagliostro was also sentenced by the In- quisition to imprisonment for life. She was confined in the Convent of St. Appolonia, a penitentiary for women in Rome, where it was rumoured that she died in 1794.
Cagliostyo' s manuscript volume entitled " Egyptian Freemasonry " fell with his other papers into the hands of the Inquisition, and was solemnly condemned by it as subversive to the interests of Christianity. It was pub- licly burned, but oddly enough the Inquisition set apart
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one of its brethren to write — " concoct " is the better word — some kind of Life of Cagliostro and in this are given several valuable particulars concerning his Masonic methods .as follows :
" It may be unnecessary to enter into some details con- cerning Egyptian Masonry. We shall extract our facts from a book compiled by himself, and now in our posses- .sion, by which he owns he was always directed in the exercise of his functions, and from which those regu- lations and instructions were copied, wherewith he enriched many mother lodges. In this treatise, which is written in French, he promises to conduct his disciples to perfection by means of physical and moral regeneration, to confer perpetual youth and beauty on them, and restore them to that state of innocence which they were deprived of by means of original sin. He asserts that Egyptian Ma- sonry was first propagated by Enoch and Elias, but that since that time it has lost much of its purity and splendour. Common masonry, according to him, has degenerated Into mere buffoonery, and women have of late been entirely •excluded from its mysteries ; but the time was now ar- rived when the Grand Copt was about to restore the glory of masonry, and allow its benefits to be participated by both sexes.
" The statutes of the order then follow in rotation, the division of the members into three distinct classes, the various signs by which they might discover each other, the officers who are to preside over and regulate the society, -the stated times 'when the members are to assemble, the erection of a tribunal for deciding all differences that may arise between the several lodges or the particular members of each, and the various ceremonies which ought to take place at the admission of the candidates. In every part of this book the pious reader is disgusted with the sacrilege, the profanity, the superstition, and the idolatry with which it abounds — the invocations in the name of God, the pros- trations, the adorations paid to. the Grand Master, the fumigations, the incense, the exorcisms, the emblems of the Divine Triad, of the moon, of the sun, of the compass, of the square, and a thousand other scandalous particulars, with which the world is at present acquainted.
" The Grand Copt, or chief of the lodge, is compared -to God the Father. He is invoked upon every occasion ; he regulates all the actions of the members and all the ceremonies of the lodge, and he is even supposed to have •communication with angels and with the Divinity. In the exercise of many of the rites they arc desired to repeat the Veni and the Te Deum — nay, to such an excess of im- piety are they enjoined, that in reciting the psalm Memento Domine David, the name of the Grand Master is always to be substituted for that of the King of Israel.
" People of all religions are admitted into the society of Egyptian Masonry — the Jew, the Calvinist, the Lutheran are to be received into it as well as the Catholic — provided they believe in the existence of God and the immortality ■of the soul, and have been previously allowed to participate in the mysteries of the common masonry. When men are admitted, they receive apair of garters" from the Grand Copt, as is usual in all lodges, for their mistresses ; and when women are received into the society, they are pre- sented by the Grand Mistress with a cockade, which they are desired to give to that man to whom they are most attached.
" We shall here recount the ceremonies made use of on admitting a female.
" The candidate having presented herself, the Grand Mistress (Madame Cagliostro generally presided in that capacity) breathed upon her face from the forehead to the chin, and then said, ' I breathe upon you on purpose to inspire you with virtues which we possess, so that they
may take root and flourish in your heart, I thus fortify your soul, I thus confirm you in the faith of your brethren and sisters, according to the engagements which you have contracted with them. We now admit you as a daughter of the Egyptian lodge. We order that you be acknow- ledged in that capacity by all the brethren and sisters of the Egyptian lodges, and that you enjoy with them the same prerogatives as with ourselves.'
" The Grand Master thus addresses the male candidate : ' In virtue of the power which I have received from the Grand Copt, the founder of our order, and by the particular grace of God, I hereby confer upon you the honour of being admitted into our lodge in the name of Helios, Mene, Tetra- grammaton.'
"In a book said to be printed at Paris in 1789, it is asserted that the last words were suggested to Cagliostro as sacred and cabalistical expressions by a pretended con- juror, who said that he was assisted by a spirit, and that this spirit was no other than a cabalistical Jew, who by means of the magical art had murdered iis own father before the incarnation of Jesus Christ.
" Common masons have been accustomed to regard St. John as their patron, and to celebrate the festival of that saint. Cagliostro also adopted him as his protector, and it is not a little remarkable that he was imprisoned at Rome on the very festival of his patron. The reason for his veneration of this great prophet was, if we are to believe himself, the great similarity between the Apocalypse and the rites of his institution.
" We must here observe that when any of his disciples were admitted into the highest class, the following exec- rable ceremony took place. A young boy or girl, in the state of virgin innocence and purity, was procured, who was called the pupil, and to whom power was given over the seven spirits that surround the throne of their divinity and preside over the seven planets. Their names according to Cagliostro's book are Anael, Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, Uriel, Zobiachel, and Anachiel. The pupil is then made use of as an intermediate agent between the spiritual and physical worlds, and being clothed in a long white robe, adorned with a red ribbon, and blue silk festoons, he is shut up in a little closet. From that place he gives re- sponses to the Grand Master, and tells whether the spirits and Moses have agreed to receive the candidates into the highest class of Egyptian masons. . . .
" In his instructions to obtain the moral and physical regeneration which he had promised to his disciples, he is exceedingly careful to give a minute description of the operations to which they have to submit. Those who are desirous of experiencing the moral regeneration are to retire from the world for the space of forty days, and to distribute their time into certain proportions. Six hours are to be employed in reflection, three in prayer to the Deity, nine in the holy operations of Egyptian Masonry, while the remaining period is to be dedicated to repose. At the end of the thirty-three days a visible communica- tion is to take place between the patient and the seven primitive spirits, and on the morning of the fortieth day his soul will be inspired with divine knowledge, and his body be as pure as that of a new-born infant.
" To procure a physical regeneration, the patient is to retire into the country in the month of May, and during forty days is to live according to the most strict and austere rules, eating very little, and then only laxative and sana- tive herbs, and making use of no other drink than distilled water, or rain that has fallen in the course of the month. On the seventeenth day, after having lot blood certain white drops are to be taken, six at night and six in the morning, increasing them two a day in progression. In three days more a small quantity of blood is again to be
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let from the arm before sunrise, and the patient is to retire to bed till the operation is completed. A grain of the panacea is then to be taken ; this panacea is the same as that of which God created man when He first made him immortal. When this is swallowed the candidate loses his speech and his reflection for three entire days, and he is subject to frequent convulsions, struggles, and perspira- tions. Having recovered from this state, in which how- ever, he experiences no pain whatever, on that day, he takes the third and last grain of the panacea, which causes him to fall into a profound and tranquil sleep ; it is then that he loses his hair, his skin, and his teeth. These again are all reproduced in a few hours, and having become a new man, on the morning of the fortieth day he leaves his room, enjoying a complete rejuvenescence, by which he is enabled to live 5557 years, or to such time as he, of his own accord, may be desirous of going to the world of spirits."
To revert to the question of the researches of Mr. Trow- bridge, it will appear to any unbiassed reader of his work that he has proved that Cagliostro was not the same as Joseph Balsamo with whom his detractor:: have identified him. Balsamo was a Sicilian vagabond adventurer, and the statement that he and Cagliostro were one and the same person originally rests on the word of the editor of the Courier de V Europe, a person of the lowest and most profligate habits, and upon an anonymous letter from Palermo to the Chief of the Paris police. Mr. Trowbridge sees in the circumstance that the names of the Countess Cagliostro and the wife of Balsamo were identical nothing but a mere coincidence, as the name Lorenza Feliciani is a very common one in Italy. He also proves that the testimony of the handwriting experts as to the remarkable similarity between the writing of Balsamo and Cagliostro is worthless, and states that nobody who had known Bal- samo ever saw Cagliostro. He also points out that Balsamo, who had been in England in 1771, was " wanted " by the London police : how was it then that six years afterward they did not recognise him in Count Cagliostro who spent four months in a debtors' prison there, for no fault of his own ? The whole evidence against Caglioslro's character rests with the editor of the Courier de V Europe and his Inquisition biographer, neither of whom can be credited for various good reasons. Again, it must be recollected that the narrative of the Inquisition biographer is supposed to be based upon the confessions of Cagliostro under torture in the Castle of St. Angelo. Neither was the damaging disclosure of the editor of the Courier de I'Europe at all topical, as he raked up matter which was at least fourteen years old, and of which he had no personal knowledge whatsoever. Mr. Trowbridge also proves that the dossier discovered in the French archives in 1783, which was sup- posed to embody the Countess Cagliostro's confessions regarding the career of her husband when she was im- prisoned in the Salpetriere prison, is palpably a forgery, and he further disposes of the statements that Cagliostro lived on the immoral earnings of his wife.
It is distinctly no easy matter to get at the bed-rock truth regarding Cagliostro or to form any just estimate of his true character. That he was vain, naturally pom- pous, fond of theatrical mystery, and of the popular side of occultism, is most probable. Another circumstance which stands out in relation to his personality is that he was vastly desirous of gaining cheap popularity. He was probably a little mad. On the other hand he was benefi- cent, and felt it his mission in the then king-ridden state of Europe to found Egyptian Masonry for the protection of society in general, and the middle and lower classes in particular. A born adventurer, he was by no means a rogue, as his lack of shrewdness has been proved on many
occasions. There is small question either that the various Masonic lodges which he founded and which were patron- ised by persons of ample means, provided him with exten- sive funds, and it is a known fact that he was subsidised by several extremely wealthy men, who, themselves dissatisfied with the state of affairs in Europe, did not hesitate to place their riches at his disposal for the purpose of undermining the tyrannic powers which then wielded sway. There is reason to believe that he had in some way and at some period of his. life acquired a certain working knowledge of practical occultism, and that he possessed certain elementary psychic powers of hypnotism and telepathy. His absurd account of his childhood is almost undoubtedly a plagiarism of that stated in the first mani- festo to the public of the mysterious Rosicrucian Brother- hood, (q.v) as containing an account of the childhood of their Chief. But on the whole he is a mystery, and in all likelihood the clouds which surround his origin and earlier years will never be dispersed. It is probably better that this should be so, as although Cagliostro was by no means an exalted character, he was yet one of the most picturesque figures in the later history of Europe ; and assuredly not the least aid to his picturesqueness is the obscurity in which his origin is involved. Consult — Cagliostro. W. R. H. Trowbridge ; Cagliostro and Company. Franz Funck-Bren- tano ; Waite, Lives of the Alchemy sts.
Cagnet Bombee of Jonquieres : A song detailing an operation in Alectromancy. (See Alectromaney.)
Cahagnet, Alphonse : A French cabinet-maker who became interested in somnambulic phenomena about the year 1845, and thenceforward recorded and analysed the trance utterances of various somnambules. His Arcanes de la vie future devoiUes, published in January, 1848, contained much information concerning the various spheres, and the conditions under which discarnate siprits lived. This was followed in 1849 by a second volume, describing seances held with Adele.Maginot. Through this medium sitters could communicate with their deceased friends or with those who were far away, evidences of clairvoyance, diag- nosis and cure of disease were given, and, in short, all the phenomen of American-French mediumship were antici- pated. A third volume of Arcanes was published later. Cahagnets' work is notable in many ways. His own good faith was transparent, he took great pains to procure the written testimony of the sitters, and thus the trance utterances of his somnambules are among the best attested of their kind.
Cailleach, or Harvest Old Wife : In the Highlands of Scot- land, there is to be found the belief that whoever is last- with his harvesting will be saddled with the Harvest Old Wife to keep until the~next year.
The first farmer to be done, made a doll of some blades of corn, which was called the " old wife," and sent it to his nearest neighbour. He, in turn, when finished, sent it on to another, and so on until the person last done had the " old woman " to keep. Needless to say this fear acted as a spur to the superstitious Highlanders. (See Scotland.)
Caiumarath, or Kaid-mords : According to the Persians, the first man. He lived a thousand years and reigned five hundred and sixty. He produced a tree, from the fruits of which were born the human race. The devil seduced and corrupted the first couple, who after their fall, dressed themselves in black garments and sadly awaited the resurrection, for they had introduced sin into the world.
Cala, Charles : A Calabrian who wrote on the occult in the seventeenth century. He published his Memorie his- toriche dell' apparitione delta cruce prodigiose da Carlo Cala at Naples in 1661.
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Calatin Clan : A poisonous multiform monster of Irish legend. This creature was compofed of a father and his twenty-seven sons, any one of whose weapons could, by the merest touch, kill a man within nine days. This monstrosity was sent against Cuchulain, who succeeded in catching its eight-and-twenty spears on his shield. The Clan, however managed to throw him down and groucd his face in the gravel. Cuchulain was assisted by the son of an Ulster exile, who cut off the creature's heads while Cuchulain hacked it to pieces.; Calen : Chilian sorcerers. (See American Indians.) Calif, Robert. (See America, U.S. of) Calmecacs : Training College of Aztec priests. (See Mexico
and Central America.) Calmet, Oom Augustin : A Benedictine of the congregation of Saint-Vannes, and one of the most diligent and active , of his order, who died in 1757 at his abbey of Sesones. He was the author of a Dictionnaire de la Bible and of many well-known commentaries on the scriptures. But he is chiefly famous among occultists for his Dissertation sur les apparitions des anges, des demons et des esprits, et sur les revenans et vampires de Hongrie, de Bohdme, de Moravie et de Silesie. (Paris- 1746, and 1751 — the latter being the best edition). It was translated into English in 1759, and is alluded to in the article " Vampire." The greatest faith in the supernatural (some might perhaps stigmatise it as credulity) marks the work. But he notices unfavour- able theories equally with those which suit his hypotheses, and if he places too much credence in the classical authors, he is never dull. He became the butt of Voltaire, who wrote beneath his portrait in verse of questionable quality : " Des oracles sacres que Dieu daigna nous rendre Son travail assidu perca l'obscurite II fit plus, il les crut avec simplicite Et fut, par ses vertus, digne de les entendre." Calundronius : A magic stone without form or colour which has the virtues of resisting malign spirits, destroying enchantments, giving to the owner an advantage over his enemies, and of dissipating despair. Cambions : Offspring of the incubi and succubi (q.v.), according to Bodin and Delamare. Some are more kindly disposed to the human race than others. Luther says of them in his Colloquies that they show no sign of life before seven years of age. He says that he saw one which cried when he touched it. Maiole states, according to Boguet in his Discours des Sorciers (chap. XIV.), that a Galician mendicant was in the habit of exciting public pity by carrying about a Campion. One day, a horseman observing him to be much hampered by the seeming infant in crossing a river, took the sup- posed child before him on his horse. But he was so heavy that the animal sank under the weight. Some time after- wards the mendicant was taken and admitted that the child he habitually carried was a little demon whom he had trained so carefully that no one refused him alms whilst carrying it. Cambodia : The Cambodia of to-day is bounded by French Cochin-China, Annam, Siam and the Gulf of Siam. Of its population of 1,500,000 inhabitants, the main part is composed of the Khmer people, and Chinese, Annamese Malays and aboriginal elements are also represented.
Magic. — Magic is mixed up to a surprising degree with the daily life of this people. They consult sorcerers upon the most trivial matters, and are constantly at great pains to discover whether any small venture is likely to prove lucky or unlucky. There are two kinds of sorcerers (or sorceresses), the soothsayers (ap thrnop) and the medicine- sorcerers (kru). Of these the latter enjoy the highest reputation as healers and exorcists, while the former are less respected, dealing, as they do in charms and philtres
for the sake of gain, or in evil incantations and spells to indulge their spite and hatred. The outcast kru, however, can be ministers of destruction as well as of healing. One of the means used to take the life of an enemy is the old device favoured by witches. They make a wax figure of the victim, prick it at the spot where they wish to harm him, and thus bring disease and death upon him. Another plan is to take two skulls from which the tops have been removed, place them against each other, and convey them secretly under the bed of a healthy man where they have very evil results. Sometimes by means of spells they transform wood-shavings or grains of rice into a large beetle, or into worms, which enter the body of their victim and cause his illness, and, perhaps his death. If the man thus attacked happens to possess the friendship of a more powerful sorcerer, however, the latter may afford him his protection, and thus undo the mischief,. The more harmless occupations of the wizards consist in making philtres and amulets to insure the admiration of women, the favour of the king, and success at play.
Evil Spirits. — The evil spirits, to whom they ascribe the most malicious intent, are called pray. Of these the most fearsome variety is the " wicked dead" (khmoc pray), which includes the spirits of women who have died in childbed. From their hiding-place in the trees these spirits torment inoffensive passers-by with their hideous laughter, and shower down stones upon them. These practices are, of course, calculated either to kill or to drive the unfortunate recipients of their attentions insane. Among the trees there are also concealed mischievous demons who inflict terrible and incurable diseases upon mankind.
Those who have suffered a violent death are also greatly to be feared. From the nethermost regions they return, wan and terrible, to demand food from human beings, who dare not deny it to them. Their name beisac signi- fies " goblin," and they have the power to inflict all manner of evil on those who refuse their request. So the good Cambodian, to avert such happenings, puts his offering of rice or other food in the brushwood to appease the goblins. The pray, it may be said, require to have their offerings laid on the winnowing fan that enters so largely into Cambodian superstition.
Were-wolves, both male and female, strike terror into the hearts of the natives. By the use~ of certain magical rites and formulae, men can become endowed with super- natural powers, such as the ability to swallow dishes, and are thereupon changed to were-wolves. Women who have been rubbed with oil which a wizard has consecrated are said to lose their reason, and to flee away to the woods They retain their human shape for seven days. If during that time a man shall undergo the same process of being rubbed with consecrated oil, and shall follow the toman to the woods, and strike her on the head with a heavy bar — then, the Cambodians say, she shall recover her reason and may return home. If, on the other hand, no such drastic remedy is to be found, at the end of seven days the woman shall turn into a tigress. In order to cure men who have the powers of a were-wolf, one must strike them on the shoulder with a hook.
The Cambodians believe that ghosts issue from dead bodies during the process of decomposition. When this ceases the ghosts are no longer seen, and the remains are changed into owls and other nocturnal birds.
Most hideous of all the evil spirits in Cambodia, are the srei ap or ghouls, who, represented only by head and ali- mentary canal, prowl nightly in search of their gruesome orgies. They are known by their terrible and blood-shot eyes, and are much feared, since even their wish to harm can inflict injury. When anyone is denounced as a ghoul
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she is treated with great severity, either by the authorities, who may sentence her to banishment or death, or by the villagers, who sometimes take the law into their own hands and punish the supposed offender.
Astrology, etc. — The science of astrology is not without its votaries in Cambodia. Astrologers, or, as they are called, horas, are attached to the court, and their direct employment by the king gives them some standing in the country. At the beginning of each year they make a calendar, which contains, besides the usual astronomical information, weather and other predictions. They are consulted by the people on all sorts of subjects, and are believed to be able to avert the calamities they predict.
It is not surprising that in such a country, where good
wear a mark composed of red cloth on a part of their dress where it could be readily seen. (See Cambry, Voyage- dans le Finistere, t.3, p. 146). Carbuncle : The ancients supposed this stone to give out a. native light without reflection, and they ranked it fifth in order after diamonds, emeralds, opals, and pearls. It is among the gems ruled by the sun, and is both male and. female — the former distinguished by the brightness which appears as if burning within it, while the latter throws it out. It takes no colour from any other gem applied to it, but imparts its own. The virtue of the carbuncle is to drive away poisonous air, repress luxury, and preserve the health of the body. It also reconciles differences among friends.
and evil powers are ascribed so lavishly, much attention Cardan, Jerome : A so-called magician, who lived about the-
should be paid to omens, and much time spent in rites to avert misfortune. The wind, the fog, the trees, are objects of fear and awe, and must be approached with circumspection lest they send disease and misfortune, or withhold some good. For instance, trees whose roots grow under a house bring ill-luck to it. The bamboo and cotton-plant are also dangerous when planted near a house, for should they grow higher than the house, they would wish, out of a perverted sense of gratitude, to provide a funeral cushion and matting for the occupants.
Animals receive their share of superstitious veneration. Tigers are regarded as malevolent creatures, whose whiskers are very poisonous. Elephants are looked upon as sacred, and particularly so white elephants. Monkeys they will on no account destroy. Should a butterfly enter the house, it is considered extremely unlucky, while a grass- hopper, on the contrary, indicates coming good-fortune. There are other superstitions relating to household objects, customs, etc., which do not differ greatly from those of other countries.
LITERATURE. — E. Aymonier, Le- Cambodge, Paris, 1900-02. A. Leclerc, Le Buddhisme Cambodge, Paris, 1899 ; Cambodge, Coxites et Legendes, Paris, 1894.
Camuz, Philippe : A Spanish writer of romances who lived in the sixteenth century. To him is attributed a life of Robert the Devil, La Vida de Roberto el Diablo, published at Seville in 1629.
Candelabrum : (See Necromancy.)
Candles Burning Blue : There is a superstition that candles and other lights burn blue at the apparition of spirits, probably because of the sulphurous atmosphere accompany- ing the spectres.
Candles, Magical : (Sec Magic.)
Capnomancy : Was the observation of smoke, which con- sisted in two principal methods. The more important was the smoke of the sacrifices, which augured well if it rose lightly from the altar, and ascended straight to the clouds ; but the contrary if it hung about. Another method was to throw a few jasmine or poppy seeds upon burning coals. There was yet a third practice by breathing the smoke of the sacrificial fire.
Caqueux or Cacoux : Formerly a caste of rope-makers dwelling in Brittany, who in some of the cantons of that
end of the fifteenth, or the beginning of the sixteenth, century. He was contemporary with Faustus and Para- celsus, to whom, as to the other necromancers of his age, he was entirely dissimilar. He has left in his Memoirs a. frank and detailed analysis of a curiously complicated and abnormal intellectuality, sensitive, intense, and not altogether free from the taint of insanity. He declares himself subj ect to strange fits of abstraction and exaltation, the intensity of which became at length so intolerable that he was forced to inflict on himself severe bodily pain as a means of banishing them. He would, he tells us, talk habitually of those things which were most likely to be- distasteful to the company ; he would argue on any side of a question, quite irrespective of whether he believed it right or wrong, and he had an extraordinary passion for gambling. He tells us of three peculiarities, in which we- may trace the workings of a diseased imagination, and in the third, at least, that abnormal delicacy of perception which characterised him. The first was the faculty of proj ecting his spirit outside his body, to the accompaniment of strange physical sensations. The second was the- ability to perceive sensibly anj'thing he desired to perceive. As a child, he explains, he saw these images involuntarily and without the power of selection, but when he reached manhood he could control them to suit his choice. The- third of his peculiar qualities was, that before every event- of moment in his life, he had a dream which warned him of it. Indeed, he himself has written a commentary of. considerable length on Synesius's treatise on dreams, in which he advances the theory that any virtuous person, can acquire the faculty of interpreting dreams, that, in fact, anyone can draw up for himself a code of dream- inteipretations by merely studying carefully his own dreams. We cannot put much faith in Cardan's wonderful, dreams, however. His is not the type of mind to which we would go for an accurate statement concerning mental phenomena, but such significant dreams as he may have had, were probably, as has already been suggested, the "result of his abnormal sub-conscious perceptiveness. In one instance at least, his prediction was not entirely suc- cessful. He foretold the date of his own death, and, at the age of seventy-five, was obliged to abstain from food in order to die at the time he had predicted.
country were treated as pariahs, perhaps because the Carpenter : (See Spiritualism.)
ropes they manufactured were to the people the symbols Carpocratians : A sect of Gnostics founded by Carpocrites
of slavery and death by hanging. Be that as it may, they were interdicted from entering the churches, and were regarded as sorcerers. They did not hesitate to profit by this evil reputation, but dealt in talismans which were supposed to render their wearers invulnerable, and also acted as diviners. They were further credited with the ability to raise and sell winds and tempests like the
of Alexandria. It taught that Christ derived the mysteries of his religion from the Temple of Isis in Egypt, where he had studied for six years, and that he taught them to his apostles, who transmitted them to Carpocrites. This body used theurgic incantations, and had grips, signs and words, symbols and degrees. It is believed to have en- dured for some centuries. (See Gnostics.)
sorcerers of Finland It is said that they were originally Carrahdis : A class of native priests in New South Wales,.
of Jewish origin, separated like lepers from other folk. Australia.
Francois II, Duke of Brittany, enacted that they should Carver, Jonathan, Narrative of : (See Divination.)
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Cassaptu, Babylonian Witch. (See Semites.)
Castle of the Interior Man, The : The mystical name given to the seven stages of the soul's ascent towards the Divinity. These seven processes of psychic evolution are briefly as follows : (i) The state of prayer, being concentration on God ; (2) The state of mental prayer, in which one seeks to discover the mystic significance of all things ; (3) The obscure night, believed to be the most difficult, in which self must be utterly renounced ; (4) The prayer of quietism, complete surrender to the will of God ; (5) The state of union, in which the will of man and the will of God become identified ; (6) The state of ecstatic prayer, in which the soul is transported with joy, and love enters into it ; (7) The state of ravishment, which is the mystic marriage, the perfect union, and the entrance of God and Heaven into the interior man.
Catabolignes : Demons who bore men away, killed them, and broke and crushed them having this power over them. We are told that a certain Campester wrote a book wherein it is related how these demons treated their agents, the magicians and sorcerors.
Catalepsy : A condition involving , the sudden suspension of sensation and volition, and the partial suspension of the vital functions. The body assumes a rigid and statues- que appearance, sometimes mistaken for death, and the patient remains unconscious throughout the attack. On occasion, the cataleptic state may be marked by symptoms of intense mental excitement, and by apparently volitional speech and action. Sometimes the symptoms are hardly distinguishable from those of hysteria. The period covered by the attack may vary from a few minutes to several days, though the latter only in exceptional cases ; it may, howevert^recur on trifling provocation in the absence of resistence from the will-power of the patient. The affection is caused by a pathological condition of the nervous system, generally produced by severe or prolonged mental emotion, and it must not be confused with the hypnotic trance. The belief that it may occur in a per- fectly healthy person is, on the whole, fallacious. There is some reason to suppose that catalepsy, like ecstacy and mediumistic faculties, may at times prove contagious. Dr. Petetin, in his Electricite Animate (1808) makes mention of as many as eight cases met with in a restricted area, although catalepsy is in ordinary circumstances of rare occurrence. Petetin also mentions certain strange pheno- mena witnessed by him in connection with the state of spontaneous catalepsy (see Stomach, Seeing with), which would seem to show that persons in this condition are amenable to suggestion in a high degree. The true physical reasons for catalepsy are still practically unknown to science. But there seem to be good reasons for believing that it can be self -induced in certain cases. Many Eastern fakirs have been known to cast themselves into a cataleptic sleep lasting for months and cases have even been known where they per- mitted themselves to be buried, being exhumed when the grass had grown over their graves. (See Dendy, Philosophy of Mystery.)
Cathari : (See Gnostics.)
Catoptromancy, or Enoptromancy is a species of divination by the mirror, which Pausanius describes : " Before the Temple of Ceres at Patras, there was a fountain, separated from the temple by a wall, and there was an oracle, very truthful, not for all events, but for the sick only. The sick person let down a mirror, suspended by a thread, till its base touched the surface of the water, having first prayed to the goddess and offered incense. Then looking in the mirror, he saw the presage of death or recovery, according as the face appeared fresh and healthy, or of a ghastly aspect." Another method of using the mirror was to place it at the back of a boy's'or girl's head, whose eyes were
bandaged. " In Thessaly, the response appeared in char- acters of blood on the face of the moon, probably repre- sented in the mirror. The Thessalian sorceresses derived, their art from the Persians, who always endeavoured to plant their religion and mystic rites in the countries they invaded.
Cats, Elfin : These are to be found in the Scottish Highlands, and are said to be of a wild breed, as large as dogs, black in colour, with a white spot on the breast, and to have arched backs and erect bristles. By some, these cats are said to be witches in disguise.
Cauldron Devils : An abyss at the summit of the Peak of Teneriffe. A stone cast into the gulf resounds as though a copper' vessel were being struck by a huge hammer, and on this account its name has been bestowed on it by the Spaniards. The natives of the Island are persuaded that the infernal regions are there, where dwell for ever the souls of the wicked.
Causimomaney : Divination by fire. It is a happy presage when combustible objects cast into the fire do not burn.
Cazotte, Jacques (1720-1792) : A French romance writer, and the reputed author of the famous Prophetic de Cazotte, concerning the Revolution. His sympathies were not with the revolutionary party. His letters were seized, and he and his daughter Elizabeth thrown into prison. During the September massacres, Elizabeth saved his life by flinging herself between him and the cut-throats who sought to kill him. He escaped, but was re-arrested, condemned, and beheaded. He was the author of the celebrated occult romance Le Diable Amour eux.
Celestial Light : The sacred light of all the ages, which is " as the lightning which shineth from the west to the east." It is the halo which surrounds certain visions of a mystical character, but can only be seen by those who have lived ascetically, when respiration is feeble, and life has almost left the body.
Cellini, Benvenuto : This celebrated Italian artist and crafts- man had several most interesting adventures with demons and professors of the black art. In his Life he writes as follows.
" It happened, through a variety of odd accidents, that I made acquaintance with a Sicilian priest, who was a man of genius, and well versed in the Latin and Greek authors' . Happening one day to have some conversation with him, when the subject turned on the subject of necromancy, I, who had a great desire to know something of the matter, told him, that I had all my life felt a curiosity to be ac- quainted with the mysteries of this art. The priest made answer, ' That the man must be of a resolute and steady temper who enters upon that study.' I replied, ' That I had fortitude and resolution enough, if I could but find an opportunity.' The priest subjoined, ' If you think you have the heart to venture, I will give you all the satisfaction you can desire.' Thus we agreed to enter upon a plan of necromancy. The priest one evening prepared to satisfy me, and desired me to look out for a companion or two. I invited one Vincenzio Romoli, who was my intimate acquaintance : he brought with him a native of Pistoia, who cultivated the black art himself. We repaired to the Colloseo, and the priest, according to the custom of necromancers, began to draw circles upon the ground with the most impressive ceremonies imaginable : he likewise brought hither assafcetida, several precious perfumes and fire, with some compositions also which diffused noisome odours. As soon as he was in readiness, he made an open- ing to the circle, and having taken us by the hand, ordered the other necromancer, his partner, to throw the perfumes into the fire at the proper time, intrusting the care of the fire and the perfumes to the rest ; and then he began his incantations. This ceremony lasted above an hour and
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a half, when there appeared several legions of devils inso- much that the amphitheatre was quite filled with them. I was busy about the perfumes, wh^n the pncst, perceiving there was a considerable number of infernal spirits, turned to me and said, ' Benvenuto, ask them something.' I answered, ' Let them bring me into the company of my Sicilian mistress, Angelica.' That night we obtained no answer of any sort ; but I had received great satisfaction in having my curiosity so far indulged. The necromancer told me, it was requisite we should go a second time, assur- ing me, that I should be satisfied in whatever I asked ; but that I must bring with me a pure immaculate boy.
" I took with me a youth who was in my service, of about twelve years of age, together with the same Vin- cenzio Romoli, who had been my companion the first time and one Agnolino Gaddi, an intimate acquaintance, whom I likewise prevailed on to assist at the ceremony. When we came to the place appointed, the priest having made his preparations as before, with the same and even more striking ceremonies, placed us within the circle, which he had likewise drawn with a more wonderful art, and in a more solemn manner, than at our former meeting. Thus having committed the care of the perfume and the fire to my friend Vincenzio, who was assisted by Agnolino Gaddi, he put into my hand a pintacula or magical chart, and bid me turn it towards the places that he should direct me ; and under the pintacula I held the boy. The necromancer having begun to make his tremendous invocations, called by their names a multitude of demons, who were the leaders of the several legions, and questioned them by the power of the eternal uncreated God, who lives for ever, in the Hebrew language, as likewise in Latin and Greek ; inso- much that the amphitheatre was almost in an instant filled with demons more numerous than at the former conjuration. Vincenzio Romoli was busied in making a fire, with the assistance of Agnolino, and burning a great quantity of precious perfumes. I. by the direction of the necromancer, again desired to be in the company of my Angelica. The former thereupon turning to me, said, ' Know, they have declared, that in the space of a month you shall be in her company.'
" He then requested me to stand resolutely by him, because the legions were now above a thousand more in number than he had designed ; and, besides these were the most dangerous ; so that, after they had answered my question, it behoved him to be civil to them, and dis- miss them quietly. At the same time the boy under the pintacula was in a terrible fright, saying, that there were in that place a million of fierce men, who threatened to destroy us ; and that, moreover, four armed giants of an enormous stature were endeavouring to break into our circle. During this time, whilst the necromancer, trem- bling with fear, endeavoured by mild and gentle methods to dismiss them in the best way he could, Vincenzio Romoli, who quivered like an aspen leaf, took care of the perfumes. Though I was as much terrified as any of them, I did my utmost to conceal the terror I felt ; so that I greatly con- tributed to inspire the rest with resolution ; but the truth is, I gave myself over for a dead man, seeing the horrid fright the necromancer was in. The boy placed his head between his knees, and said, ' In this posture I will die ; for we shall all surely perish.' I told him that all these demons were under us, and what he saw was smoke and shadow ; so I bid him hold up his head and take courage. No sooner did he look up, but he cried out, ' The whole amphitheatre is burning, and the fire is just falling upon us ;' so covering his eyes with his hands, he again exclaimed that destruction was inevitable, and he desired to see no more. The necromancer entreated me to have a good heart, and take care to to burn the proper perfumes ; upon which
I turned to Romoli, and bid him burn all the most precious perfumes he had. At the same time I cast my eye upon Agnolino Gaddi, who was terrified to such a degree that he could scarce distinguish objects, and seemed to be half- dead. Seeing him in this condition, I said, ' Agnolino, upon these occasions a man should not yield to fear, but should stir about and give his assistance ; so come directly and put on some more of these perfumes.' Poor Agnolino, upon attempting to move, was so violently terrified that the effects of his fear overpowered all the perfumes we were burning. The boy, hearing a crepitation, ventured once more to raise his head, when, seeing me laugh, he began to take courage, and said, ' That the devils were flying away with a vengeance.'
" In this condition we stayed till the bell rang for morn- ing prayer. The boy again told us, that there remained but few devils, and these were at a great distance. When the magician had performed the rest of his ceremonies, he stripped off his gown and took up a wallet full of books which he had brought with him. We all went out of the circle together, keeping as close to each other as we possibly could, especially the boy, who had placed himself in the middle, holding the necromancer by the coat, and me by the cloak. As we were going to our houses in the quarter of Banchi, the boy told us that two of the demons whom we had seen at the amphitheatre, went on before us leaping and skipping, sometimes running upon the roofs of the houses, and sometimes upon the ground. The priest de- clared, that though he had often entered magic circles, nothing so extraordinary had ever happened to him. As we went along, he would fain persuade me to assist with him at consecrating a book, from which, he said, we should derive immense riches : we should then-ask the demons to discover to us the various treasures with which the earth abounds, which would raise us to opulence and power ; but that those love-affairs were mere follies, from whence no good could be expected. I answered, ' That I would readily have accepted his proposal if I understood Latin : ' he redoubled his persuasions, assuring me, that the know- ledge of the Latin language was by no means material. He added, that he could have Latin scholars enough, if he had thought it worth while to look out for them ; but that he could never have met with a partner of resolution and intrepidity equal to mine, and that I should by all means follow his advice. Whilst we were engaged in this conversation, we arrived at our respective homes, and all that night dreamt of nothing but devils."
Celonitis or Celontes : This wonderful stone is found in the tortoise, and its property is to resist fire. Its healing virtues are- two-fold, similar to those of the Asinius. Carried under the tongue on the day of the new moon, and for the fifteen days following, during the lunar ascen- sion, it inspires its fortunate possessor to foretell future events every day from sunrising to six o'clock ; and in the decrease during the intervening hours.
Celts : Magic among the Celtic peoples in ancient times was so closely identified with Druidism that its origin may be said to have been Druidic. That Druidism was of Celtic origin, however, is a question upon which much discussion has been lavished, some authorities, among them Rhys, believing it to have been of non-Celtic and even non-Aryan origin. This is to say that the earliest non-Aryan or so- called " Iberian " or Megalithic people of Britain intro- duced the immigrant Celts to the Druidic religion. An argument in favour of this theory is that the continental Celts sent their neophyte Druid priests to Britain to undergo a special training at the hands of the Druids there, and there is little doubt that this island was regarded as the headquarters of the cult. The people of Cisalpine Gaul, for instance, had no Druidic priesthood. (See Rice Holmes'
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CcBsar's Conquest, pp. 532-536). Caesar has told US' that in Gaul Druidic seminaries were very numerous , and that in them severe study and discipline were entailed upon the neophytes, the principal business of whom was to commit to memory countless verses enshrining Druidic knowledge and tradition. That this instruction was astro- logical and magical we have the fullest proof, and it is with these aspects of the Celtic religion alone that we have to deal in this place.
The Druids were magi as they were hierophants in the same sense that the American-Indian medicine-man is both magus and priest. That is, they were medicine-men on a higher-scale, and possessed a larger share of trans- cendental knowledge than the shamans of more barbarous races. Thus they may be said to be a link between the shaman and the magus of mediaeval times. Many of their practices were purely shamanistic, whilst others were more closely connected with mediaeval magical rite. But they were not the only magicians among the Celts, for we find that magic power is frequently the possession of wo- men and the poetic craft. The art magic of Druidism had many points of comparison with most magical systems, and may be said to have approximated more to that black magic which desires power for the sake of power alone, than to any more transcendental type. Thus it included the power to render oneself invisible, to change the bodily shape, to produce an enchanted sleep, to induce lunacy, and the utterance of spells and charms which caused death. Power over the elements was also claimed, as in the case of Broichan, a Caledonian Druid who opposed Saint Co- lumbia, as we read in Adamnan's Life of that saint as follows :
" Broichan, speaking one day to the holy man, says : ' Tell me, Columba, at what time dost thou propose to sail forth ? " On the third day,' says the Saint, ' God willing and life remaining, we propose to begin our voyage.' ' Thou wilt not be able to do so,' says Broichan in reply, ' for I can make the wind contrary for thee, and bring dark clouds upon thee.' The Saint says : ' The omnipo- tence of God rules over all things, in Whose Name all our movements, He Himself governing them, are directed.' What more need be said ? On the same day as he had purposed in his heart the Saint came to the long lake of the river Ness, a great crowd following. But the Druids then began to rejoice when they saw a great darkness coming over, and a contrary wind with a tempest. Nor should it be wondered at that these things can be done by the art of demons, God permitting it, so that even winds and waters are roused to fury.
" For it was thus that legions of devils once met the holy bishop Germanus in mid-ocean, what time he was sailing from the Gallican Gulf (the British Channel) to Britain in the cause of man's salvation, and stirred up dangerous storms and spread darkness over the sky and obscured daylight. All which storms, however, were stilled at the prayer of St. Germanus, and, quicker than said, ceased, and the darkness was swept away.
'"' Our Columba, therefore, seeing the furious elements stirred up against him, calls upon Christ the Lord, and entering the boat while the sailors are hesitating, he with all the more confidence, orders the sail to be rigged against the wind. Which being done, the whole crowd looking on meanwhile, the boat is borne along against the contrary winds with amazing velocity. And after no great interval, the adverse winds veer round to the advantage of the voyage amid the astonishment of all. And thus, through- out that whole day, the blessed man's boat was driven along by gentle favouring breezes, and reached the desired haven. Let the reader, therefore, consider how great and saintly was that venerable man through whom Al-
mighty God manifested His glorious Name by such miracu- lous powers as have just been described in the presence of a heathen people."
The art of rain-making, bringing down fire from the sky, and causing mists, snow-storms and. floods was also claimed by the Druids. Many of the spells probably in use among the Druids survived until a comparatively late period, and are still in use in some remote Celtic localities — the names of Saints being substituted for those of Celtic deities, ■ — as in Well-worship (q.v.) a possibly Druidic cultus, and certain ritual practices which are still carried out in the vicinity of megalithic structures. In pronouncing incan- tations, the usual method employed was to stand upon one leg, to point to the person or object on which the spell was to be laid with the fore-finger, at the same time closing an eye, as if to concentrate the force of the entire person- ality upon that which was to be placed under ban. A manuscript preserved in the Monastery of St. Gall and dating from the eighth or ninth century, has preserved magical formulae for the preservation of butter and the healing of certain diseases in the name of the Irish god Diancecht. These and others bear a close resemblance to Babylonian and Etruscan spells, and this goes to strengthen the hypothesis often put forward with more or less ability that Druidism had an eastern origin. AU magical rites were accompanied by spells. Druids often accompanied an army to assist by their magical art in confounding the enemy.
There is little doubt that the conception of a Druidic priesthood has descended down to our own time in a more or less debased condition in British Celtic areas. Thus the existence of guardians and keepers of wells said to possess magical properties, and the fact that certain familiar magical spells and formulae are handed down from one gen ration to another, is a proof of the survival of Druidic tradition, however feeble. Females are generally the conservators of these mysteries, but that there were Druid priestesses is fairly certain.
There are also indications that to some extent Scottish witchcraft was a survival of Celtic religio-magical practice. (See Witchcraft, Scottish in article Scotland.)
Amulets were extensively worn by the Celts, the prin- cipal forms in use being phallic (against the evil ey e) , coral, the " serpent's egg " — some description of fossil. The person who passed a number of serpents together forming such an " egg " from their collected spume had to catch it in his cloak ere it fell to earth, and then make all speed over a running-stream where he was safe from the reptiles' vengeance. Totemic amulets were also common. (See Scotland and Ireland.)
LITERATURE — H. d'Arbois de Jubainville, Les Druides et les dieux celtiques aformed'animaux, Paris, 1906 ; Gomme Ethnology in Folklore, London 1892 ; T. R. Holmes, Ctssar's Conquest of Gaul, London 1899, Ccesar's Conquest of Britain, 1907 ; S. Reinach, Cultes, mythes et religions Paris, 1905 ; J. Rhys, Celtic Britain, London 1882 ; Celtic Heath- endom, London 1888; C. Squire, Mythology of the ancient Britons, London, 1905.
Central America : (See Mexico and Central America.)
Central Association of Spiritualists : (See British National Association of Spiritualists.)
Cepionidus : A stone of many colours, said to reflect the likeness of the beholder.
Ceraunius, or Cerraelus, is described as a pyramidal crystal- line stone, tinged with saffron, and is said to fall from the clouds. It preserves from drowning, from injury by light- ning, and gives pleasant dreams.
Ceraunoscopy : Divination practised by the ancients by the examination of the phenomena of the air.
Ceremonial Magic : Ceremonial magic is chiefly occupied
Ceremonial Magic
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with the art of dealing with spirits. Its rites are supposedly religious, and the rituals which contain it partake largely of the nature of religious observances. It is not, as gen- erally supposed, a reversed Christianity or Judaism, nor does it partake of the profanation of religious ritual. It is in effect an attempt to derive power from God for the successful control of evil spirits. In the Grimoires and Keys of Black Magic, the operator is constantly reminded that he must meditate continually on the undertaking in hand, and centre every hope in the infinite goodness of the Great Adonai. The god invoked in Black Magic is not Satan as is so often supposed, but the Jehovah of the Jews, and the Trinity of the Christians. The founda- tion of practical magic is almost certainly the belief in the power of divine words to compel the obedience of all spirits to those who could pronounce them. Such words and names were supposed to invoke or dismiss the deni- zens of the spirit world, and these with suitable prayers were used in all magical ceremonies. Again it was thought that it was easier to control evil spirits than to enlist the sympathies of angels.
He who would gain such power over demons is exhorted in the magical texts which exist to observe continence and abstinence, to disrobe as seldom and sleep as little as possible during the period of preparation, to meditate continually on his undertaking and centre all his hopes on the Great Adonai. The fast should be most austere, and human society must be avoided as much as possible. The concluding days of the fast should be additionally strict— sustenance being reduced to bread and water. Daily ablutions are necessary, and these must be made in water which has been previously exorcised according to the ritual : especially must this be observed immediately before the ceremony. Certain periods of the day and night are ruled by certain planets and these are to be found in the book known as the Key of Solomon the King (q.v). (See also Astrology.) The Book of Black Magic taught that the hours of Saturn, Mars and Venus are good for communion with spirits, — the hour of the first named planet for invoking souls in Hell ; and that. of the second those who have been slain in battle. In fact these hours and seasons are ruled by th.' laws of astrology. In the preparation of the instruments employed, trie cere- monies of purifying and consecrating, must be carefully observed. An aspergillum composed of mint, marjoram, and rosemary should be used for the first and should be contained in a pot of glazed earth. For fumigation a chafing dish should be used filled with freshly kindled coal and perfumed with aloe-wood or mace, benzoin or storax.
The experiment of holding converse with spirits should be made in the day and hour of Mercury : that is the ist or 8th, or the 15th or 22nd (See Necromancy). - The Grand Grimoire says that when the night of action has arrived, the operator shall take a rod, a goat-skin, -a blood-stone, two crowns of vervain, and two candlesticks with candles ; also a new steel and two new flints, enough wood to make a fire, half a bottle of brandy, incense and camphor, and four nails from the coffin of a dead child. Either one or three persons must take part in the ceremony — on of whom only must address the spirit. The Kabbalistic circle is formed with strips of kid's skin fastened to the ground by the four nails. With the blood-stone a triangle is traced within the circle, beginning at the eastern point. The letters a e a j must be drawn in like manner, as also the Name of the Saviour between two crosses. The candles and vervain crowns are then set in the left and right sides of the triangle within the circle, and they with the brazier are set alight — the fire being fed with brandy and camphor. A prayer is then repeated. The operator must be careful
to have no alloyed metal about him except a gold or silver coin wrapped in paper, which must be cast to the spirit when he appears outside the circle. The spirit is then conjured three times. Should the spirit fail to appear, the two ends of the magic rod must be plunged into the flames of the brazier. This ritual is known as the Rite of Lucifuge, and is believed to invoke the demon Lucifuge Rofocale.
For further information concerning the ceremonial of magic, See Necromancy and the articles on the various rituals of magic, such as Arbatel, Key of Solomon, Grimo- rium Verum, etc. (See Magic.) Ceroscopy : Divination by wax. The process was as follows. Fine wax was melted in a brass vessel until it became a liquid of uniform consistence. It was then poured slowly into another vessel filled with cold water, in such a way that the wax congealed in tiny discs upon the surface of the water. The magician then interpreted the figures thus presented as he saw fit. Chagrin or Cagrino : An evil spirit believed in by the Con- tinental Gypsies. It has the form of a hedgehog, is yellow- in colour, and is a foot and a half in length and a span in breadth. " I am certain," says Wlislocki, " that this creature is none other than the equally demoniac being called Harginn, still believed in by the inhabitants of North- western India. Horses are the special prey of the Chagrin, who rides them into a state of exhaustion, as does the Guecubu (q.v.) of Chili. The next day they appear sick and weary, with tangled manes and bathed in sweat. When this is observed they are tethered to a stake which has been rubbed with garlic juice, then a red thread is laid on the ground in the form of a cross, or else some of the hair of the animal is mixed with salt, meal and the blood of a bat and cooked to bread, with which the hoof of the horse is smeared. The empty vessel which contained the mix- ture is put in the trunk of a high tree while these words are uttered :
" Tarry, pipkin, in this tree, Till such time as full ye be." Chain, Forming a : In spiritualism, a term denoting the joining of the hands of the sitters round a table, whereby the magnetic current is strengthened and reinforced. The Baron de Guldenstubbe gives the following directions for forming a chain. " In order to form a chain, the twelve persons each place their right hand on the table, and their left hand on that of their neighbour, thus making a circle round the table. Observe that the medium or mediums if there be more than one, are entirely isolated from those who form the chain."
Dr. Lapponi, in his Hypnotism and Spiritism (trans. London, 1906), gives an account of the usual procedure for the formation of a chain. " He (the medium) makes those present choose a table, which they may examine as much as they like, and ma)' place in whatever part of the room they choose. He then invites some of the assistants to place their hands on the table in the following manner : Ihe two thumbs of each person are to be touching each other, and each little finger is to be in communication with the little finger of the persons on either side. He himself completes the chain with h:.s two hands. The hands of all altogether rest on the edge of the table. (See Planetary Chains.) Chain-Period : (See Planetary Chains.)
Chakras : These, are, according to theosophists, the sense organs of the etheral body (q.v.) and receive their name from their appearance which resembles vortices. Alto- gether there are ten chakras — visible only to clairvoyants — but of these it is advisable to use only seven. They are situated, not on the denser physical body, but opposite certain parts of it as follows : (1) the top of the head, (2)
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between the eyebrows, (3) the throat, (4) the heart, (5) the spleen — (where vitality is indrawn from the sun), (6) the solar plexus, (7) the base of the spine. The remaining three chakras are situated in the lower part of the pelvis and normally are not used, but are brought into play only in Black Magic. It is by means of the chakras that the trained occultist can become acquainted with the astral world. (See Theosophy.)
Chalcedony : A good specific against phantasy and the illu- sions of evil spirits. It also quickens the power of the body, and renders its possessor fortunate in law. To the litter effect it must be perforated and suspended by hairs from an ass. The black variety prevents hoarseness and clears the voice.
Chams : A race of Indo-Chinese origin, numbering about 130,000 souls, settled in Annam, Siam, Cochin-China, and Cambodia. They have some reputation among the sur- rounding population as sorcerers, this corruption probably arising from the mythic influence of a conquered race. Their magicians claim to be able to slay at a distance, or to bring ruin and disease by the aid of magical formulas. Among the Cambodian Chams, sorcerers are cordially de- tested by the common people, as they are believed to be the source of all the evil which befalls them, and the ma- jority of them usually end their days by secret assassina- tion. They are nearly always of the female sex, and enter the sisterhood by means of a secret initiation held in the depths of the forest at the hour of midnight. Indeed the actual method of initiation is known to us. The woman who desires to become a sorceress procures the nest of a termite, and sacrifices thereon a cock (See Cock), cutting it in two from the head to the tail, and dancing in front of it in a condition of complete nudity, until by force of her incantations the two halves of the bird approach one another and it becomes once more alive and gives vent to a crow. Sorceresses are said to be known by the ten- dency of their complexion to alter its hue, and by their swollen and bloodshot eyes. They possess numerous rites for the propitiation of evil spirits, in which, in common with the neighbouring and surrounding populations, they implicitly believe. Thus in building a house numerous propitiatory rites must be observed, accompanied by in- vocation of the protecting deities. They believe in lucky and unlucky days, and are careful not to undertake any- thing of importance unless favoured by propitious omens. They possess many peculiar superstitions. Thus they will not disturb grain which has been stored during the day time, as they say it is then asleep, and wait until night- fall before supplying themselves from it. They also have many magical agricultural formulae, such as the " instruc- tion " to, and '" passing " of, the standing rice-stems in the harvest field before they are cut and garnered, so that the}' may be worthy to be stored. The Brahmanic Chams believe that the souls of good men betake themselves to the sun, those of women to the moon, and those of the coolie class into clouds, but these are only places of tem- porary soj ourn, until such time as all finally come to reside within the centre of the earth. The belief in metempsy- chosis is also highly popular. See E. Aymonier, Les Tchames et leur Religions, Paris, 1891; Aymonier Chaton, Dictionnaire Cam-Francaise, Paris, 1906; Cahaton, Nou- velles recherches sur les chams, Paris, 1901.
Changelings : The substitution of a little old mannikin of the elf race, for a young child. There are many tales repre- sentative of this belief in Scotland. The changeling grows up peevish and misshapen, always crying, and gives many proofs of its origin to those versed in such matters. There are many ways of getting rid of him, such as sticking_ a knife into him, making him sit on a gridiron with a fire below, dropping him into a river, etc., — which one would
imagine would prove fairly successful The changeling sometimes gives himself away by unthinking reference to his age.
Chaomandy : (See Ceraunosccpy.)
Chaos : (See Philosopher's Stone.)
Charcot, Prof. J. M. : (See Hypnotism )
Charlemagne ; or Charles the Great : The greatest of Frank- ish kings : was the elder son of Pepin the Short, and suc- ceeded his father in 768 A.D. He is included in this work chiefly because of his close connection with the supernatural so far as legend is concerned. Again and again in the pages of French romance, notably in these romances dealing with the adventures of William of Orange, do we find the Emperor visited by angels who are the direct messengers of the heavenly power. This of course is to symbolise his position as the head and front of Christendom in the world. He was its champion and upholder, surrounded as he was on all sidesby the forces of paganism, — the Moors on his southern borders, and the Prussians and Saxons on his flank. Charles was regarded by the Christians of Europe as the direct representative of heaven, whose mission it was to Christianise Europe and to defend the true faith in every way. No less do we find him and his court connected with the realm of faery. Notices of the encounters of the fairy folk by his paladins are not so nu- merous in the original French romances which deal with him and them ; but in the hands of Boiardo, Ariosto, and Pulci, they dwelt in an enchanted region where at any moment they might meet with all kinds of supernatural beings. But both in the older and later romances the powers of magic and enchantment are ever present. These are chiefly instanced in magical weapons such as the Sword Durandal of Roland which cannot be shivered ; the mag- ical ointments of giants like Ferragus, which rubbed on their bodies make them invulnerable ; the wearing of armour which exercises a similar guardianship on the body of its possessor, and so forth. But we find heroes like Ogier, the Dane, penetrating into fairy land itself, and wedding its queen. This was the fate of a great many medieval heroes, and Ogier finds in the enchanted realm King Arthur, and several other paladins. The analogous cases of Tom-a-Lincolne, Tannhauser and Thomas the Rhymer, will readily occur to the reader. The magical and the marvellous is everywhere in use in the romances which deal with Charlemagne. Indeed in this respect they entirely put in the shade the later romances proper, as distinguished from the Chansons de Geste.
Charm (Carmen) : A magical formula, sung or recited to bring about a supposedly beneficial result, or to confer magical efficacy on an amulet. In popular usage the same word is employed to designate the incantation and the object which is charmed. For the material object (See Amulet :) for the recital (See Spells.)
Charnock, Thomas : Alchemist. (1524 ? — 1581). Com- paratively little biographical matter concerning this Eng- lish alchemist is forthcoming, but it is recorded that he was born somewhere in the Isle of Thanet, Kent ; while as to the date, this is revealed inasmuch as one of his manu- scripts, dated 1574, is stated by the writer to have been penned in " the fifty yeare of my age." As a young man he travelled all over England in search of alchemistic know- ledge, but eventually he fixed his residence at Oxford, and here he chanced to make the acquaintance of a noted scien- tist. The latter, greatly impressed with the youth's cleverness, straightway appointed him his confidant and assistant in general; and, after working in this capacity for a number of years,. Charnock found himself the sole legatee of his patron's paraphernalia, and likewise of the various secrets written in his note-books. Armed thus, he proceeded to devote himself more eagerly than ever to
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the quest of gold-production ; but in 1555, just as he im- agined himself on the verge of triumph, his hopes were frustrated by a sudden explosion in his laboratory ; while in 1557, when he again thought that success was imminent, the press-gang arrived at his house and laid violent hands on him, being anxious for recruits wherewith to swell the English army then fighting the French. The alchemist was bitterly chagrined on "being kidnapped in this wise, and, lest his secrets should be discovered by prying eyes, he set himself to destroy all his precious impedimenta. " With my worke made such a furious faire That the gold flew forth in the aire," — so he writes concerning this iconoclasm, and, subsequent to this event, he proceeded to France as a soldier, and took part in the disastrous campaign which culminated in the English being worsted at Calais by the Due de Guise. How Charnock fared during the expedition is not known, and it is likely that he found small pleasure in the rough life ; but be that as it may, he returned to England safely, and in 1562 he was married to one Agnes Norton. There- after he settled at Stockland, in the county of Somerset, and here he continued to pursue scientific researches, ap- parently unmolested by further visitations from the military powers. Nor would it seem that the clergy molested him either, or looked askance on his alchemistic studies ; for on his death, which occurred in 1581, his mortal remains were duly interred at Otterhampton Church, Bridgwater. That facetious antiquary and historian, Anthony Wood, in his AthencB Oxoniensis, credits Charnock with a consid- erable amount of writing, and it is possible that several items enumerated are in reality from some other pen than the alchemist's. However, there are certain books which the latter undoubtedly wrote, notably Mnigma ad Alchi- miam, issued in 1572 ; while no less interesting than this is the Breviary of Natural Philosophy, which is couched in verse, was published originally in 1557, and was subse- quently reprinted in the Theatrum Chemicum of Elias Ashmole.
Chase, Warren : {See Spiritualism.)
Cbazel, Comte de : {See Rosicrueians.)
Chela : {See Adept.)
Chelidonius : A stone taken out of a swallow ; good against melancholy and periodical disorders. To cure fever it must be put in a yellow linen cloth, and tied about the neck.
Chenevix, Richard : {See Spiritualism.)
Cherubim : Certain mystic appearances of the angelic type, often represented as figures wholly or partly human, and with wings proceeding from the shoulders. We find the first mention of these beings in connection with the ex- pulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden ; and they are frequently spoken of in later biblical history. Sometimes the cherubim have two or more faces, or are of composite animal form.
Chesed : Under this name the Jewish Kabalists signified the attribute of mercy.
Chesme : A cat-shaped well — or fountain — spirit or nymph of the Turks. She inveigles youths to death much in the same manner as the Lorelei.
Chevaliers de 1' Enfer : These are demons more powerful than those of no rank, but less powerful than titled demons — counts, marquises, and dukes. They may be evoked from dawn to sunrise, and from sunset to dark.
Chilan Balam, Books of : {See Mexico and Central America.)
Children in Poltergeist Cases : {See Poltergeist.)
China : Although it can hardly be said that any system of magic worthy of the name ever originated in China, and though magical practice was uncommon, yet instances are not wanting of the employment of magical means in the Celestial Empire, and the belief in a supernatural world
peopled by gods, demons and other beings is very strong in the popular Chinese mind.
" Although the Chinese mind possessed under such a constitution but few elements in which magic could strike root and throw out its ramifications and influence, yet we find many traces giving evidence of the instinctive movement of the mind, as well as of magical influence ; though certainly not in the manner or abundance that we meet with it in India. The great variety of these appear- ances is, howover, striking, as in no other country are they so seldom met with.
" As the King, as it were, microcosmically represents the human races in fortune or misfortune before the divinity so must his eye be constantly directed to those signs in which the will of the Most High is revealed ; ' He must observe dreams as much as the phenomena of nature, the eclipses and the po-.itions of the stars ; and, when all else is wanting, he must consult the oracle of the tortoise, or the Plant Tsche, and direct his actions accordingly.' He is therefore, as it were, the universal oracle of the people, as the popular mind is relieved from every flight of imag- ination by a highly remarkable mental compulsion." . . .
"It is easy to understand from these circumstances wherefore we find so few of these phenomena of magic and the visionary and ecstatic state, in other parts of the East so frequent, and therefore they are scattered and uncertain. Accounts are, however, not wanting to show that the phenomena as well as theories of prophecy were known in more remote times. Under the Emperor Hoei Ti, about A.D. 304, a mystical sect arose in China calling themselves the teachers of th- emptiness and nothingness of all things. They also exhibited the art of binding the power of the senses, and producing a condition which they believed perfection."
Demonism and Obsession. The Chinese are implicit believers in demons whom they imagine surround them on every hand. Says Peebles : " English officials, Ameri- can missionaries, mandarins and many of the Chinese literati (Confucians, Taoists and Buddhist believers alike) declare that spritism in some form, and under some name, is the almost universal belief of China. It is generally denominated ' ancestral worship.' "
" There is no driving out of these Chinese," says Father Gonzalo, " the cursed belief that the spirits of their an- cestors are ever about them, availing themselves of every opportunity to give advice and counsel."
" The medium consulted," remarks Dr. Doolittle, " takes in the hand a stick of lighted incense to dispel ad defiling influences, then prayers of some kind are repeated, the body becomes spasmodic, the medium's eyes are shut, and the form sways about, assuming the walk and peculiar attitude of the spirit when in the body. Then the com- munication from the divinity begins, which may be uf a faultfinding or a flattering character. . . . Sometimes these Chinese mediums profess to be possessed by some specified historical god of great healing power ., and in this condition they prescribe for the sick. It is believed that the ghoul or spirit invoked actually casts himself into the medium, and dictates the medicine."
" Volumes might be written upon the gods, genii and familiar spirits supposed to be continually in communi- cation with this people," writes Dr. John L. Nevius, in his works, China and The Chinese. " The Chinese have a large number of books upon this subject, among the most noted of which is the ' Liau-chai-chei.' a large work of sixteen volumes. .' . . Tu Sein signifies a spirit in the body, and there are a class of familiar spirits supposed to dwell in the bodies of certain Chinese who became the mediums of communication with the unseen world. In- dividuals said to be possessed by these spirits are visited
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by multitudes, particularly those who have lost recently relatives by death, and wish to converse with them. . . . Remarkable disclosures and revelations are believed to be made by the involuntary movements of a bamboo pencil, and through a similar method some claim to see in the dark. Persons considering themselves endowed with supsrior intelligence are firm believers in those and other modes of consulting spirits."
The public teacher in Chen Sin Ling (W. J. Plumb says) : " In the district of Tu-ching, obsessions by evil spirits or demons are very common." He further writes that "there are very many cases also in Chang-lo." Again he says :
" When a man is thus afflicted, the spirit (Kwei) takes possession of his body without regard to his being strong or weak in health. It is not easy to resist the demon's power. Though without bodily ailments, possessed per- sons appear as if ill. When under the entrancing spell of the demon, they seem different from their ordinary selves.
" In most cases the spirit takes possession of a man's body contrary to his will, and he is helpless in the matter. The kwei has the power of driving out the man's spirit, as in sleep or dreams. When the subject awakes to conscious- ness, he has not the slightest knowledge of what has tran- spired.
" The actions of possessed persons vary exceedingly. They leap about and toss their arms, and then the demon tells them what particular spirit he is, often taking a false name, or deceitfully calling himself a god, or one of the genii come down to the abodes of mortals. Or, perhaps, it professes to be the spirit of a deceased husband or wife. There are also kwei of the quiet sort, who talk and laugh like other people, only that the voice is changed. Some have a voice like a bird. Some speak Mandarin — the language of Northern China — and some the local dialect ; but though the speech proceeds from the mouth of the man, what is said does not appear to come from him. The outward appearance and manner is also changed.
" In Fu-show there is a class of persons who collect in large numbers and make use of incense, pictures, candles and lamps to establish what are called ' incense tables.' Taoist priests are engaged to attend the ceremonies, and they also make use of ' mediums.' The Taoist writes a charm for the medium, who, taking the incense stick in his hand, stands like a graven image, thus signifying his willingness to have the demon come and take possession of him. Afterward, the charm is burned and the demon- spirit is worshipped and invoked, the priest, in the mean- while going on with his chanting. After a while the medium begins to tremble, and then speaks and announces what spirit has descended, and asks what is wanted of him. Then, whoever has requests to make, takes incense sticks, makes prostrations, and asks a response respecting some disease, or for protection from some calamity. In winter the same performances are carried on to a great extent by gambling companies. If some of the responses hit the mark, a large number of people are attracted. They establish a shrine and offer sacrifices, and appoint days, calling upon people from every quarter to come and consult the spirit respecting diseases. . . .
" There is also a class of men who establish what they call a ' Hall of Revelations.' At the present time there are many engaged in this practice. They are, for the most part, literary men of great ability. The people in large numbers apply to them for responses. The mediums spoken of above are also numerous. All of the above practices are not spirits seeking to possess men ; but rather men seeking spirits to possess them, and allowing them- selves to be voluntarily used as their instruments.
" As to the outward appearance of persons when pos- sessed, of course, they are the same persons as to outward form as at ordinary times ; but the colour of the counte- nance may change. The demon may cause the subject to assume a threatening air, and a fierce, violent manner, The muscles often stand out on the face, the eyes are closed, or they protrude with a frightful stare. These demons sometimes prophesy.
" The words spoken certainly proceed from the mouths of the persons possessed ; but what is said does not appear to come from their minds or wills, but rather from some other personality, often accompanied by a change of voice. Of this there can be no doubt. When the subject returns to consciousness, he invariably declares himself ignorant of what he has said.
" The Chinese make use of various methods to cast out demons. They are so troubled and vexed by inflictions affecting bodily health, or it may be throwing stones, moving furniture, or the moving about and destruction of family utensils, that they are driven to call in the service of some respected scholar or Taoist priest, to offer sacrifices, or chant sacred books, and pray for protection and ex- emption from suffering. Some make use of sacrifices and offerings of paper clothes and money in order to induce the demon to go back to the gloomy region of Yan-chow. . . As to whether these methods have any effect, I do not know. As a rule, when demons are not very troublesome, the families afflicted by them generally think it best to hide their affliction, or to keep these wicked spirits quiet by sacrifices, and burning incense to them."
An article in the London Daily News gives lengthy ex- tracts from an address upon the Chinese by Mrs. Montague Beaucham, who had spent many years in China in edu- cational work. Speaking of their spiritism, she said, " The latest London craze in using the planchette has been one of the recognized means in China of conversing with evil spirits from time immemorial." She had lived in one of the particular provinces known as demon land, where the natives are bound up in the belief and worship of spirits. " There is a real power," she added, '■' in this necromancy. They do healings and tell fortunes." She personally knew of one instance that the spirits through the planchette had foretold a great flood. The boxer rising was prophesied by the planchette. These spirits disturbed family rela- tions, caused fits of frothing at the mouth, and made some of their victims insane. In closing she declared that " Chinese spiritism was from hell," the obsession baffling the power of both Christian missionaries and native priests.
Dr. Nevius sent out a circular communication for the purpose of discovering the actual beliefs of the Chinese regarding demonism through which he obtained much valuable information. Wang Wu-Fang, an educated Chinese wrote :
" Cases of demon possession abound among all classes. They are found among persons of robust health, as well as those who are weak and sickly. In many unquestion- able cases of obsession, the unwilling subjects have resisted, but have been obliged to submit themselves to the control of the demon. ... . . .
"In the majority of cases of possession, the beginning of the malady is a fit of grief, anger or mourning. These conditions seem to open the door to the demons. The outward manifestations are apt to be fierce and violent. It may be that the subject alternately talks and laughs ; he walks awhile and then sits, or he rolls on the ground, or leaps about ; or exhibits contortions of the body and twistings of the neck. ... It was common among them to send for exorcists, who made use of written charms, or chanted verses, or punctured the body with needles These are among the Chinese methods of cure.
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" Demons are of different kinds. There are those which clearly declare themselves ; and then those who work in secret. There are those which are cast out with difficulty, and others with ease.
" In cases of possesion by familiar demons, what is said by the subject certainly does not proceed from his own will. When the demon has gone out and the subject re- covers consciousness, he has no recollection whatever of what he has said or done. This is true almost invariably.
" The methods by which the Chinese cast out demons are enticing them to leave by burning charms and paper money, or by begging and exhorting them, or by frightening them with magic spells and incantations, or driving them away by pricking with needles, or pinching with the fingers, in which case they cry out and promise to go.
" I was- formerly accustomed to drive out demons by means of needles. At that time cases of possession by evil spirits were very common in our villages, and my ■ services were in very frequent demand. ..."
The Rev. Timothy Richard, missionary, also writing in response to Dr. Nevius' circular, says :
" The Chinese orthodox definition Of spirit is, ' the soul of the departed ;' some of the best of whom are raised to the rank of gods. . . . There is no disease to which the Chinese are ordinarily subject that may not be caused by demons. In this case the mind is untouched. It is only the body that suffers ; and the Chinese endeavour to get rid of the demon by vows and offerings to the gods. The subject in this case is an involuntary one. .•. .
" Persons possessed range between fifteen and fifty years of age, quite irrespective of sex. This infliction comes .on very suddenly, sometimes in the day, and sometimes in the night. The demoniac talks madly, smashes every- thing near him, acquires unusual strength, tears his clothes into rags, and rushes into the street, or to the mountains or kills himself unless prevented. After this violent pos- session, the demoniac calms down and submits to his fate, but under the most heart-rending protests. These mad spells which are experienced on the demon's entrance return at intervals, and increase in frequency, and gen- erally also in intensity, so that death at last ensues from their violence.
" A Chefoo boy of fifteen was going on an errand. His path led through fields where men were working at their crops. When he came up to the men and had exchanged a word or two with them, he suddenly began to rave wildly ; his eyes rolled, then he made for a pond near by. Seeing this, the people ran up to him, stopped him from drowning himself and took him home to his parents. When he got home, he sprang up from the ground to such a height as manifested almost a superhuman strength. After a few days he calmed down and became unusually quiet and gentle ; but his own consciousness was lost. The demon spoke of its friends in Nan-Kin. After six months this demon departed. He has been in the service of several foreigners in Chefoo since. In this case no worship was offered to the demon.
" Now we proceed to those, who involuntarily possessed, yield to and worship the demon. The demon says he will cease tormenting the demoniac if he will worship him, and he will reward him by increasing his riches. But if not, he will punish his victim, make heavier his torments and rob him of his property. People find that their food is cursed. They cannot prepare any, but filth and dirt comes down from the air to render it uneatable. Their wells are likewise cursed ; their wardrobes are set on fire, and their money very mysteriously disappears. Hence arose the custom of cutting off the head of a string of cash that it might not run away. . . . When all efforts to rid themselves of the demon fail, they yield to it, and say
' Hold ! Cease thy tormenting and we will worship thee ! ' A picture is pasted upon the wall, sometimes of a woman, and sometimes of a man, and incense is burned, and pros- trations are made to it twice a month. Being thus rev- erenced, money now comes in mysteriously, instead of going out. Even mill-stones . are made to move at the demon's orders, and the family becomes rich at once. But it is said that no luck attends such families, and they will eventually be reduced to poverty. Officials believe these things. Palaces are known to have been built-by them for these demons, who, however, are obliged to be satis- fied with humbler shrines from the poor. . . .
" Somewhat similar to the above class is another small one which has power to enter the lower regions. These are the opposite of necromancers, for instead of calling up the dead and learning of them about the future destiny of the individual in whose behalf they are engaged, they lie in a trance for two days, when their spirits are said to have gone to the Prince of Darkness, to inquire how long the sick person shall be left among the living. . . .
" Let us now note the different methods adopted to cast out the evil .spirits from the demoniacs. Doctors are called to do it. They use needles to puncture the tips of the fingers, the nose, the neck. They also use a certain pill, and apply it in the following manner : the thumbs of the two hands are tied tightly together, and the two big toes are tied together in the same manner. Then one pill is put on the two big toes at the root of the nail, and the other at the root of the thumb nails. At the same instant the two pills are set on fire, and they are kept until the flesh is burned. In the application of the pills, or in the piercing of the needle, the invariable cry is : 'I am going ; I am going immediately. I will never dare to come back again. Oh, have mercy on me this once. I'll never return ! '
" When the doctors fail, they call on people who practise spiritism. They themselves cannot drive the demon away, but they call another demon to do it. Both the Confu- cianists and Taoists practise this method. . . . Some- times the spirits are very ungovernable. Tables are turned, chairs are rattled, and a general noise of smashing is heard, until the very mediums themselves tremble with fear. If the demon is of this dreadful character, they quickly write another charm with the name of the par- ticular spirit whose quiet disposition is known to them. Lu-tsu is a favourite one of this kind. After the burning of the charm and incense, and when prostrations are made, a little frame is procured, to which a Chinese pencil is at- tached. Two men on each side hold it on a tabic spread with sand or millet. Sometimes a prescription is written, the pencil moving of its own accord They buy the medi- cine prescribed and give it to the possessed. ... Should they find that burning incense and offering sacrifices fails to liberate the poor victim, they may call in conjurors, such as the Taoists, who sit on mats and are carried by invisible power from place to place. They ascend to a height of twenty or fifty feet, and are carried to a distance of four or five li (about half a mile). Of this class are those who, in Manchuria call down fire from the sky in those funerals where the corpse is burned. . . .
" These exorcists may belong to any of the three re- ligions in China. The dragon procession, on the fifteenth of the first month, is said by some to commemorate a Buddhist priest's victory over evil spirits. . . . They paste up charms on windows and doors, and on the body of the demoniac, and conjure the demon never to return. The evil spirit answers : 'I'll never return You need not take the trouble of pasting all these charms upon the doors and windows.'
" Exorcists are specially hate'd by the evil spirits. Some-
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times they feel themselves beaten fearfully ; but no hand is seen. Bricks and stones may fall on them from the sky or housetops. On the road they may without any warning be plastered over from head to foot with mud or filth ; or may be seized when approaching a river, and held under the water and drowned."
In his Social Life among the Chinese, Dr. Doolittle says : " They have invented several ways by which they find out the pleasure of gods and spirits. One of the most common of their utensils is the Ka-pue, a piece of bamboo root, bean-shaped, and divided in the centre, to indicate the positive and the negative. The incense lighted, the Ka-pue properly manipulated before the symbol god, the pieces are tossed from the medium's hand, indicating the ■will of the spirit by the way they fall."
The following manifestation is mental rather than physical : " The professional takes in the hand a stick of lighted incense to expel all defiling influences ; prayers of some sort are repeated, the fingers interlaced, and the medium's eyes are shut, giving unmistakable evidence of being possessed by some supernatural or spiritual power. The body sways back and forward ; the incense falls, and the person begins to step about, assuming the walk and peculiar attitude of the spirit. This is considered as infallible proof that the divinity has entered the body of the medium. Some- times the god, using the mouth of the medium, gives the supplicant a sound scolding for invoking his aid to obtain unlawful or unworthy ends.
" Divination," writes Sir John Burrows, "with many strange methods of summoning the dead to instruct the living and reveal the future, is of very ancient origin, as is proved by Chinese manuscripts antedating the revelations of the Jewish Scriptures."
An ancient Chinese book called Poh-shi-ching-isung, consisting of six volumes on the " Source of True Divina- tion,'' contains the following preface :
" The secret of augury consists in the study of the mys- teries and in communications with gods and demons. The interpretations of the transformations are deep and mys- terious. The theory of the science is most intricate, the practice of it most important. The sacred classic says : 4 That which is true gives indications of the future.' To know the condition of the dead, and hold with them in- telligent intercourse, as did the ancients, produces a most salutary influence upon the parties. . . . But when from intoxication or feasting, or licentious pleasures, they pro- ceed to invoke the gods, what infatuation to suppose that their prayers will move them Often when no response is given, or the interpretation is not verified, they lay the blame at the door of the augur, forgetting that their failure is due to their want of sincerity. ... It is the great fault of augurs, too, that, from a desire of gain, they use the art of divination as a trap to ensnare the people."
Peebles adds ; " Naturally undemonstrative and secre- tive, the higher classes of Chinese seek to conceal their full knowledge of spirit intercourse from foreigners, and from the inferior castes of their own countrymen, thinking them not sufficiently intelligent to rightly use it. The lower orders, superstitious and money-grasping, often prostitute their magic gifts to gain and fortune-telling. These clair- voyant fortune-tellers, surpassing wandering gypsies in ' hitting ' the past, infest the temples, streets and road- sides, promising to find lost property, discover precious metals and reveal the hidden future."
Ghosts. — The Chinese are strong in the belief that they are surrounded by the spirits of the dead. Indeed an- cestor-worship constitutes a powerful feature in the national faith, but as it deals with religion it does not come within the scope of this article. Suffice it to say that the Celestial has ever before him the likelihood and desirability
of communion with the dead. On the death of a person they make a hole in the roof to permit the soul to effect its escape from the house. When a child is at the point of death, its mother will go into the garden and call its name, hoping thereby to bring back its wandering spirit. " With the Chinese the souls of suicides are specially obnoxious, and they consider that the very worst penalty that can befall a soul is the sight of its former surroundings. This, it is supposed that, in the case of the wicked man, ' they only see their homes as if they were near them ; they see their last wishes disregarded, everything upside down, their substance squandered, strangers possess the old estate '; in their misery the dead man's family curse him, his children become corrupt, land is gone, the wife sees her husband tortured, the husband sees his wife stricken down with mortal disease ; even friends forget, but some, perhaps, for the sake of bygone times, may stroke the coffin and let fall a tear, departing with a cold smile.' " - "In China, the ghosts which are animated by a sense of duty are frequently seen : at one time they seek to serve virtue in distress, and at another they aim to restore wrong- fully held treasure. Indeed, as it has been observed, ' one of the most powerful as well as the most widely diffused of the people's ghost stories is that which treats of the perse- cuted child whose mother comes out of the grave to succour him.' "
" The Chinese have a dread of the wandering spirits of persons who have come to an unfortunate end. At Canton, 1817, the wife of an officer of Government had occasioned the death of two female domestic slaves, from some jealous suspicion it was supposed of her husband's conduct to- wards the girls ; and, in order to screen herself from the consequences, she suspended the bodies by the neck, with a view to its being construed into an act of suicide. But the conscience of the woman tormented her to such a degree that she became insane, and at times personated the vic- tims of her cruelty, or, as the Chinese supposed, the spirits of the murdered girls possessed her, and utilised her mouth to declare her own guilt. In her ravings she tore her clothes and beat her own person with all the fury of madness ; after which she would recover her senses for a time, when it was supposed the demons quitted her, but only to return with greater frenzy, which took place a short time previous to her death. According to Mr. Dennys, the most common form of Chinese ghost story is that wherein the ghost seeks to bring to justice the murderer who shuffled off its mortal coil."
Poltergeists (q.v.) are not uncommon in China, and several cases of their occurrence have been recorded by the Jesuit missionaries of the eighteenth century in Cochin China. Mr Dennys in hit Folk Lore of China, mentions a case in which a Chinaman was forced to take refuge in a temple by the usual phenomena — throwing about of crockery, &c, after the decease of a monkey.
Secret Societies. For an account of secret societies in China, See Thion-ti-Hwir and Triad Society.
It has sometimes been claimed that the systems of Con- fucius and Lao-Tze are magical or kabalistic, but such claims have been advanced by persons who did not appre- ciate their proper status as philosophic systems. (See Y-Kin, Book of.)
Symbolism. There are numerous mysteries of meaning in the strange symbols, characters, personages, birds, beasts, etc. which adorn all species of Chinese art objects. For example a rectangular Chinese vase is feminine, representing the creative or ultimate principle. A group of seemingly miscellaneous art objects, depicted perhaps upon a brush tray, are probably the po-ku, or ' hundred antiques,' em- blematic of culture and implying a delicate compliment to the recipient of the tray. Birds and animals occur with
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frequency on Chinese porcelains, and, if one will observe closely, it is a somewhat select menagerie, in which certain types are emphasised by repetition. For instance, the dragon is so familiar as to be no longer remarked, and yet his significance is perhaps not fully understood by all. There are, in fact, three kinds of dragons, the lung of the sky, the li of the sea, and the kiau of the marshes. The lung is the favourite kind, however, and may be known when met by his having ' the head of a camel, the horns of a deer, the eyes of a rabbit, ears of a cow, neck of a snake, belly of a frog, scales of a carp, claws of a hawk, and palm of a tiger.' His special office is to guard and support the man- sions of the gods, and he is naturally the peculiar symbol of the Emperor, or Son of Heaven.
A less familiar beast is the chi-lin, which resembles in part a rhinoceros, but has head, feet, and legs like a deer, and a tufted tail. In spite of his unprepossessing appear- ance he is of a benevolent disposition, and his image on a vase or other ornament is an emblem of good government and length of days. A strange bird, having the head of a pheasant, .a long flexible neck and a plumed tail, may often be seen flying in the midst of scroll-like clouds, or walking in a grove of treepeonies. This is the fengbuang, the Chinese phcenix, emblem of immortality and appearing to mortals only as a presage of the auspicious reign of a vir- tuous Emperor. The tortoise (kuei), which bears upon its back the seagirt abode of the Eight Immortals, is a third supernatural creature associated with strength, lon- gevity, and (because of the markings on its back) with a mystic plan of numerals which is a key to the philosophy of the unseen.
Colours have their significance, blue being the colour of the heavens, yellow of the earth and the Emperor, red of the sun, white of Jupiter or the Year Star, while each dynasty had its own particular hue, that of the Chou dy- nasty being described as ' blue of the sky after rain where it appears between the clouds.'
One could go on indefinitely ' reading ' the meaning of the seemingly fantastic creations of the Chinese artist- devotee, but enough has been said to show that the strange beings, the conventional arrangements, the apparently haphazard conjunction of object! in bis decorative schemes are far from being matter of chance, but add to their decora- tive properties the intellectual charm of significance.
Chirothesy, Diepenbroek's Treatise on : (See Healing by Touch.)
Chips of Gallows : Chips from a gallows and places of exe- cution are said to make efficacious amulets against ague.
Chiton : An evil spirit. (See Burma.)
Chochurah : The name under which the Jewish Kabalists designate Wisdom.
Chov-hani : The Gypsy name for a witch.
Chrisoletus : Is stone, which if bound round with gold and carried in the left hand drives away night-hags and pre- serves from melancholy, illusions and witches. Its virtue is the greater if a hole be made in it, and the hairs of an ass passed through.
Christian Circle, The : (See Spain.)
Chrysolite : A stone preventive'of fever and madness, which also disposes to repentance. If set in gold, it is a preser- vative against nocturnal terrors.
Chrysoprase : A stone good for weakness of sight, and for rendering its possessor joyful and liberal : its colour is green and gold.
Churchyard : It is not difficult to understand how the church- yard has come to be regarded as the special haunt of ghosts. The popular imagination may well be excused for sup- posing that the spirits of the dead continue to hover over the spot where their bodies are laid. The ancient Greeks thought that the souls of the dead were especially powerful
near their graves or sepulchres, because of some natural tie binding soul and body,- even after death. The more gross and earthly a soul was, the less willing was it to leave the vicinity of its body, and in consequence, spectres encountered in a churchyard were more to be feared than those met with elsewhere. The apparitions witnessed at the tombs of saints, however, were to be regarded rather as good angels than the souls of the saints themselves.
Chymical Nuptials of Christian Rosenkreutz : (See Rosi- crucians.)
Circe : (See Greece.)
Circles, Spiritualistic : A group of persons who meet at intervals for the purpose of holding seances for spirit communication. It is essential that at least one among them be a medium ; occasionally there are several mediums in one circle. But indeed all the members of a circle must be chosen with care, if the seances are to be productive of phenomena. The Baron de Guldenstubbe, in his Practical Experimental Pneumatology, or the Reality of Spirits and the Marvellous Phenomenon of their Direct Writing, published early in the history of the movement, gives directions for the forming of a circle after the Ameri- can fashion.
" Setting aside the moral conditions," he says, " which are equally requisite it is known that American Circles are based on the distinction of positive and electric or negative magnetic currents.
" The circles consist of twelve persons, representing in equal proportions the positive and negative or sensitive elements. This distinction does not follow the sex of the members, though generally women are negative and sensitive, while men are positive and magnetic. The mental and physical constitution of each individual must be studied before forming the circles, for some delicate women have masculine qualities, while some strong men are, morally speaking, women. A table is placed in a clear and ventilated spot ; the medium is seated at one end and entirely isolated ; by his calm and contem- plative quietudt he serves as a conductor for the electricity and it may be noted that a good somnambulist is usually an excellent medium. The six electrical or negative dispositions, which are generally recognised by their emotional qualities and their sensibility, are placed at the right of the medium, the most sensitive of all being next to him. The same rule is followed with the positive personalities, who are at the left of the medium, with the most positive among them next to him. In order to form a chain, the twelve person- each place their right hand on the table, and their left hand on that of the neighbour, thus making a circle round the table. Observe that the medium or mediums, if there be more than one, are entirely isolated from jthose who form the chain."
The formation of a circle is accomplished on similar lines at the present day. M. Camille Flammarion states that tht alternation of the sexes is generally provided to " rein- force the fluids." That the seance may be as productive when the circle is composed of a few investigators, following no rules, but their own, has been abundantly proved in recent years. The one indispensable feature is the medium.
Clairaudience ( " Clear Hearing") : The ability to hear sounds- inaudible to the normal ear, such as " spirit " voices ; a faculty analogous to clairvoyance, (q.v.), but considerably less frequently met with. If clairaudience be ascribed to auditory, as clairvoyance to visual, hallucination, its comparative rareness is accounted for, since visual hallu- cination is the more common of the two. At the same time there are a goodly number of instances of the clair- audient faculty on record, some of them of a very pictures- que nature. (See Spirit Music). Perhaps the best known.
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case is that of Joan of Arc, but she was not the Only martyr who heard the voices of saints and angels urging them to the performance of some special task. In spiritualistic circles the faculty is frequently claimed by mediums, but distinction must be made between the " inner voice," in which the latter are supposed to receive communications from the denizens of the other world, and an externalised voice comparable to an actual physical sound. Frequently some such physical sounds form the basis of an auditory hallucination, just as the points of light in a crystal are said to form points de repcre round which the hallucination of the visualiser may shape itself.
Clairvoyance {i.e., " clear vision ") : A term denoting the supposed supernormal faculty of seeing persons and events which are distant in time or place, and of which no know- ledge can reach the seer through the normal sense-channels. Clairvoyance may be roughly divided into three classes — retrocognition and premonition, or the perception of past and future events respectively, and the perception of contemporary events happening at a distance, or outside the range of the normal vision. Clairvoyance may include psychometry, second sight, and crystal-gazing, all of which see. For the early history of clairvoyance, see Divination. In prophecy, we have a form of clairvoyance extending back into antiquity, and second-sight also is an ancient form. It is notable that spiritualism in Great Britain was directly heralded, about the third decade of the nineteenth century, by an outbreak of clairvoyance. Among the clairvoyants of that period may be mentioned Alexis Didier (q.v.), whose phenomena suggested that telepathy at least entered into his feats, which included the reading of letters enclosed in sealed packets, the playing of Scarte with bandaged eyes, and others of a like nature. Clairvoyance remains to the present day a prominent feature of the spiritualistic seance. Though there exists a quantity of evidence, collected by the members of the Society for Psychical Research and other scientific investigators, which would seem to support the theory of a supernormal vision, yet at the same time it must be acknowledged that many cases of clairvoyance lend themselves to a more mundane ex- planation. For instance, it, has been shown that it is almost, if not quite, impossible so to bandage the eyes of the medium that he cannot make some use of his normal vision. The possibility of hyperesthesia during trance must also be taken into account, nor must we overlook the hypothetical factor of telepathy, which may conceiv- ably play a part in clairvoyant performances. A private enquiry agency might also be suggested as a possible source of some of the knowledge displayed by the professional clairvoyant. The crystal is, as has been indicated, a favourite mode of exercising the clairvoyant faculty, presumably because the hypnotic state is favourable to the development of the supernormal vision, though it might also be suggested that the condition thus induced favoured the rising into the upper consciousness of knowledge sub-consciously gleaned. The term clairvoyance is also used to cover the power to see discarnate spirits, and is thus applied to mediumship generally.
Clan Morna : In Irish romance one of the divisions of the Fianna, whose treasure bag containing magic weapons and precious jewels of the Danaan age was kept by Fia of that clan.
Clavel : Author of Histoire Pittoresque de la Francmazonnerie. He hints in it that when Freemasonry in Austria was sup- pressed by Charles VI., the Order of Mopses was estab- lished in its place.
Cledonism, or in full, Cledonismantia, is the good or evil presage of certain words uttered without premeditation when persons come together in any way. It also regulated the words to be used on particular occasions. Cicero says
the Pythagoreans were very attentive to these presages ; and according to Pausanius, it was a favourite method of divination at Smyrna, where the oracles of Apollo were thus interpreted.
Cleromancy was practised by throwing black and white beans, little bones or dice, and perhaps, stones ; anything, in short, suitable for lots. A method of practising clero- mancy in the streets of Egypt is mentioned under the head of Sortilege, and the same thing was common in Rome. The Thrisan lots, named before, meant indifferently the same thing as cleromancy ; it was nothing more than dicing, only that the objects used bore particular marks or charac- ters, and were consecrated to Mercury, who was regarded as the patron of this method of divination. For this rea- son an olive leaf, called " the lot of Mercury," was generally put in the urn in order to propitiate his favour.
Clidomancy should be exercised when the sun or moon is in Virgo, the name should be written upon a key. the key should be tied to a Bible, and both should be hung upon the nail of the ring-finger of a virgin, who must thrice softly repeat certain words. According as the key and book turns or is stationary, the name is to be considered right or wrong. Some ancients added the seven Psalms with litanies and sacred prayers, and then more fearful effects were produced upon the guilty ; for not only the key and the book turned, but either the impression of the key was found upon him, or he lost an eye. Another method of practising with the Bible and key, is to place the street door key on the fiftieth-psalm, close the volume and fasten it very tightly with the garter of a female ; it is then suspended to a nail and will turn when the name of the thief is mentioned. By a third method, two persons suspend the Bible between them ; holding the ring of the key by their two forefingers.
Clothes, Phantom : (See Phantom Dress.)
Cloven Foot : There is an old belief, buttressed by countless tales of apparitions, that the Devil always appears with a cloven foot, as a sort of distinguishing mark. It has been suggested that the Evil One, having fallen lower than any man, is not permitted to take the perfect human form, but must have some sort of deformity, i.e., the cloven foot.
Cock : The cock has always been connected with, magical practice in the various parts of the world throughout the ages, and is to be considered in more than one light in this connection. He is the herald of the dawn, and many examples might be cited of assemblies of demons and sorcerers where his shrill cry, announcing dayspring, has put the infernal Sabbath to rout. It is said that for the purpose of averting such a contingency, sorcerers were wont to smear the head and breast of the cock with olive oil, or else to place around his neck a collar of vine-branches. In many cases the future was divined through the instru- mentality of this bird. {See Alectryomancy). It was also believed that in the stomach of the cock was found a stone, called Lappilus Alectorius, from the Greek name of the bird, the virtue of which was to give strength and courage, and which is said to have inspired the gigantic might of Milo of Crotona.
Originally a native of India, the cock arrived in Europe in early times, via Persia, where we find him alluded to in the Zoroastrian books as the beadle of Sraosa, the sun, and affrighter of demons. Among the Arabs, it is said that he crows when he becomes aware of the presence of jinns. The Jews received their conception of the cock as a scarer of evil spirits from the Persians, as did the Armenians, who say that he greets with his clarion call the guardian angels, who descend to earth with the day, and that he gives the key-note to the angelic choirs of heaven to commence their daily round of song. In India, too, and among the Pagan Slavs, he was supposed to scare away demons from dwelling
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places, and was often the first living creature introduced into a newly-built house. The Jews, however, believe that it is possible for the cock to become the victim of demons, and they say that if he upsets a dish he should be killed. The, cock is often used directly in magical practice. Thus, in Scotland, he is buried under the patients' bed in cases of epilepsy. The Germans believed that if a sorcerer throws a black cock into the air, thunder and lightning will follow, and among the Chams of Cambodia, a woman who wishes to become a sorceress sacrifices a live cock on a termite's nest, cutting the bird in two from the head fx> the tail, and placing it on an altar, in front of which she dances and sings, until the two halves of the bird come together again, and it comes to life and crows. His name was often pronounced by the Greeks as a cure for the diseases of animals, and it was said by the Romans that locked doors could be opened with his tail feathers. The bird was often pictured on amulets in early times, and figured as the symbol of Abraxas, the principal deity of a Gnostic sect.
The cock is often regarded as the guide of souls to the underworld, and in this respect was associated by the Greeks with Persephone and Hermes, and the Slavs of pagan times often sacrificed cocks to the dead, and to the household serpents in which they believed their ancestors to be reincarnated. Conversely, the cock was sometimes pictured as having an infernal connection, especially if his colour be black. Indeed he is often employed in black magic, perhaps the earliest instance of this being in the Atharia Veda. A black cock is offered up to propitiate the Devil in Hungary, and a black hen was used for the same purpose in Germany. The Greek syrens, the Shedim of the Talmud, and the Izpuzteque, whom the dead Aztec encounters on the road to Mictlan, the Place of the Dead, all have cock's feet. There is a widespread folk-belief that once in seven years the cock lays a little egg. In Germany it is necessary to throw this over the roof, or tempests will wreck the homestead, but should the egg be hatched, it will produce a cockatrice or basilisk. In Lithuania they put the cock's egg in a pot, and place it in the oven. From this egg is hatched a Kauks, a bird with a tail like that of a golden pheasant, which, if properly tended, will bring its owner great good luck. Gross mentions in a chronicle of Bale, in Switzerland, that in the month of August, 1474, a cock of that town was accused and convicted of laying an egg, and was condemned to death. He was publicly burned along with his egg, at a place called Kablenberg, in sight of a great multitude of people.
The cock was also regarded as having a 'connection with light and with the sun, probably because of the redness of his comb, and the fiery sheen of his plumage, or perhaps because he heralds the day. It is the cock who daily wakens the heroes in the Scandinavian Asgard. (See Alectromaney.) Cock Lane Ghost : The supposed cause of a mysterious out- break of rappings, apparitions, and similar manifestations which broke out at a house in Cock Lane, Smithfield, London, in 1762. The disturbance was of the usual char- acter of poltergeist hauntings, but for some reason or other it attracted wide-spread attention in London. Crowds flocked to the haunted spot, and claimed to have witnessed the manifestations. The ghost purported to be the spirit of a former resident in the Cock Lane house, a Mrs. Kent, and stated that she had been murdered by her husband. The tenant of the house at the time of the disturbance was a man named Parsons, and it was more than surmised that he had invented the ghost for the purpose of blackmailing the deceased's woman's husband. The disturbance was finally traced to Parson's daughter, a girl of eleven, and
Parsons himself was prosecuted and pilloried. (See Andrew Lang's Cock Lane and Common Sense, (1894).
Coffin Nails : In Devonshire it is said that a ring made from three nails or screws that have been used to fasten a coffin, and dug up in a churchyard, will act as a charm against convulsions and fits of every kind.
Coffin, Walter : (See Psychological Society).
Coleman, Benjamin : (See British National Association of Spiritualists.)
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor : English author and mystic (1772- 1834). Samuel Taylor Coleridge, one of the greatest of English poets and critics, was born in the year 1772 at Ottery St. Mary, Devonshire, his father being John Cole- ridge, a clergyman and schoolmaster, who enjoyed con- siderable reputation as a theological scholar, and was author of a Latin grammar. Samuel's childhood was mostly spent at the native village, and from the first his parents observed that his was no ordinary temperament, for he showed a marked aversion to games, he even eschewed the company of other children, and instead gave his time chiefly to promiscuous reading. "At six years of age," he writes in one of his letters to his friend, Thomas Poole, " I remember to have read Belisarius, Robinson Crusoe, and Philip Quarll, and then I found the Arabian Nights Entertainments," while in this same letter he tells how the boys around him despised him for his eccentricity, the result being that he soon became a confirmed dreamer, finding in the kingdom of his mind a welcome haven of refuge from the scorn thus levelled at him.
By the time he was nine years old, Coleridge had shown a marked predilection for mysticism, in consequence where- of his father decided to make him a clergyman ; and in 1782 the boy left home to go to Christ's Hospital, London. Here he found among his fellow pupils at least one who shared his literary tastes, Charles Lamb, and a warm friendship quickly sprang up between the two ; while a little later Coleridge conceived an affection for a young girl called Mary Evans, but the progress of the love affair was soon arrested, the poet leaving London in 1 790 to go to Cambridge. Beginning his university career as a sizar at Jesus College, he soon became known as a brilliant conversationalist, yet he made enemies by his extreme views on politics and religion, and in 1793, finding himself in various difficulties, he went back to London where he enlisted in the 15th Dragoons. Bought out soon after- wards by his relations, he returned to Cambridge, and in 1794, he published his drama, The Fall of Robespierre, while in the following year he was married to Sarah Fricker, and in 1796 he issued a volume of Poems. He now began to preach occasionally in Unitarian chapels, while in 1797 he met Wordsworth, with whom he speedily became intimate, and whom he joined in publishing Lyrical Ballads, this containing some of Coleridge's finest things, notably The Ancient Mariner. Nor was this the only masterpiece he wrote at this time, for scarcely was it finished, ere he composed two other poems of like worth, Christabel and Kubla Khan ; while in 1798 he was appointed Unitarian minister at Shrewsbury, and after holding this post for a little while, he went to travel in Germany, the requisite funds having been given him by Josiah and Thomas Wedgwood, both of whom were keen admirers of Cole- ridge's philosophical powers, and were of opinion that study on the continent would be of material service to him. Among Coleridge's first acts on returning from Germany was to publish his translation of Schiller's Wallenstein, while simultaneously he took a cottage at Keswick, intend- ing to live there quietly for many years. But peace and quiet are benefits usually sought in vain by poets, and Coleridge was no exception herein, for early in life he had begun to take occasional doses of laudanum, and now this
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practice developed into a habit which ruled his whole life. In 1804 he sought relief by going to Malta, while afterwards he visited Rome, and though, on returning to England, he was cheered by finding that a small annuity had been left him by the Wedgwoods, he was quite incapable of shaking off this deadly drug habit. As yet, however, it had not begun to vitiate his gifts altogether ; and, after staying for awhile with Wordsworth at Grasmere, he delivered a series of lectures on poetry at Bristol and sub- sequently in London. Especially in the Metropolis his genius was quickly recognised, and he was made a pensioner of the Society of Literature, this enabling him to take a small house at Highgate, and there he mainly spent his declining years, while it was in Highgate Cemetery that his remains were interred after his death in 1834.
Everything from Coleridge's hand is penetrated by a wealth of thought. Apart from his purely metaphysical works, of which the most notable are Aids to Reflection and Confessions of an Enquiring Spirit, his Biographia Literaria and other fine contributions to critical literature are all of a mystical temper ; for Coleridge — more, perhaps, than any other critics, not even excepting Goethe and Walter Pater — is never content with handling the surface of things, but always reflects a striving to understand and lay bare the mysterious point where artistic creation begins. For him, literature is a form of life, one of the most myster- ious forms of life, and while he is supremely quick at noticing purely aesthetic merit, and equally quick at marking defect, it is really the philosophical element in his criticism which gives it its transcendant value and interest.
Coleridge's metaphysical predilections are not more salient in his prose than in his verse. In a singularly beautiful poem. To the Evening Star, he tells that he gazes thereon,
''Till I, myself, all spirit seem to grow." And in most of his poems, indeed, he is " all spirit," while often he hypnotises the reader into feeling something of the author's spirituality. Here and there, no doubt, he attempt..- to express in words things too deep and mysterious to be resolved into that sadly limited mode of utterance, the result being a baffling and even exasperating obscurity ; but waiving altogether Coleridge's metaphysical poems, may it not be said justly that he introduced the occult into verse with a mastery wholly unsurpassed in English literature ? May it not be said that The Ancient Mariner, and more especially Christabel, are the most beautiful of all poems in which the supernatural plays an important part ? Coley, Henry : {See Astrology.)
College of Teutonic Philosophers, R. C. (See Michael Maer). Collegia : Roman craftsmen's society. (See Freemasonry). Colloquy of the Ancients : A collection of Ossianic legends, made into one about the thirteenth or fourteenth centuries. It relates how the Fian heroes, Keelta and Oisin, each with eight warriors, met to talk over the glorious past for the last time. Then Oisin returns to the Fairy Mound of his mother, and Keelta meets with St. Patrick and his monks at Drumdreg. Keelta tells the saint many tales, inter- spersed with lyrics, with which he is delighted, and he eventually baptises Keelta and his warriors and grants them absolution. Commentary on the Ancient War of the Knights : (See
Alchemy.) Community of Sensation : The term applied by the early mesmerists to a phenomenon of the hypnotic trance, wherein the somnambule seemed to share the sensations of the operator. Thus an hypnotic subject, insensible to pain and utterly indifferent to any stimulus applied to his own organism, would immediately respond to such stimuli
applied to the hypnotist. If the latter had his nose tweaked or his hair pulled, the entranced subject, though in a separate apartment, would rub the corresponding part of his own person, with every sign of pain and indignation. The most common sensations shared in this wise were those of tasting and smelling, but apparent community of sight and even hearing were not unknown. In the days of Reichenbach such experiences were largely attributed to fraud, but they have since been proved to be genuine trance phenomena, probably arising from unconscious suggestion and Ivypersesthesia, or, in the few cases where that hypo- thesis will not cover the ground, telepathic communication between operator and subject. Community of sensation is not, however, confined to the trance condition. Many instances of community of sensation arising spontaneously in the cases of persons in rapport with one another are to be found in the Journal and Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research. Compacts with the Devil : An anonymous writer has handed down to us the agreement entered into between Louis Gaufridi and the devil :
" I, Louis, a priest, renounce each and every one of the spiritual and corporal gifts which may accrue to me from God, from the Virgin, and from all the saints, and especially from my patron John the Baptist, and the apostles Peter and Paul and St. Francis. And to you, Lucifer, now before me, I give myself and all the good I may accomplish, except the returns from the sacrament in the cases where I may administer it ; all of which I sign and attest."
On his side Lucifer made the following agreement with Louis Gaufridi :
" I, Lucifer, bind myself to give you, Louis Gaufridi, priest, the faculty and power of bewitching by blowing with the mouth, all and any of the women and girls you may desire ; in proof of which I sign myself Lucifer."
Bodin gives the following : " Magdalen of the Cross, native of Cordova in Spain and abbess of a convent, finding that she was suspected by the nuns and fearing that she would be burnt if charged, desired to anticipate them, and obtain the pardon of the pope by confessing* that from the age of twelve years, a bad spirit in the form of a black Moor had desired her chastity, and that she had given in, and this had gone on for thirty years or more, she usually sleeping with him. Through his means while in the church, she was raised up, and when the nuns took the Sacrament after the consecration, the host came even to her in the air, in the sight of the other nuns who re- garded it as sacred and the priest also, who used to complain at that time of a host."
According to Don Calmet there is to be seen at Mo'.sheim in the chapel of St. Ignatius in the church of the Jesuit fathers a weil-known inscription giving the history of a young German nobleman named Michel Louis, of the family of Boubenhoren, who was sent when quite young to the court of the Duke of Lorraine to learn French and there lost all his money at cards. Reduced to despair he decided to give himself up to the devil if that spirit of evil could or would give him good money, for he was afraid that he wouid be able to supply him only with counterfeit. While thinking this over a young man his own age, wel>built and well-clothed, suddenly appeared before him and asking him the cause of his distress, put out his hand full of money and invited him to prove its worth, telling him to look him up again on the morrow. Michel returned to his companions who were still playing, won back all he had lost and all that of his companions. Then he called on his devil who asked in return three drops of blood which he collected in an acorn shell, and offering a pen to Michel told him to write .to his dictation. This consisted of unknown words, which were taken down
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on two different notes, one of which the devil retained, and the other was put into the arm of Michel in the same places from which the blood had been taken. The devil then said : "I undertake to serve you for seven years, after which you belong to me without reserve." The young man agreed, though with some dread, and the devil did not fail to appear to him, day and night in various forms, inspiring him to things varied, unknown and curious and always with a tendency of evil. The fatal period of seven years was drawing to a end, and the young man was then about twenty years of age. He went home to his father, where the devil to whom he had given himself inspired him to poison his father and mother, burn the castle and kill himself. He tried to carry out all these crimes, but God prevented their success — the gun with which he would have killed himself missed fire twice, and the poison failed to act on his parents. Getting more and more uneasy he confided the unhappy condition he was in to some of his father's servants and begged them to get help. At the same time the devil seized him, twisting his body around and stopping very short of breaking his bones. His mother, who followed the teachings of Svenfeld and had enlisted her son in them, finding no help' in her cult against the demon who possessed or obsessed him, was forced to put him in the care of some monks. But he soon left them and escaped to Islade whence he was sent back to Molsheim by his brother, canon of Wissbourg, who put him again into the hands of the Fathers of the Society. It was then that the demon made the most violent efforts against him, appearing to him in the form of wild animals. One day among others the demon, in the form of a man, wild and covered with hair, threw on the ground a note or contract different from the true one which he had got from the young man, so as to try by this false show to get him out of the hands of those who were looking after him and to prevent his making a full con- fession. Finally the 20th October, 1603, was set aside for proof in the Chapel of St. Ignatius, and for the repro- duction of the true contract containing the deal made with the demon. The young man made profession of the orthodox catholic faith, renounced the demon and received the holy Eucharist Then with terrible cries he said that he saw two goats of immense size standing with their fore feet in the air and each holding between its hoofs one of the contracts or compacts. But when the exorcism was begun and the name of St. Ignace was invoked the two goats disappeared and there issued from the arm or left hand of the young man practically without pain and leaving no scar, the contract, which fell at the feet of the exorcist. There still remained the contract which had been retained by the demon. The exorcisms were begun again, St. Ignatius was invoked and a mass was promised in his honour, when a stork appeared, large, deformed and ill-shapen, and dropped from its beak the second contract, which was found on the altar."
There is frequent mention among the ancients of certain demons who show themselves, especially towards midday, to those with whom they are on familiar terms. They visit such persons in the form of men or animals or allow themselves to be enclosed in a letter, account or phial or even in a ring, wide and hollow within. " Magicians are known," adds Leloyer, il who make use of them, and to my great regret I am forced to admit that the practice is only too common."
Housdorf in his Theatre de-s exemples du 8e commandement," quoted by Goulart, says : "A doctor of medicine forgot himself so far as to form an alliance with the enemy of our salvation whom he called up and enclosed in a glass from which the seducer and familiar spirit answered him. The doctor was fortunate in the cure of ailments, and amassed
great wealth in his practice, so much so that he left his children the sum of 78,000 francs. Shortly before his death, when his conscience began to prick him, he fell into such a frenzy that he never spoke but to invoke the devil or blaspheme the Holy Ghost and it was in this un- fortunate condition that he passed away."
Goulart repeats, from Alexander of Alexandria, the story of a prisoner who had invoked the help of the devil and had visited the lower regions :
" The overlord of a small town in the principality of Sulmona and Kingdom of Naples, proved very miserly and arrogant in his rule, so much so that his subjects were too poor to live beside his harsh treatment of them. One of them, honest, but poor and despised, gave a sound beating for some reason to a hunting dog of this overlord, and the death of the dog angered the latter so much that he had the poor man seized and shut up in a dungeon. After some days the warders, who kept the gates carefully locked went to open them as usual to give him a crust of bread, but he was not to be found in his cell. Having looked for him everywhere, again and again, and finding no trace of him nor his method of escape, they at last reported this wonderful affair to their master, who first ridiculed, and then threatened them, but realising at length the truth of it, he was no less astonished than they. Three days after this alarming incident, and with all the doors of the prison and dungeon closed as before, this same prisoner, unbeknown to anyone, was found shut up in his own dungeon. He was much distracted, and asked to be taken without delay before the overlord as he had a matter of much importance to communicate. When taken there he said that he had come back from the lower regions. His case was that, not being able to stand any longer the rigors of prison life, overcome with despair, fearing death and lacking any good advice, he had invoked the help of the devil that he might release him from his confinement. That soon after, the Evil One, in a terribly hideous form, had appeared in his dungeon where they made a bargain, after which he was dragged out, not without severe injury, and projected into subterranean passages, wonderfully hollowed out, like the bottom of the earth ; there he had seen the dungeons of the wicked, their tortures and their miseries, dark and terrible, "kings, princes and high lords were plunged into abysses of darkness where, with inde- scribable torture, they were seared with a raging fire. That he had seen popes, cardinals and other prelates, beautifully dressed, and other kinds of persons in varying garb, suffering other anguish in gulfs of great depth, where the torture was incessant. Proceeding, he said he had recognised some acquaintances and especially a former great friend of his who, recognising him in return, enquired as to his condition. The prisoner told him that their land was in the hands of a cruel master, whereupon the other charged him to command this cruel master, on returning, to renounce his tyrannical ways, otherwise his place would be one of the neighbouring seats, which was shown to the prisoner. And (continued this shade) in order that the said overlord may have faith in your report recall to him the secret counsel and talks we had together when engaged in a certain war, the chiefs in which he named, and then he gave in detail the secret, their agree- ment, the words and promises given on each side. The prisoner gave them all distinctly one by one in their order, and the lord was much astonished at the message, wondering how things committed to himself and not revealed by him to anybody, could be so easily and so boldly unfolded to him by a poor subject of his who told them as if he had read them in a book. Further, the prisoner enquired of his friend in the lower regions, whether it could be true that all the magnificently dressed persons that he saw
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were conscious of their torments. The other answered that they were seared with an eternal fire, overwhelmed with torture and indescribable anguish, and that all this scarlet and golden raiment was nought but the colouring of the glowing fire. Wishing to test this he drew near to touch this scarlet effect and the other begged him to go, but the fierceness of the fire had scorched the whole of the palm of his hand, which he showed all roasted and cooked as in the embers of a great fire. The poor prisoner being released, to those who met him on his way home he ap- peared stupid. He neither saw nor heard anything, was always deep in thought, spoke little and replied very shortly to the questions put to him. His face, too, had become so hideous, his. appearance so will and ill-favoured that his wife and children had difficulty in recognising him again, and when they, did it was only to weep and cry at this change in him. He lived but a few days after his return and so great was his distraction that he had great difficulty in looking after his affairs."
Crespet describes the mark with which Satan brands his own :
" It may be assumed that it is no fallacy but very evident that Satan's mark on sorcerers is like leprosy, for the spot is insensitive to all punctures, and it is in the possession of such marks that one recognises them as true sorcerers for they feel the puncture no more than if they were leprous, nor does any blood appear, and never indeed, does any pain that may be inflicted cause them to move the part."
" They receive, with this badge, the power of injuring and of pleasing, and, secretly or openly, their children are made to participate in the oath and connection which the fathers have taken with the devil. Even the mothers with this in view, dedicate and consecrate their children to the demons, not only as soon as born but even when conceived, and so it happens that, through the mini- strations of these demons, sorcerers have been seen with two pupils in each eye, while others had the picture of a horse in one eye and two pupils in the other, and such serve as marks and badges of contracts made with them, for these demons can engrave and render in effigy such or similar lines and features on the bodies of the very young embryo."
"These marks," says Jacques Fontaine, "are not en- graved on the bodies of sorcerers by the demons for re- cognition purposes only, as the captains of companies of light-horse know those of their number by the colour of their coats, but to imitate the creator of all things, to show his power and the authority he has gained over those miserable beings who have allowed themselves to be caught by his cunning and trickery, and by the recognition of these marks of their master to keep them in his power. Further, to prevent them, as far as possible, from with- drawing from their promises and oaths of fidelity, because though breaking faith with him the marks still remain with them and serve, in an accusation, as a means of be- traying them, with even the smallest amount of evidence that may be brought forward."
" Louis Gaufridy, a prisoner, who had just been con- demned to be burnt .... was marked in more than thirty places over the body and on the loins especially there was a mark of lust so large and deep, considering the site, that a needle could be inserted for the width of three fingers across it without any feeling being shown by the puncture."
The same author shows that the marks on sorcerers are areas which have mortified from the touch of the devil's finger.
" About 1591, Leonarde Chastenet, an old woman of eighty, was taken up as a sorceress while begging in Poitou. Brought before Mathurin Bonnevault, who deponed to
having seen her at the meeting of witches, she confessed that she had been there with her husband, and that the devil, a very disgusting beast, was there in the form of a goat. She denied that she would have carried out any witchcraft, but nineteen witnesses testified to her having caused the death of five labourers and a number of animals. " Finding her crimes discovered and herself condemned she confessed that she had made a compact with the devil, given him some of her hair, and promised to do all the harm she could. She added that at night in prison the devil had appeared to her, in the form of a cat, to which she expressed the wish to die, whereupon this devil pre- sented her with two pieces of wax telling her to eat them and she would die, but she had been unwilling to do it. She had the pieces of wax with her, but on examination their composition could not be made out. She was then condemned and the pieces of wax burnt with her."
Compass Brothers : — Between the years 1400 and 1790, there existed at Lubeck a guild of this name, which met twice a year. Their badge was a compass and sector suspended from a crowned letter " C," over which was a radiated triangular plate. In 1485 they adopted chains composed of these emblems united by eagles' tails. They appear to have been a magical or Kabbalistic society.
Conan Mac Morna : — A figure in the Ossianic cycle of Irish legend, described as scoffing and deriding all that was high and noble. One day while hunting, he and others of the Fians, entered a magnificent palace which they found empty and began to feast. It soon became apparent, however, that the palace was enchanted, and the walls shrank to the size of a fox's hole. Conan seemed to be unaware of the danger and continued to eat ; but two of the Fians pulled him off his chair, to which soirfe of his skin stuck. To soothe the pain a black sheep-skin was placed on his back, on to which it grew, and he wore it till he died.
Conary Mor : — A legendary High King of Ireland. It is said that his great-grandfather destroyed the Fairy Mound of Bri-Leith, and thus brought down ill-fate upon Conary Mor. When a child he left his three foster-brothers on the Plains of Liffey, and followed a flock of beautiful birds down to the shore. These were transformed into armed men, who told him that they belonged to his father and were his kin. His geise (or taboo) was made known to him. and later he was proclaimed King of Erin. His reign was good, happy and prosperous, until the Danaan folk lured him to the breaking of his geise. It is told how Conary, dying of thirst after battle, sent his warrior Mac Cecht to bring him water. Mac Cecht had much difficulty in obtaining this, and on his return found that Conary had been beheaded : the water, however, was raised to the mouth of the bodyless head — which, it is said, thanked Mac Cecht for his deed.
Conferentes : — Gods of the ancients, spoken of by Arnobe, whom Leloyes identifies with incubi.
Conjuretors : — Magicians who claim to have the power to evoke demons and tempests
Conte Del Graal : — One of the " Quest " versions of the legend of the Holy Grail (q.v.) compiled by various authors. It tells how Perceval was reared to the life of a forester by his mother ; but forsaking her he becomes a member of the Court of King Arthur. Thence he goes forth as a knight- errant, and his numerous adventures are recited. During these, he meets with certain mysteries, but returns to the court. The adventures of Gauvain, another of the knights are fully detailed. Perceval, himself, sets forth again, and wanders about for five years in a very godless state of mind. One Good Friday he meets with a band of pilgrims, who remonstrate with him for riding armed on a holy day ; and he turns aside to confess to a hermit
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who turns out to be his uncle. From him he learns that only the sinless cm find the Grail, and that he has sinned in abandoning his mother, and thus causing her death. In a continuation of the legend by a different author, Perceva' appears to continue his search, but apparently unsuccessfully ; and fina'ly, by yet another compiler we are told that Perceval after many adventures marries Blanchfleure. The nature and origin of the Grail are described in these continuations of the legend.
Control : — A spiritualistic term, denoting the spirit who controls the physical organisation of a medium. — {See Spiritualism.)
Convulsionaries of St. Eledard : During the first half of the eighteenth century there occurred in the cemetery of St. Medard, Paris, an extraordinary outbreak of convulsions and religious extasy, whose victims were the Jansenists, at that time suffering much persecution at the hands of the government and the church. The outbreak commenced with a few isolated cases of miraculous healing. One, Mile. Morsaron, a paralytic, having for her confessor an enthusiastic Jansenist, was recommended by him to seek the tomb of St. Francis de Paris, in the cemetery of St. Medard. When she had repaired thither a few time.s she recovered her health. The news spread abroad, and other cures followed. Violent convulsions became a feature of the crisis which preceded these cures. At length the healing by Deacon Paris of a more than usually obstinate case, by a crisis of more than ordinary severity, was the signal for a violent outburst of epidemic frenzy. People of both sexes and all ages repaired to the tomb of the holy deacon, where the most appalling scenes were witnessed. People from the provinces helped to swell the ranks, till there was not a vacant foot of ground in the neighbourhood of St. Medard. At length, on January 27th, 1732, the cemetery was closed by order of the king. On its closed gate a wit inscribed the lines :
De par !e roi defense a Dieu De faire miracle en ce lieu.
However the king's ordinance did not put an end to the epidemic, which spread from Paris to many other towns. Ten years after its commencement — in 1741 — it seemed to have died away, but in 1759 it burst out in Paris with renewed vigour, accompanied by scenes still more awful. In the following year it disappeared once more, though isolated examples persisted so late as 1787.
Cook, Florence : An English medium, the first to present the phenomenon of materialisation in its complete form. In the production of the crowning physical manifestation, she was associated at the outset of her mediumistic career— at the beginning of the decade 1870-80 — with the medium Heme, but ere long dispensed with his assistance. So that she might not be under the necessity of taking fees for her services, a wealthy Manchester spiritualist, Mr. Charles Blackburn, paid her a sum of money annually. She was thus practically a private medium, and for the most part, her seances were held in her own home. Her principal control was the now famous spirit Katie King. Mr. — now Sir William — Crookes, who investigated the phenomena produced in Miss Cook's presence, declared his conviction that Katie and the medium were two separate entities, and was satisfied of the supernormal nature of the former. Not all the sitters, however, were equally convinced. Many persons traced a resemblance in form and feature between medium and control, and it has been suggested that the apparent differences were achieved by a change in the mode of hair-dressing, by tip-toeing, and other mechanical means.
Coral (red) : It stops bleeding, preserves houses from thunder, and children from evil spirits, goblins, and sorceresses.
It also strengthens digestion, and if taken in powder as soon as the child is born, preserves it from epilepsy.
Corbenic : A magic castle of the Arthurian legend, in which it is said the Holy Grail was kept. It was guarded by two lions. Lancelot tries to enter it by his own strength, in- instead of leaning on his Creator, and as a result is struck dumb by a fiery wind. In this state he remains for fourteen days without food or drink.
Cordovero : A famous Kaba'.ist of the sixteenth century.
Cornwall : {See Sea Phantoms and Superstitions.)
Corpse Candles : Mysterious lights supposed to presage death. They are also called fetch-lights and dead men's candles.
Coscinomancy is practised with a sieve, and a pair of tongs or shears, which are supported upon the thumb nails of two persons, who look one upon the other, or the nails of the middle finger may be used. Potter, in his Greek A ntiquities, says : " It was generally used to discover thieves, or others suspected of any crime, in this manner : they tied a thread to the sieve by which it was upheld, or else placed a pair of shears, which they held up by two fingers, then prayed to the gods to direct and assist them ; after that they repeated the names of the persons under suspicion, and he, at whose name the sieve whirled round or moved, was thought guilty." In the Athenian Oracle it is called " the trick of the sieve and scissors, the coskiomancy of the ancients, as old as Theocritus," he having mentioned in his third idyll, a woman who was very skilful in it. Saunders, in his Chiromancy, and Agrippa, at the end of his works, gives certain mystic words to be pronounced before the sieve will turn. It was used to discover love secrets as well as unknown persons. According to Grose, a chanter in the Bible is to be read, and the appeal made to St. Peter or St. Paul.
Costume, Phantom : {See Phantom Dress.)
Counter Charms : Charms employed to counteract the effect of other charms. When magicians wish to dis- enchant animals they sprinkle salt in a porringer with some blood from one of the bewitched creatures, and repeat certain formulae for nine days.
Counts of Hell : Demons of a superior order in the infernal hierarchy, who command numerous legions. They may be evoked at all hours of the day, provided the evocation takes place in a wild, unfrequented spot.
Courier de 1'Europe : {See Cagliostro).
Cox, Sergeant : {{See Psychological Society).
Cramp- Rings, Hallowing : A ceremony which took place in England on Good Friday. It consisted of the repetition of certain psalms and prayers, during which the king rubbed the rings between his hands. It was said that rings thus consecrated on Good Friday b)7 the kings of England, had the power of curing cramp ; and the rings, which were given away were much in request even by foreign ambassadors. Critomancy : Divination by means of observing viands and cakes. The paste of cakes which are offered in sacrifice, is closely examined, and from the flour which is spread upon them, omens are drawn. Crollius, Oswald : A disciple of the school of Paracelsus, and author of the Book of Signatures — the preface to which contains a good sketch of hermetic philosophy. The writer seeks to demonstrate that God and Nature have, so to speak, signed all their works, that every product of a given natural force is as the sum of that force, printed in indelible characters, so that he who is initiated in the occult writings can read as in an open book the sympathies and antipathies of things, the properties of substances, and all other secrets of creation. " The characters of different writings," says Eliphas Levi, " were borrowed primitively from these natural signatures existing in stars
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and flowers, in mountains and the smallest pebble ; the figures of crystals, the marks on minerals, were impressions of the thought which the Creator had in their creation. .... But we lack any grammar of this mysterious language of worlds, and a mathematical vocabulary of this primitive and absolute speech. King Solomon alone is credited with having accomplished the dual labour, but the books of Solomon are lost. The enterprise of Crollius was not the reconstitution of these, but an attempt to discover the fundamental principles obtaining in the' universal language of the creative world. It was recog- nised in these principles that the original hieroglyphics, based on the prime elements of geometry, corresponded to the constitutive and essential laws of forms, determined by alternating or combined movements, which, in their turn, were determined by equilibratory attractions. Simples were distinguished from composites by their external figures ; and by the correspondence between figures and numbers it became possible to make a mathematical classification of all substances revealed by the lines of their services. At the root of these endeavours, which are reminiscences of Edenic science, there is a whole world of discoveries awaiting the sciences. Paracelsus had defined them, Crollius indicates them, another, who shall follow, will realise and provide the demonstration concerning them. What seemed the folly of yesterday will be the genius of to-morrow, and progress will hail the sublime seekers who first looked into this lost and recovered world, this Atlantis of human knowledge."
Crosland, Mrs. Newton : An early spiritualistic medium. Under the name of Camilla Toulmin, she published, in 1857, Light in the Valley, a record of her experiences. There is a trend of Swedenborgian mysticism in her writings. (See Spiritualism.)
Cross-Correspondences : Correspondences found in the script of two or more automatic writers acting without collusion, and under such conditions that the possibility of com- munication by normal means is removed. Since the begin- ■ ning of the present century efforts have been made by members of the Society for Psychical Research to prove, by the production of script containing cross-correspondence, the existence of discarnate intelligences, and their ability to operate through the physical organism of a medium. The first instances were of a spontaneous character, and occurred in the trance utterances of Mrs. Thompson and those of another medium, Miss Rawson. Thereafter the idea was conceived of deliberately cultivating them, and several ladies — Mrs. Verrall, Mrs. Holland, and others — ■who had been successful in producing automatic script, sent it to the Society for Psychical Research, where the writings were found to show more numerous correspond- ences than mere coincidence would warrant. It was arranged that experiments should be made under stricter test conditions. Frequently the script of Mrs. Verrall was of an allusive and enigmatical character, so that she herself was unable to interpret it until the key had been . supplied by the writings of a second automatist. Some- times three automatists succeeded in producing writings having a decided connection wth each other. Two obscure writings have been rendered intelligible by means of a third, perhaps in itself equally obscure. In at least one case correspondences occurred in the script of no less than six automatists, under somewhat curious circumstances. Mr. Piddington, a well known member of the Society for Psychical Research, had written a "test" letter, which he proposed should be opened after his death. The con- tents, which dealt emphatically with the number seven, he told to no one. On hearing, however, of the remarkable cross-correspondences — all dealing with the number seven- he opened his letter, four years after it was written, and
supplied the clue. In 1906, Mrs. Piper was brought to this country so that the correspondences might be studied to better advantage. The experiments were successful to a surprising degree, and seemed to place beyond a doubt the operation in all the writings of an intelligence other than the automatist's. Mr. Podmore, however, would refer the phenomena of cross-correspondences, at least in part, to the operation of a complex form of tele- pathy— a possible, but in view of the facts, not very probable, explanation.
Crow : The cawing of a crow is an omen of evil.
Crow's Head : (See Philosopher's Stone.)
Crystal : Crystal prevails against unpleasant dreams, dis- solves enchantments, and is a medium for magical visions. Being bruised with honey, it fills the breasts with milk. Leonardus appears to have indulged a little spite against this beautiful mineral. " The principal use of crystal," he says, " is for making cups, rather than anything else that is good."
Crystalomancy, or Crystal Gazing : A mode of divination practised from very, early times with the aid of a crystal globe, a pool of water, a mirror, or indeed any transparent object. Divinations by means of water, ink, and such substances are also known by the name of hydromancy (q. v.) . Crystal gazing may be a very simple or a very elaborate performance, according to the period in which it was practised, but in every case the object is to induce in the clairvoyant a form of hypnosis, so that he may see visions in the crystal. The •' crystal " most in favour among modern crystal gazers is a spherical or oval globe, about four inches in diameter, and preferably a genuine crystal ; but a's a crystal of this size and shape is necessarily ex- pensive, a sphere of glass is frequently substituted, and with very good results. It must, however, be a perfect sphere of oval, free from speck or flaw, highly polished, and contained in a stand of polished ebony, ivory, or box- wood. Among the Hindus, a cup of treacle or a pool of ink is made to serve the same purpose. Precious stones were much used by crystallomancers in the past, the favour- ite stone being the beryl in pale sea green or reddish tints. By the ancients crystallomancy was practised with a view to the invocation of spirits, and very elaborate preparations and ceremonials were considered necessary. He who would practise invocations in this wise must, in the first instance, be a man of pure life and religious disposition. For the few days immediately preceding the inspection of the crystal, he must make frequent ablutions, and subject himself to strict religious discipline, with prayer and fasting. The crystal, as well as the stand on which it rests, must be inscribed with sacred characters, as must also the floor of the room in which the invocation is to take place. A quiet, retired spot is suggested for the purpose, where the magician, may be free from all disturbance. Besides these matters of solitude and cleanliness, there is the question of the mental attitude to be considered, and this is no less important than the material preparations. A perfect faith is an essential condition of success. If the magician would be accompanied by one or two of his friends, they also must conform to the same rules and be guided by the same principles. The time of the invocation is chosen according to the position in the heavens of the various planets, all preparations having been made during the - increase of the moon. All the instruments and accessories used in the performance — the sword, rod and compasses, the fire and the perfume to be burned thereon, as well as the crystal itself — are consecrated or " charged " prior to the actual ceremony.
During the process of invocation, the magician faces the east and summons from the crystal the spirit he desires. Magio circles have previously been inscribed on the floor.
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and it is desirable that the crystallomaticer remain within these for some little time after the spirit has been dismissed. It was essential that no part of the ceremonial be omitted, otherwise the invocation would be a failure. Paracelsus, however, and others declared that all such elaborate cere- monies were unnecessary, and that the tnagnes microcosmi, the magnetic principle in man, was in itself sufficient to achieve the desired object. At a later period, though the ceremonial was not abolished, it became decidedly less imposing. If the person on whose behalf the divination was to be performed was not himself gifted with the clairvo- yant faculty, he sought for a suitable medium, the best for the purpose being a young boy or girl, born in wedlock, and perfectly pure and innocent. Prayers and magical words were pronounced prior to the ceremony, and in- cense and perfumes were burned. Sometimes the child's forehead was anointed, and he himself provided with gar- ments suitable to the impressive nature of the ceremony. Some writers mention a formula of prayers, known as the Call, which preceded the inspection of the crystal. Finally, the latter having been charged, it was handed over to the medium. The first indication of the clairvoyant vision was the appearance of a mist or cloud in the crystal. This gradually cleared away, and the vision made its appearance. Modern Crystal gazing is carried on in much the same manner, though the preparations are simpler. The crystal is spherical and of the size of an orange ; when in use it may be held between the agent's finger and thumb, or, if the end be slightly flattened, placed on a table ; alternatively it maybe held in the palm of the hand against a background of black cloth. The operation may be more readily carried out in a subdued light. A medium or clairvoyant person acts as the seer and if the divination be made for anyone else it is advisable that he be allowed to hold the crystal in his hand for a few minutes before it is passed into the hands of the clairvoyant. The object of crystal gazing is, as has been said, the induction of an hypnotic state giving rise to visionary hallucinations, the reflection of light in the crystal forming points de repere for such hallucinations. The value of elaborate ceremonials and impressive rituals thus lies in their potency to affect the mind and imagination of the seer. So far, the mystery of crystal vision is no mystery at all. But the remarkable frequency with which, according to reliable witnesses, visions seen in the crystal have tallied with events hap- pening elsewhere at the same moment, or even with future events, is a fact for which science has not yet found an adequate explanation. It has been suggested that if telepathy operates with greater freedom during the hyp- notic state, so it may be also with the self-induced hypnosis of crystal gazing. And this, though it cannot be said to cover the entire ground, is perhaps, on the whole, the best explanation yet offered. There are many well-attested cases wherein the crystal has been successfully used for the
purpose of. tracing criminals, or recovering lost or stolen property. The telepathic theory, however, will hardly apply to these instances wherein events have been wit- nessed in the crystal before their actual occurrence. Such mysteries as these must be left to the art of the psychical researcher to unravel.
Crucifixion, Gnostic Conception of : As soon as Christ was born according to the Gnostic speculative view of Christianity, Christos, united himself with Sophia (Holy Wisdom), descended through the seven planetary regions, assuming in each an analogous form to the region, and concealing his true nature from its genii, whilst he attracted into himself the spark of Divine Light they severally retained in their angelic essence. Thus Christos, having passed through the seven Angelic Regions before the " Throne," entered into the man Jesus, at the moment of his baptism in the Jordan. From that time forth, being supernaturally gifted, Jesus began to work miracles. -Before that, he had been completely ignorant of his mission. When on the cross, Christos and Sophia left his body, and returned to their own sphere. Upon his death, the two took the man " Jesus," and abandoned his material body to the earth ; for the Gnostics held that the true Jesus did not (and could not) physically suffer on the cross, and die, and that Simon of Cyrene, who bore his cross, did in reality suffer in his room : "' And they compelled one, Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross " (St. Mark XV. 21). The Gnostics contended that a portion of the real history of the Crucifixion was never written.
At the resurrection Christos and Sophia gave the man Jesus another body, made up of ether (Rosicrucian Aetherceum). Thence-forward he consisted of the two first Rosicrucian principles only-, soul and spirit ; which was the reason that the disciples did not recognise him after the resurrection. During his sojourn upon earth after he had risen, he received from Sophia, or Holy Wisdom, that perfect knowledge or illumination, that true " Gnosis," which he communicated to the small number of the Apostles who were capable of receiving the same.
Ciupipiltin : Vampires in ancient Mexico. (See Mexico and Central America.)
Cursed Bread : Used for purposes of divination, or ordeal by flour or bread. A piece of bread, about an ounce in weight, over which a spell had been cast, was administered to the suspected person. Should it cause sickness or choking the man was said to be guilty, but if he remained well he was regarded as innocent. Barley bread was often used for this form of divination, being more likely to cause choking. This method of trial was practised amongst the Anglo-Saxons.
Curses : (See Spells.)
Cyamal : The head-chief of the Egbo Assembly, a secret council of Old Calabar.
D
Dactylomancy: A term covering various forms of divination practised with the aid of rings. One method resembles the table-rapping of modern spiritualism. A round table is inscribed with the letters of the alphabet, and a ring suspended above it. The ring, it is said, will indicate certain letters, which go to make up the message required. It was used, according to Ammianus Marcellinus, to find Valen's successor, and the name Theodosius was correctly indicated. Solemn services of a religious character ac- companied this mode of divination. Another form of dactylomancy, of which there is no detailed account, was practised with rings of gold, silver, copper, iron or lead, which were placed on the finger-nails in certain conjunc-
tions of the planets. A wedding ring is, however, most in favour for purposes of this sort. Another way is to suspend the ring within a glass tumbler, or just outside of it so, that the ring on being swung may easily touch the glass. As with table-rapping, a code may then be arranged, the glass being struck once for an affirmative, twice for a negative answer, and so on. Suspended above a sovereign, the ring will indicate the person from whose head hair has been taken, or, if requested, any other member of the company. Dactyls ; A class of sorcerers and scientific physicians who had their origin in Phrygia. Their number is given differ- ently by different authorities. Some say it equals the
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number of fingers on the hands — five male and five female. Pausanias says five, Perecydes fifty-two, twenty right and thirty-two left ; while Orpheus the Argonaut mentions a large number. The dactyls were magicians, exorcists, conjurors, soothsayers. Plutarch says that they made their appearance in Italy as sorcerers ; while their magical practices and mysteries threw the inhabitants of Samo- thrace into consternation. They were credited with the discovery of minerals and the notes of the musical scale ; also with the discovery and use of the Ephesian mines They introduced fire into Crete, musical instruments into Greece. They were good runners and dancers, skilled in science and learning, and from them came the first 'wise men. They are said by some to have been the magnetic powers and spirits, whose head was Hercules.
Daeraonologie : by King James VI. and I. : It is customary nowadays to sneer at the writings of this royal author, ar.d as Horace Walpole remarks, his majesty really has more critics than readers ; while it should be borne in mind that in his own day the king's books were greatly admired, winning the encomiums of Bacon, Izaak Walton, and nu- merous equally eminent men of letters. In general, how- ever, it was Basilicon Doron which elicited their homage, and compared to this last the king's study of demonology is but a mediocre performance. Published in 1597, it is couched " in forme of ane dialogue," the speakers being Philomathes and Epistemon ; and the former, being very incredulous as regards all kinds of magic, asks Epistemon to enlighten him. Thereupon many famous acts of witch- craft are adduced, but, when Philomathes requests to be told precisely why the black art should be considered in- iquitous, his interlocutor fails conspicuously to give a satis- factory answer. He merely inveighs against the practice in question, and accordingly there is something distinctly trite in the subsequent pages, wherein Epistemon is represented as being converted to the other speaker's point of view, and declaring loudly that all sorcerers and the like " ought to be put to death according to the Law of God, the civill and imperiall Law, and municipall Law of all Christian Nations."
Daiver-Logum : The dwelling place of the daivers (q.v.) a species of Hindoo genii. Besides the daivers, who number three hundred and thirty millions, there dwell in the Daiver- Logum those heroes and prophets who are not yet fit for the paradise of Shiva or of Vishnu.
Daivers and Daivergoel : Hindoo genii inhabiting the Daiver- Logum, a world of their own. They are, it seems, related to the Persian divs, from which it is suggested that the word " devil " is derived. They possess material bodies as well as spiritual, and have many human attributes, both good and evil. Their king is called Daivuntren, or Indiren, his wife Inderannee, and his son Seedcra-hudderen. The latter records the actions of human beings, by which they must at last be judged. In Daivuntren's immense court of audience there is room not only for the daivers them- selves, but for a multitude of attendants, or companions. These are the kuinarer, the musicians of Daiver-Logum ; Dumbarim, Nardir, the drummers ; Kimprusher, winged beings of great beauty, who wait on the daivers ; Kunda- gaindoorer, similar beings, the messengers of Vishnu ; Paunner, the jugglers ; Viddiaser, the bards ; Tsettee, those beings who attend them in their aerial flights ; Kan- nanader, or Dordanks, the messengers who lead devotees of Shiva and Vishnu to paradise, and the wicked to hell. There is yet another class of daivergoel, or genii, which com- prises the eight keepers of the eight sides of the world, known by their general name of Aushtatiken-Pauligaur. These are Indiren, or Daivuntren, their king ; Augne- Bangauven, god of fire ; Eemen, king of death and hell ; Nerudee, the earth-element personified as a giant ; Vaivoo,
god of the air and winds ; Varooner, god of the clouds and rain ; Gooberen, god of riches ; and Essaunien, Shiva himself, in one of his 1,008 incarnations. Dalan : A druid who figures in the medieval Irish legend
of Conary Mor (q.v.). Dalton, Thomas : The history of this alchemist is veiled in obscurity, but he appears to have lived about the middle of the fifteenth century ; and, as he is mentioned in the Ordinall of A Ichimy by Thomas Norton, it is likely that he was a pupil or at least a friend of the latter. Dalton was a churchman, resident at an abbey in Gloucester ; and it is reported that, on one occasion, he was brought before the king, Edward IV., in whose presence he was charged with the surreptitious practice of magic, in those days a capital crime. His accuser was one Debois, to whom the unfortunate alchemist had at one time been chaplain, and this Debois affirmed upon oath that he had seen the ac- cused create a thousand pounds of pure gold within the space of a single day. Thereupon Dalton reminded his accuser that he had sworn never to reveal this or any kin- dred facts. Debois acknowledged his perfidy herein, yet added that he was acting for the good of the commonwealth. The alchemist then addressed the king himself, telling him that he had been given the powder of projection by a cer- tain Canon of Litchfield, and that since then he had been in so constant a state of trepidation that he had ultimately destroyed the precious article. Edward accordingly granted him his freedom, at the same time giving him money sufficient for his journey home ; but on his way there he was seized by a certain Thomas Herbert, who had heard of the accusation brought against the churchman, and was naturally inquisitive. Herbert carried his victim to the castle of Gloucester, and, incarcerating him in a cell there, tried every means to make him disclose the secret at issue. All was in vain, however, and at length Dalton was condemned to death by his persecutor, and brought ■out to be beheaded in the courtyard of the castle. He placed his head on the block, and,- crying out to God to receive his soul, he called upon the executioner to strike speedily ; but now a strange scene was enacted, for hardly was the axe raised ere Herbert sprang forward to avert it, at the same time declaring that he dared not shed inno- cent blood. In short, the projected execution was no more than a dastardly ruse, the persecutor imagining that the alchemist would confess all when his life was at stake ; and, as the plan had failed, Dalton was allowed to go free. So he returned to his abbey in Gloucestershire, and there he lived quietly and unmolested for the rest of his days. Damear : A mystical city. {See Rosiciucians.) Damian, John : Alchemist, Abbot of Tungland. (See Scotland.) Danaans, The : The people of the goddess Dana, often men- tioned in Irish medieval romance. They were one of the three Nemedian families who survived the Fomorian vic- tory, and returned to Ireland at a later period. By some it was said that they came " out of heaven," and by others that they sprang from four cities, in which they learned science and craftsmanship, and from each of which they brought away a rhagical treasure. From Falias they brought the Stone of Destiny (Lia Fail) (q.v.) ; from Gorias an invincible sword ; from Finias a magical spear ; and from Murias the Cauldron of the Dagda. They were be- lieved to have been wafted to Ireland on a magic cloud, carrying their treasures with them. After a victorious battle they took possession of the whole of Ireland, except Connacht which was given to the vanquished. The Danaans were the representatives of power and beauty, of science and poetry, to the writer of the myth ; to the common people they were gods of earth. In their battles they were subject to death, but it was by magical powers that they conquered their mortal foes.
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D'Ancre, Marechale : (See France.)
Dandis : (See India.)
Daphnomaney : Divination by moans of the laurel. A branch is thrown in the fire, if it crackles in burning it is a happy sign, but if it burns without doing so, the prog- nostication is false.
Dark, The : A druid of Irish medieval legend, who turned Saba into a fawn because she did not return his love.
Darkness of the Sages : (See Philosopher's Stone.)
D'Ars, Cure : ( See France.)
Davenport Brothers (Ian and William) : Two American mediums who gave seances for physical phenomena in America and Britain during the decade 1860-70. They seem to have attained to a considerable measure of fame, and to have won a great many people to the belief that their performances were genuine spirit manifestations. On their coming to England in 1864 they were accompanied by a chaplain, the Rev. J. B. Ferguson, who helped to inspire confidence in their good faith. The usual plan of their seances was as follows : The Brothers Davenport took their seats vis-a-vis in a small walnut cabinet " made very like a wardrobe or clothes-press." Any two gentlemen from among the audience were requested to bind them firmly to their benches, so as to preclude any possibility of their freeing their hands. Musical instruments were then placed in the cabinet, apparently out of reach of the medium, and the lights were lowered. Soon the musical instruments began to play within the cabinet, dim " spirit hands " were seen in front of it. At the conclusion of the seance, however, the mediums were found tied as securely as ever. They met with a check, however, on their pro- vincial tour, for at Liverpool there were two men among the audience who possessed -the secret of a special knot. The " Tom Fool's knot," as it was called, baffled the spirits, and the mediums were mobbed. Later in a seance given before a committee of the Anthropological Society, they shirked nearly all the conditions, and succeeded in accom- plishing nothing which could not be done by a skilful con- jurer. Tolmagne, Anderson, and other conjurers emulated their feats, and Maskelyne and Cooke so successfully that mediums had no resource butfto class themas "fellow-adepts."
Davey, S. T. : A member of the Society for Psychical Re- search who in 1886 gave imitations of the slate-writing performances of Eglinton and Slade, with a view to exposing their fraudulent methods. By simple conjuring he suc- ceeded in emulating all their feats. (See Slate-writing, Spiritualism.)
Davies, Lady : Eleanor Tuchet, daughter of George, Lord Audley, married Sir John Davies, an eminent lawyer in the time of James the First, and author of a poem of con- siderable merit on the Immortality of the Soul. This lady was a person of many talents ; but what she seems most to have valued herself upon, was her gift of prophecy ; and she accordingly printed a book of Strange and Wonderful Predictions. She professed to receive her prophecies from a spirit, who communicated to her audibly things about to come to pass, though the voice could be heard by no other person. Sir John Davies was nominated lord chief justice of the king's bench in 1626. Before he was in- ducted into the office, lady Eleanor, sitting with him on Sunday at dinner, suddenly burst into a passion of tears. Sir John asked her what made her weep. To which she replied " These are your funeral tears." Sir John turned off the prediction with a merry answer. But in a very few days he was seized with an apoplexy, of which he pres- ently died. She also predicted the death of the duke of Buckingham in the same year. For this assumption of the gift of prophecy, she was cited before the high-com- mission-court and examined in 1634.
Davis, Andrew Jackson : Known as the " Poughkeepsie Seer " from his residence in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., was a prophet, clairvoyant, and mystic philosopher, who commenced his mission to the world about 1844, some time before the Rochester Rappings had inaugurated the movement known as " modern spiritualism." In 1847 he published a volume of trance discourses, The Principles of Nature, Her Divine Revelations, and A Voice to Mankind. In the same year he issued the first number of the Univer cesium, a periodical devoted to clairvoyance and trance phenomena generally, which continued till 1849. Not until 1850, however, did Davis and his followers identify themselves with the spirit- ualists. In his Revelations the Poughkeepsie Seer pro- pounds his Harmonial Philosophy, afterwards to be elab- orated in many volumes. His mission, revealed to him by Galen and Swedenborg, was the prophesying of a new dispensation, preceded by a social revolution. He was associated, throughout his career, with many prominent spiritualists.
Death-Coach : There is a widespread superstitious belief that death goes round in a coach picking up souls. The form of the belief varies, of course, with the locality. In some parts of England and Wales the death-coach passes silently at midnight, without sound of hoof or wheels. Both coach and horse are black, and a black hound runs in front. In some localities the horses and coachman are headless, which doubtless adds to the effectiveness of the apparition. The Breton peasant hears the approach at
. midnight of a cart with a creaking axle. It is the Ankon death — ■ and when the cart stops before a dwelling some- one within must die.
Death-watch : The ticking of the death-watch — a small in- sect found in decaying wood — is thought by the super- stitious to presage death.
Decern Viri : (See Sibylline Books.)
Deetera : A figure of Irish medieval romance. She was the daughter of Cathbad the Druid, and mother of Cuchu- lain (q.v.). She and fifty other maidens disappeared from the court of Conor mac Nessa. Three years later, while pursuing a flock of birds which were spoiling the crops, the king and courtiers came upon a magnificent palace inhabited by a youth of noble mien and a beautiful woman and fifty maidens. These wer? recognised as Deetera and her companions, and the youth as Lugh, the sun-god. Conor summoned Deetera to him, but she sent him instead her new-born son, Cuchulain.
Dee, John : Born in London 1527, this remarkable mathe- matician and astrologer is supposed to have been descended from a noble old Walsh House, the Dees of Nant y Groes in Radnorshire ; while he himself affirmed that among his direct ancestors was Roderick the Great, Prince of Wales. Dee's father appears to have been a gentleman server at the court of Henry VIII., and, being consequently in tolerably affluent circumstances, he was able to give his son a good education. So at the age of fifteen John proceeded to Cambridge, and after two years there he took his degree as Bachelor of Arts ; while a little later on his becoming intensely interested in astronomy and the like, he decided to leave England and go and study abroad. In 1547, accordingly, he went to the Low Countries, where he consorted with numerous scholars, and whence he even- tually brought home the first astronomer's staff of brass, and also two gloves constructed by Gerard Mercetor ; but Dee was not destined to remain in his native land for long, and in 1548 he lived for some time at Louvain, and in 1550 he spent several months in Paris, lecturing there on the principles of geometry. He was offered, indeed, a per- manent post at the Sorbonne ; but he declined this, and in 1 55 1 he returned to England, where, having been recom-
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mended to Edward VI., he was granted the rectory of Upton-upon-Severn, Worcestershire.
The astrologer was now in a delightful and enviable position, having a comfortable home and assured income, and being able to devote himself exclusively to the studies he loved. But hardly had he begun to enjoy these bene- fits ere an ugly cloud darkened his horizon, for, on the accession of Queen Mary in 1553, he was accused of try- ing to' take the new sovereign's life by thaumaturgic means, and was imprisoned at Hampton Court. He gained his liberty soon afterwards, but he felt very conscious that many people looked on him askance on account of his scientific predilections ; and, in a preface which he wrote for an English translation of Euclid, he complains bitterly of being regarded as "_a companion of the helhounds, a caller and a conjuror of wicked and damned spirits." How- ever, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth his fortunes began to improve again ; and after making another long tour abroad, going on this occasion so far afield as St. Helena, he took a house at Mortlake on the Thames, and while staying there he rapidly became famous for his inti- mate knowledge of astronomy. In 1572 on the advent of a new star, people flocked to hear Dee descant on the subject ; while five years later, on the appearance of a mysterious comet, the scholar was again vouchsafed ample opportunity of displaying his learning, Elizabeth herself being among those who came to ask him what this addition to the stellar bodies might portend.
The most romantic circumstances in Dee's life, however, are those which deal with his experiments in crystallomancy. Living in comparative solitude — practising astrology for bread, but studying alchemy for pleasure — brooding over Talmudic mysteries and Rosicrucian theories — immersed in constant contemplation of wonders which he longed to penetrate — and dazzled by visions of the elixir of life and the Philosopher's Stone, Dee soon attained to such a condition of mystic exaltation that his visions became to him as realities, and he persuaded himself that he was the favoured of the Invisible. In his Diary he records that he first saw in his crystal-globe — that is, saw spirits — on the 25th of May, 158 1. In another year he had at- tained to a higher level, and one day, in November, 1582, while on his knees and fervently praying, he became aware of a sudden glory which filled the west window of his lab- oratory, and in whose midst shone the bright angel Uriel. It was impossible for Dee to speak. His tongue was frozen with awe. But Uriel smiled benignly upon him, gave him a convex piece of crystal, and told him that when he wished to communicate with the beings of another world he had but to examine it intently, and they would imme- diately appear and reveal the mysteries of the future. Then the angel vanished.
Dee, however, found from experience that it was needful to concentrate all one's faculties upon the crystal before the spirits would obey him. In other words, it was neces- sary to stimulate the imagination to the highest pitch, until the soul became a willing agent in its self-deception. Bring the will to bear upon the imagination, and it is possible to realize a spirit in every shadowy corner — to hear the song of the spirits in the low crooning of the evening wind — to read in the starry heavens the omens and por- tents of the future. One may become with marvellous ease the deceiver of one-self, — the dupe of one's own de- lusions,— and brood upon a particular subject until one passes the mysterious border between sanity and madness — passes from imagination into mania.
Dee could never remember what the spirits said in their frequent conversations with him. When the excitement was over, he forgot the fancies with which he had been beguiled. He resolved, therefore, to discover some fellow-
worker, or neophyte, who should converse with the spirits while he himself, in another part of the room, sat and re- corded the interesting dialogue. He found the assistant he sought in one Edward Kelly,, who unhappily possessed just the requisite boldness and cunning for making a dupe of the amiable and credulous enthusiast.
Edward Kelly was a native of Lancashire, born, accord- ing to Dee's own statement, in 1555. We know nothing of his early years, but after having been convicted at Lan- caster of coining — -for which offence he lost his ears — he removed to Worcester, and established himself as a druggist. Sensual, ambitious, and luxurious, he longed for wealth, and despairing of securing it by honest industry, began to grope after the Philosopher's Stone, and to employ what magical secrets he picked up in imposing upon the ignorant and profligate. Dee sought knowledge for the love of it ; Kelly as a means to gratify his earthly passions. He con- cealed the loss of his ears by a black skull-cap, and being gifted with a good figure and tolerably handsome counte- nance, looked the very incarnation of mysterious wisdom, Before his acquaintance with Dee began, he had obtained some repute as a necromancer and alchymist, who could make the dead utter the secrets of the future. One night he took a wealthy dupe with some of his servants, into the park of Walton le Dale, near Preston in Lancashire, and there alarmed him with the most terrific incantations. He then inquired of one of the servants whose corpse had been last buried in the neighbouring churchyard, and being told that a poor man had been interred there within a very few hours, exhumed the body, and pretended to draw from it oracular utterances.
Dee appears to have had a skryer, or seer before his in- troduction to Kelly, who was named Barnabas Saul. He records in his Diary on the 9th of October, 1581, that the unfortunate medium was strangely troubled by a "' spiritual creature " about midnight. On the 2nd of December he willed his skryer to look into the " great crystalline globe " for the apparition of the holy angel Anael. Saul looked and saw. But his invention appears to have become ex- hausted by the following March, when he confessed that he neither saw nor heard any spiritual creature any more ; whereat the enthusiastic Dee grew strangely dissatisfied, and soon dismissed the unsatisfactory and unimaginative medium. Then came Edward Kelly (who appears to have been also called Talbot), and the conferences with the spirits rapidly increased in importance as well as curiosity.
A clever rogue was Kelly. Gifted with a fertile fancy and prolific invention, he never gazed into the " great crystalline globe " without making some wondrous discoveries, and by his pretended enthusiasm gained the entire confidence of the credulous Dee. The mathema- tician, despite his learning and his profound intellect, became the easy tool of the plastic, subtle Skryer. The latter would sometimes pretend that he doubted the inno- cent character of the work upon which he was engaged ; would affect a holy horror of the unholy'; and profess that the spirits of the crystal were not always •' spirits of health," but — perish the thought !^— " goblins damn'd ;" demons whose task it was to compass their destruction. The conferences held between Kelly and the spirits were meanwhile, carefully recorded by Dr. Dee ; and whoever has stomach for the perusal of a great deal of absurdity and not a little blasphemy, may consult the folio published in 1659 by the learned Meric Casaubon, and entitled " A True and Faithful Relation of what passed between Dr. John Dee and some Spirits ; tending, had it succeeded, to. a General Alteration of most States and Kingdoms in the World."
Two such shining lights could not hide themselves under a bushel, and their reputation extended from Mortlake
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even to the Continent. Dee now declared himself possessed of the elixir vitae, which he had found he said, among the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey ; so that the curious were drawn to his house by a double attraction. Gold flowed into his coffers in an exhaustless stream, but his experiments in the transmutation of metals absorbed a great portion of his substance.
At this time the court of England was visited by a Polish nobleman named Albert Laski, Count Palatine of Siradz, who was desirous to see the magnificence of the famous " Gloriana." Elizabeth received him with the flattering welcome she always accorded to distinguished strangers, and placed him in charge of the splendid Leicester. He visited all the England of the sixteenth century worth showing, and especially her two Universities, but was sorely disappointed at not finding the famous Dr. Dee at Oxford. " I would not have come hither," he said to the Earl, " had I wot that Dee was not here." Leicester un- dertook to introduce him to the learned philosopher on their return to London, and so soothed his discontent.
A few days afterwards the Pole and Leicester were wait- ing in the ante-chamber at Whitehall for an audience of the. Queen, when Dr. Dee arrived. Leicester embraced the opportunity, and introduced him to Albert Laski. The interview between two genial spirits was interesting, and led to frequent visits from Laski to Dee's house at Mortlake. Kelly soon perceived what a Pactolus this Pole would prove, and as he was imbued with all the ex- travagant superstitions of the age relative to the elixir and the Philosopher's Stone, it was easy enough to play upon his imagination, and entangle him in the meshes of an inextricable deception. Dee, in want of money to prosecute his splendid chimeras, and influenced by Kelly's artful suggestions, lent himself in some measure to the fraud, and speedily the " great crystalling globe " began to reveal hints and predictions which inflamed the ardent fancy of the " noble Polonian." But Kelly imposed upon Dee as well as upon Laski. He appears to have formed some wild but magnificent projects for the reconstruction of Europe, to be effected through the agency of the Pole, and thenceforth the spirits could converse upon nothing but hazy politics.
On a careful perusal of Dee's Diary, it is impossible to come to any other conclusion than that he was imposed upon by Kelly, and accepted his revelations as the actual utterances of the spirits ; and it seems probable that the clever, plastic, slippery Kelly not only knew something of the optical delusions then practised by the pretended necro- mancers, but possessed considerable ventriloquial powers, which largely assisted in his nefarious deceptions. .
Kelly had undoubtedly conceived some extravagant notions of a vast European monarchy, in which Laski was to play the part of a Roi faineant and he himself of a Maire du Palais. To this point all the spiritual revelations now tended, and they were managed, it must be owned, with consummate skill. Laski was proved, by the agency of Madinie, to be descended from the Anglo-Norman family of the Lacies. Then an angel named Murifre, who was clothed like a husbandman, pointed out Laski as destined to effect the regeneration of the world.
But it did not answer Kelly's purposes to bring matters too suddenly to a conclusion, and with the view of showing the extreme value of his services, he renewed his complaints upon the wickedness of dealing with spirits, and his fear of the perilous enterprises they might enjoin. He threat- ened, moreover, to abandon his task, a threat which com- pletely perturbed the equanimity of Dr. Dee. Where indeed, could he hope to meet with another skryer of such infinite ability ? Once when Kelly expressed his desire of riding from Mortlake to Islington on some pretended busi-
ness, the doctor grew afraid that it was only an excuse to cover his absolute evasion. " Whereupon," says the doctor, " I asked him why he so hasted to ride thither, and I said if it were to ride to Mr. Harry Lee I would go thither, and to be acquainted with him, seeing now I had so good leisure, being eased of the book writing. Then he said that one told him the other day that the duke (Laski) did but flatter him, and told him other things both against the duke and me. I answered for the duke and myself, and also said that if the forty pounds annuity which Mr. Lee did offer him was the chief cause of his mind setting that way (con- trary to many of his former promises to me), that then I would assure him of fifty pounds yearly, and would do my best, by following of my suit, to bring it to pass as soon as I possibly could ; and thereupon did make him promise upon the Bible.
" Then Edward Kelly again upon the same Bible did swear unto me constant friendship, and never to forsake me ; and moreover said that unless this had so fallen about he would have gone beyond the seas, taking ship at New- castle within eight days next.
" And so we plight our faith each to the other, taking each other by the hand, upon these points of brotherly and friendly fidelity during life, which covenant I beseech God to turn to his honour, glory, and service, and the com- fort of our brethren (his children) here on earth."
Kelly now returned to his crystal and his visions, and Laski was soon persuaded that he was destined by the spirits to achieve great victories over the Saracens, and win enduring glory. But for this purpose it was needful he should return to Poland, and to Poland the poor dupe went, taking with him the learned Dr. Dee, the invaluable Edward Kelly, and their wives and families. The spirits continued to respond to their inquiries even while at sea, and so they landed at the Brill on the 30th of July 1583, and traversed Holland and Friesland to the opulent free town of Lubeck. There they lived sumptuously for a few weeks, and with recruited strength set out for Poland. On Christmas Day they arrived at Stettin, where they remained till the middle of January 1584. They gained Lasco, the Pole's principal estate, early in February. Im- mediately the grand work commenced for the transmu- tation of iron into gold, boundless wealth being obviously needful for so grand an enterprise as the regeneration of Europe. Laski liberally supplied them with means, but the alchymists always failed on the very threshold of suc- cess. Day by day the prince's trees melted away in the deceptive crucible ; he mortgaged his estates, he sold them, but the hungry furnace continued to cry for " More ! more ! " It soon became apparent to the philosopher's that Laski's fortune was nearly exhausted. Madinie, Uriel, and their comrades made the same discovery at the same time, and, moreover, began to doubt whether Laski, after all, was the great regenerator intended to revolu- tionize Europe. The whole party lived at Cracow from March 1584 until the end of July, and made daily appeals to the spirits in reference to the Polish prince. They grew more and more discouraging in their replies, and as Laski began slowly to awake to the conviction that he had been a monstrous dupe, in order to rid himself of the burthen, he proposed to furnish them with sufficient funds for a journey to Prague, and letters of introduction to the Em- peror Rudolph. At this very moment the spirits discov- ered that it was necessary Dee should bear a divine message to the Emperor, and Laski's proposal was gladly accepted.
At Prague the two philosophers were well received by the Emperor. They found him very willing to believe in the existence of the famous stone, very courteous to Dee as a man of European celebrity, but very suspicious of the astute and plausible Kelly. They remained some
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months at Prague, living upon the funds which Laski had supplied, and cherishing hopes of being attached to the imperial service. At last the Papal Nuncio complained to the countenance afforded to heretical magicians, and the Emperor ordered them to quit his dominions within four-and-twenty hours. They precipitately complied, and by so doing escaped a prison or the stake, to which the Nuncio had received orders from Rome to consign them (May 1586).
They now proceeded to Erfurdt, and from thence to Cassel, but meeting with a cold reception, made their way once more to Cracow. Here they earned a scanty living by telling fortunes and casting nativities ; enduring the pangs of penury with an almost heroic composure, for they, the pretended possessors of the Philosopher's Stone, durst not reveal their indigence to the world, if they would not expose themselves to universal ridicule. After a while, they found a new dupe in Stephen, king of Poland, to whom Kelly's spirits predicted that the Emperor Rudolph would shortly be assassinated, and that the Germans would elect him to the Imperial throne. But he in his turn grew weary of the ceaseless demands for pecuniary supplies. Then arose a new disciple in the person of Count Rosenberg, a nobleman of large estates at Trebona, in Bohemia. At his castle they remained for upwards of two years, eagerly pursuing their alchemical studies, but never approaching any nearer to the desired result.
Dee's enthusiasm and credulity had degraded him into the tool and slave of Kelly ; but the latter was, neverthe- less very wroth at the superior respect which Dee, as really a man of surprising scholarship and considerable ability, enjoyed. Frequent quarrels broke out between them, aggravated by the criminal passion which Kelly had con- ceived for the doctor's young and handsome wife, and which he had determined to gratify. He matured at length an artful plan to obtain the fulfilment of his wishes. Knowing Dee's entire dependence upon hi'm as a skryer, he suddenly announced his intention of resigning that honoured and honourable office, and only consented to remain on the doctor's urgent entreaties. That day (April 18, 1587) they consulted the spirits. Kelly professed to be shocked at the revelation they made, and refused to repeat it. Dee's curiosity was aroused, and he insisted upon hearing it, but was exceedingly discomposed when he found that the spirits enjoined the two philosophers to have their wives in common. Kelly expressed his own abhorrence of the doctrine, and when the spirits repeated it, with a mixture of socialistic extravagance to the effect that sin was only relative, and could not be sinful if ordered by God, protested they must be spirits of evil, not of good, — once more resigned his post as skryer, — and left the Castle. Dee now attempted to convert his son Arthur into a medium, but the lad had neither the invention, the faith, nor the deceptive powers for such an office, and the phil- osopher, deprived of those conferences with the other world which he had so long enjoyed, began to lament the absence of his old confederate. At this juncture Kelly suddenly returned. Again he consulted the crystal, and again was ordered to practise the socialistic rule of all things in com- mon. Dee was too delighted at his return to oppose any longer the will of the spirits. The two wives resisted the arrangement for some time, but finally yielded to what was represented to be the will of Heaven, and Dee notes in his Diary that " on Sunday the 3rd of May, anno 1587 (by the new account), I, John Dee, Edward Kelly, and our two wives covenanted with God, and subscribed the same for indissoluble and inviolable unities, charity, and friendship keeping, between us four, and all things between us to be common, as God by sundry means willed us to do."
The alchymists now resumed their pursuits with eager- ness ; but discord soon crept into this happy family of four. The wives, never very well content with the social- istic theory, quarrelled violently ; the husbands began to be pinched for want of means ; and Dee turned his eyes towards England as a pleasanter asylum than the castle of Trebona was likely to prove for his old age. He obtained permission from Queen Elizabeth to return, and separated finally from Kelly. The latter, who had been knighted at Prague, took with him an elixir found at Glastonbury Abbey, and ventured to proceed to the Bohemian capital. He was immediately arrested by order of the Emperor, and flung into prison. Obtaining his release after some months ' imprisonment, he wandered over Germany, tell- ing fortunes, and angling for dupes with the customary magical baits, but never getting a whit nearer that enjoy- ment of boundless resources which the possession of the Philosopher's Stone should have ensured him. Arrested a second time as a heretic and a sorcerer, and apprehending perpetual imprisonment, he endeavoured to escape, but fell from the dungeon-wall, and broke two of his ribs and both of his legs. He expired of the injuries he had received in February 1593.
Dr. Dee set out from Trebona with a splendid train, the expenses of his journey apparently being defrayed by the generous Bohemian noble. Three waggons carried his baggage ; three coaches conveyed himself, his family, and servants. A guard of twenty-four soldiers escorted him ; each carriage was drawn by four horses. In Eng- land he was well received by the Queen, as far as courteous phrases went, and settling himself at Mortlake, he re- sumed his chemical studies, and his pursuit of the Phil- osopher's Stone. But nothing prospered with the un- fortunate enthusiast. He employed two shryers — at first a rogue, named Bartholomew, and afterwards a charlatan named Heckman — but neither could discover anything satisfactory in the " great crystalline globe." He grew poorer and poorer ; he sank into absolute indigence ; he wearied the Queen with ceaseless importunities ; and at length obtained a small appointment as Chancellor of St. Paul's Cathedral, which in 1595 he exchanged for the war- denship of Manchester College. He performed the duties of this position until age and a failing intellect compelled him to resign it about 1602 or 1603.
He then retired to his old house at Mortlake, where he practised as a common fortune-teller, gaining little in return but the unenviable reputation of a wizard, " a con- juror, a caller, or invocator of devils." On the 5th of June 1604, he presented a petition to James the First, imploring his protection against such injurious calumnies, and de- claring that none of all the great number of " the very strange and frivolous fables or histories reported and told of him (as to have been of his doing) were true."
Dee is an exceptionally interesting figure, and he must have been a man of rare intellectual activity. He made calculations to facilitate the adoption in England of the Gregorian calendar ; and he virtually anticipated the Historical Manuscripts Commission, addressing to the crown a petition wherein he wrote on the desirability of carefully preserving the old, unpublished records of Eng- land's past, many of which documents were at this period domiciled in the archives of monasteries. Moreover he was a voluminous writer on science, and, though lack of space makes it impossible to give a full list of his works here, it certainly behoves to mention the following : Monas Hieroglyphica 1564, De Trigono 1565, Testamentum Jo- hannis Dee Philosophi Summi ad Johannem Guryun Trans- missum 1568, An Account of the Manner in which a certayn Copper-smith in the Land of Moores, and a certayn Moore transmuted Copper to Gold, 1 576.
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Deitton : An astrological book of Indian origin in use in Burma, the same as the Dittharana (q. v.) (See Burma.)
De la Motte, Madame : (See Cagliostro.)
Deleuze, Billot : [See France.)
Deleuze, Jean Philippe Francois : French naturalist and adept in animal magnetism. He was born at Sisteron, in 1753, and died in 1835. It is by his advocacy of animal magnetism that he is principally remembered, and his works on this subject include : Histoire Critique du Mag- netisme, (1813-1819) ; Insruction Pratique sur le Mag- netisms Animate, (1819 and 1836) ; Defense du Magnetisme, (1819) ; Memoire sur la Faculte de Prevision, (1836). He believed in rapport between patient and magnetiser, in- diagnosis of disease by clairyovants, and other super- normal phenomena. (See Hypnotism.)
Delirium : (See Visions.)
De Lisle : (circa. 1710). French Alchemist. A considerable amount of matter concerning this French alchemist is contained in Langlet de Fresnoy's invaluable book, His- toire de la Philosophie Hermelique, while Figuier writes at some length on the subject ; but neither of these writers furnishes ds Lisle's Christian name, and neither gives the exact date of his birth. The place where the event oc- curred is likewise unknown, although it is commonly held that the alchemist was a Provencal ; while his position in the social hierarchy is likewise a matter of conjecture, the tradition that he sprang from humble peasant stock being practically vitiated by the particule in his name. True that this is usually spelt Delisle, but one may be fairly certain that that is a mere perversion, and that originally the two syllables were written separately.
De Lisle is known to have been active during the first decade of the eighteenth century, so it may be assumed that he was born towards the close of le grand siecle ; while it would seem that, at an early age, he entered the service of a scientist whose name is unrecorded, but who is sup- posed to have been a pupil of Lascaris. This nameless scientist, it appears, got into trouble of some sort, the likelihood being that he was persecuted on account of his hermetic predilections ; and accordingly he left Provence and set out for Switzerland, taking with him his young henchman, de Lisle. En route the latter murdered his patron and employer, thereafter appropriating all his al- chemistic property, notably some . precious transmuting powder ; and then, about the year 1708, he returned to his native France, where he soon attracted attention by changing masses of lead and iron into silver and gold. Noble and influential people now began to court his society and his scientific services, and betimes he found himself safely and comfortably housed in the castle of La Palud, where he received many visitors from day to day, demon- strating his skill before them. Anon, however, he grew weary of this life ; and, having contracted a liaison with a Madame Alnys, he commenced wandering with her from place to place, a son being eventually born to the pair. At this time Madame Alnys' husband was still living, but that did not prevent de Lisle from continuing to elicit patronage and favour from the rich and great, and in 1710, at the Chateau de St. Auban, he performed a curious experiment in the prer.ence of one St. Maurice, then president of the royal mint. Going into the grounds of the chateau one evening, de Lisle showed St. Maurice a basket sunk in the ground, and bade him bring it into the salle- d-manger where it was duly opened, its contents transpiring to be merely some earth of a blackish hue. No very precious material ! thought St. Maurice, accustomed to handling ingots and nuggets ; but de Lisle, after distilling a yellow liquid from the earth, projected this on hot quicksilver, and speedily produced in fusion three ounces of gold, while subsequently he succeeded in concocting a tolerable quan-
tity of silver. Some of the gold was afterwards sent to Paris, where it was put through a refining process, and three medals were struck from it, one of which, bearing the inscription Aurum Arte Factum, was deposited in the cabinet of his most Christian majesty. Thereupon de Lisle was invited to come to Paris himself, and visit the court ; but he declined the offer, giving as his reason that the southern climate he chiefly lived in was necessary to the success of his experiments, the preparations he worked with being purely vegetable. The probability is that, having been signally triumphant in duping his clientile so far, he felt the advisability of refraining from endeavours
. which might prove futile, and vitiate his reputation.
We hear nothing of de Lisle later than 1760, so presum- ably he died about that time ; but his son by Madame Alnys seems to have inherited some part of his father's predilections, together with a fair quota of his skill. Wan- dering for many years through Italy and Germany, he affected transmutations successfully before various petty nobles ; while at Vienna he succeeded in bringing himself under the notice of the Due de Richelieu, who was acting then as French ambassador to the Viennese court, and Richelieu afterwards assured the Abbe Langlet that he not only saw the operation of gold-making performed, but did it himself by carrying out instructions given him by Alnys. The latter gradually acquired great wealth, but, falling under suspicion, he was imprisoned for a space at Marseilles, whence he ultimately escaped to Brussels. Here he continued, not altogether unsuccessfully, to en- gage in alchemy ; while here too he became acquainted with Percell, the brother of Langlet du Fresnoy, to whom he is supposed to have confided some valuable scientific secrets. Eventually, however, the mysterious death of one Grefier, known to have been working in Alnys' lab- oratory, made the Brussels authorities suspicious about the latter's character, so he left the town stealthily, never to be heard of again.
Demonius ; A stone so called from the supposed demoniacal rainbow that appears in it.
Demonoeracy : The government of demons ; the immediate influence of evil spirits ; the religion of certain peoples of America, Africa, and Asia, who worship devils.
Demonography : The history and description of demons and all that concerns them. Authors who write upon this subject — such as Wierus, Delancre, Leloyer — are some- times called demonographers.
Demonology : That branch of magic which deals with male- volent spirits. In religious science it has come to indicate knowledge regarding supernatural beings who are not deities. But, it is in regard to its magical significance only that it falls to be dealt with here. The Greek term Daimon, originally indicated " genius " or "* spirit," but in England it has come to mean a being actively male- volent. Ancient Demonology will be found dealt with in the articles Egypt, Semites, Genius and Devil-Worship, and savage demonology under the heads of the various countries and races where it had its origin. According to Michael Psellus, demons are divided into six great bodies. First, the demons of fire. Second, those of the air. Third, those of the earth. The fourth inhabit the waters and rivers, and cause tempests and floods ; the fifth axe sub- terranean, who prepare earthquakes and excite volcanic eruptions. The sixth, are shadows, something of the nature of ghosts. St. Augustine comprehends all demons under the last category. This classification of Psellus is not unlike that system of the middle ages, which divided all spirits into those belonging to the four elements, fire, air, earth, and water, or salamanders, sylphs, undines, and gnomes. The medieval idea of demons was, of course, in a direct
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line from the ancient Christian and Gnostic supposition. The Gnostics, of early Christian times, in imitation of a classification of the different orders of spirits by Plato, had attempted a similar arrangement with respect to an hierarchy of angels, the gradation of which stood as fol- lows : — -The first and highest order was named seraphim, the second cherubim, the third was the order of thrones, the fourth of dominions, the fifth of virtues, the sixth of powers, the seventh of principalities, the eighth of archangels, the ninth, and lowest, of angels. This classification was, in a pointed manner, censured by the apostles, yet still, strange to say, it almost outlived the pneumatologists of the middle ages. These schoolmen, in reference to the account that Lucifer rebelled against heaven, and that Michael, the archangel, warred against him, long agitated the momentous question: "What orders of angels fell on this occasion ? " At length, it became the prevailing opinion that Lucifer was of the order of Seraphim. It was also proved after infinite research, that Agares, Belial, and Barbatos, each of them deposed angels of great rank, had been of the order of virtues ; that Bileth, Focalor, and Phoenix, had been of the order of thrones ; that Goap had been of the order of powers, and that Purson had been both of the order of virtues and of thrones ; and Murmur, of thrones and of angels. The pretensions of many other noble devils were likewise canvassed, and, in equally satisfactory manner, determined. Afterwards, it became an object of enquiry to learn : " How many fallen angels had been engaged in the contest ? " This was a question of vital importance, which gave rise to the most laborious research, and to a variety of discordant opinions. It was next agitated : " Where the battle was fought — in the inferior heaven, in the highest region of the a.ir, in the firmament, or in Paradise ? " " How long it lasted ? — whether during one second, or moment of time (puncium temporis), two, three, or four seconds ? " These are queries of very difficult solution, but the notion which ultimately prevailed was, that the engagement was concluded in exactly three seconds from the date of its commencement ; and that while Lucifer, with a number of his followers, fell into hell, the rest were left in the air to tempt man. A still newer question rose out of all these investigations : " Whether more angels fell with Lucifer, or remain in heaven with Michael ? " Learned clerks, however, were inclined to think that the rebel chief had been beaten by a superior force, and that, consequently, devils of darkness were fewer in number than angels of light.
These discussions which, during the number of successive centuries interested the whole of Christendom, too fre- quently exercised the talents of the most erudite persons in Europe. The last object of demonologists was to collect, in some degree of order, Lucifer's routed forces, and to reorganise them under a decided form of subordina- tion or government. Hence, extensive districts were given to certain chiefs who fought under this general. There was Zimimar, " the lordly monarch of the north," as Shakespeare styles him, who had his distinct province of devils ; there was Gorson, the King of the South ; Amaymon, the King of the East ; and Goap, the Prince of the West. These sovereigns had many noble spirits subordinate to them, whose various ranks were settled with all the preciseness of heraldic distinction ; there were Devil Dukes, Devil Marquises, Devil Counts, Devil Earls, Devil Knights, Devil Presidents, and Devil Prelates. The armed force under Lucifer seems to have comprised nearly twenty-four hundred legions, of which each demon of rank commanded a certain number. Thus, Beleth, whom Scott has described as " a great king and terrible, riding on a pale horse, before whom go trumpets and all melodious music," commanded eighty-five legions ; Agares, the first
duke under the power of the East, commanded thirty-one legions ; Leraie, a great marquis, thirty legions ; Morax, a great earl and a president, thirty-six legions ; Furcas, a knight, twenty legions ; and, after the same manner, the forces of the other devil chieftains were enumerated.
Such were the notions once entertained regarding the history, nature, and ranks of devils. Our next object will be to show that, with respect to their strange and hideous forms the apparitions connected with the popular belief on this subject, were derived from the descriptive writings of such demonologists, as either maintained that demons possessed a decided corporeal form, and were mortal, or that, like Milton's spirits, they could assume any sex, and take any shape they chose.
When, in the middle ages, conjuration was regularly practised in Europe, devils of rank were supposed to appear under decided forms, by which they were as well recognised as the head of any ancient family would be by his crest " and armorial bearings. Along with their names and characters were registered such shapes as they were accustomed to adopt. A devil would appear, either like an angel seated in a fiery chariot, or riding on an infernal dragon, and carrying in his right hand a viper ; or assum- ing a lion's head, a goose's feet, and a hare's tail ; or putting on a raven's head, and mounted on a strong wolf. Other forms made use of by demons were those of a fierce warrior, or of an old man riding upon a crocodile with a hawk in his hand. A human figure would arise having the wings of a griffin ; or sporting three heads, two of them being like those of a toad and of a cat ; or defended with huge teeth and horns, and armed with a sword ; or displaying a 'dog's teeth and a large raven's head ; or mounted upon a pale horse, and exhibiting a serpent's tail ; or gloriously crowned, and riding upon a dromedary ; or presenting the face of a lion ; or bestriding a bear, and grasping a viper. There are also such shapes as those of an archer, or of a Zenophilus. A demoniacal king would ride upon a pale horse ; or would assume a leopard's face and griffin's wings ; or put on the three heads of a bull, of a man, and a ram, with a serpent's tail, and the feet of a goose ; and, in this attire, bestride a dragon, and bear in his hand a lance and a flag ; or, instead of being thus employed, goad the flanks of a furious bear, and carry in his fist a hawk. Other forms were those of a goodly knight ; or of one who bore lance, ensigns, and even a sceptre ; or of a soldier, either riding on a black horse, and surrounded by a flame of fire, or wearing on his head a duke's crown, and mounted on a crocodile or assuming a lion's face, and, with fiery eyes, spurring on a gigantic charger ; or, with the same frightful aspect, appearing in all the pomp of family distinction, on a pale horse ; or clad from head to foot in crimson raiment, wearing on his bold front a crown, and sallying along on a red steed. Some infernal duke would appear in his proper character, quietly seated on a griffin ; another spirit of a similar rank would display the three heads of a serpent, a man, and a cat ; he would also bestride a viper, and carry in his hand a firebrand. Another of the same type would appear like a duchess, encircled with a fiery zone, and mounted on a camel ; a fourth, would wear the aspect of a boy, and amuse himself on the back of a two-headed dragon. A few spirits, however, would be content, with the simple garbs of a horse, a leopard, a lion, an unicorn, a night raven, a stork, a peacock, or a dromedary, the latter animal speaking fluently the Egyptian language. Others would assume the more complex forms of a lion or of a dog, with a griffin's wings attached to each of their shoulders, or of a bull equally well gifted ; or of the same animal, distinguished by the singular feature of a man's face ; or of a crow clothed with human flesh ; or of a hart with a fiery tail. To certain other noble devils were assigned
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such shapes as those of a dragon with three heads, one of these being human ; of a wolf with a serpent's tail, breath- ing forth flames of fire ; of a she-wolf exhibiting the same caudal appendage together with griffin's wings, and ejecting from her mouth hideous matter. A lion would appear, either with the head of a branded thief, or astride upon a black horse, and playing with a viper, or adorned with the tail of a snake, and grasping in his paws two hissing serpents.
These were the varied shapes assumed by devils of rank. " It would, therefore," says Hibbert, " betray too much of the aristocratical spirit to omit noticing the forms which the lower orders of such beings displayed. In an ancient Latin poem, describing the lamentable vision of a devoted hermit, and supposed to have been written by St. Bernard in the year 1238, those spirits, who had no more important business upon earth than to carry away condemned souls, were described as blacker than pitch ; as having teeth like lions, nails on their fingers like those of a wild-boar, on their fore-head horns, through the extremities of which poison was emitted, having wide ears flowing with cor- ruption, and discharging serpents from their nostrils. The devout writer of these verses has even accompanied them from drawings, in which the addition of the cloven feet is not omitted. But this appendage, as Sir Thomas .Brown has learnedly proved, is a mistake, which has arisen from the devil frequently appearing to the Jews in the shape of a rough and hairy goat, this animal being the emblem of sin-offering."
It is worthy of further remark, that the form of the demons described by St. Bernard differs little from that which is no less carefully pourtrayed by Reginald Scot, three hundred and fifty years later, and, perhaps, by the demonologists of the present day. " In our childhood," says he, " our mother's maids have so terrified us with an ouglie divell having horns on his head, fier in his mouth, and a tail on his breech, eies like a bason, fangs like a dog, clawes like a beare, a skin like a niger, and a voice like a roaring lion — whereby we start and are afraid when we hear one cry bough."
Wit the view of illustrating other accounts of appari- tions, we must advert to the doctrines of demonology which were once taught. Although the leading tenets of this occult science may be traced to the Jews and early Christ- ians, yet they were matured by our early communication with the Moors of Spain, who were the chief philosophers of the dark ages, and between whom and the natives of France and Italy much communication subsisted. Toledo, Seville, and Salamanca, became the great schools of magic. At the latter city, prelections on the black art were, from a consistent regard to the solemnity of the subject, delivered within the walls of a vast and gloomy cavern. The schoolmen taught that all knowledge and power might be obtained from the assistance of the fallen angels. They were skilled in the abstract sciences, in the knowledge of precious stones, in alchemy, in the various languages of mankind and of the lower animals, in the belles lettres, in moral philosophy, pneumatology, divinity, magic, history, and prophecy. They could control the winds, the waters, and the influence of the stars ; they could raise earth- quakes, induce diseases, or cure them, accomplish all vaster mechanical undertakings, and release souls out of purgatory. They could influence the passions of the mind, procure the reconcilation of friends or foes, engender mutual discords, induce mania and melancholy, or direct the force and objects of the sexual affections. According to Wierus, demons are divided into a great many classes, and into regular kingdoms and principalities, nobles and com- moners. Satan is by no means the great sovereign of this monarchy, but his place is taken by Beelzebub. Satan is
alluded to by Wierus as a dethroned monarch, and Chief of the Opposition ; Moloch, Chief of the Army ; and Pluto, Prince of Fire ; and Leonard, Grand Master of the Sphere. The masters of these infernal courts are, Adramelech, Grand Chancellor ; Astaroth, Grand Treasurer ; and Nergal, Chief of the Secret Police ; and Baal, Chief of the Satanic Army. According to this authority, each state in Europe has also its infernal ambassadors. Belphegor is thus accredited to France, Mammon to England, Belial to Turkey, Rimmon to Russia, Thamuz to Spain, Hutjin to Italy, and Martinet to Switzerland. Berbiguier, writing in 1 82 1, has given a sketch of the Infernal Court. He says : " This court has representatives on earth. These manda- tories are innumerable. I give nomenclature and degree- of power of each : Moreau, magician and sorcerer of Paris, represents Beelzebub ; Pinel, a doctor of Salpetriere, represents Satan ; Bouge, represents Pluto ; Nicholas, a doctor of Avigum, represents Moloch ; and so on. " Al- together," says Wierus, " there are in the infernal regions 6666 legions, each composed of the same number of devils."
Demonology and Witchcraft by Sir Walter Scott : This work occupies a curious and pathetic place in Sir Walter Scott's vast literary output. Four years subsequent to his finan- cial debacle, in 1826, the' author sustained a mild apoplec- tic shock, and it was shortly after this that John Murray, who was then issuing a series known as The Family Library," asked Sir Walter to contribute thereto a volume on demonology. Consent was given readily, but, as an entry in Scott's journal makes manifest, he did not care greatly for the work, and really engaged in it just because he was still in the throes of writing off his debts, and had to accept every commission which was offered him. In short, the book was begun from a purely commercial motive, and was composed when the writer's mental faculties were perforce sluggish, the natural result being that it is infinitely inferior to his other writings. But despite its inferiority herein, Sir Walter's volume has its interest for students of occultism. The writer is lame enough in what might be called the speculative parts of his book — those pages, for instance, in which he tries labor- iously to account for the prevalence in the middle-ages of belief in witchcraft and the like — but his wonderful and well-stored memory stood him in good stead when writing those passages concerned purely with facts, and thus there is considerable value in his account of demonology in France and in Sweden, and in all that he says about Joan of Arc. Moreover, his intimate knowledge of early Scottish litera- ture gives a singular importance to all those of his chapters which are concerned with his native land, while it is interest- ing to find that here and there, he offers something of a, sidelight on his own immortal novels, as for example, when he treats of those spectres which he had dealt with prev- iously in Woodstock.
Demonomaney : Divination by means of demons. This
- divination takes place by the oracles they make, or by the answers they give to those who evoke them.
Demonomania : The mania of those who believe all that is told concerning demons and sorcerers, such as Bodin, Delancre, Leloyer, and others. Bodin's work is entitled Demonomania of the Sorcerers, but in this case it signifies devilry.
De Morgan, Mrs. : The author of a mystico-spiritual work entitled From Matter to Spirit, published in 1863. Mrs. de Morgan, whose interest in spiritualism was awakened at the seances of Mrs. Hayden, was the wife of Professor de Morgan, who himself offered emphatic testimony to the genuineness of Mrs. Hayden's mediumship.
Deoca, or The Woman of the South: A Princess of Munster, who is mentioned in Irish medieval legend. It is said that she was betrothed to Lairgnan, and asked of
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MEDI/EVAL CONCEPTIONS OF DEMONS
[face p. 120
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him as a marriage gift the children of Lir, who had been magically changed by their stepmother into four wonderful singing swans. The hermit who looked after them refused to give them to Lairgnan, who then seized them. When brought into the presence of Deoca they were transformed into their human form — withered, white-haired, miserable beings. The hermit baptised them before they died, and sorrowed for them so much that he himself was laid in their grave.
Dermot of the Love-spot : The typical lover of Irish legend, and the hero of the myth of Dermot and Grania. It was in this wise that he got the love-spot. One night he and three companions entered a hut for a night's shelter, in which dwelt an old man, a young girl (Youth), a wether (the World) and a cat (Death). During the night the girl put the love-spot on Dermot's forehead, and hence- forth, it is said, no woman could see him without loving him. He came to be loved by Grania, the betrothed of Finn, who forced him to run away with her. They were pursued all over Ireland, but after sixteen years of out- lawry, Dermot was allowed to return to his patrimony. He was killed by the Boar of Ben, Bulben, (q.v.) an enchanted animal, who had been his step-brother. His body was borne away on a gilded bier by the People of Dana, and •was given a soul by Angus Og, the Irish God of Love, that he might return each day and talk with him. Dermot was of the type of solar hero ; and the bier on which his body was borne away is, of course, the sunset.
Dervishes : A sect of Mohammedan priests. In some cases they exercise a semi-esoteric doctrine. Their various " paths " or systems are of great antiquity, and probably are derived from the ancient rites of Persia and Egypt, bearing also a strong resemblance to Magism. Taking the Bektash as typical of all, we find that in the fifteenth century Bektash of Bokhara received his mantle from Ahmed Yesevee, who claimed descent from the father- in-law of Mohammed. He established a " path," con- sisting nominally of seven degrees, only four of which, however, are essential. These aim at the establishment of an affinity between the aspirant and the Sheik, from whom he is led through the spirit of the founder, and that of the Prophet to Allah. The initiatory ceremony provides a severe test. The aspirant is tried for a year with false secrets, and his time of probation having expired, a lamb is slain, from the carcass of which a cord is made for his neck and a girdle of initiation for his loins. Two armed attendants then lead him into a square chamber, where he is presented to the Sheik as " a slave who desires to know truth." He is then placed before a stone altar, on which are twelve escallops. The Sheik, who is at- tended by eleven others, grips the hand of the aspirant in a peculiar way, and administers the oath of the Order, in which the neophyte promises to be poor, chaste and obedient. He is then informed that the penalty of be- traying the Order is death. He then says : " Mohammed is my guide, Ali is my director," and is asked by the Sheik, " Do you accept me as 3'our guide ? " The reply being made in the affirmative, the Sheik says : " Then I accept you as my son." He is then invested with a girdle on which are three knots, and receives an alabaster stone as a token. The sign of recognition is the same as that in the first degree of masonry. Amongst their important symbols are the double triangles and two triangles joined at the apex. One of their maxims is that " the man must die that the saint must be born." As a jewel they make use of a small marble cube with red spots, to typify the blood of the martyred Ali. These dervish sects are by no means popular with the orthodox Mussulmans, as they devote themselves entirely to the well-being of their order rather than to Mohammedanism.
A notable exercise indulged in by several Dervish sects, is that of gyration in circles for extended periods of time, or prolonged dancing. The object of this is obscure, some authorities contending that it is engaged in to bring about a condition of ecstasy, whilst others see in it a planetary or astronomic significance.
D'Eslon: (See Hypnotism.)
Desmond, Gerald, sixteenth earl of Desmond, who was killed in 1583, had some repute as a magician, and was known as the " Great Earl." Many curious stories are current concerning him. He dwelt in his castle on a small island in Lough Gur, and there, in time, he brought his young bride, to whom he was so passionately attached that he could deny her nothing. Seeking him one day in the chamber where he worked his magic spells, she demanded to know the secret of the Black Cat. In vain he told her of the terrible things she must witness ; she would not be dissuaded. So he warned her solemnly that if she uttered a word the castle would sink to the bottom of Lough Gur, and set to work. Terrible indeed were the sights she beheld, but she stood firm and uttered neither word nor cry, until her husband lay down on the floor and stretched till he reached almost from end to end of the room. Then she uttered a wild shriek, and the castle sank instantly to the bottom of Lough Gur, where it still remains. Once in every seven years Desmond, mounted on a white horse, rises from the water and rides round the Lough. His horse is shod with silver shoes, and when these wear out the spell will be broken, Desmond will return, and his vast estates shall once more be restored to him.
D'Espagnet, Jean : A Hermetic philosopher who left two treatises Enchiridion Phy sices Restitutce and Arcanum Philosophies Hermitaccs which have also been claimed as the works of one calling himself the " Chevalier Im- perial." " The Secret of Hermetic Philosophy " em- braces the practical side of the Magnum Opus and the " Enchiridion " treats of the physical possibility of trans- mutation. D'Espagnet also wrote the preface to the Tableau de V Inconstance des Demons by Pierre Delancre. The "Arcanum" is better known as the " Canons of Es- pagnet " and has been claimed as a treatise on mystical Alchenty. The Author states, however, that " the science of producing Nature's grand Secret is a perfect knowledge of nature universally and of Art, concerning the realm of Metals ; the practice whereof is conversant in finding the principles of Metals by analysis."
The authorities cited by Espagnet are those who like Trevisan are known to have devoted their lives to practical Alchemy. Nevertheless, it may be granted that while much of the matter treats of a physical object it may be extended to the psychic side of Hermetic Art.
"Deuce Take You " : A vulgar saying which had its origin in antiquity. The deuce is practically synonymous with the devil, the word being derived from Dusins, the ancient name given by the Gauls to a sort of demon or devil.
Devas : In Theosophy, constitute one of the ranks or orders of spirits who compose the hierarchy which rules the uni- verse under the Deity. Their numbers are vast and their functions are not all known to mankind, though generally these functions may be said to be connected with the evo- lution of systems and of life. Of Devas there are three kinds — Bodiless Devas, Form Devas and Passion Devas. Bodiless Devas belong to the higher mental world, their bodies are composed of mental Elemental Essence, and they belong to the first Elemental kingdom. Form Devas- belong to the lower mental world, and while their bodies are composed also of mental Elemental Essence, they belong to the second Elemental kingdom. Passion Devas belong to the astral world and their bodies are composed.
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of astral Elemental Essence. Devas are creatures super- latively great and superlatively glorious, of vast knowledge and power, calm yet irresistible, and in appearance alto- gether magnificent. Devil : A name derived from the Greek Diabolos, "slanderer." The name for the supreme spirit of evil, the enemy of God and man. In primitive religious systems there is no con- ception of evil, and the gods are neither good nor bad, as we conceive these terms, but may possess " good " and "bad" attributes at one and. the same time. Thus we have very few traces of beings which are absolutely evil in the older religions, and it may be broadly stated that the conception of Satan as we have it to-day is almost purely Hebrew and Christian. In Egypt and Babylon, figures like Apepi and Tiawath, although clearly in the line of evolution of a Satanic personality, are by no means rulers of the infernal regions. Again the Hades of the Greeks is merely a ruler of the shades of the dead, and not an enemy of Olympus or mankind. It is strange that in Mexico, Mictlantecutli, lord of hell, is a much more directly Satanic figure than any European or Asiatic ruler of the realms of the dead. But in some mythologies, there are frequent allusions to monsters who may quite easily have coloured our conception of Satan. Such is the Hindu serpent Ahi, and the Hebrew Leviathan, the prin- ciple of Chaos. In the Teutonic mythology we have the menacing shape of Loki, originally a god of fire, but after- wards the personification of evil. The conception of Satan, too, appears to have some deeply-rooted connection ■with the ancient serpent-worship, which seems to have penetrated most oriental countries. Thus we find the Tempter in the Old Testament in the guise of a serpent. The serpent or dragon is being generally regarded as the personification of night who swallows the sun and enve- lopes the world in darkness.
The Hebrew conception of Satan it is thought, arose in the post-exilic period, and exhibits traces of Babylonian or Assyrian influence. It is not likely that before the captivity any specific doctrine respecting evil spirits was held by the Hebrews. Writing on this subject, Mr. F. T. Hall in his book The Pedigree of the Devil says :-. —
" The term ' Satan ' and ' Satans ' which occur in the Old Testament, are certainly not applicable to the modern conception of Satan as a spirit of evil ; although it is not difficult to detect in the Old Hebrew mind a fruitful soil, in which the idea, afterwards evolved, would readily take root. The original idea of a ' Satan ' is that of an " adver- sary,' or agent of ' opposition.' The angel which is said to have withstood Balaam is in the same breath spoken of as ' The angel of the Lord,' and a ' Satan.' When the Philistines under Achish their king were about to commence hostilities against the Israelities under Saul and David and his men were about to march with the Philistines ; the latter objected, lest, in the day of battle, David should become a ' Satan ' to them, by deserting to the enemy. When David, in later life, was returning to Jerusalem, after Absalom's rebellion and death ; and his lately disaffected subjects were, in turn, making their submission ; amongst them came the truculent Shimei : Abishai, David's nephew, one of the fierce sons of Zeruiah, advised that Shimei should be put to death : this grated upon David's feelings, at a time when he was filled with exuberant joy at his own restoration ; and he rebuked Abishai as a ' Satan.' Again Satan is said to have provoked David to number Israel, and at the same time, that ' the Lord moved David to number Israel ; ' a course strenuously opposed by Joab, another of the sons of Zeruiah. Solomon in his message to Hiram, king of Tyre, congratulated himself on having no ' Satans ' and that .this peaceful immunity from dis- cord enabled him to build the Temple, which had been
forbidden to his warlike father, David. This immunity was not, however, lasting ; for Hadad, the Edomite, and Regon, of Zobah, became ' Satans ' to Solomon, after his profuse luxury had opened the way for curruption and disaffection. In all these cases, the idea is simply identical with the plain meaning of the word : a Satan is an opponent, an adversary. In the elaborate curse embodied in the 109th Psalm, the writer speaks of his enemies as his ' Satans' and prays that the object of his anathema may have ' Satan ' standing at his right hand. The Psalmist himself, in the sequel, fairly assumes the office of his enemy's ' Satan,' by enumerating his crimes and failings, and exposing them in their worst light. In the 71st Psalm, enemies (v. 10) are identified with ' Satans ' or adversaries (v. 13).
" The only other places in the Old Testament where the word occurs, are in the Book of Job, and the prophecy of Zechariah. In the Book of Job, Satan appears with a distinct personality, and is associated with the sons of God, and in attendance with them before the throne of Jehovah. He is the cynical critic of Job's actions, and in that character he accuses him of insincerity and instabi- lity ; and receives permission from Jehovah to test the justice of this accusation, by afflicting Job in everything he holds dear. We have here the spy, the informer, the public prosecutor, the executioner ; all embodied in Satan, the adversary : these attributes are not amiable ones, but the writer does not suggest the absolute antagonism between Jehovah and Satan, which is a fundamental dogma of modern Christianity.
" In the prophecy of Zechariah, Satan again, with an apparent personality, is represented as standing at the right hand of Joshua, the high-priest, to resist him : he seems to be claiming strict justice against one open to accusation ; for Joshua is clothed in filthy garments — the type of sin and pollution. Jehovah relents, and mercy triumphs o ver j ustice : the filthy garments are taken away, and fair raiment substituted. Even here, the character of Satan, although hard, is not devoid of virtue, for it evinces a sense of justice."
The Babylonians, among whom the Hebrews dwelt during the Captivity, believed in the existence of vast multitudes of spirits,, both good and bad, but there is nothing to show that the Hebrews took over from them any extensive pantheon, either good or evil. Indeed the Hebrew and Babylonian religions possessed many things in common, and there was no necessity that the captive Jews should borrow an animism which they probably already possessed. At the same time it is likely that they adopted the idea of an evil agency from their captors, and as the genius of their religion was averse to polytheism, the probabilities are that they welded the numerous evil forces of Baby- lonian into one central figure. Again, .it must have occurred to them that if the world contained ~an evil principle, it could not possibly emanate from God, whom they regarded as all-good, and it was probably with the intention of separating all evil from God that the personality of Satan (having regard to the amount of evil in the universe) was invested with such importance.
In later Judaism we find the conception of Satan strongly coloured by Persian dualism, and it has been supposed that Asmodeus of the Book of Tobit is the same as Aeshara Daewa of the Ancient Persians. Both " Satan " and " Satans " were mentioned in the Book of Enoch, and in Ecclesiasticus he was identified with the serpent of Genesis, and in the " ' Book of the Secrets of Enoch ' ' his revolt against God and expulsion from Heaven are described. In the Jewish Targinn, Samael, highest of the angels, merges with Satan into a single personality.
The Satan of the New Testament is merely a reproduc- tion of these later Jewish forms. In Matthew he is
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alluded to as the " Prince of Demons," and in Ephesians is spoken of as ruling over a world of evil beings who dwell in the lower heavens. Thus he is prince of the powers of the air. In Revelation the war in Heaven between God and Satan is described, and his imprisonment is foreshadowed after the overthrow of the Beast and the Kings of the earth, when he will be chained in the bottom- less pit for one thousand years. After another period of freedom he is finally cast into the lake of brimstone for ever. According to the orthodox Christian belief of the present day, Satan has been endowed with great powers for the purpose of tempting man to prove his fortitude. In the middle ages, the belief in Satan and Satanic agencies was overwhelming, and was inherited by Protestantism from Roman Catholicism. This is not the place to enter into a discussion as to the likelihood of the existence of an evil being, but the great consensus of theological opinion is in favour of such a theory. Devil Worship : (i). The worship of Satan or Lucifer. (2). The worship by semi-civilised or barbarous people; of deities having a demoniac form.
The Worship of Satan or diabolism is spasmodic and oc- casionally epidemic. It dates from the early days of dualism (q.v.) and perhaps originated in the Persian dual system when the opposing deities Ormuzd and Ahriman symbo- lised the good and bad principles respectively. Instances of pure Satanism are comparatively rare, and it must not be confounded with the Sabbatic orgies of witchcraft which partake more of the nature- of (2), or with the evocation of the Evil One, for the purpose of making a pact with him. Modern groups practising Satanism are small and obscure, and, unorganised as they are, details concerning them are conspicuous by their absence.
Plentiful details, however, are forthcoming concerning the cultus of Lucifer, but much discrimination is required in dealing with these, the bulk of the literature on the subject being manifestly imaginative and wilfully mis- leading. The members of the church of Lucifer are of two groups, those who regard the deity they adore as the evil principle, thus approximating to the standpoint of the Satanists, and those who look upon him as the true god in opposition to Adonai or Jehovah, whom they regard as an evil deity who has with fiendish ingenuity miscreated the world of man to the detriment of humanity.
Modern, diabolic literature is written from the point of view of the Roman Catholic Church, and much may be said for the theory that it was composed to subserve the necessities of that institution. But this cannot be wholly true, as it is a substantial fact that hosts are frequently abstracted from Catholic churches for the purpose of Satanic rite which requires the destruction of the consecrated wafer as a ritual act. In 1894 a hundred consecrated hosts were stolen from Notre Dame by an old woman under circum- stances that clearly proved that the vessels which contained them were not the objects of the theft, and an extra- ordinary number of such larcencies occurred in all parts of France about the end of last century, no less than thirteen churches in the diocese of Orleans being thus despoiled. In the diocese of Lyons measures were taken to transform the tabernacles into strong-boxes, and in eleven of the dioceses similar acts were recorded. In Italy, Rome, Liguria and Solerus suffered, and even in the Island of Mauritius an outrage of peculiar atrocity occurred in 1895. It has been asserted by many writers such as Archbishop Meurin and Dr. Bataille that Freemasonry is merely a mask for Satanism, that is, that in recent years an organisation of which the ordinary mason is ignorant has grown up which has diabolism for its special object. This it is asserted is recruited from the higher branches of masonry and initiates women. Needless to say, the
change is indignantly denied by masons, but it must be remembered that the persons who bring it are Catholics, who have a direct interest in humiliating the fraternity. Bataille and Margiotta have it that the order of the Palla- dium or Sovereign Council of Wisdom, was constituted in France in 1737, and this, they infer, is one and the same as the legendary Palladium of the Templars, better known by the name of Baphomet (q.v.) In 1801 one Isaac Long, a Jew, carried the "original image" of Baphomet to Charleston in the United States, and it is alleged that the lodge he founded then became the chief in the Ancient and Accepted Scotch Rite. He was succeeded in due course by Albert Pike, who, it is alleged, extended the Scotch Rite, and shared the Anti-Catholic Masonic chieftainship with the Italian patriot Mazzini. This new directory was estab- lished, it is asserted, as the new Reformed Palladium Rite or the Reformed Palladium. Assisted by Gallatin Mackey, one Longfellow, Holbrook and a Swiss, Phileas Walder by name, Pike erected the new rite into an occult fraternity with world-wide powers, and practised the occult arts so well that we are asked to believe that the head lodge at Charleston was in constant communication with Lucifer ! Dr. Bataille in a wholly ludicrous work Le Diable au XIX Steele, states among other things that in 1881 his hero " Dr. Hacks " in whom his own personality is but thinly disguised, visited Charleston in March 1881, where he met Albert Pike, Gallatin Mackey and other Satanists. Mackey showed him his Arcula Myslica in appearance like a liqueur stand, but in reality a diabolical telephone, worked like the Urim and Thummim. Miss Diana Vaughan, once a Palladist, Grand Mistress of the Temple, and Grand Inspectress of the Palladium, was converted to Roman Catholicism, and in Memoirs oj an ex-Palladist, (1895) she has given an exhaustive account of her dealings with the Satanists of Charleston. She claims to be des- cended from the alchemist Thomas Vaughan, and re- counts her adventures with Lucifer. These are so wholly absurd that we must request freedom from the necessity of recounting them. There is little doubt that Miss Vaughan was either the victim of hallucination or else the instrument of the Roman Catholic Church in its attempts to brand Masonry as a vehicle of Satanism. The publi- cations of Margiotta and Gabriel Pages are equally puerile, and we may conclude that, if Satanism and the wor- ship of Lucifer exists, that the rites of their churches are carried on in such a secret manner, that few, even mystics of experience, can be aware of them.
When applied to the ceremonies of barbarous races, devil-worship is a misnomer, as the " devils " adored by them are deities in their eyes, and only partake of the diabolic nature in the view of missionaries and others. But inasmuch as the gods possess a demoniac form they may be classed as diabolic. Among these may be enumerated many South American and African tribes. The Uapes of Brazil- worship Jurupari, a fiend-\ike deity, to whom they consecrate their young men. His cult is invested with the utmost secrecy. The myth of his birth states that he was born of a virgin who conceived after drinking a draught of chahiri, or native beer. She pos- sessed no sexual parts, and could not give birth to the god until bitten by a fish whilst bathing. When arrived at man's estate Jurupari invited the men of the tribe to a drinking-bout, but the women refused to provide the liquor, and thus gained his illwill. He devoured the children of the tribe because they had eaten of the uacu tree which was sacred to him. The men, enraged at the loss of their offspring, fell upon him, and cast him into a fire, from the ashes of which grew the paxiuba tree, which the Uapes say is the bones of Jurupari. Whilst it was night the men cut down the tree and fashioned it into
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sacred instruments which must never be seen by the women, on account of the dislike Jurupari conceived for them. Should a woman chance to see the sacred symbols per- taining to the worship of Jurupari, she is at once poisoned. On hearing the " Jurupari music " of the priests on the occasion of one of his festivals the women of the tribe wildly rush into concealment, nor dare to emerge from it until all chance of danger is past. In all probability this custom proceeds from the ancient usage common to most American tribes that the rites of initiation of the men of the tribe must not be witnessed by the women thereof, probably on account of some more or less obscure totemic reason or sex-jealousy analagous to the exclusion of women from the rites of freemasonry, to which, strange to say, the worship of Jurupari bears a strong resemblance.
This is a good example of the " devil worship " of savage races. The Chinese also placate devils [see China) as do the people of Burma and Cambodia (q.v.) but in no sense can their oblations to evil spirits be classed as " worship," any more than the gods of classic times may be regarded as devils, simply because they were so labelled by early Christianity. (See Gnostics, Obeah, Ju-ju, Devil, Demono- logy, etc.)
LITERATURE : — Huysman, La Bas ; Bataille, Le Viable an XIX siecle ; Rosen, Satan et Cie ; Meurin, La syna- gogue du Satan ; Papus, Le Diable et L'Occullisme ; Waite, Devil-Worship in France ; Julie Bois, Peiites Religions de Paris: Satanisme et laMagie; Spence, article " Brazil" in Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics.
Devil's Bridge : A bridge thrown across the Afon Mynach, near Aberystwyth. The story goes that an old woman who had lost her cow saw it on the opposite side of the chasm to that on which she stood, but knew not how to reach it. At that juncture the Evil One appeared to her in the shape of a monk, and promised to throw a bridge across, if she would give him the first living thing that would pass over it. The old lady agreed, the bridge was completed, and the crafty fiend begged that she would try it. But the old woman had observed his cloven hoof, and knee bent backwards, so she took a crust from her pocket and flung it across the ravine, bidding her little dog go fetch it. The Evil One was outwitted, as he generally is in such tales.
Devil's Chain : There is a tradition in Switzerland that St. Bernard has the devil chained in some mountains in the neighbourhood of the Abbey of Clairvanx. From this comes the custom, observed by the farmers of the country, of striking three blows with the hammer on the anvil every Monday morning before setting to work. By this means the devil's chain is strengthened, so that he may not escape.
Devil's Girdle, The : Witches in mediaeval times were often accused of wearing the Devil's Girdle, probably as a mark of allegiance to the Evil One. Magical girdles were com- monly worn, and a modern writer suggests that the magnetic belts advertised at the present day had their origin in this practice.
Devil's Pillar : There are preserved at Prague three stones of a pillar which the devil brought from Rome to crush a priest, with whom he had made a compact, and to kill him while he said mass. But St. Peter, says the legend, threw the devil and his pillar into the sea three times in succession, which diversion gave the priest time for repentance. The devil was so chagrined that he broke the pillar and saved himself.
Devil's Sonata : {See Visions.)
Devils, Atraid of Bells : It was an old superstition th, t evil spirits were afraid of bells and fled from the sound of them.
Devon, Witchcraft in : The belief in witchcraft is not yet dead in Devonshire, as was shown in a curious case heard in Crediton County Court not many years ago, when a
young woman alleged that she was given a potion in a grocer's shop, and that as a result, either of the draught or of the incantation delivered while she was in the shop, she was getting thinner every day. Only those who have lived long in Devon can realise the widespread belief that still exists in remote corners of the county of the power of " the evil eye," and of the credence given to all kinds of weird superstitions. " Witches " are believed to be able to exercise a malign influence even after death unless they are buried with their toes downwards. Not very long ago, a woman suspected of being a witch, was buried in this way within twenty miles of Tiverton. In no part of the country is witchcraft more believed in than in the Culm Valley. There is a local saying that there are enough witches in the valley to roll a hogshead of cider up the Beacon Hill, at Culmstock, and old people living in the locality are not ashamed to say that they believe in witch- craft. The witches are of two kinds — " black " and " white." The former profess to have the power to con- demn those on whom they are asked to cast a spell, to all kinds of misfortunes ; the latter impose on credulous clients by making them believe that they can remove evil spells and bring good fortune — for a consideration, of course. For obvious reasons visits to " witches " are generally kept dark, but every now and again particulars leak out. In the Culmstock district, not so very long ago, a young girl went with her mother to a witch, in order to get a spell cast over an errant swain, who" was suspected of bestowing his affections on another young lady. The witch professed to be able to bring the young man back to his first love, or to condemn him to all kinds of torture, but her price was prohibitive, and so the young man was left to marry whom he would. Farmers are the witches' most profitable clients, and it is a noteworthy fact that they generally contrive to visit the " wise woman " when they are away from home, " at market." A few years ago, farmers used to go to Exeter for many miles round to consult a witch whenever they had any misfortune, and it is commonly reported that they can get the same sort of advice in the city at the present day. At many farmhouses Bibles are kept in the dairies to prevent witches from retarding the butter-making operations. " I'm 'witched," or " I must have been 'witched," are expressions heard in Devon every day in the week. Generally speaking, it is animals that are supposed to sustain the most harm from being " overlooked." The loss of cattle that have died has been put down to the power of evil spirits, and accord- ing to many superstitious people, witches have a peculiar power over pigs. A man who believed his pigs had been bewitched was told, not so long ago, to take the heart of a pig, stick it full of pins and needles, and roast it at the fire. He did this believing this would check the mortality among his swine. Diadochus : According to Marbodaeus, this gem resembles the beryl in its properties, and was most valuable in divina- tion. It serves for the invocation of spirits, and oracular responses could be discovered in it. Albertus Magnus writes it Diacodos, and it is possibly to this stone that Braithwaite alludes in his English Gentleman : " For as the precious stone Diacletes, though it have many rare and excellent sovereignties in it, yet loseth them all if put in a dead man's mouth." Marbodaeus mentions this in his verses as a property of the diadochus. The words of Leonardus are too curious to omit : "It disturbs devils beyond all other stones, for, if it be thrown in water, with the words of its charm sung, it shows various images of devils, and gives answer to those that question it. Being held in the mouth, a man may call any devil out of hell, and receive satisfaction to such questions as he may ask." He names it Diacodas or Diacodus.
The Devil attempting to seize a magician who had formed a pact with him, is prevented by a Lay Brother. Facsimile of a miniature in the Chroniques de Saint- Denis (13th cent. MS., Bibl. Nat., Paris)
The Prince of Darkness. After a miniature of the Holy Grail (15th cent. MS., Bibl. Nat., Paris)
The Angel, holding the keys of Hell, enchains the Devil, in the shape of a dragon,
in the Pit. Miniature from a Commentary on the Apocalypse (12th cent. MS., in
the library of M. Ambrose Firmin-Didot)
MEDI/EVAL CONCEPTIONS OF THE DEVIL
[face p. 124
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Diagrams, Magical : (See Magic.)
Diakka: A term used by Andrew Jackson Davis to signify wicked, ignorant, or undeveloped spirits. It is believed that at death no sudden or violent change takes place in the character and disposition of an individual. Those who are mischievous, unprincipled, sensual, during their lives remain so, for a time at least, after they die. Hudson Tuttle says, " As the spirit enters the spirit world just as it leaves this, there must be an innumerable host of low, undeveloped, uneducated, or in other words, evil spirits." There is, indeed, a special sphere or plane for these diakka, where they are put on probation. It is they who are re- sponsible for the fraud and trickery often witnessed at seances ; they not only deceive the sitters, but the medium as well. The way to avoid their influence is to live a pure, refined, and religious life, for these evil spirits are naturally attracted to those whose minds most resemble their own.
Diamond : This gem possesses the most marvellous virtues. It gives victory to him who carries it bound on his left arm whatever the number of his enemies. Panics, pestilences, enchantments — all fly before it ; hence, it is good for sleep- walkers and for the insane. It deprives the lodestone of its virtue, and one variety, the Arabian diamond, is said to attract iron more powerfully than the magnet itself. The ancients believed that neither fire nor blows would overcome its hardness, unless macerated with fresh goat's blood ; and Cyprian, Austin, Isidore, and others of the fathers, adopting this notion, have used it to illustrate the method by which the blood of the Cross softens the heart of man. If bound to a magnet, the diamond, ac- cording to the belief of the ancients, will deprive it of its virtue.
Diancecht : A Danaan magician of Irish medieval legend. He it was who restored to Nuada of the Silver Hand (q.v.) his lost limb and thus his throne.
Diaphane : The Kabalistic term for the imagination.
Dickenson, Edmund : Dr. Edmund Dickenson, physician to King Charles the Second, a professed seeker of the her- metic knowledge, produced a book entitled, De Quinta Essentia Philosophorum ; which was printed at Oxford in 1686, and a second time in 1705. A third edition of it was printed in Germany in 1721. In correspon- dence with a French adept, the latter explains the reasons why the Brothers of the Rosy Cross concealed themselves. As to the universal medicine, Elixir Vitae, or potable form of the preternatural menstruum, he positively asserts that it is in the hands of the " Illuminated," but that, by the time they discover it, they have ceased to desire its uses, being far above them : and as to life for centuries, being wishful for other things, they decline availing themselves of it. He adds that the adepts are obliged to conceal themselves for the sake of safety, because they would be abandoned in the consolations of the intercourse of this world (if they were not, indeed, exposed to worse risks), supposing that their gifts were proven to the conviction of the bystanders as more than human, when they would become simply abhorrent. Thus, there are excellent reasons for the its conduct ; they proceed with the utmost caution, and instead of making a display of their powers, as vain-glory is the least distinguishing characteristic of these great men, they studiously evade the idea that they have any extraordinary or separate knowledge. They live simply as mere spectators in the world, and they desire to make no disciples, converts nor confidants. They sub- mit to the obligations of life, and to relationships — en- joying the fellowship of none, admiring none, following none, but themselves. They obey all codes, are excellent citizens, and only preserve silence in regard to their own private beliefs, giving the world the benefit of their ac- quirements up to a certain point ; seeking only sympathy
at some angles of their multiform character, but shutting out curiosity where they do not desire its inquisitive eyes.
Didot Perceval : So-called because the only MS. of this legend discovered belonged to A. F. Didot, the famous collector. This version of the Grail Legend lays great stress on the illness of the Fisher King. It tells how the Table Round was constructed, and relates the adventures of Sir Perceval, which are much the same as those told in the Conte del Graal and include the Good Friday incident. It is said that he, with his brother-in-law, Brons, were instructed in the mystic expressions which Christ whispered to Joseph of Arimathea when on the cross.
Diepenbroeks, Treatise on : (See Healing by Touch.)
Dilston : (See Haunted Houses.)
Dionysiac Mysteries : (See Mysteries.)
Direct Writing : A term used in spiritualism for spirit writing which is produced directly, and not by the hand of a medium, or through a mechanical contrivance such as a psycho- graph or planchette.. The best known form of direct writing is that made popular by the mediums Slade and Eg- linton — slate-writing (q.v.) But the spirits are not depen- dent solely on prepared materials, but can produce direct writing anywhere, and under any circumstances. Thus during a poltergeist disturbance at Stratford, Conn., in 1850-51, direct writing was found on turnips which sprang apparently from nowhere. An unfinished letter left for a few moments would be found completed in a different hand, though during the interval it might have been in- accessible to any normal agency. Direct writing may also be produced at spiritualistic seances, either by means of slate-writing, or by putting scraps of paper and pencil into a sealed drawer or a closed box. A sound as of writing will shortly be heard, and on the paper being withdrawn it will be found to contain some sort of message from the spirit world. Experiments on these lines were carried out by a noted spiritualist, Baron de Guldenstubbe, in 1856. Paper and pencil he locked in a small box, the key of which he carried about with him. At the end of thirteen days he found some writing on the paper ; and on that same day the experiment was repeatedly performed, each time with success. Another method he adopted was to visit galleries, churches, and other public places, and to leave writing materials on the pedestals of statues, on tombs, and so on. In this way he obtained writing in English, French, German, Latin, Greek, and other languages purporting to come from Plato, Cicero, St. Paul, Juvenal, Spencer, and Mary Stuart. The Baron was accompanied on these expeditions by the Comte d'Ourches and others of his friends, while on one occasion a medium is mentioned as being present. It is probable, indeed, that a medium was essential to these spirit performances ; for, though the medium's physical organism is not used as an agent, the writings generally take place in the vicinity of one gifted with supernormal faculties. Not only is legible hand-writing produced in this way ; sometimes mysterious hieroglyphs are inscribed, which can only be deciphered by those who possess mediumistic powers.
Dithorba : Brother of Red Hugh and Kimbay of Irish me- dieval legend. He was killed by his niece Macha, and his five sons expelled from Ulster. They resolved to wrest the sovereignty of Ireland from Macha, but she discovers them in the forest, overpowers them by her mesmeric influence, and carries them to her palace on her back. They build the famous Irish city of Emain Macha under her supervision.
Divination : The method of obtaining knowledge of the unknown or the future by means of omens. Astrology (q.v.), and oracular utterances (See Oracles), may be re- garded as branches of divination. The derivation of the word supposes a direct message from the gods to the diviner
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or augur. It is practised in all grades of barbarism and civilisation. The methods of divination are many and various, and strangely enough in their variety are confined to no one portion of the globe. Crystal-gazing has been relegated to a separate article. Shell-hearing and similar methods are allied to crystal-gazing and may be classed with it, as that method of divination which arises from the personal consciousness of the augur. Of the same class are divi- nation by dreams, automatic writing, and so forth. What might be called divination by " luck " is represented by the use of cards, the casting of lots, the use of knuckle-bones as in Africa and elsewhere, cocoanuts as in Polynesia. Haruspication, or the inspection of entrails, divination by foot-print in ashes, by the flight of birds, by meeting with ominous animals, represents the third class of augury.
The art of divination is usually practised among savages by the shaman caste ; among less barbarous people by the augur, as in Rome and ancient Mexico ; and even amongst civilised people by persons who pretend to divination, such as the spiritualistic medium or the witch. The art is un- doubtedly of great antiquity. It was employed in ancient Egypt side by side with astrology, and divination by dream was constantly resorted to, — a class of priests being kept apart, whose office it was to interpret dreams and visions. We find instances of dreams recorded in the Egyptian texts : as foi example those of Thothmes IV. king of Egypt in 1450 B.C., and Nut-Amen, king of the Eastern Soudan and Egypt about 670 B.C. The Egyptian magician usually set himself to procure dreams for his clients by such devices as the drawing of magical pictures and the reciting of magical words ; and some of these are still extant, such as that in the British Museum papyrus No. 122. We find, however, that in Egypt augury was usually ef- fected by astrological methods.
In ancient China the principal method of divination was by means of the oracles ; but we find such forms as the examination of the marks on the shell of a tortoise, which reminds us of the examination of the back of a pec- cary by the Maya of Central America. We find a Chinese monarch consulting the fates in this manner in 1 146 B.C. and finding them unfavourable ; but as in Egypt, most soothsaying was accomplished by means of astrology. Omens, however, were by no means ignored, and were given great prominence, as many tales in the ancient books testify.
In ancient Rome a distinct caste or college of priests called Augurs was set apart to interpret the signs of ap- proval or disapproval sent by the gods in reference to any coming event. This college probably consisted originally of but three members, of whom the king himself was one ; and it was not until the time of Caesar that the members were increased to sixteen. The college remained in ex- istence as late as the fourth century, and its members held office for life. The tenets of the Roman augurs were, that for signs of the gods one must look towards the sky and glean knowledge of the behests of the divine beings from such omens as the lightning-flash, and the flight of birds. On a windless night, the augur took up his position on a hill which afforded an extensive view. Marking out a space for himself, he pitched a tent within it, and seating himself therein with covered head requested the gods for a sign, and waited for an answer. He faced southwards, thus having the east, or lucky quarter, on his left, and the west, or unfavourable portion of the sky, on his right. He carefully observed every sign which came within the pur- view of his vision : such as lightning, the appearance of birds, and so forth. The song or utterance of birds was also carefully hearkened to ; and these were divided into birds of good omen and evil omen : while others referred to definite persons and events. The reading of omens
was also effected by the feeding of birds and observing the manner in which they ate. The course of animals and the sounds uttered by them were also closely watched, and all unusual phenomena were regarded as omens or warnings. Sortilege or the casting of lots was often re- sorted to by the caste of augurs. The election of magis- trates was nearly always referred to the Auspices or College' of Diviners, as were the setting out of an army for war, and the passing of laws.
In the East generally, divination appears to have been effected by crystal-gazing, dreams and similar methods of self-hallucination, or self-hypnotism. Divination flourished in Chaldea and Assyria among the Babylonians and Ethiopians, and appears to have been very much the same as in Egypt. In the Jewish Talmud we notice that witches are said to- divine by means of bread-crumbs. Among the Arabs, the future is often foretold by means of the shapes seen in sand. The Burmese and Siamese pierce an egg at each end, and having blown the contents on the ground, trace within them the outline of things to be. (See Burma.) Divination by astrology too is very common in oriental countries, and prophetic utterance is likewise in great favour.
It is remarkable that among the native races of America the same arts of divination as are known to the peoples of the Old World were and are in vogue. These arts, as a rule, are the preserve of the medicine-man and priestly class. In ancient Mexico there was a college of augurs corresponding in purpose to the Auspices of ancient Rome, the members of which occupied themselves with observing the flight and listening to the songs of birds, from which they drew their conclusions. In Mexico, the Calmecac or college of priests had a department where divination was taught in all its branches, but there were many ex officio prophets and augurs, and the reader is referred to the article on Mexico for an account of the astrological methods of casting nativities, and so forth. Oracles were common, and in this connection an amusing Peruvian story may be recalled. A certain huaca or oracle was reported to be of evil influence ; orders were given to. destroy it ; and upon its being broken up a parrot found means to escape from within it,— thus giving us a pretty shrewd idea of the means employed by the priesthood to effect oracular utterance. In Peru, still other classes of diviners predicted by means of the leaves of tobacco, or the grains or juice of coca, the shapes of grains of maize, taken at random, the forms assumed by the smoke rising from burning victims, the viscera of animals, the course taken by spiders, and the direction in which fruits might fall. The professors of these several methods were dis- tinguished by different ranks and titles, and their training was a long and arduous one. The American tribes as a. whole were very keen observers of bird life. Strangely enough the bird and serpent are combined in their sym- bolism, and indeed in the names of several of their prin- cipal deities. The bird appeared to the American savage as a spirit, in all probability under the spell of some potent enchanter — a spell which might be broken by some great sorcerer or medicine man alone. As among the ancient- Romans, the birds of America were divided into those of good and evil omen ; and indeed certain Brazilian tribes appear to think that the souls of departed Indians enter into the bodies of birds. The shamans of certain tribes of Paraguay act as go-betweens between the members of their tribes and such birds as they imagine enshrine the souls of their departed relatives. This usage would appear to combine the acts of augury and necromancy.
The priesthood of Peru practised oracular methods by " making idols speak," and this they probably accomplished by ventriloquial arts. The piaqes or priests of the Uapes
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of Brazil have a contrivance known to them as the paxiuba, which consists of a tree-stem about the height of a man, on which the branches and leaves have been left. Holes are bored in the trunk beneath the foliage, and by speaking through these the leaves are made to tremble, and the sound so caused is interpreted as a message from Jurupari one of their principal deities. But all over the American continent from the Eskimos to the Patagonians, the methods of oracular divination are practically identical. The sha- man or medicine-man raises a tent or hut which he enters carefully closing the aperture after him. He then proceeds to make his incantations, and in a little while the entire lodge trembles and rocks, the poles bend to breaking point, as if a dozen strong men were straining at them, and the most violent noise comes from within, seemingly now em- anating from the depths of the earth, now from the air above, and now from the vicinity of the hut itself. The reason for this disturbance has never been properly ac- counted for ; and medicine-men who have been converted to Christianity have assured scientific workers amongst Indian tribes that they have not the least idea of what occurred during the time they occupied these enchanted lodges, for the simple reason that they were plunged in a deep sleep. After the supernatural sounds have to some extent faded away, the medicine-man proceeds to question the spirit he has evoked, — the answers of whom for sheer ambiguity are equal to those of the Pythonesses of ancient Greece. There is little doubt that the shamans who practise this method of oracular utterance are the victims of hallucination, and many cases are on record in which they have excited themselves into a condition of permanent lunacy.
America is the touchstone of the science of anthropology, and since we have adopted it as the continent from which to draw the majority of our illustrations, it will be as well if we conclude the article on American lines for the sake of comparison. We find then that divination by hypnosis is well-known in the western continent. Jonathan Carver, who travelled among the Sioux about the latter end of the eighteenth century, mentions it as in use amongst them. The " Ghost Dance " religion of the Indians of Nevada had for one of its tenets the belief in hypnotic communion with the dead. Divination by means of dreams and visions is extremely common in both sub-continents of the western hemisphere, as is exemplified by the derivation of the word " priest " in the native languages : by the Algonquians they are called " dreamers of the gods," by the Maya " listen- ers," and so forth. The ability to see visions was usually quickened by the use of drugs or the swallowing or inhala- tion of cerebral intoxicants, such as tob?cco, maguey, coca, the snake-plant, and so forth. Indeed many Indian tribes, such as the Creeks, possessed numerous plants which they cultivated for this purpose. A large number of instances are on record in which Indian medicine-men are said to have divined the future in a most striking manner, and perhaps the following will serve to illustrate this :
In his autobiography, Black Hawk, a celebrated Sac chief, relates that his grandfather had a strong belief that in four years' time ' he should see a white man, who would be to him as aTlather.' Supernaturally directed, as he said, he travelled eastward to a certain spot, and there, as he had been informed in dreams, met with a Frenchman who concluded an alliance on behalf of his country with the Sac nation. Coincidence is certainly possible here, but it can hardly -exist in the circumstances of Jonathan Carver. While he was dwelling with the Killistenoes, they were threatened with a famine, and on the arrival of certain traders, who brought them food in exchange for 6kins and other goods, their very existence depended. The diviners of the tribe were consequently consulted by
the chief, and announced that the next day, at high noon exactly, a canoe would make its appearance with news of the anxiously looked-for expedition. The entire popu- lation came down to the beach in order to witness its arrival, accompanied by the incredulous trader, and, to his intense surprise, at the very moment forecasted by the shamans, a canoe rounded a distant headland, and, paddling speedily shorewards, brought the patient Killistenoes news of the expedition they expected.
John Mason Brown has put on record an equally singu- lar instance of the prophetic gift on the part of an American medicine-man. (See Atlantic Monthly, July, 1866.) He was engaged several years previously in searching for a band of Indians in the neighbourhood of the Mackenzie and Coppermine rivers ; but the difficulties of the search induced the majority of his band to return, until out of ten men who originally set out only three remained. They had all but concluded to abandon their search when they stumbled upon a party of braves of the very tribe of which they were in search. These men had been sent out by their medicine-men to find three whites, of whose horses, accoutrements, and general appearance the shaman had given them an exhaustive account ere they set out, and this . the warriors related to Brown before they saw his companions. Brown very naturally inquired closely of the medicine-man how he had been able to foretell their coming. But the latter, who appeared to be ' a frank and simple-minded man,' could only explain that ' he saw them coming, and heard them talk on their journey.'
Crystal-gazing is in common use amongst many Indian tribes. The Aztecs of Mexico were wont to gaze into small polished pieces of sandstone, and a case is on record where a Cherokee Indian kept a divining crystal wrapped up in buckskin in a cave, occasionally " feeding " it by rubbing over it the blood of a deer. At a village in Guatemala, Stephens saw a remarkable stone which had been placed on the altar of the church there, but which had previously been used as a divining-stone by the Indians of the district. Divination by arrow was also commonly resorted to.
According to Fuentes, the chronicler of Guatemala the reigning king of Kiche, Kicah Tanub, when informed by the ambassador of Montezuma II. that a race of irre- sistible white men had conquered Mexico and were pro- ceeding to Guatemala, sent for four diviners, whom he commanded to tell him what would be the result of this invasion. They asked for time to discover the future fate of his kingdom, and taking their bows discharged some arrows against a rock. They returned to inform their master that, as no impression had been made upon the rock by the arrowheads, they must prognosticate the worst and predicted the ultimate triumph of the white man — a circumstance which shows that the class to which they belonged stood in no fear of royalty. Kicah Tanub, dis- satisfied, sent for the ' priests,' obviously a different class from the diviners, and requested their opinions. From the ominous circumstance of an ancient stone — -which had been brought from afar by their forefathers — having been broken, they also augured the fall of the Kiche empire.
Many objects such as small clay birds, boats or boat- shaped vessels, etc., have been discovered in sepulchral mounds in North America, and it is conjectured that these may have been used for purposes of divination. As any object might become a fetish, it is probable that any object might become a means of augury. The method employed appears to have been so to treat the object that the prob- able chances for or against the happening of a certain event would be discovered — much, indeed, as some persons will toss coins to " find out " whether an expected event will come to pass or not. Portents, too, were implicitly be- lieved in by the American races, and this branch of augury
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was, we find, one of the accomplishments of Nezahualpilli, king of Tezcuco, near Mexico, whom Montezuma consulted concerning the terrible prodigies which startled his people prior to the advance of the Spaniards upon his kingdom, and which were supposed to predict the return of Quet- zacloatl, the legendary culture-hero of Anahuac, to his own again. These included earthquakes, tempests, floods, the appearances of comets and strange lights, whilst mys- terious voices were heard in the air — such prodigies, indeed, as tradition usually insists upon as the precursors of the downfall of a mighty empire.
The various methods of divination have each been ac- corded a separate article : thus the reader is referred to Axinomaney, Belomancy, Capnomancy, and so forth; and in the articles dealing with the various countries a goodly number of instances of divinatory practice will be discovered.
Divine Name, The : In Jewish mysticism great stress is laid upon the importance of the Divine Name. It consists of forty-two letters ; not, as Moses Maimonides points out, comprised in one word, but in a phrase of several words, which conveyed an exact notion of the essence of God. With the priestly decadence in the last days of the Temple, a name of twelve letters was substituted for the Divine Name, and as time went on even this secondary name was not divulged to every priest, but only to a few. The longer name was sometimes said to contain forty-five or seventy-two letters. The ten Sefiroth are also supposed, in a mystical sense, to be the names of the Deity. The Divine Name Jahveh is greater than " I am that I am, since the latter signifies God as He was before the creation, the Absolute, the Unknowable, the Hidden One ; but the former denotes the Supreme Manifestation, the immanence of God in the Cosmos.
Divine World : Formerly known as the Adi Plane — is in the theosophic scheme of things, the first or highest world, (in Theosophy) the world first formed by the divine im- pulse in the creative process. It is unattainable by man in his present state. (See Theosophy and Solar System.)
Divining Rod : A forked rod, or branch of tree, which in the hands of certain people is said to indicate, by means of spasmodic movements of varying intensity, the presence of water and minerals underground. Traces of the rod used for purposes of divination are to be found in the records of Ancient Egypt. Cicero and Tacitus both wrote of the rod " virgula divina." This ancient divining rod was a form of rhabdomancy (q.v.) or divination by means of little pieces of stick. In Germany it was known as the " wishing-rod " and was used just as fortune-tellers use cards, coffee or tea-grounds at the present day. Agricola's De Re Metallica published at Basle, at the beginning of the sixteenth century, makes reference to another rod which he calls the virgula furcata," the forked, rod to distinguish it from the " virgula divina." This rod, he said, was used by miners to discover mineral lodes ; rhabdomancy having nothing to do with this use of the divining rod. Melanc- thon mentions this use of the rod and ascribed the behaviour of the " instrument " in the discovery of metallic ores to the law of sympathy, according to the belief then obtaining that metals, trees and other natural objects had certain subtle relationships with each other ; ' and believers in this theory pointed to the fact that trees which grew above mineral lodes droop as though attracted down- wards ; the modern scientific explanation of this natural phenomenon being that it is due to the poverty of the soil. In Sebastian Minister's Cosmography, also of the sixteenth century, may be found engravings of these " mineral diviners " at work. The priests of that time persecuted them as demons in disguise ; they were also included in the witchcraft persecutions, suffering tortures and burning
to death. Among miners on the Continent the use of the " virgula furcata " became universal, especially in the Harz Mountains and throughout Saxony. In Germany it was called the Schlag-Ruthe, " striking-rod " from the fact of its appearing to strike when held over mineral ores. Robert Boyle, the "father of chemistry" is the first to make mention of the divining rod in England. In an essay of his published in 1663 may be found the following " A forked hazel twig is held by its horns, one in each hand, the holder walking with it over places where mineral lodes may be suspected, and it is said that the fork by dipping down will discover the place where the ore is to be found. Many eminent authors, amongst others our distinguished countryman Gabriel Plat, ascribe much to this detecting wand, and others, far from credulous or ignorant, have as eye-witnesses spoken of its value. When visiting the lead-mines of Somersetshire I saw its use, and one gentle- man who employed it declared that it moved without his will, and I saw it bend so strongly as to break in his hand. It will only succeed in some men's hands, and those who have seen it may much more readily believe than those who have not." Some authorities on the subject state that it was first brought into England in the time of Queen -Elizabeth. In the State papers of that reign may be found recorded the fact that commissioners were sent to Germany to study the best methods of mining and brought back with them German miners from the Harz Mountains ; and that these " foreigners " introduced the divining rod into England seems highly probable. It was first used for water finding, however, in Southern France, and not until a cen- tury later was it used in England for this purpose. It became the " dowsing rod " in England and Somersetshire might be called the home of the '' dowser." Locke the philosopher, a Somersetshire man referred in 1691 to the " dowsing rod " and De Quincey, also belonging to the county, tells of singular cases of " jousers " as he calls them. Down to the present day this means of finding water is used, farmers and owners of large estates sending for a " dowser " when they wish to find a spring of water. These men are not geologists, who might have a scientific knowledge of the locality, they are often merely labourers. The rods are mostly cut from the hazel, but all kinds of nut and fruit trees have been used, white and black thorn and privet also being favourites. Pieces of watch-spring and copper-wire are also used ; and in some cases the forked rod is dispensed with, the peculiar sensation felt in- the arms, hands and body being sufficient to indicate the water. These dowsers wander over the ground with the ends of the fork grasped in the palms of the hands and the rod downwards and when this moves, turning suddenly in his hand, upwards, it is said for water, downwards for minerals, at that spot will be found the desired object, absolute correctness frequently being achieved. In later years attempts -have been made to scientifically in- vestigate the question and amongst amateur " dowsers " we find the names of Lord Farrer and the late Mr. Andrew Lang. As to the theory for these movements the electrical or magnetic theory was exploded by Father Kircher in 1654 who balanced the rod on a frictionless support like a delicate pair of scales and found that in this position nothing would induce it to move over hidden water or metal. It must be held by some human being before the movements take place. Chevreul, the French savant, in 1854 put forward the theory of involuntary muscular action. A modern scientist gives his opinion that very possibly it is due to a faculty in the " dowser " akin to that possessed by a medium : " some transcendental per- ceptive power unconsciously possessed by certain persons, a faculty analogous to what is called clairvoyance. Not exactly to be described as ' clear-seeing ' but rather, a
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dim, obscure impression not reaching the brain through the organ of vision, seldom ever rising to the level of a con- scious impression, but one able to start the nervous reflex action which caused the muscles to twitch and the rod or other ' autoscope ' to move. Doubtless, changes of blood pressure and pulse rate also occur in the dowser ; and if this be so, quite possibly modern instrumental appliances for recording these will ultimately supersede the primitive forked twig." He goes on to say that : " The ' dowser ' in fact, 'feels for ' and subconsciously discerns the hidden object, whether it be water, hidden treasure or even a malefactor concealing himself from justice, who was pur- sued and discovered by the agency of the famous dowser Jacques Aymar, using his supernormal powers in 1692." See Sir W. F. Barrett F.R.S. Lecture on The Dowsing Rod. A. E. Waite, The Occult Sciences. Divs : The div of ancient Persia, pronounced deo, deu, or dive, is supposed to be the same as the European devil of the middle ages. In the romances of Persia they are repre- sented as male and female, but the male divs are considered the more dangerous, and it is from their character, per- sonified in a supposed chief, that the devil is painted with his well-known attributes. The male divs, according to the legends of Persia, were entrusted with the government of the world for seven thousand years anterior to the crea- tion of Adam, and they were succeeded by the female divs or peris, who under their chief, Gian ben Gian, ruled other two thousand years. The dominion of the peris was ter- minated by Eblis (the devil of the Koran) who had been created from the elements of fire, and whose abode was previously with the angels. Eblis or Haris, as he is also called, became the leader of the rebellious angels when they were. commanded to do homage to the first created man, and being joined by the whole race of genii, the male and female divs, whom he had formerly subjugated, he was like them deprived of grace. Eblis and his imme- diate followers were condemned to suffer for a long peried in the infernal regions, but the remainder were allowed to wander over the earth, a constant source of misery to themselves and to the human race, whose obedience is put to the test by their devices, and secured by the example of their degradation and sufferings. They are supposed to assume various forms, especially that of the serpent, and in the drawings annexed to the Persian romaiices they are represented much as our own devils, ogres, and giants, in the tales of the middle ages. The writers of the later ages, both Arabian and Persian, have localised the abode of these evil genii in the mountain Kaf ; their capital is Aherman-abad, the abode of Aherman their chief, who is identified with the Ahremanes of the Manicheans, that remarkable sect being said to have borrowed their doc- trines from Zoroaster. The distinction of sex is a remark- able characteristic of the divs, and its evil results in a system of diabolic superstition may be read in the stories of the Ephialtae and Hyphialtae, or nightmare.
Evidently the same in origin as the Persian divs, are the daivers of the Hindoos, who inhabit a world which is called, after them, Daiver-Logum. We may borrow a brief account of them from Kindersley's Specimens of Hindoo Literature. " The daivers," he says, " per- petually recur in their romances, and other literary works, and are represented as possessing not only material bodies, but as being subject to human frailties. Those saints and heroes who may not as yet be considered worthy of the paradises of Shivven or of Veeshnoo, are represented as inhabiting the Daiver-Logum (or Sorgum). These daivers are in number no less than three hundred and thirty millions. The principal are — I. ' Daivuntren ' or ' Indiren ' their king ; to whom report is made of all that happens among them. His court
contain not only the numerous daivers, but also the prophets, attendants, etc. They are represented in the mythological romances of the Hindoos, as having been engaged in bloody wars, and with various success against the giants (Assoores). The family of Daivuntren consists of his wife ' Inderaunee,' and his son ' Seedera-budderen ' (born from a cow), who records the actions of men, by which they are finally to be judged. II. The attendants or companions of these daivers are — i. The 'Kinnarer,' who sing and play on musical instruments. 2. ' Dum- barim Nardir,' who also perform on a species of drum.
3. ' Kimprusher,' who wait on the daivers and are repre- sented with the wings and fair countenances of angels.
4. ' Kunda-gaindoorer,' similar winged beings who execute the mandates of Veeshnoo. 5. ' Paunner ' a species of jugglers, who amuse the daivers with snake dancing, etc. 6. ' Viddiaser,' their bards, who are acquainted with all arts and sciences, and entertain them with their histories and discourses. 7. ' Tsettee,' who attend them in their aerial journeys. 8. ' Kanuanader,' or ' Dovdanks,' mes- sengers, who conduct the votaries of Veeshnoo and Shivven to their respective paradises, and the wicked to hell (Narekah), of which ' Eemen ' is sovereign. III. The third class of daivergoel, daivers, or genii, are the eight keepers of the eight sides of the world, literally signified by their general name of ' Aushtatikcu-Pauligaur ; they are — 1. ' Indiren,' who is no other than Daivuntren, named above. 2. ' Augne-Baugauven,' thegod of fire. 3. 'Eemen' king of death and the infernal regions. 4. ' Nerudee,' the element of earth represented under the figure of a giant.
5. ' Vaivoo,' god of air and winds. 6. ' Varoonen,' god of clouds and rain. 7. ' Gooberen,' god of riches. 8. 'Es- saunien,' or Shivven himself, in one of his 1,008 appear- ances on earth." To these principal daivers, Kindersley adds without sufficient reason the ' Reeshees ' of the Hin- doos, and their tutelary god of virtue, " Derma-Daive."
For the true oriental doctrine of these evil genii the Zend-Avesta may be consulted, which associates the idea of evil more especially with the peris or female divs, con- trary to the later romances of Islamism. This anomaly reappears in our own fairy tales, the same characters, which at times, are invested with the most malignant attributes, being often described under forms of sylph-like grace and beauty.
Djemscheed, The Cup of : A divination cup, which has been the subject of many of the poems and myths of ancient Persia. It was believed to have been found while digging the foundations of Persepolis, filled with the elixir of im- mortality. In this magical cup was mirrored the whole world, and everything, good and evil, was revealed therein. The Persians had" great faith in these revelations ; and attributed the prosperity of their empire to the possession of this famous cup.
Doctrine of Correspondence : (See Swedenborg.)
Donn : Son of Midir the Proud ; an Irish hero of medieval legend. In the Colloquy of the Ancients we are told how ' Finn and Kelta and five other champions were out hunting one day, and followed a beautiful faun until it vanished under ground. Seeking shelter in a noble mansion, they were entertained by Donn mac Midir and his brother ; and their aid was asked against the rest of the Danaan folk. It seems that thrice in the year they had to fight their fairy foes, and all their followers had been killed ex- cepting the eight-and-twenty warriors themselves. The faun which they had followed had been an enchanted maiden sent to entice them. After a year of successful fighting, the Danaans were obliged to make peace.
Double Triangle : (See Magic.)
D'Ourches, Comte : French magnetist and necromancer, associated about 1850 with Baron de Guldenstubbe in the
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attempt — successful only after six months of endeavour — to establish in France spiritualistic circles such as were being form sd at the time in America. After a time they were successful in obtaining such manifestations as raps, the vibration of piano-chords, and direct writing.
Dovantes : {See Daivers and Daivergoel.)
Dowie, The Prophet : {See America, U.S. of.)
Dowsers : {See Divining Rod.)
Dowsing, George : {See England)
Draconites : otherwise dentrites, draconius, or obsianus, is described by Albertus Magnus as a shining black stone of pyramidal figure. It is not very easy to obtain, as it must be taken out of the head of a dragon, cut off while the beast is still panting. It subdues all sorts of poison, and endows its possessor with invincible courage. The kings of the East esteemed it a great treasure.
Dragon : A purely fabulous monster of enormous size, com- mon to almost all countries. Descriptions of its appearance vary ; but it appears to have been of a reptilian nature, often of a red or green colour, sometimes with several heads which vomited forth fire, and vapours, and a large and clumsy tail. It was of enormous strength ; but the an- cients believed that it could be charmed by music, and the dragon which guarded the golden fleece was soothed by the voice of Medea. In India at the time of Alexander the Great, a dragon was worshipped as a god ; and in occult history it is the manifestation of hell. The dragon, how- ever, is best known in legendary history as the terrible monster, whose duty it was to provide the hero with op- portunities of valour, and in this capacity it has figured in many a tale. The legend of St. George and the Dragon is familiar to everyone, and also the dragon that was slain by Sir Lancelot, one of the knights of King Arthur's Round Table. In Revelation the dragon, a representation of the Evil One, is overcome by the Archangel Michael. On one side of the coin given to those who were cured of possession, about the time of Henry VII., there was portrayed an angel standing with both feet on a dragon. The idea of the dragon is perhaps evolved from the conception of the earth, as a living being, a notion which would gain currency from Earthquake and related phenomena.
Dragon's Head : {See Astrology.)
Dragon's Tail: {See Astrology.)
Dreams : The occult significance of dreams was a matter of speculation among the wise at an early period in the history of civilisation. In the articles upon Babylonia and Egypt
- we have to some extent outlined the methods by which the wise men of those countries divined the future from visions seen in sleep, and to these we must refer the reader, as well as to the articles dealing with other countries, savage and civilised, where he will discover a good deal of data relating to dreams and dream-lore. In this place we can only indi- cate some of the more outstanding theories of antiquity regarding the nature and causes of dreams and the manner in which the ancient diviners generally interpreted them. Dreams were regarded as of two kinds — false and true, in either case emanating from a supernatural intelligence, evil or good. By the ancients sleep was regarded as a second life, in which the soul was freed from the body and therefore much more active than during the waking state. The acts it observed and the scenes through which it passed were thought to have a bearing on the future life of the dreamer, but it is possible that the dream-life was regarded as supernatural and " inverted," and that the events which the bodiless spirit beheld were the opposites of those which would later occur on the earth-plane. The idea thus originated that " dreams go by contraries," as both popular belief and the many treatises upon the sub-
ject of nightly visions assure us is the case.
However the belief in the divinatory character of dreams arose, there is every proof that their causes and nature exercised some of the greatest minds of antiquity. Aris- totle believed them to arise solely from natural causes. Posidonius the Stoic was of the opinion that they were of three kinds, the first automatic, and coming from the clear sight of the soul, the second from spirits and the third from God. Cratippus, Democritus, and Pythagoras held doctrines almost identical or differing only in detail. Later, Macrobius divided dreams into five kinds : the dream, the vision, the ocular dream, the insomnium and the phantasm. The first is a figurative and mysterious representation which requires an interpretation ; the second was an exact representation of a future event in sleep ; the third was a dream representing some priest or divinity, who declared to the sleeper things to come ; the fourth was an ordinary dream not deserving of atten- tion, and the fifth was a disturbed half-awake dream, a species of nightmare. Other writers divide dreams into accidental dreams and those which were induced for the purposes of divination. We are told by Herodotus that in the temple of Bel in Babylon a priestess lay on a bed ready to dream visions of the second class, and that the beds of such soothsayers were often made of the skin of a ram is well known. The ancient Hebrews obtained such dreams by sleeping among tombs, and this especial gate- way to the supernatural world seems to have been, and still is known to the majority of nations, barbarous and the reverse, as intimately as hypnotic and other methods of reaching its planes and hearing its pronouncements. Sleep was, of course, often induced by drugs, whether the soma of the Hindoos, the peyollotl of the ancient Mexicans, the haschish of the Arabs, or the opium of the Malays or Chinese, and these narcotics which have the property of inducing speedy sleep and Of heightening inward vision were and are greatly prized by professional dreamers a 11 over the world, especially as they rendered dreaming almost immediately possible.
With the nature of ecstatic vision we have dealt under the heading of Hypnotism and now that we have outlined the older theories regarding the cause and nature of dreams (for with the modern and purely physiological theories on the subject we have no concern in this place), we may pass on to consider the methods by which dreams were read or divined. As has been remarked, this was generally under- taken by a special class of diviners, who in ancient Greece were known as Oneiocritikoi, or interpreters of dreams. The first treatise on the subject is that of Artemidorus, who lived in the time of Antoninus Pius. He differentiates between the dreams of Kings and those of commoners, as he believes that the visions of royalty must have reference to the commonwealth and not to the individual. Dreams which represent something as happening to the individual who dreams them, show that they have a personal signifi- cance, whereas if the dream relates to another it will concern him alone. He details the numerous species of dreams throughout five books, and then adduces numerous exam- ples. Neither for rule nor illustration have we any space here, and indeed, the literature, popular and otherwise, which treats of oneiromancy is so extensive and so readily accessible that no necessity arises for so doing. Suffice it to say that the rules of Artemidorus are far from clear, and according to them, any dream might signify any event, and any interpretation of the same might be considered justifiable. The method of testing dreams according to Amyraldus is his Discours sur les Songes divins (Saumur, 1625) is whether the instructions and advice that they contain make for good or ill — a test it is impossible to
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apply until after the result is known. But Amyraldus surmounts this difficulty by proposing to test dreams by the evidence they show of divine knowledge — by asking oneself in short, whether the dream it was desired to examine gave any evidence of such things as God alone could know. It would seem from an examination of such dreams as were submitted to the diviners of antiquity that the symbolism they exhibited was of a character so pro- found that it could only be unriddled by an interpreter who received divine aid, such as was afforded in the case of Moses or Daniel. It is plain, however, that the most far- fetched interpretations were given to many of the most epoch-making dreams of antiquity, and indeed, the oneio- critical system is one of the weakest spots in the armour of occult science, and was the first of its departments to fall into disrepute and become the prey of the charlatan. There are not wanting serious students of the occult who doubt entirely the occult significance of dreams, and it must be granted that no good reason exists for classing them generally with the vision, or a condition of second sight or ecstasy. See H. Hutchinson, Dreams and their Meanings, London, 1901 ; J. C. Colquohoun, Magic, Witchcraft and Animal Magnetism, London, 1851 ; H. Christmas, The Cradle of the Twin Giants, London, 1849, and many other popular and more advanced handbooks on the subject. Dreams of Animals : It was believed by many that animals dreamed. Pliny says : " Evident it is, that horses, dogs, kine, oxen, sheepe and goats, doe dreame. Whereupon it is credibly also thought that all creatures that bring forth their young quicke and living, doe the same. As for those that lay egges, it is not so certian that they dreame; but resolved it is that they doe sleepe.'' Dress, Phantom : The question of the apparel worn by ap- paritions has of late years aroused considerable controversy. Says Mr. Podmore : " The apparition commonly consists simply of a figure, clothed as the percipient was accustomed to see the agent clothed ; whereas to be true to life the phantasm would as a rule have to appear in bed. In cases where the vision gives no information as to the agent's clothing and surroundings generally — and, as already said, such cases form the great majority of the well attested narratives — we may suppose that what is transmitted is not any part of the superficial content of the agent's con- sciousness, but an impression from the underlying massive and permanent elements which represent his personal identity. The percipient's imagination is clearly com- petent to clothe such an impression with appropriate im- agery, must indeed so clothe it if it is to rise into conscious- ness at all." " The ghosts, it will have been observed, always appear clothed. Have clothes also ethereal coun- terparts ? Such was and is the belief of many early races of mankind, who leave clothes, food, and weapons in the graves of the dead, or burn them on the funeral pile, that their friends may have all they require in the spirit world. But are we prepared to accept this view ? And again, these ghosts commonly appear, not in the clothes which they were wearing at death — for most deaths take place in bed — but in some others, as will be seen from an examination of the stories already cited. Are we to suppose the ethereal body going to its wardrobe to clothe its nakedness withal ? or that, as in the case of Ensign Cavalcante's appearance to Frau Reiken, the ghost will actually take off the ethereal clothes it wore at death and replace them with others ? It is scarcely necessary to pursue the subject. The diffi- culties and contradictions involved in adapting it to ex- plain the clothes must prove fatal to the ghost theory." Mr. Thistleton Dyer says on the subject : " It is the familiar- dress worn in lifetime that is, in most
cases, one of the distinguishing features of the ghost, and when Sir George Villiers wanted to give a warning to his son, the Duke of Buckingham, his spirit appeared to one of the Duke's servants ' in the very clothes he used to wear.' Mrs. Crowe, in her Night Side of Nature gave an account of an apparition which appeared at a house in Sarratt, Hertfordshire. It was that of a well-dressed gentleman, in a blue coat and bright gilt buttons, but without a head. It seems that this was reported to be the ghost of a poor man of that neighbourhood who had been murdered, and whose head had been cut off. He could, therefore, only be recognised by his ' blue coat and bright gilt buttons.' Indeed, many ghosts have been nicknamed from the kinds of dress in which they have been in the habit of appearing. Thus the ghost at Allan- bank was known as ; Pearlin Jean,' from a species of lace made of thread which she wore ; and the ' White Lady ' at Ashley Hall — like other ghosts who have borne the same name — from the white drapery in which she presented herself. Some lady ghosts have been styled ' Silky,' from the rustling of their silken costume, in the wearing of which they have maintained the phantom grandeur of their earthly life. Theie was the ' Silky' at Black Heddon who used to appear in silken attire, often- times ' rattling in her silks '; and the spirit of Denton Hall — also termed ' Silky ' — walks about in a white silk dress of antique fashion. This last ' Silky ' was thought to be the ghost of a lady who was mistress to the profligate Duke of Argyll in the reign of William III., and died sud- denly, not without suspicion of murder, at Chirton, near Shields — one of his residences. The ' Banshee of Loch Nigdal,' too, was arrayed in a silk dress, green in colour. These traditions date from, a period when silk was not in common use, and therefore attracted notice in country places. Some years ago a ghost appeared at Hampton Court, habited in a black satin dress with white kid gloves. The White ' Lady of Skipsea ' makes her midnight sere- nades clothed in long, white drapery. Lady Bothwell, who haunted the mansion of Woodhouselee, always ap- peared in white ; and the apparition of the mansion of Houndwood, in Berwickshire — bearing the name of ' Chappie '■ — is clad in silk attire.
" One of the ghosts seen at the celebrated Willington Mill was that of a female in greyish garments. Sometimes she was said to be wrapped in a mantle, with her head depressed and her hands crossed on her lap. Walton Abbey had its headless lady who used to haunt a certain wainscotted chamber, dressed in blood-stained garments, with her infant in her arms ; and, in short, most of the ghosts- that have tenanted our country houses have been noted for their distinctive dress.
" Daniel Defoe, in his Essay on the History -and Reality of Apparitions, has given many minute details as to the dress of a ghost. He tells a laughable and highly amusing story of some robbers who broke into a mansion in the country, and, while ransacking one of the rooms, they saw, in a chair, ' a grave, ancient man, with a long full- bottomed wig, and a rich, brocaded gown,' etc. One of the robbers threatened to tear off his ' rich brocaded gown,' another hit at him with a firelock, and was alarmed at seeing it pass through the air ; and then the old man ' changed into the most horrible monster that ever was seen, with eyes like two fiery daggers red hot.' The same apparition encountered them in different rooms, and at last the servants, who were at the top of the house, throw- ing some ' hand grenades ' down the chimneys of these rooms, the thieves were dispersed. Without adding fur- ther stories of this kind, which may be taken for what they are worth, it is a generally received belief in ghost lore
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that spirits are accustomed to appear in the dresses which they wore in their lifetime — a notion credited from the days of Pliny the Younger to the present day.
" But the fact of ghosts appearing in earthly raiment has excited the ridicule of many philosophers, who, even admitting the possibility of a spiritual manifestation, deny that there can be the ghost of a suit of clothes. George Cruikshank, too, who was no believer in ghosts, sums up the matter thus : ' As it is clearly impossible for spirits to wear dresses made of the materials of earth, we should like to know if there are spiritual outfitting shops for the clothing of ghosts who pay visits on earth.' Whatever the objections may be to the appearance of ghosts in human attire, they have not hitherto overthrown the belief in their being seen thus clothed, and Byron, describing the ' Black Friar ' who haunted the cloisters and other parts of Newstead Abbey, tells us that he was always
arrayed In cowl, and beads, and dusky garb. Indeed, as Dr. Tylor remarks, ' It is an habitual feature of the ghost stories of the civilised, as of the savage world, that the ghost comes dressed, and even dressed in well- known clothing worn in life.' And he adds that the doc- trine of object-souls is held by the Algonguin tribes, the islanders of the Fijian group, and the Karens of Burmah — it being supposed that not only men and beasts have souls, but inorganic things. Thus, Mariner, describing the Fijian belief, writes : ' If a stone or any other sup- stance is broken, immortality is equally its reward ; nay, artificial bodies have equal good luck with men, and hogs, and yams. If an axe or a chisel is worn out or broken up, away flies its soul for the service of the gods. The Fijians can further show you a sort of natural well, or deep hole in the ground, at one of their islands, across the bottom of which runs a stream of water, in which you may clearly see the souls of men and women, beasts and plants, stocks and stones, canoes and horses, and of all the broken utensils of this frail world, swimming, or rather tumbling along, one over the other, pell-mell, into the regions of immor- tality.' As it has been observed, animistic conceptions of this kind are no more irrational than the popular idea prevalent in civilised communities as to spirits appearing in all kinds of garments."
Druidic Language : (See Shelta Thari.)
Druids : (See Celts.)
Drum, Magic : (See Lapland.)
Drummer of Tedworth : A poltergeist who haunted the house of Mr. John Mompesson, of Tedworth, Wilts, about the year 1661 and onwards. In March of that year Mom- pesson had had a vagrant drummer brought before a justice of the peace, whereby his drum was confiscated. The instrument was taken to the house of Mompesson, during the latter's absence, and immediately a violent poltergeist disturbance broke out. Apparitions were seen by members of the household, pieces of furniture were seen to move of themselves, small objects were flung about by invisible hands, the younger children were levi- tated as they lay in their beds, and there was a continual sound of drumming every night. The drummer, under- stood to be the cause of the trouble, was transported, when peace once more reigned in the afflicted household ; but ere long he managed to return, when the disturbances broke out with renewed vigour. There is no first-hand account of this poltergeist, save that of Joseph Glanvil — Sadducismus Triumphatus, 1668 — and though Glanvil is our authority for the whole story, that part of it which he himself declares to have witnessed is certainly not the most marvellous, but describes scratchings and pantings heard in the vicinity of the childrens' beds.
Du Potet : One of the original founders of spiritualism in
France, and one of the first experimentalists in table- turning, either in that country or elsewhere. (See France).
Du-Sith (Black Elf.) : A little man, believed to be of fairy origin, who killed Sir Lachlan Mor M'Clean at the battle of Trai-Gruinard, in Islay, Scotland, in the year 1598. The story runs that this little man offered his services to Sir James Macdonald, the opponent of Sir Lachlan ; and that the latter's death was caused by an arrow which struck him on the head, and was afterwards found to be an Elf-bolt. In reply to a question of Macdonald's the little man replied : "I am called Du-sith, and you were better to have me with you than against you."
Duad : (See God.)
Dual Personality : In every form of cerebral dissociation there is a disturbance of consciousness. Sometimes, and especially in the trance, there occurs what is known as " split consciousness," and the split may be so pronounced that the subject seems to have two or more distinct person- alities. The secondary personality may differ from the primary in many ways, and possess entirely distinct intel- lectual and moral characteristics. The entranced sub- ject may allude to his normal consciousness in the third person, may criticise its opinions and attitude; or even express direct antagonism towards it. The secondary personality sometimes alternates with the primary in such a way as to suggest that two spirits are struggling to possess the same physical organisation. Another peculiar- ity of this state is that whereas the normal consciousness generally knows nothing of the others, the secondary personalities have full knowledge of each other and of the normal conciousness. Dual personality is not confined to the trance state, but may arise spontaneously. R. L. Stevenson makes effective use of it in his Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Duguid, David : A Glasgow painting medium who achieved considerable success in his line. He was a cabinet-maker, who in 1866 found himself possessed of mediumistic facul- ties. At first an ordinary rapping medium, he speedily developed the power of painting in trance, even in the dark. A still higher stage of mediumship was reached when direct drawings were produced in his presence. These drawings, generally copies of Dutch masters, purporting to be done by the original artists, are said not to have been without some merit, apart from the fact that they were done in complete darkness. The two principal con- trols were Ruysdael and Steen. In 1869 control of the medium's organism was taken by Hafed, prince of Persia at the beginning of the Christian era, and Archmagus. Hafed related his many adventures through Duguid's mediumship in a series of sittings extending over some years. A Persian of princely birth, he had borne arms in his country's defence. After extensive travels, he was admitted to the magi, and ultimately became Archmagus. He was of those who bore rich gifts to Bethlehem at the birth of Christ. Finally he met his death in the arena at Rome. Hafed, Prince of Persia, was afterwards pub- lished in book form. (See Spiritualism).
Duk-duk, The : Members of a secret society of New Pomer- ania, who are also called Spirits.
Dumbarin-Nardar : One of the classes of attendants or companions of the Hindoo daivers, whose special duty it is to play upon a kind of drum.
Dupuis, Charles Francois : 1742-1809. Charles Francois Du- puis was born at Trie le-Chateau, and educated by his father and afterwards at the College d'Harcourt. At the age of twenty-four he was made professor of rhetoric at Lisieux ; but his inclination led him into the field of mathematics. In his work, Origine de tous les Cultus^ he attempts to explain not only all the mysteries of antiquity, but also the origin of all religious beliefs. In his Memoire
DurandaL
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explicatif du Zodiaque chronologique el mythologique (1806) Durandal : A magical sword belonging to Roland of legen-
he maintains a common origin for the astronomical and dary fame.
religious opinions of the Greeks, Egyptians, Chinese, Duum Vira : (See Sibylline Books.)
Persians, and Arabians.
E
Ea : (See Babylonia.)
Earth laid upon a Corpse : It is related in Pennant's Tour that it was the custom in the Highlands of Scotland to lay on the breast of the deceased a wooden platter con- taining a little earth and a little salt — the former to sym- bolize the corruptibility of the body, the latter the incor- ruptibility of the soul.
Ebennozophim : (See Astrology.)
Eber Don : Chief of the Milesian invaders of Ireland. Many of their ships were lost in a storm which the Danaans (q.v.) raised by magic.
Eblis, or Harls as he is also called : the " Satan " of the Mo- hammedans'. It is said that he was an inmate of Azazil, the heaven nearest God ; and when the angels were com- manded to bow down to the first man, Eblis was the chief of those who rebelled. They were cast out of Azazil, and Eblis and his followers were sentenced to suffer in hell for a long time. It is supposed that he was composed of the elements of fire ; and that he succeeded the peris in the government of the world.
Ech-Uisque : A Gaelic word meaning water-horse. The Ech-uisque was a goblin of Highland folk-lore, understood to be a favourite form assumed by the Kelpie, in order to lure souls to his master the Devil. In the disguise of a fine steed, beautifully accoutred, the Kelpie grazed inno- cently by the wayside. The weary traveller, passing by, and believing this splendid animal to have strayed from his 'master, was tempted to make use of him to help him on his way ; and the deceitful Kelpie, remaining quiet as a lamb until the traveller was fairly mounted, would then with a fiendish yell of triumph plunge headlong into an adjacent pool. It was believed that the soul of the un- fortunate man, who had had no time to prepare for death, would thus be safely secured to the Evil One ; while the Kelpie received the body in payment for his trouble.
Echo D 'Outre Tombe (Journal) : (See Franee.)
Eckartshausen, K. Von : Author of The Cloud on the Sanc- tuary (1800). Eckartshausen, by birth and education an intensely religious man, at first wrote several little books of devotion that had great vogue in France and Germany. He later turned his attention to larger works of a more profound character, such as that mentioned above. Ac- cording to Eckartshausen the requisite faculty of true com- munion with the church is the inward conception of things spiritual and with this sense present, is possible the begin- ning of Regeneration understood as the process of gradually eliminating original sin. His work on the Interior Church is in two parts : first, elucidation of his doctrine ; second, a series of dogmas or assertions derived therefrom.
Ectenic Force : A supposed physical force emanating from the person of the medium, and directed by his will, by means of which objects may be moved without contact in apparent defiance of natural laws. The existence of such a force was first postulated by Count Agenor de Gas- parin, to explain the phenomena of table-turning and rapping, and the name Ectenic Force was bestowed upon the supposed agency by de Gasparin's colleague, M. Thury. The experiments of Thury and de Gasparin are declared to offer some of the most convincing evidence that spirit- ualism can produce, and have influenced more than one eminent student of psychic research. If it be true that tables were moved without contact, then such a theory
is indeed necessary, but the evidence for this type of phe- nomena is not abundant.
Eddy, Mrs. Mary Baker : (See New Thought.)
Eden, Garden of : (See Paradise.)
Eel : The eel is credited with the possession of many mar- vellous virtues. If he is left to die out of the water, his body steeped in strong vinegar and the blood of a vulture, and the whole placed under a dunghill, the composition will raise from the dead anything brought to it, and will give it life as before. It is also said that he who eats the still warm heart of an eel will be seized with the spirit of prophecy, and will predict things to come. The Egyptians worshipped the eel, which their priests alone had the right to eat. Magic eels were made in the eighteenth century of flour and the juice of mutton. There may be added a little anecdote told by William of Malmesbury. A dean of the church of Elgin, in the county of Moray in Scotland, having refused to cede his church to some pious monks, was changed, with all his canons, into eels, which the brother cook made into a stew.
Egbo, The : or Esik, is a secret society of Calabar, near the Niger delta. The name means " tiger," and the society is divided into eleven grades, of which the first three are not open to slaves. Members, as a rule, buy themselves into the higher grades in their turn, and the money thus obtained is shared amongst the Nyampa who form the inner circle. The king is president of the society under the title of Cyamba. Each grade has its special festival day, on which their Idem or spirit-master exercises complete control. Whenever an Egbo day is announced, slaves, women, and children take flight in all directions, as the ambassador of the Idem, armed with a heavy whip, goes through the village and lashes everyone whom he may encounter. The Idem is usually a hermit who lives in the distant bush-land, and when he appears it is in a fantastic guise of mats and branches, which covers him from head to foot, and with a black mask on his face. The principals of the order themselves are linked together by a garb of leaves so gath- ered up that they seem to move in a connected mass.
" The Order of Free Egbos, (says Froebenius) is said to have originated at the fairs which were held at a great palm-oil market in the interior, midway between Calabar and the Kamerun. As the place became the scene of much disorder, while the European trade made it necessary for the maintenance of public credit that all engagements should be strictly carried out, this institution was formed as a sort of Hanseatic Union under the most influential traders, for the mutual safeguarding of their interests. Later it acquired the political character of a Vehmgericht or secret tribunal, by bringing within its sphere of action the whole police of the Calabars and the Kamerun. The kings always sought to secure for themselves the Grand- mastership of the Order, since otherwise their authority would sink to a mere shadow. European skippers have frequently found it to their advantage to be enrolled in the lower grades, in order thereby the more easily to recover their debts. A member of the Egbo has the right to claim as his own property the slave of his debtor, wherever he may find him, merely by fastening a yellow strip to his dress or loincloth. - Even in the interior of the continent the standing of an Egbo is still respected and feared, and affords one a certain immunity from molestation, such as
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Egypt
is absolutely needed for the extensive commercial specu- lations in Africa.
" In the Kamerun, as a preliminary to their acceptance into the Free Egbos, the young man are sent for a protracted period to the Mokokos, a bush tribe in the interior ; with these they live naked in the fields, and only now and then dart out, clad in green leaves, to have a bath in the river. All women, and especially slaves, are prohibited, under heavy penalties, from approaching the forest where they reside. In the Kamerun, it is customary to pay particular honour to a visitor, above all if he be a European, by in- troducing the Egbo goat, which the people are otherwise seldom allowed to set eyes upon.
" Holman reports that the whole of the Old Calabar district is subject to the rule of the so-called Egbo laws. These are promulgated at a secret Council, the Egbo As- sembly, which is held in the ' Palaver-house ' erected for this special purpose. In virtue of his sovereign rights, the head-chief presides, under the title of Cyamab, over this assembly. Amongst the members of the Egbo there are different ranks, which must be acquired in their due order, one after the other. Holman quotes Englishmen who state that Europeans have bought themselves into the Egbo, and even into the Yampai, in order to be thus better able to get in their money. He gives the following as the names and prices of the different grades of Egbo :
1 Abungo
2 Aboko
3 Makairo
4 Bakimboko
5 Yampaic To these must be added rum,
125 bars • 75 bars
400 copper bars 100 bars 850 copper bars clothes, membo, etc.
The Yampai is the only grade whose members are allowed to sit in Council. The sums paid for the various titles of the Egbo are distributed exclusively amongst the Yampai, who, however, are not limited to a single share, since every Yampai can multiply his title as often as he can purchase shares, and these give him a claim to the receipt of the corresponding quotas from the profits of the whole institution."
Egg, Orphean : The cosmic doctrine of the Greek sage Orpheus. He says : " God, the uncreated and incom- prehensible Being, created all things ; the ether proceeded from him ; from this the unshapely chaos and the dark night arose, which at first covered all things. The un- shapen mass was formed into the shape of an egg, from which all things have proceeded." The whole universe has the form of an egg, and everything in it strives to attain the same form. The Orphean theory has something in common with the doctrines of the magnetic philosophers.
Eglamour of Artoys, Sir : A magical English legend of French origin. The poem tells of the winning of Christa- bell by Eglamour. Christabell's father will agree to the union if Eglamour will fulfil three tasks. He must conquer the giant, Sir Maroke ; bring from a distant land the head of an enormous boar, and kill a powerful dragon which has been devastating the country round Rome. In these adventures he is successful, but is kept in Rome by illness. Meantime, Christabell has given birth to a son, and is banished by her angry father. Her son is stolen from her by a griffin, and taken to Israel, where he is adopted by the king and named Degrabell. Many years afterwards. Sir Eglamour and Degramour meet in a tournament for the hand of Christabell. The former is successful, and eventually their identities are revealed. Eglamour and Christabell are married, and return to their native country with their son.
Eglinton, William : A well known English medium, who in 1876 succeeded Slade as the principal exponent of slate- writing (q.v.) That Eglinlon's performances in this
direction were very skilfully carried out there is abundant evidence, for several practised conjurers, as well as many other investigators, were entirely at a loss to explain the modus operandi. Yet on one occasion, at least, Eglinton was seen — by Professor Lewis Cargill — to write the " spirit " messages himself. This was in 1886, when his slate-writing was attracting attention. Some ten years earlier, when he was giving materialisation seances, there were dis- covered in his portmanteau a false beard and some muslin draperies, which were found to correspond with fragments cut from the hair and garments of the materialised spirit. Nor were these the only occasions on which he made use of fraudulent means of producing mediumistic phenomena. It may be objected that Eglinton was " controlled " to procure draperiss and fake hair, but it necessarily casts a dark shadow on his mediumship. Egypt : To the peoples of antiquity as well as to those of the modern world, Egypt appeared as the very mother of magic. The reason- for this widespread belief is not far to seek. In Egypt the peoples of the ancient world found a magical system much more highly developed than anything within their native knowledge, and again the cult of the dead with which Egyptian religion was so deeply imbued, appeared to the stranger to savour strongly of magical practice. It must be borne in mind that, if the matter of the magical papyri be omitted, the notices which we possess of Egyptian magic are almost wholly foreign, so that it is wiser for a proper understanding of Egyptian occultism to derive our facts concerning it from the original native sources as far as is possible. Like all other systems, the magic of the Egyptians was of two kinds, that which was supposed to benefit either the living or the dead, and that which has been known throughout the ages as " black " magic or necromancy.
The contents of the Westcar Papyrus show that as early as the fourth dynasty, the working of magic was a recog- nised art in Egypt, but in reality we must place the begin- nings of Egyptian magical practice in neolithic times. Throughout the centuries magical practice varied con- siderably, but the principal means for its working remained the same. That is to say, the Egyptians relied for magical effect upon amulets, magical figures, pictures, and formulae, magical names and ceremonies, and the general apparatus of the occult sciences.
The obj ects for which magic was exercised were numerous. It exorcised storms, protected against wild beasts, poison, disease, wounds, and the ghosts of the dead. One of the most potent methods of guarding against misfortune of any kind was the use of Amulets. It must not be assumed that all ornaments or objects discovered 0:1 the mummy are of magical potency. These are frequently the possession of the Ka or double (q.v.), necessary to its comfort in a future existence. The small crowns, sceptres, and emblems of Osiris, usually executed in faience, are placed beside the dead person in order that he may wear them when he becomes one with Osiris, and therefore a king. The scarab, fashioned in the likeness of a scarabaeus beetle, symbolised resurrection. The dad symbolised the human skeleton, and, therefore, perhaps, the dead and dismem- bered Osiris. It has an influence on the restoration of the deceased. The uza,, or eye, signifies the health necessary to the dead man's soul. The so-called " palettes " at one time supposed to have been employed for the mixing of paint, are now known to have been amulets inscribed with words of power placed on the breasts of the dead in neo- lithic times. The amulet of the menat was worn, or held, with the sistrum by gods, kings, and priests, and was supposed to bring joy and health to the wearer. It repre- sented the vigour of the two sexes.
Spells. — The simplest type of spell in use in Egypt, was
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Egypt
that in which the exorcist threatens the evil principle, or assures it that he can injure it. Generally, however, the magician requests the assistance of the gods, or he may pretend to that which he desires to exorcise that he is a god. Invocations, when written, were usually accom- panied by a note to the effect that the formula had once been employed successfully by a god — perhaps by a deified priest. An incomprehensible and mysterious jargon was employed, which was supposed to conceal the name of a certain deity who was thus compelled to do the will of the sorcerer. These gods were almost always those of foreign nations, and the invocations themselves appear to be attempts at various foreign idioms, employed, perhaps, as sounding more mysterious than the native speech. Great stress was laid upon the proper pronunciation of these names, and failure in all cases was held to lie at the door of mis-pronunciation. The Book of the Dead (q.v.) contains many such " words of power," and these were intended to assist the journey of the dead in the under- world of Amenti. It was believed that all supernatural beings, good and evil, possessed hidden names, which if a man knew, he could cdmpel them to do his will. The name, indeed, was as much part of a man as his body or soul. The traveller through Amenti must tell not only the divine gods their names, but must prove that he knew the names of a number of the supposedly inanimate objects in the dreary Egyptian Hades, if he desired to make any progress . (See Gnostics and Names Magical.)
Magical Books. — Many magical books existed in Egypt which contained spells and other formulae for exorcism and necromantic practice. Thus Medical Papyri in the Leipsic collection contain formulas spoken whilst preparing drugs ; the Ebers Papyrus contains such spells ; the Harris Magical Papyrus, dating from the New Kingdom, and edited by Chabas, contains spells against crocodiles. The priestly caste, who compiled those necromantic works, was known as Kerheb, or " scribes of the divine writings," and even the sons of Pharaohs did not disdain to enter their ranks.
The Ritual of Egyptian Magic. In many instances the ritual of Egyptian magic possesses strong similarities to the ceremonial of other systems and countries. Wax figures were employed in lieu of the bodies of persons to be bewitched or harmed and models of all kinds were utilised in order that the physical force directed against them might react upon the persons or animals it was de- sired.to injuie. But the principal rite in which ceremonial magic was employed was the very elaborate one of mum- mification. As each bandage was laid in its exact position certain words of power were uttered- which were supposed to be efficacious in the preservation of the part swathed. After evisceration, the priest uttered an invocation to the deceased, and then took a vase of liquid containing ten perfumes, with which he smeared the body twice from head to foot, taking especial care to anoint the head thoroughly. The internal organs were then placed on the body, and the backbone immersed in holy oil, supposed "to be an emanation from the gods Shu and Seb. Certain precious stones were then laid on the mummy, each of which had its magical significance. Thus crystal lightened his face, and cornelian strengthened his steps. A priest who personified the jackal-headed god, Anubis, then ad- vanced, performed certain symbolical ceremonies on the head of the mummy, and laid certain bandages upon it. After a further anointing with oil the deceased was declared to have " received his head." The mummy's left hand was filled with thirty-six substances used in embalming, symbolic of the thirty-six forms of the god Osiris. The body was then rubbed with holy oil, the toes wrapped in linen, and after an appropriate address the ceremony was completed.
Dreams. The art of procuring dreams and their inter- pretation was much practised in Egypt. As instances of dreams recorded in Egyptian texts may be quoted those of Thothmes IV. (B.C. 1450) and Nut-Amen, King of Egypt (B.C. 670). The Egyptian magician procured dreams for his clients by drawing magical pictures and the recita- tion of magical words. The following formulae for pro- ducing a dream is taken from British Museum Papyrus, No. 122, lines 64 ff. and 359 ff.
" To obtain a vision from the god Bes : Make a drawing of Besa, as shewn below, on your left hand, and envelope your hand in a strip of black cloth that has been consecrated to Isis and lie down to sleep without speaking a word, even in answer to a question. Wind the remainder of the cloth round your neck. The ink with which you write must be composed of the blood of a cow, the blood of a white dove, fresh frankincense, myrrh, black writing ink, cin- nabar, mulberry juice, rain-water, and the juice of worm- wood and vetch. With this write your petition before the setting sun, saying, ' Send the truthful seer out of the holy shrine, I beseech thee, Lampsuer, Sumarta, Baribas, Dardalam, Iorlex : O Lord send the sacred deity Anuth, Anuth, Salbana, Chambre, Breith, now, now, quickly, quickly. Come in this very night.' "
" To procure dreams : Take a clean linen bag and write upon it the names given below. Fold it up and make it into a lamp-wick, and set it alight, pouring pure oil over it. The word to be written is this : ' Armiuth, Lailam- chouch, Arsenophrephren, Phtha, Archentechtha.' Then in the evening, when you are going to bed, which you must do without touching food (or, pure from all defilement), do thus : Approach the lamp and repeat seven times the formula given below : then extinguish it and lie down to sleep. The formula is this : ' Sachmu .... epaema Ligotereench : the Aeon, the Thunderer, Thou that hast swallowed the snake and dost exhaust the moon, and dost raise up the orb of the sun in his season, Chthetho is the name ; I require, O lords of the gods, Seth, Chreps, give me the information that I desire.' "
Medical Magic. Magic played a great part in Egyptian medicine. On this point Weidemann says : " The Egyp- tians were not great physicians : their methods were purely empirical and their remedies of very doubtful value, but the riskiness of their practice arose chiefly from their utter inability to diagnose because of their ignorance of anatomy. That the popular respect for the human body was great we may gather from the fact that the Paraskhistai who opened the body for embalmment were persecuted and stoned as having committed a sinful although necessary deed. The prescribed operations in preparing a body for embalmment were never departed from, and taught but little anatomy, so that until Greek times the Egyptians had only the most imperfect and inaccurate ideas of the human organism. They understood nothing about most internal diseases, and especially nothing about diseases of the brain, never suspecting them to be the result of organic changes, but assuming them to be caused by demons who had entered into the sick. Under these circumstances medicines might be used to cause the disappearance of the symptoms, but the cure was the expulsion of the demon. Hence the Egyptian physician must also practise magic.
'*■' According to late accounts, his functions were com- paratively simple, for the human body had been divided into thirty-six parts, each presided over by a certain demon, and it sufficed to invoke the demon of the part affected in order to bring about its cure — a view of matters funda- mentally Egyptian, In the Book of the Dead we find that different divinities were responsible for the well-being of the bodies of the blessed ; thus Nu had charge of the
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hair, Ra. of the face, Hathor of the eyes, Apuat of the ears,. Anubis of the lips, while Thoth was guardian of all parts of the body together. This doctrine was subsequently applied to the living body, with the difference that for the great gods named in the Book of the Dead there were substituted as gods of healing the presiding deities of the thirty-six decani, the thirty-six divisions of the Egyptian zodiac, as we learn from the names given to them by Celsus and preserved by Origen. In earlier times it was not so easy to be determined which god was to be invoked, for the selection depended not only on the part affected but also on the illness and symptoms and remedies to be used, etc.
" Several Egyptian medical papyri which have come down to us contain formulas to be spoken against the demons of disease as well as prescriptions for the remedies to be used in specified cases of illness. In papyri of older date these conjurations are comparatively rare, but the further the art of medicine advanced, or rather receded, the more numerous they became."
" It was not always enough to speak the formulas once ; even their repeated recitation might not be successful, and in that case recourse must be had to other expedients : secret passes were made, various rites were performed, the formulas were written upon papyrus, which the sick person had to swallow, etc., etc. But amulets were in general found to be most efficacious, and the personal intervention of a god called up, if necessary, by prayers or sorcery."
Magical Figures. As has been said the Egyptians be- lieved that it was possible to transmit to the figure of any person or animal the soul of the being which it represented. In the Westcar Papyrus we read how a soldier who had fallen in love with a governor's wife was swallowed by a crocodile when bathing, the saurian being a magical re- plica Qf a waxen one made by the lady's husband. In the official account of a conspiracy against Rameses III. (ca B.C. 1200) the conspirators obtained access to a magical papyrus in the royal library and employed its instructions against the king with disastrous effects to themselves. These, too, made waxen figures of gods and of the king for the purpose of slaying the latter.
Astrology : The Egyptians were fatalists, and believed that a man's destiny was decided before he was born. The people therefore had recourse to astrologers. Says Budge : ". In magical papyri we are often told not to perform cer- tain magical ceremonies on such and such days, the idea being that on these days hostile powers will make them to be powerless, and that gods mightier than those to which the petitioner would appeal will be in the ascendant. There have come down to us fortunately, papyri containing copies of the Egyptian calendar, in which each third of every day for three hundred and sixty days of the year is marked lucky or unlucky, and we know from other papyri why certain days were lucky or unlucky, and why others were only partly so." " From the life of Alexander the Great by Pseudo-Callisthenes we learn that the Egyptians were skilled in the art of casting nativities, and that knowing the exact moment of the birth of a man they proceeded to construct his horoscope. Nectanebus employed for the purpose a tablet made of gold and silver and acacia wood, to which were fitted three belts. Upon the outer belt was Zeus with the thirty-six decani surrounding him ; upon the second the twelve signs of the Zodiac were repre- sented ; and upon the third the sun and moon. He set the tablet upon a tripod, and then emptied out of a small box upon it models of the seven stars that were in the belts, and put into the middle belt eight precious stones ; these he arranged in the places wherein he supposed the planets which they represented would be at the time of the birth
of Olympias, and then told her fortune from them. But the use of the horoscope is much older than the time of Alexander the Great, for to a Greek horoscope in the British Museum is attached ' an introductory letter from some master of the art of astrology to his pupil, named Hermon, urging him to be very exact and careful in his application of the laws which the ancient Egyptians, with their labori- ous devotion to the art, had discovered and handed down to posterity.' Thus we have good reason for as- signing the birthplace of the horoscope to Egypt. In connection with the_ horoscope must be mentioned the " sphere " or " table" of Democritus as a means of making predictions as to life and death. In a magical papyrus we are told to ' ascertain in what month the sick man took to his bed, and the name he received at his birth. Calcu- late the course of the moon, and see how many periods of thirty days have elapsed ; then note in the table the number of days left over, and if the number comes in the upper part of the table, he will live, but if in the lower part he will die.' "
Ghosts. The conception that the ka or double of man wandered about after death, greatly assisted the Egyptian belief in ghosts.
" According to them a man consisted of a physical body, a shadow, a double, a soul, a heart, a spirit called the khuy a power, a name, and a spiritual body. When the body died the shadow departed from it, and could only be brought back to it by the performance of a mystical ceremony ; the double lived in the tomb with the body, and was there visited by the soul whose habitation was in heaven. The soul was, from one aspect, a material thing, and like the ka, or double, was believed to partake of the funeral offer- ings which were brought to the tomb ; one of the chief objects of sepulchral offerings of meat and drink was to keep the double in the tomb and to do away with the ne- cessity of its wandering about outside the tomb in search of food. It is clear from many texts that, unless the double was supplied with sufficient food, it would wander forth from the tomb and eat any kind of offal and drink any kind of dirty water which it might find in its path. But besides the shadow, and the double, and the soul, the spirit of the deceased, which usually had its abode in heaven, was sometimes to be found in the tomb. There is, how- ever, good reason for stating that the immortal part of man which lived in the tomb and had its special abode in the statue of the deceased was the ' double.' This is proved by the fact that a special part of the tomb was reserved for the ka, or double, which was called the ' house of the ka,' and that a priest, called the ' priest of the ka,' was specially appointed to minister therein."
Esoteric Knowledge of the Priesthood. The esoteric know- ledge of the Egyptian priesthood is now believed to have been of the description with which the Indian medicine man is credited plus a philosophy akin to that of ancient India. Says Davenport Adams :
" To impose upon the common people, the priesthood professed to lead lives of peculiar sanctity. They despised the outer senses, as sources of evil and temptation. They kept themselves apart from the profanium vulgus, ' and,' says Iamblicus, ' occupied themselves only with the know- ledge of God, of themselves, and of wisdom ; they desired no vain honours in their sacred practice, and never yielded to the influence of the imagination.' Therefore they formed a world within a world, fenced round by a singular awe and wonder, apparently abstracted from the things of earth, and devoted to the constant contemplation of divine- mysteries. They admitted few strangers into their order, and wrapt up their doctrines in a hieroglyphical language, which was only intelligible to the initiated. To these various precautions was added the solemnity of ? terrible
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The scribe Ani passing through the door of the tomb. Outside are his shadow and his soul in the form of a human-headed bird. (From the Papyrus of Ani, plate 18)
Divining Cup
Cord with seven knots and two labels with magic spells (Berlin, 10826)
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oath, whose breach was invariably punished with death." " The Egyptian priests preserved the remaining relics of the former wisdom of nature. These were not imparted as the sciences are, in our age, but to all appearances they were neither learned nor taught ; but as a reflection of the old revelations of nature, the perception must arise like an inspiration in the scholar's mind. From this cause appear to have arisen those numerous preparations and purifications the severity of which deterred many from initiation into the Egyptian priesthood ; in fact, not in- frequently resulted in the scholar's death. Long fasting, and the greatest abstinence, appear to have been particu- larly necessary : besides this, the body was rendered in- sensible through great exertions, and even through voluntarily inflicted pain, and therefore open to the in- fluence of the mind. The imagination was excited by representations of the mysteries ; and the inner sense was more impressed by the whole than — as is the case with us — instructed by an explanation of simple facts. In this manner the dead body of science was not given over to the initiated, and left to chance whether it would become animated or not, but the living soul of wisdom was breathed into them.
" From this fact, that the contents of the mysteries were rather revealed than taught — were received more from inward inspiration and mental intoxication, than outwardly through endless teaching, it was necessary to conceal them from the mass of the people.
So says Schubert, dealing with the same subject : " The way to every innovation was closed, and outward know- ledge and science could certainly not rise to a high degree of external perfection ; but that rude sensuality, inclina- tion for change and variety, was suppressed as the chief source of all bodily and spiritual vices, is clear, as well as that here, as in India, an ascetic and contemplative life was recommended.
" They imparted their secret and divine sciences to no one who did not belong to their caste, and it was long im- possible for foreigners to learn anything ; it was only in later times that a few strangers were permitted to enter the initiation after many severe preparations and trials. Besides this, their functions were hereditary, and the son followed the footsteps of his father."
" Concerning that which passed within the temples, and of the manner in which the sick were treated, we have but fragmentary accounts ; for to the uninitiated the entrance was forbidden, and the initiated kept their vows. Even the Greeks, who were admitted to the temples, have been silent concerning the secrets, and have only here and there betrayed portions. Jablonski says, ' that but few chosen priests were admitted into the sanctum, and that admission was scarcely ever permitted to strangers even under the severest regulations.' "
Dealing with the subject of hypnotism in Egypt, Mont- faucon says : " Magnetism was daily practised in the temples of Isis, of Osiris, and Serapis. In these temples the priests treated the sick and cured them, either by mag- netic manipulation, or by other means producing som- nambulism." Presenting a painting of a mesmeric scene, he says : " Before a bed or table, on which lie the sick, stands a person in a brown garment, and with open eyes, and the dog's head of Anubis. His countenance is turned towards the sick person ; his left hand is placed on the breast, and the right is raised over the head of his patient, quite in the position of a magnetiser.
Egyptian Masonry : (See Cagliostro.)
El Buen Sentido : (See Spain)
El Criterio : {See Spain.)
El Havarevna: (See Rosicrueians.)
Elbegast : A dwarf mentioned in the medieval semi- traditional
saga-cycle Dietrich of Bern. He is friendly towards Dietrich and helps him in his search for the giant Grimm.
Elder : As an Amulet. Blockwick recommends as a charm against erysipelas an " elder on which the sun never shined." " If the piece betwixt the two knots be hung about the patient's neck, it is much commended. Some cut it in little pieces, and sew it in a knot, in a piece of a man's shirt, which seems superstitious."
Elder Tree : The elder had wonderful influence as a protection against evil. Wherever it grew, witches were powerless. In this country, gardens were protected by having elder trees planted at the entrance, and sometimes hedges of this plant were trained round the garden. There are very few old gardens in country places in which are not still seen remains of the protecting elder tree. " In my boy- hood " says Napier, " I remember that my brothers, sisters, and myself were warned against breaking a twig or branch from the elder hedge which surrounded my grandfather's garden. We were told at the time as a reason for this prohibition, that it was poisonous ; but we discovered afterwards that there was another reason, viz., that it was unlucky to break off even a small twig from a bourtree bush." In some parts of the Continent this superstition feeling is so strong that, before pruning it, the gardener says : " Elder, elder, may I cut thy branches ? " If no response be heard, it is considered that assent has been given and then, after spitting three times, the pruner be- gins his cutting. According to Montanus, elder wood formed a portion of the fuel used in the burning of human bodies as a protection against evil influences ; and, the drivers of hearses had their whip handles made of elder wood for a similar reason. In some parts of Scotland, people would not put a piece of elder wood into the fire, and Napier says " Pieces of this wood lying about unused when the neighbourhood was in great straits for firewood ; but none would use it, and when asked why ? the answer was : " We don't know, but folks say it is not lucky to burn the bourtree." It was believed that children laid in a cradle made wholly or in part of elderwood, would not sleep well, and were in danger of falling out of the cradle. Elder berries gathered on St. John's Eve, would prevent the possessor suffering from witchcraft, and often bestowed upon him magical powers. If the elder were planted in the form of a cross upon a new-made grave, and if it bloomed, it was a sure sign that the soul of the dead person was happy.
Eleazar : A Jewish magician who had much success as an exorcist. His method was to fasten to the nose of the possessed a ring in which was set a root used by Solomon, and very efficacious.
Eleazar of Garniza : A Hebrew author who has left many works, of which several have been printed. Among his- books was a Treatise on the Soul, and a Kabalislic Com- mentary on the Pentateuch.
Electric Girls : Girls in whose presence certain phenomena occurred, similar in nature to the time-honoured phenomena of the poltergeist (q.v.), but ascribed to the action of some new physical force, probably electricity. The best known of these electric girls was perhaps Angelique Cottin, a Nor- mandy peasant girl, whose phenomena were first observed about 1846. Finally she was taken to Paris and placed under the observation of Dr. Tanchon and others, who testified to the actuality of the phenomena. These in- cluded the movement of objects without contact, or at a mere touch from Angelique's petticoats, the agitation in her presence of the magnetic needle, and the blowing ■ of a cold wind. She was also able to distinguish between the poles of a magnet at a touch. A commission appointed by the Academy of Sciences, however, could observe no- thing but the violent movements of her chair, which were-
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probably caused by muscular force. Other electric girls practised about the same time, and even after the begin- ding of the spiritualistic movement in America they were occasionally heard of. They are worthy of note as a link between the poltergeist and the spiritualistic medium.
Electrobiology : A mode of producing hypnotism by looking steadily at metallic discs. The process was discovered about the middle of last century, and its fame spread by numerous lecturers in England and America.
Electrum : Amber is the subject of soma curious legends under this name, but there is also a metallic electrum, known to the French in modern times as Orbas. A cup of this metal, according to Pliny, has the property of discovering poison, by exhibiting certain semi-circles like rainbows in the liquor, which it also keeps sparkling and hissing as if on the fire. A black species of electrum or amber is the proper gargates of Pliny, and the jet of the present day. The occult virtues of electrum are of the tell-tale character.
Elementary Spirits : The unseen intelligences who inhabit the four elements, of the finest essence of which they are composed. The creatures of the air are called sylphs ; of the earth gnomes ; of fire salamanders ; and of water, nymphs or undines. The best authority on the subject is the Abbe de Villars, who published early in the eighteenth century a short treatise entitled Comte de Gabalis, from which a good deal of what follows is drawn. According to this work the creatures of the elements were before the Fall subject to Adam in all things, and we are led to under- stand that by means of certain performances this ancient communication may be restored, and that man may once more have at his beck and call the elementary spirits. The Abbe gives a brief sketch of the nature of these peoples. The air, he says, is filled with a great number of beings of human form, somewhat fierce in appearance, but really of a docile nature. They are much interested in the sciences, and are subtle, officious towards the sages, hostile towards the foolish and the ignorant. Their wives and daughters are of a masculine type of beauty, such as is depicted in the Amazons. The seas and rivers are in- habited as well as the air, beings dwelling therein whom the sages designated undines, or nymphs. The female population much exceeds the male, the women being ex- ceedingly beautiful, so that among the daughters of men there is none to equal them. The earth is filled almost to the centre with gnomes, people of small stature, the guardians of subterranean treasure, minerals and precious stones. They are ingenious, friendly towards men, and easy to command. They provide the children of the sages "with all the money they require, asking no other reward for their services than the glory of performing them. The gnomides, their wives, are small of stature but very good- looking, and they dress very curiously. As for the sala- manders, the inhabitants of the region of fire, they serve the philosophers, but are not over-anxious for their com- pany, while their daughters and wives are rarely seen. Their women are very beautiful, beyond all the other •elementals, since they dwell in a purer element. Their habits, mode of life, manners and laws are admirable, and the attractions of their minds are greater even than that of their persons. The Supreme Being they know and religiously adore, but have no hope of eternal enjoyment of Him, since their souls are mortal. True it is that, being composed of the purest parts of the elements wherein they dwell, and having no contrary qualities, they can live for several centuries ; yet are they much troubled because of their mortal nature. It was, however, revealed to the philosophers that an elementary spirit could attain to im- mortality by being united in marriage with a human being. The children born of such unions are more noble and heroic than the children of human men and women, and some
of the greatest figures of antiquity — Zoroaster, Alexander, Hercules, Merlin, to mention a. few — are declared to have been the children of elementary spirits.
The salamanders, the Comte de Gabalis goes on to say, are composed of the most subtle particles of the sphere of fire, conglobated and organised by the action of the Universal Fire, so called because it is the principle of all the motions of nature. The sylphs are composed of the purest atoms of the air ; the nymphs, of the most delicate particles of water ; and the gnomes, of the finest essence of earth. Adam was in complete accord with these crea- tures because, being composed of that which was purest in the four elements, he contained in himself the perfections of these four peoples, and was their natural king. But since by reason of his sin he had been cast into the excre- ments of the elements, there no longer existed the harmony between him, so impure and gross, and these fine and ethereal substances. The Abbe then gives a recipe whereby the resultant state of things may be remedied and the ancient correspondence restored. To attain this end we must purify and exalt the element of fire which is within us. All that is necessary is to concentrate the fire of the world by means of concave mirrors, in a globe of glass. There will then be formed within the globe a solary powder, which, having purified itself from the admixture of other elements, becomes in a very short time a sovereign means of exalting the fire which is in us, and makes us, so to speak, of an igneous nature. Thenceforward these creatures of the fire become our inferiors, and, delighted at the restora- tion of mutual harmony between themselves and the human race, they will show towards man all the good- will they have for their own kind. Sylphs, gnomes, and nymphs are more familiar with man than are the salamanders, on account of their shorter term of life, and it is therefore easier to get into touch with them. To accomplish the restoration of our empire over the sylphs, gnomes, or nymphs, we must close a glass full of air, earth, or water, and expose it to the sun for a month, at the end of which period its various elements must be separated according to science. This process is most easy in the case of water and earth. " Thus," says the Comte, " without characters, without ceremonies, without barbarous words, it is possible to rule absolutely over these peoples." Other- authorities pre- scribe other means of obtaining dominion over the spirits of the elements. Eliphas Levi, for instance, states that anyone desirous of subjugating the elementals must first perform the four trials of antique initiation ; but as the original trials are no longer known similar ones must be substituted. Thus he who would control the sylphs must walk fearlessly on the edge of a precipice, he who would win the service of the salamanders must take his stand in a burning building, and so on, the point of the ordeals being that the man should show himself unafraid of the elements whose inhabitants he desires to rule. In mediae- val times the evocation and exorcism of elementary spirits was much practised, the crystal being a favourite means of evoking them. The exorcism of earth is performed by means of breathing, sprinkling of water, and burning of incense, and the repetition of a formula of prayer to the gnomes. Air is exorcised by breathing towards the four cardinal points, and by the recital of prayers to the air- spirits (sylphs). The casting of salt, incense, sulphur, camphor, and white resin into a fire is declared efficacious in the exorcism of that element. In the case of water, breathing and laying on of hands, repetition of formulae, mixing of salt and ashes of incense, and other ceremonials are to be observed. In every instance a special consecra- tion of the four elements is a primary and essential part of the proceedings.
As has been said, it is possible for a human being to
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confer immortality on an elementary spirit by the ceremony of marriage. But this does not always occur ; sometimes the reverse is the case, and the elementals share their mor- tality with their human mate. In literature, at all events, countless stories relate how men have risked and lost their immortality by marrying a sylph or an undine. According to the Comte de Gabalis, however, it would seem to be a matter of choice whether a man confers his immortality on his ethereal partner, or whether he partakes of her mortal nature ; for it is therein suggested that those who have not been predestined to eternal happiness would do well to marry with an elemental, and spare themselves an eternity of woe.
Not every authority has painted so attractive a picture of the creatures of the elements as has the Abbe de Villars. By some it is believed that there are numberless degrees among these beings, the highest resembling the lowest angels, while the lowest may often be mistaken for demons, which, of course, they are not. Not only do multitudinous variations of form and disposition characterise the elemen- tals of our own planet ; the other planets and the stars are the abode of countless hosts of elementary spirits, dif- fering from those of our world perhaps more than the latter differ from one another. All the forms of beasts, insects, and reptiles may be taken by the lower elementals, as well as strange combinations of the shapes of different animals. The inhabitants of each element have their peculiar virtues and vices which serve to distinguish them. The sylphs are capricious and inconstant, but agile and active ; the undines, jealous and cold, but observant ; the salamanders, hot and hasty, but energetic and strong ; and the gnomes, greedy of gold and treasures, but never- theless hard-working, good-tempered and patient. One who would seek dominion over any of these must practise their virtues ; but carefully avoid their faults, thus con- quering them, as it were, on their own ground. Each -species can only dwell in its own proper element. Thus a sylph may not invade the sphere of a salamander, or vice versa, while both would be decidedly out of their ele- ment in the regions of the nymphs or the gnomes. Four rulers have been set over the four species — Gob, ruler of the gnomes ; Paralda, of the sylphs ; Djin, of the sala- manders ; and Necksa, of the nymphs. To the dwellers in each element is assigned a point of the compass, where lies their special kingdom. To the gnomes is given the north ; to the salamanders, the south ; to the sylphs, the east ; and to the undines, the west. The gnomes influence those of a melancholic disposition, because they dwell in the gloom of subterranean caverns. The salamanders have an effect on those of sanguine temperament, because their home is in the fire. The influence of the undines is upon the phlegmatic, and of the sylphs upon those of a bilious temperament. Though as a rule they are invisible to human eyes, they may on occasion become visible to those who invoke them, to the sages and philosophers, or even to the multitude. In the reign of king Pepin, Zedekias suggested to the sylphs that they should appear to men, whereupon the air was seen to be full of them, sometimes ranged in battle, or in an aerial navy. It was said by the people that they were sorcerers — an opinion to which Charlemagne and Louis the Debonnair subscribed, the latter at least imposing heavy penalties on the supposed sorcerers. So that they might behold their admirable in- stitutions, certain men were raised up in the air, and while descending were seen by their fellowmen on earth. The latter regarded them as stragglers of the aerial army of sorcerers, and thought that they had come to poison the fruits and fountains. These unfortunate persons were thereupon put to death, along with many others suspected of connection with the sorcerers.
To return to the consideration of the nature of these spirits, we find them collated in the Comte de Gabalis with the oracles of antiquity, and even with the classic pantheons of Greece and Rome. Pan, for example, was the first and oldest of the nymphs, and the news of his death, com- municated by the people of the air to the inhabitants of the waters, was proclaimed by them in a voice that was heard sounding over all the rivers of Italy — " The great Pan is dead ! " Mr. A. E. Waite considers that the " angels" evoked in mediaeval magic, as well as the " devils " of the Sabbath, were higher or lower elementals. Others may see in the brownies and domestic spirits of folk-lore some resemblance to the subjugated elementary spirit. Even the familiar poltergeist, where he does not clearly establish his identity as the spirit of a deceased person, may be re- garded with propriety as an elemental. The Theosophists use the word "' elemental " in a different sense, to denote the '* astral remains " (See Shell) of one who has lived an evil life on earth, and who is loath to leave the scene of his pleasures. With some occultists, again, " ele- mental " really signifies a sub-human being, probably identical with an elementary spirit, but of a mental and moral status considerably lower than that of a human being.