M. Hirschborgen who is described as good and religious.

In return for the hospitality of his host he gave him some powder of projection and departed on his journey.
Gustenhover indiscreetly made transmutation before many people, which in due course re?,ched the ears of Rudolph II. himself, an amateur alchemist. He forthwith ordered the Strasburg magistrates to send the goldsmith to him. He was accordingly arrested and guarded with the greatest vigilance. On learning that he was to be sent to the Emperor at Prague he disclosed the whole business and requesting the magistrates to meet together . asked them to procure a crucet and charcoal, and without his coming near them to melt some lead. On the metal being molten he then gave them a small quantity of a reddish powder on which being thrown into the crucet produced a considerable amount of pure gold.
On being brought into the presence of the Emperor he con- fessed that-he had not himself prepared the magical powder and was wholly ignorant of the nature of its composition. Tnis the Emperor refused to believe in spite of the repeated protestations of the goldsmith. The powder being at length exhausted, Gustenhover was set to the now impossible task of making more gold. He sought refuge from the fury of the Emperor by an alchemical blasphemy accursed by all sons of the doctrine. Convinced that the alche- mist was concealing his secret, the Emperor had him im- prisoned for the rest of his life.
It is believed that Hirschborgen who presented Gusten- hover with the powder was no other than Alexander Sethon (q.v.), who at that period was travelling Germany in various disguises. Guyon, Madame (1648 — 1717) : Jeanne Marie Bouvieres de la Mothe, a celebrated mystic and quietest who suffered much persecution at the hands of the Church of Rome. She was born at Montargis on April 13th, 1648, and early showed a passion for martyrdom and religious exercises. As she grew older vanity took the place of devotion, for she was both witty and beautiful. At the age of sixteen she was forced into a marriage with the wealthy M. Guyon, more than twenty years her senior, in whose household she was exposed to insult and cruelty. Broken in spirit she turned once more to religion, and consulted a Franciscan, who advised her to seek God in her heart rather than in outward observances. From that time she became a mystic, aiming at the suppression of all human hopes and fears, and desires, and the attainment of a completely disinterested love of God. She embraced every form of suffering, physical and mental, and even eschewed spiritual joys. In 1680 M. Guyon died, and his widow was released from bondage. Henceforth she embraced the doctrine of quietism. In losing the gifts," she said, " she had found the Giver, and had reached an ideal state of resignation and self-suppression." She went to Paris, expounded her theories with earnestness and charm, and gathered an illustrious circle about her. Here also she made friends with Fenelon. But the persecutions of the Church increased She herself requested that a commission be appointed to ' examine her doctrine and writings. Three commissioners were chosen, among them Bossuet, the champion of the Church, her erstwhile friend and now her bitter enemy.
Her writings were condemned, and she herself incarcerated at Vincennes. For four years she lay in the dungeons of the Bastile, while Bossuet used every means to calumniate her name and doctrine. In 1702, her health broken, she was released and sent to Blois where she died in 1707. Her last years were blessed with peace and resignation, and such a submission to trials as she had ever shown.
Gwiou Bach : In Welsh romance and myth, son of Gwreang. Set by Ceridwin to stir the magic cauldron of science and inspiration intended to be drunk by her son, Gwion tasted the liquid and became gifted with supernatural sight. He fled, pursued by Ceridwin, and the pair were changed successively into a hare and a greyhound, a fish and an otter, a bird and a hawk, a grain of wheat and a black hen, which ultimately swallowed the wheat. (Compare the metamorphoses of Ceridwen and Gwion Bach with that of the Queen of Beauty and the Djinn in the Arabian Nights, Tale of the Second Calendar) . Later Gwion was placed in a bag and flung into the sea by Ceridwin. He was drawn out by Elphin, son of Cwyddus, and was now called Taliesin (Radiant Brow).
Gypsies : The name Gypsy, an abbreviation of " Egyptian," has been used for centuries by English-speaking people to denote a member of a certain caste of turbulent wanderers who travelled Europe during the Middle Ages, and whose descendants, in a much-decayed condition, are still found in most European countries. Many other names, such as " Saracen " and " Zigeuner," or " Cigan," have been applied to these people, but " Egyptian " is the most; widespread in time and place. It does not relate to Egypt, but to the country of " Little Egypt " or " Lesser Egypt," whose identity has never been clearly established. Two Transylvanian references of the years 141 7 and 141 8 indicate that Palestine is the country in question, but there is some reason to believe that "Little Egypt" included other regions in the Levant. Gypsies speak ot themselves • as Romane, and of their language as Romani-tchib (tchib=: tongue). Physically, they are black-haired and brown- skinned, their appearance, like their language, suggesting affinities with Hindustan. But, although possessing marked racial characteristics, for the most part, they must also be regarded as a caste or organization. In recent centuries, if not in earlier times, many of their over-lords were not of Gypsy blood, but belonged to the nobility and petite noblesse of Europe, and were formally appointed by the kings and governments of their respective countries to rule over all the Gypsies resident within those countries. The title of baron, count, or regent of the Gypsies was no proof that the official so designated was of Gypsy race. This fact must always be borne in mind in any consideration of the Gypsy system.
The ruiers thus appointed, being empowered by Christian princes, and under Papal approval, were necessarily Christian. Moreover, their vassals were at least Christian by profession. Although their behaviour was often wildly inconsistent with such a profession, it was in the character of Christian pilgrims that they asked and obtained hospital- ity from the cities and towns of Mediaeval Europe. On the other hand, they seem to have practised rites which could not be described as Christian. Tr.is twofold character is illustrated in connection with the services which they still hold in the crypt of the church of Lcs Saintes Maries de la Mer, in the lie de 1* Camargue, Bovchcs-du-Rhone. In this church the Festival of the Holy Marys is annually celebrated on 25th May, and to it the Gypsies come in great numbers. The crypt is specially reserved for them, because it contains the shrine of Saint Saro of Egypt, whom they regard as their patron s..int. Throughout the night of 24th — 25th May they keep watch over her shrine, and on the 25th they take their departure. Among the Gypsy
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votive offerings presented in the crypt, some are believed to date back to about the yeai 1450. All this would appear to indicate that the Gypsies were Christians. Another statement, however, tends to qualify such a conclusion. This is the assertion that the shrine of Saint Sara rests upon an ancient altar dedicated to Mithra ; that the Gypsies of that neighbourhood who are known as " Calagues," are descended from the Iberians formerly inhabiting the Camargue ; and that their cult is really the Mithraic wor- ship of fire and water, upon which the veneration of Saint Sara is super-imposed.
Confirmation of this view may be obtained from the worship of fire still existing among the Gypsies of Southern Hungary. The ceremonies observed at child-birth, in order to avert evil during the period between birth and baptism, may be taken as evidence. Prior to the birth of the child, the Gypsies light a fire before the mother's tent, and this fire is not suffered to go out until the rite of baptism has been performed. The women who light and feed the fire croon, as they do so, the following chant : — Burn ye, burn ye fast, O Fire ! And guard the babe from wrathful ire Of earthy Gnome and Water-Sprite, Whom with thy dark smoke banish quite ! Kindly Fairies, hither fare, And let the babe good fortune share, Let luck attend him ever here, Throughout his life be luck aye near ! Twigs and branches now in store, ) , - And still of branches many more, f Give we to thy flame, O Fire ! Burn 3'e, burn ye, fast and high, Hear the little baby cry ! It will be noted that the spirits of the Earth and Water are here regarded as malevolent, and only to be overcome by the superior aid of fire. Nevertheless, those women who are believed to have learned their occult lore from the unseen powers of Earth and Water are held to be the greatest magicians of the tribe. Moreover, the water- being is not invariably regarded as inimical, but is some- times directly propititated. As when a mother, to charm away convulsive crying in her child, goes through the prescribed ceremonial in all its details, of which the last is this appeal, as she casts a red thread into the stream : — " Take this thread, O Water-Spirit, and take with it the crying of my child ! If it gets well, I will bring thee apples and eggs ! " The water-spirit appears again in a friendly character when a man, in order to recover a stolen horse, takes his infant to a stream, and, bending over the water, asks the invisible genius to indicate, by means of the baby's hand, the direction in which the horse has been taken. In these two instances we have a clear survival of the worship of water and the watery powers. It may be questioned whether these rites ought to be ascribed to Mithraism in its later stages, or whether they own an earlier origin.
One definite statement with regard to Gypsy lore is afforded by Joseph Glanvil, in a passage which inspired Matthew Arnold's poem of " The Scholar-Gypsy." " There was lately a lad in the University of Oxford," says Glanvil (Vanity of Dogmatising, 1661), " who was, by his poverty, forced to leave his studies there, and at last to join himself to a company of vagabond Gypsies." Glanvil goes on to say that " after he had been a pretty while exercised in the trade," this scholar-gypsy chanced to meet two of his former fellow-students, to whom he stated : — '" that the people he went with were not such impostors as they were taken for, but that they had a traditional kind of learning among them, and could do wonders by the powers of imagination, their fancy binding that of others ; that himself had learned much of their art, and when he had
compassed the whole secret, he intended," he said, " to leave their company, and give the world an account of what he had learned."
Here we have clear indications of the possession of a body of esoteric learning, which included the knowledge and exercise of hypnotism. Even among modern Gypsies this power is exerciesd. De Rochas states that the Catalan Gypsies are mesmerists and clairvoyants, and the present writer has experienced an attempt on the part of a South Hungarian Gypsy to exert this influence. The same power, under the name of glamour, was formerly an attribute of the Scottish Gypsies. Glamour is defined by Sir Walter Scott as " the power of imposing on the eyesight of the spectators, so that the appearance of an object shall be totally different from the reality." And, in explanation of a reference to "the Gypsies' glamour' d gang," in one of his ballads, he remarks : " Besides the prophetic powers ascribed to the Gypsies in most European countries, the Scottish peasants believe them possessed of the power of throwing upon bystanders a spell to fascinate their eyes and cause them to see the thing that is not. Thus in the old ballad of ' Johnnie Faa,' the elopement of the Countess of Cassillis with a Gypsy leader is imputed to fascination — ' Sae soon as they saw her weel-faur'd face, They cast the glamour o'er her.' "
Scott also relates an incident of a Gypsy who " exercised his glamour over a number of people at Haddington, to whom he exhibited a common dung-hill cock, trailing, what appeared to the spectators, a massy oaken trunk. An old man passed with a cart of clover, he stopped and picked out a four-leaved blade ; the eyes of the spectators were opened, and the oaken trunk appeared to be a bulrush." The quatrefoil, owing to its cruciform shape, acted as a powerful antidote to witchcraft. Moreover, in the face of this sign of the Cross, the Gypsy was bound to desist from the exercise of what was an unlawful art. As to the possibility of hypnotizing a crowd, or making them " to see the thing that is not," that feat is achieved to-day by African witch-doctors. What is required is a dominant will on the one hand and a sufficiently plastic imagination on the other
Scott introduces these statements among his notes on
the ballad of " Christie's Will," in relation to the verse —
" He thought the warlocks o' the rosy cross,
Had fang'd him in their nets sae fast ;
Or that the Gypsies' glamour'd gang
Had lair'd his learning at the last."
This association of Rosicrucians with Gypsies is not inapt, for hypnotism appears to have been considered a Rosicru- cian art. Scott has other suggestive references in this place. " Saxo Grammaticus mentions a particular sect of Mathematicians, as he is pleased to call them, who, " per summam ludificandorum oculorum peritiam, proprios alienosque vultus, varus rerum imaginibus, adumbrate callebant ; illicibusque formis veros obscurare conspectus." Merlin, the son of Ambrose, was particularly skilled in this art, and displays it often in the old metrical romance of Arthour and Merlin. The jongleurs were also great pro- fessors of this mystery, which has in some degree descended, with their name, on the modern jugglers." *
It will be seen that various societies are credited with the possession, in an eminent degree, of the art of hypno- tism, during the Middle Ages. Presumably, it was inherited from one common source. How much the Gypsies were associated with this power may be inferred from a Scottish Act of Parliament of the year 1579, which was directed against " the idle people calling themselves Egyptians, or any other that fancy themselves to have knowledge of
•See also Scott's note zM appended to The Lay 0/ Ike Last Minstrel.
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prophecy, charming, or other abused sciences." For the term " charming," like " glamour " and other kindred words {e.g. " enchantment," " bewitched," " spellbound ") bore reference to the mesmeric influence.
The statement made by Glanvil's scholar-gypsy would Jead one to believe that the Gypsies inhabiting England in the seventeenth century possessed other branches of learn- ing. They have always been famed for their alleged pro- phetic power, exercised through the medium of astrology .and chiromancy or palmistry, and also by the interpretation of dreams ; this last-named phase being distinctly specified in Scotland in i6n.f It does not appear that any modern Gypsies profess a knowledge of astrology. Nevertheless, it is interesting to note that Groome \ was shown by a Welsh Gypsy-man the form of the written charm employed by his mother in her fortune-telling, and that form is unquestion- ably a survival of the horoscope. Both mother and son were obviously unaware of that fact, and made no pro- fession of astrology ; but they had inherited the scheme of the horoscope from ancestors who were astrologers.
The practice of chiromancy is still a Gypsy art, as it has been for ages. A curious belief was current in mediaeval times, to the effect that the three Kings or Magi who came to Bethlehem were Gypsies, and in more than one religious play they are represented as telling the fortunes of the Holy Family by means of palmistry. This circumstance has evoked the following suggestive remarks from C. G. Lcland.||
" As for the connection of the Three Kings with Gypsies, it is plain enough. Gypsies were from the East ; Rome and the world abounded in wandering Chaldean magi- priests, and the researches which I am making have led me to a firm conclusion that the Gypsy lore of Hungary and South Slavonia has a very original character as being, firstly, though derived from India, not Aryan, but Shamanic ,
that is, of an Altaic, or Tartar, or ' Turanian ' stock
Secondly, this was the old Chaldean- Accadian ' wisdom ' or sorcery. Thirdly — and this deserves serious examin- ation— it was also the old Etruscan religion whose magic formulas were transmitted to the Romans
" The Venetian witchcraft, as set forth by Bernoni, is
evidently of Sclavic-Greek origin. That of the Romagna is Etruscan, agreeing very strangely and closely with the Chaldean magic of Lenormant, and marvellously like the Gypsies'. It does not, when carefully sifted, seem to be
like that of the Aryans nor is it Semitic. To what
degree some idea of all this, and of Gypsy connection with it, penetrated among the people and filtered down, even into the Middle Ages, no one can say. But it is very probable that through the centuries there came together some report of the common origin of Gypsy and * Eastern ' or Chaldean lore, for, since it was the same, there is no reason why a knowledge of the truth should not have been disseminated in a time of a traditions and earnest study in occultism."
These surmises on the part of a keen and accomplished student of every phase of magic, written and unwritten, are deserving of the fullest consideration. By following the line indicated by Leland it may be possible to reach an identification of the "traditional kind of learning" possessed by the Gypsies in the seventeenth century.
David MacRitchie. Gyromancy : Was performed by going round continually in a circle, the circumference of which was marked b3r letters. The presage was drawn from the words formed by the letters on which the inquirers stumbled when they became ■ too giddy to stand. The object of this circumcursation was simply to exclude the interference of the will, and reduce the selection of letters to mere chance. In some species of enchantment, however, the act of turning round was to produce a prophetic delirium. The religious dances, and the rotation of certain fanatics on one foot, with their arms stretched out, are of this nature. These cases really indicate a magical secret, of which, however, the deluded victims rarely possessed any knowledge. In the phenome- non known as St. Vitus's Dance, and the movements of the convulsionaries, manifestations of spiritual intelligence were quite common. The tendancy of the spiritual force is to act spirally, rhythmically, whether in the use of lan- guage or of the bodily members.
H
Habondia : Queen of the fairies, witches, harpies, furies, and ghosts of tne wicked. Tnis definition is according to the statement of Pierre Delancre, in his work on the Incon- stancy of Demons.
Haekley, Frederick : {See Rosicrueians.)
Haekworld House : {See Haunted Houses.)
Hafed, Prince of Persia : {See Duguid, David.)
flag of the Dribble, or " Gwrach y Ruibyn " : O.ie of the Welsh banshees, whose pleasure it is to carry stones across the mountainsin her apron, then loosing the string, she lets the stones shower down, thus making a "' dribble." It is believed that at twilight this hag flaps her raven wing against the window of those who are doomed to die, and howls "' A a a ui ui Anni."
Aaggadah : The general name for the narrative or fabular portion of the Rabbinical literature.
flajoth Hakados : One of the spheres of angels, by whose agency Jehovah's providence is spread. The Jews believe that these angels inhabit one of the hierarchies named " Jehovah," and that the simple essence of the divinity flows through the Hajoth Hakados to the angel " Metrat- toh " and to the ministering spirit " Reschith Hajalalim."
jRegis.ey of the Privy Council, Vol. IX., p. 256.
%ln Gypsy Tents, p. 376.
|| journal of the Gypsy tort Society, April, iSSg, pp. 246-7.
Hallucination : A false perception of sensory vividness arising without the stimulus of a corresponding sense-impression. In this it differs from illusion, which is merely the misinter- pretation of an actual sense-perception. Visual and auditory hallucinations are the most common, and especially the former ; but hallucination of the other senses may also be experienced, though it is not so readily distinguishable. Human figures and voices most frequently form the subject of a hallucination, but in certain types other classes of objects may be seen — as, for instance, the rats and insects of delirium tremens. Though hallucination is often associated with various mental and physical diseases, it may, nevertheless occur spontaneously while the agent shows no departure from full vigour of body and mind, and maybe induced — i.e., in hypnotism — in about 90 per cent, of all subjects. The essential difference between sane and insane Hallucinations is that in the former case the agent can, by reflection, recognise the subjective nature of the impression, even when it has every appearance of objectiv- ity ; whereas in the latter case the patient cannot be made to understand that the vision is not real.
Until comparatively recently Hallucinatory percepts were regarded merely as intensified memory-images, but as the most intense of ordinary representations do not possess that sensory vividness which is yet a feature of
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the smallest sensation received from the external world, it follows that other conditions must be present besides the excitement of the brain-elements which is the correlate of representation. It is true that the seat of excitement is the same both in actual sense-perceptions and in memory images but in the former case the stimulas is peripherally originated in the sensory nerve, whereas in the latter it takes its rise in the brain itself. Now if any neural system becomes highly excited — a state which may be brought about by emotion, ill-health, drugs, or a number of causes — it may serve to divert from their proper paths any set of impulses arising from the sense organs, and as any impulse ascending through the sensory nerves produces an effect of sensory vividness — normally, a true perception — the impulses thus diverted give to the memory images an appearance of actuality, not distinguishable from that produced by a corresponding sense-impression. In hypnosis a state of cerebal dissociation is induced, whereby any one neural system may be abnormally excited, and hallucination thus very readily engendered. Drugs which excite the brain also induce hallucinations.
The question or whether there is any relation between the hallucination and the person it represents is, and has long been, a vexed one. Countless well-authenticated stories of apparitions coinciding with a death or some other crisis are on record, and would seem to establish some causal connection between them. In former times apparitions were considered to be the "doubles" or " ethereal bodies " of the originals, and modern spiritualists believe that they are the spirits of the dead — or, mayhap, of the living, temporarily forsaking the physical organism. But the main theory among those who believe in such a causal connection between agent and hallucination — and in view of the statistics collected by Professor Sidgwick and others (See " Psychic Research "), it is difficult not to believe — -is that of telepathy, or thought-transference. That the cerebral machinery for the transmission of thought should be specially stimulated in moments of intense excitement, or at the approach of dissolution, is not to be wondered at ; and thus it is sought to account for the appearance of hallucinatory images coinciding with death or other crises. Moreover, the dress and appearance of the apparition does not necessarily correspond with the actual dress and appearance of its original. Thus a man at the point of death, in bed and wasted by disease, may appear to a friend as if in his ordinary health, and wearing his ordinary garb. Nevertheless there are notable instances where some remarkable detail of dress is reproduced in the apparition. It seems clear, however, that it is the agent's general personality which is, as a rule, conveyed to the percipient, and not, except in special cases, the actual matter of his surface-consciousness.
A similar explanation has been offered for the hallucina- tory images which many people can induce by gazing in a crystal, or even in a pool of water, or a drop of ink, and which are often declared to give information, and reproduce scenes and people of whom the agent has no knowledge. It is suggested that those images which do not arise in the subliminal consciousness of the agent may have been telepathically received by him from other minds. (See " Crystal-gazing.")
Collective Hallucination is a term applied to hallucina- tions which are shared by a number of people. There is no evidence, however, of the operation of any other agency than suggestion (q.v.) or at the most, telepathy.
Ham : A Norwegian storm-fiend in the shape of an eagle with black wings, sent by Helgi to engulf Frithjof as he sailed for the island of Yarl Angantyr in the Saga of Grettir.
Hamaxobli : (See Fascination.)
Hambaruan : Among the Dayaks of Borneo the hambaruan, or soul of a living man, may leave the body at will, and go where it chooses ; it is, however, liable to capture by evil spirits. If this should happen, the man falls ill, and, if his soul is not speedily liberated, dies.
Hammurabi, Law of, against witchcraft : (See Semites.)
Hamon : A sacred stone like gold, shaped as a ram's horn. If its possessor is in the posture of contemplation, it gives> the mind a representation of all divine things.
Hand of Glory : The hand of a dead man, in which a lighted candle has been placed. It was formerly believed in Ireland and Mexico to be an instrument of magic. If the candle and its gruesome candlestick be taken into a house the sleeping inmates will be prevented from waking, and the candle itself will remain invisible. To be truly effica- cious, however, both hand and candle must be prepared in a special manner.
Hands of Spirits : There are instances in occult history where the hand only of a spirit has become visible to the human eye. During the reign of James I. a vision of this kind came to a certain clerk who was engaged in writing a will which was to disinherit a son. It took the form of a fine white hand, which appeared between the candle and the parchment, casting a shadow on the latter. It came three times, till the clerk, becoming alarmed, threw down his pen and refused to finish the work. In the Book of Daniel it is related : "In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace : and the king (Belshazzar) saw the part of the hand that wrote." There are also many instances of writing being done without human hands, and a Mr. Wolf, of Ohio, states that he has shaken hands with spirits, as " substantially " as one man shakes hands with another. After a certain vision, it is recorded that Daniel was touched by a hand, which set him upon his knees and upon the palms of his hands.
Kanon-Tramp : The name given by the Germans to a certain kind of nightmare (q.v.). This particular nightmare takes the form of a demon, which suffocates people during sleep. It is believed by the French peasantry that this is " the destruction that wasteth at noon-day," as it is supposed that people are most exposed to its attacks at that time Its method of suffocation is to press on the breast and thus impede the action of the lungs.
Hansen, Mr., of Copenhagen : (See Telepathy.)
Hantu Penyardin : A Malay Vampire. (See Vampire.)
Hantu Pusaka, a Malay Demon : (See Malays.)
Hare, Dr. : (See Spiritualism.)
Harodim : A degree of Freemasonry very popular in the North of England, and especially in the County of Durham, and probably founded in Gateshead in 1681. It was brought under the Grand Lodge in 1735. They were the custodians of the Ritual of All Masonry, or the Old York Ritual. There were nine lodges in all. A London version of this society was the Harodim-Rosy-Cross, of Jacobite origin, probably carried to London by the Earl of Derwentwater. This latter may have been a Scotch rite in very early times.
Harris, Thomas Lake, 1823 — -1906 : An American spiritual- ist born in Buckinghamshire, who, with his parents, emigrated to the United States when he was of a tender age. He adopted the profession of a preacher of the Universahst Church, but afterwards became a Swedenborgian. He attached himself to Davis (q.v.), but after the latter's exposure he deserted him and estabUshed himself as a preacher at New York, where he gathered round him a considerable congregation. When about twenty-seven years of age, he began to pose as the possessor of prophetic power, and produced a number of poems, which are not without a certain merit of their own. These he was able to improvise with such rapidity as to lead many to the
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belief that he was indeed divinely inspired. Somewhere about the year 1859 he visited London, where in certain circles his verse was admired. On returning to America, he founded a small community near New York, of which he became the head. Its members were 'of a heterogeneous description, composing American ladies of means, Japanese, clergymen, and the author, Laurence Oliphant, with his wife and mother. This community Harris called the Brotherhood of the New Life, and a little later on it was decided to change its site to the shores of Lake Erie. The
• principal industry of the community was wine-making, and for this Harris was called to account by the temperance party, but he summarily dismissed their objections by stating that the wine he made was the direct vehicle of the Divine Breath. His theology was a curious one : he believed that the Creator was androgyne, and he favoured married celibacy. The mode of breathing professed by him appears to have been imitated from that in vogue among certain Buddhist castes, but it was to be the mark of the faithful. In 1881 the Oliphants seceded from his rule, and charged him with fraud. They took legal proceedings against him, and succeeded in recovering considerable sums in this manner. Oliphant believed to the last that Harris possessed psychical powers, but there is no doubt at all that he was extremely avaricious and licentious as his books of verse, issued to a select circle, prove. In 1891 he pro- claimed that he had renewed his youth, and that he had discovered what amounted to the elixir of life. On his death in 1906 his disciples would not believe that he had passed away, but thought he was only sleeping. He died in March, and it was not util June that his demise was publicly acknowledged by his followers. His whole philosophy was directed towards the breaking down the established order of the relations of the sexes. His sect had a jargon of its own, and its language was often inflated and absurd. But with all his failings, and they were man)', Harris was a man of considerable gifts, among which may be noted some poetic fervour and fluency and force of character.
Haruspication : (See Divination.)
Hasidim (" Pious Ones ") : Devotees of a mystical phase of Judaism. They are first heard of in the pre-Maccabean age. In the first centuries of the Christian era we again hear of the Hasidim, sometimes supposed to be the descen- dants of the earlier sect. The later Hasidim were saints and workers of miracles, gifted with esoteric wisdom and the prophetic faculty. Early in the eighteenth century there arose yet another sect of the same name, having for its aim the revival of spirituality in the Jewish religion. Representatives of this mystic body are still to be found in Hungary, Poland, and Russia.
Hasona : (See Magic.)
Hassan Sabah : (See Assassins.)
Hastraun : A small mystical sect of Judaism, whose mem- bers were to be found in some parts of Palestine and Babylon. They practised some sort of' communism, and were known also as " fearers of sin."
Hatha Yoga : The earliest and therefore most simple form of the Yoga practice. An English translation of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika of Swatmaram Swami was published in 1893. This book consists of four chapters : the first containing advice as to surroundings, conduct, postures, etc. ; the second dealing with breathing practice, prepara- tion, purification ; the third gives ten Mudras which confer miraculous powers ; and the fourth is a sort of supplement, and deals with the results of Yoga practice. The fruits of Yoga are detailed, and are of a very omniscient character.
Hauffe, Frederica : Better known as the " Seeress of Pro- vost," a somnambule who came under the observation of
Dr. Justinus Kerner, a well-known poet and physician, early in the nineteenth century. A natural trance and convulsive patient, she came to Kerner to be magnetised, but he endeavoured at first to treat her by medicinal means. Finding these unavailing, however, he resorted to magnet- ism. Henceforward the Seeress passed the greater part of her life in trance, displaying all the usual somnambulic phenomena. (See Magnetism under article Hypnotism.) She saw and conversed with apparitions, developed remark- able clairvoyant faculties, and dealt also in mysticism, des- cribing intricate symbolical circle-systems. She was also the author of a " primitive " language, constructed with some ingenuity, which purported to be that tongue, spoken by the patriarchs of old, wherein the words conveyed in some mystic manner the properties of the things they designated. Dr. Kerner and others were sometimes able to see Frau Hauffe' s ghostly interlocutors, as dim grey pillars of cloud. Physical phenomena of a poltergeistic character were also of common occurrence in her presence.
Haunted Houses : Not long ago a number of the daily papers contained, throughout several consecutive weeks, an advertisement offering for sale " an ancient Gothic Man- sion, known as Beckington Castle, ten miles from Bath and two from Frome " ; and the writer of this advertisement after expatiating on the noble scenery around Beckington, and the rare architectural beauty of the house itself, proceeded to say that the place was the more desirable because it was reported to be haunted ! No doubt there are people who long for a house containing a bona fide ghost, and it is sometimes said that the rich tradesman, anxious to turn himself into a squire, invariably looks out for a haunted manor, while some waggish writers have declared, indeed, that nowadays ghosts are to be bought at Whitely's, and that the demand for them among American millionaires is stupendous. And, if the purchaser of Beckington Castle had to pay an additionally high price because the place rejoiced in a veritable ghost, in reality anything of this sort usually makes a house almost unsale- able. At Lossiemouth, for example, on the east coast of Scotland, a fine old mansion stood untenanted for years, and was eventually sold for a merely nominal sum ; and the reason was, simply, that according to popular tradition the building was paraded nightly by a female figure draped- in white, her throat bearing an ugly scar, and her hands tied behind her back with chains. Nor is it merely concern- ing old Manors in the country that stories of this nature are current, and, even in many densely-populated towns there- exist to this day houses reputed to be haunted, which are- quite unsaleable.
It would seem that royal palaces, closely watched and guarded as they are nowadays, and invariably have been, are not altogether destitute of such inhabitants. For a legend contends that Windsor Castle is frequently visited by the ghost of Sir George Villiers, and it is said, moreover, that once, in the reign of Charles I., this ghost appeared to one of the king's gentlemen-in-waiting, and informed him that the Duke of Buckingham would shortly fall by the hand of an assassin — a prophecy which was duly ful- filled soon after, as all readers of Les Trois Mousquelaires will doubtless remember, the incident figuring in that immortal story. Then at Hackwood House, near Basing- stoke, there is' a room in which no one dares to sleep, all dreading " the grey woman " supposed to appear there nightly ; while Wyecoller Hall, near Colne, boasts a spectre horseman who visits the place onec a year, and rides at full speed through the garden. Very different is the legend attached to Dilston, in Tyneside, where a bygone Lady Windermere is said to appear from time to time, and indulge in loud lamentations for her unfortunate husband, who was-
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executed for his share in the Jacobite rising of 17 15 ; while at Salmesbury Hall, Blackburn, there is a ghost of yet another kind, the people of the neighbourhood affirming that periodically they see a weird lady and her knight promenading the grounds of the Hall, indulging the while in silken dalliance. It need hardly be said, perhaps, that ghosts of this particular nature are remarkably common, and bulk largely in the spiritual lore of nearly every county ; but the more gruesome apparitions predominate withal, and ^mong these is the ghost of Amy Robsart, which still haunts the manor of Cumnor, in Oxfordshire. For it must be borne in mind that Amy was a real woman, and not a mere creation of Sir Walter Scott's brain. She was married in 1550 to the Earl of Leicester, and her tragic death is commonly laid to his charge ; but a tradition exists to the effect that Queen Elizabeth was really the responsible person, and recalling an authentic portrait of Amy, which bespeaks her a woman of charm and of no ordinary beauty, it is easy to believe that the ill-favoured queen hated her and took strong measures to get her out of the way.
Numerous rectories rejoice in the ghost of a clergyman, •erstwhile murdered by his infuriated parishioners ; and there are several haunted monasteries and convents, while at Holy Trinity Church at York a phantom nun appears occasionally on winter evenings, and walks about muttering paternosters. The story concerning her is that, on one occasion, during a period of civil-war, a band of soldiers were minded to sack the edifice in question, and on approach- ing it with this intention they were confronted by an abbess, who bade them beware of the divine wrath they would surely incur if they committed an act of sacrilege. They laughed at her piety, and, never thinking she would offer any resistance, they tried to march en masse into the building, but, hardly had they commenced the assault, ere their opponent snatched a sword from one of them, and stood bravely on the defensive. A fierce battle ensued, the abbess proving herself a veritable amazon, and slaying a host of her foes ; yet she lost her life ultimately, and her ghost it is which still frequents the church she sought to defend.
There are few parts of England so rich in romance as Sherwood Forest, once the scene of Robin Hood's exploits ; and there is at least one place in this region which claims a number of ghosts, Newstead Abbey, the seat of Lord Byron's ancestors. A part of the garden there is popularly known as " the devil's wood," a name which points to the place having been infested once by minions of the foul fiend, while one of the rooms in the house is haunted by a •certain '■ Sir John Byron, the little, of the grey beard," who presumably ended his days in some uncanny fashion. His portrait hangs over the hall in the dining-room, and a young lady, staying at Newstead about the middle of last century, contended stoutly that once she had entered this room to find the portrait gone, and its subject seated by the fireside reading a black-letter folio ! The poet Byron himself cherished very fondly all the ghostly traditions which clung round his home, and it is recorded that, on his learning that there were stone coffins underneath the house, he straightway had one of them dug up and then opened. He used some of its gruesome contents to " dec- orate " his own library, while he had the coffin itself placed in the great hall, through which thereafter the •servants were afraid to pass by night. He also utilised the supernatural lore of Newstead in one of his poems, and from this we learn that a spectre friar was wont to parade the mansion whenever some important event was wont to befall its owners : — ■
" When an heir is born he is heard to mourn, And when ought is to befall That ancient line, in the pale moonshine
He walks from hall to hall.
His form you may trace, but not his face, 'Tis shadowed by his cowl ;
But his eyes may be seen from the folds between, And they seem of a parted soul.
Say nought to him as he walks the hall, And he'll say nought to you ;
He sweeps along in his dusky pall, As o'er the grass the dew.
Then, gramercy ! for the black friar ; Heaven sain him, fair or foul,
And whatsoe'er may be his prayer, Let ours be for his soul." Passing from England to Ireland we find many haunted houses ; for instance, Dunseverick in Antrim, where dwells still the soul of a bygone chief, so wicked in his lifetime that even hell's gates are closed to him. And passing from Ireland to Scotland we find numerous haunted buildings too, notably Holyrood Palace and the castles of Hermitage and Glamis. It is the ghost of the murdered Rizzio which frequents Holyrood, yet it should be added that the vision is seldom seen nowadays ; and mayhap the fates, aware that the Italian minstrel was shamefully treated, have at length accorded his soul a resting-place more cosy than the dismal Edinburgh Palace. But the ghost of Hermitage, on the contrary, is still considerably addicted to exercise, and in truth his story marks him as having been a man of rare activity and ambition. Lord Soulis was his name, and, possibly after hearing of Faustus' exploits, he vowed that he too would exorcise the devil, who generously made his appearance betimes. " Vast power will be yours on earth," said the evil one to Soulis " if you will but barter your soul therefor " ; so his lord- ship signed the requisite compact with his life's blood, and thenceforth his days were given over to the enjoyment of every conceivable pleasure. Anon, however, he felt that his end was near, and calling some of his vassals around him he told them of the awful fate awaiting him after death. Thunderstruck they were, but soon after Soulis Was gone it occurred to them that, could they but destroy his mortal remains completely, they might save his soul from the clutches of Beelzebub. So having sheathed the corpse in lead they flung it into a burning fiery furnace, and manifestly this cremation saved his lordship from the nether regions, for had he gone there his soul would not have been active still at Hermitage.
The ghost-story associated with Glamis Castle, the family seat of the Earl of Strathmore, is quite different from the rank and file of supernatural tales, and bears a more naked semblance of veracity than pertains to any of these. It is a matter of common knowledge that there is a secret chamber at Glamis, a chamber which enshrines a mystery known only to a few members of the Strathmore family, and three or four generations ago a lady, staying as a visitor at Glamis, vowed she would solve the riddle. Her first difficulty was to locate the actual room, but one afternoon, when all the rest of the household were going out, she feigned a headache and thus contrived to be left completely alone. Her next move was to go from room to room, putting a handkerchief in the window of each, and having done this she went outside and walked round the castle to see whether any room had evaded her search. Very soon she observed a window which had no handker- chief in it, so she hastened indoors again, thinking that her quest was about to be rewarded. But try as she might she could not find the missing room ; and while she was search- ing the other guests returned to the house, along with them being the then Lord Strathmore. He was fiercely incensed on learning what had been going forward, and that night shrieks were heard in a long corridor in the castle. The
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guests ran out of their rooms to find out what was wrong, and in the dim light they perceived a curious creature with an inhuman head, wrestling with an aged m n- servant who eventually contrived to carry the moii:er away. There the story ends, but as remarked bef /.-? it bears a semblance of truth, the probability bei 1 x that some scion of the Glamis castle family was mad or hideously deformed, and was accordingly incarcerated in a room to which access was difficult and secret. And no doubt endless other ghost-stories rest on some basis of this sort, for, while the diverting practice of showing freaks in public is a comparatively new one, freaks themselves are among the world's most ancient institutions, perhaps almost as ancient as spectres and visions. It is impossible in this place to allude to the host of less famous haunted residences, an allusion to which their owners might take strong excep- tion. W.B.G.M. Hayden, Mrs. : The first spiritualistic medium to visit Eng- land. Mrs. Hayien was the wife of W. B. Hayden, editor of the Star Spangled , Banner. Her seance phenomena consisted mainly of raps, by means of which communication with the spirits was established. Her supernormal faculties were testified to by Professor de Morgan in a letter dated July, 1853, and by Robert Chambers in Chambers' Journal, May, 1853. Hayti : (See West Indian Islands.)
Hazel Tree : The Hazel was dedicated to the god Thor, and, in the Roman Catholic Church, was esteemed a plant of great virtue for the cure of fevers. When used as a divining rod, the rod, if it were cut on St. John's Day or Good Friday, would be certain to be a successful instrument of divination. A hazel rod was a badge of authority, and it was probably this notion which caused it to be made use of by schoolmasters. Among the Romans, a hazel rod was also a symbol of authority. Head of Baphomet : An interesting discovery was made public in 1818 dealing with the history of secret societies. There was found, among the antiquities of the imperial museum of Vienna some of those idols named heads of Baphomet, which the Templars adored. These heads represent the divinity of the gnostics, named Mete or ' Wisdom. For a long time there was preserved at Mar- seilles one of these gilded heads, seized in a retreat of the Templar when the latter were pursued by the law. (See Baphomet.) Healing by Touch : In England and Scotland, and in France also, toe idea that a touch of the royal hand was a sure remedy for scrofula was long prevalent, and consequently this complaint acquired betimes the now familiar name of " king's evil." In France, so far as can be ascertained, this interesting practice dates from the reign of Louis IX., and in England from that of Edward III., who is recorded to have performed a considerable number of cures. He was wont to wash the affected part of the sufferer, but gradually the use of actual ablutions was discontinued, and most subsequent kings contented themselves with mere touching, while at the same time prayers were offered up on behalf of the patient. Anon the religious ceremony used on such occasions grew more elaborate, while, during the reign of Henry VII., a special " king's evil " petition was drawn up by a body of divines for insertion in the Service Book, and there it prevailed for a surprisingly long time thereafter, being found in some editions printed as late as the beginning of the eighteenth century.
The idea that kings ruled by divine right emanated mainly from Scotland, and so it is natural to assume that the early inhabitants of that land regarded their sovereigns as capable of miracles. There is little or no evidence, nevertheless, that the Stuarts, prior to the Union of the Crowns, practised touching for king's evil ; but scarcely
was Charles I. on the British throne ere he began to demon- strate his powers herein, and scrofulous persons flocked from far and near accordingly. Indeed, they came in such numbers, that early in the fifth year of his reign, Charles found it essential to specify certain times for their reception at court, and the proclamation which he issued on the subject may be read in the Historical Collections of John Rushworth, sometime secretary to Oliver Cromwell. Here it is stated that, in the future, those who wish to benefit from the king's thaumaturgic gift will be welcomed at Michaelmas or Easter, but it is clear that his Majesty saw fit to make exceptions to this rule, for, during his visit to Edinburgh in 1633, he ministered to numerous unfortu- nates in the month of June. It was at Holyrood that he received them, the palace being transformed pro tempore into a veritable Lourdes, and Sir James Balfour, the Historian, who was knighted at this time, and created Lyon King-at- Arms, affirms in an unpublished manuscript, still extant in the Advocates Library, Edinburgh, that Charles success- fully " heallit 100 persons of the cruelles or kingis eivell, yong and olde."
Reverting to the proclamation cited above, therein the king speaks at length of the many cures wrought by his " royal predecessors." Now this, of course, may allude purely to the Plantagenets or Tudors, but it is equally possible that these references indicate touching for scrofula on the part of the early Stuarts, and be that as it may, Charles I. was not the only member of that dynasty who essayed the act. John Evelyn, in his Diary, writes repeat- edly of Charles the Second's activities in this relation, while Samuel Pepys refers to the same thing, and in one passage he says the sight failed to interest him in the least, for he had seen it often before. Clearly, then, quite a host of the Merry Monarch's subjects were " heallit " by the royal touch, nor did the practice end with the ousting of the Stuarts in 1689. The Chevalier de St. George essayed it on several occasions, and his son Prince Charles, when in Scotland in 1745, made at least one attempt, though whether with success or not is unrecorded.
In the infancy of the world, and during a time when these laws of nature were but partially known and understood by man, it was most natural that these inexplicable powers should be directly ascribed to a divine influence. Healing of the sick was supposed to proceed alone from God, or through the priest and saints His servants. Faith was therefore necessary to the cure, and the magical powers were therefore transferred by words, prayers, and cere- monies, and the science was transmitted among the myster- ies. Healing by touch, by laying on of hands, and by the breath, belonged to this secret influence ; also the use of talismans and amulets, which were composed of organic as well as inorganic substances, — minerals, stones, and plants ; the wearing of rings, of images of saints, and other symboli- cal objects ; lastly, healing the sick by words and prayers. As regards the semblance which this science bears to magnetism, it is certain that not only were the ancients acquainted with an artificial method of treating disease but also with somnambulism itself. Among others, Agrippa von Nettesheim speaks of this plainly when he says, in his Occulta philosophia, p. 451 : — " There is a science, known but to very few, of illuminating and in- structing the mind, so that at one step it is raised from the darkness of ignorance to the light of wisdom. This is produced principally by a species of artificial sleep, in which a man forgets the present, and, as it were, perceives the future through the divine inspiration. Unbelieving wicked persons can also be deprived of this power by secret means."
The healing of the sick by the touch and the laying on of hands is to be found among primitive peoples, the Indians,
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the Egyptians, and especially among the Jews. In Egypt sculptures have been found where one hand of the operator is placed on the stomach and the other on the back. Even the Chinese, according to the accounts of the early mission- aries (Athan. Kircher, China lllustrata), healed sickness by the laying on of hands. In the Old Testament we find numerous examples, of which we shall extract a few.
When Moses found his end approaching, he prayed for a worthy successor, and we find the following passage (Numbers, xxvii., 18, 20) : — " And the Lord said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua, the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him." . . . . " And thou shalt put some of thine honour upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient."
Another instance is to be found in the healing the seem- ingly dead child by Elisha, who stretched himself three times upon the child, and called upon the Lord. The manner in which Elisha raised the dead son of the Shuna- mite woman is still more remarkable. He caused Gehazi to proceed before him to lay his staff upon the face of the child. As this was of no avail, Elisha went up into the room, and laid himself upon the child, etc., and his hands upon the child's hands, so that the child's body became warm again. After that the child opened his eyes. Elisha's powers even survived his death. " And Elisha died, and they buried him ; and the bands of the Moabites invaded the land in the coming of the year. And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men ; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha ; and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood upon his feet." (2 Kings, xiii., 20, 21). Naaman the leper, when he stood before Elisha's house with his horses and chariots, .and had been told to wash seven times in the Jordan, said, " Behold I thought, he will surely come out to me, and stand, and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper." (2 Kings, v. 4).
The New Testament is particularly rich in examples of the efficacy of laying on of the hands. " Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery." (1 Timothy, iv., 14), is the principal maxim of the Apostles, for the practical use- of their powers for the good of their brethren in Christ. In St. Mark we find (xvi., 18) : — " They shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover." St. Paul was remarkable for his powers : " And it came to pass that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux ; to whom Paul entered in, and prayed and laid his hands on him and healed him." (Acts, xxviii., 8). " And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house, and putting his hands on him, said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus that appeared unto thee in the way as thou earnest, hath sent me that thou mayest receive thy sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from Iris eyes as it had been scales, and he re- ceived sight." (Acts, ix., 17, 18). In St. Mark we find : — " And they brought young children to him, that he might touch them ; and his disciples rebuked those who brought them. But Jesus said, ' Suffer the little children to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.' And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them." " And they bring unto him one that was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they be- sought him to put his hand upon him. And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit and touched his tongue ; and, looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said unto him, ' Ephphatha,' — that is, Be opened. And straightway his ears were opened,
and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain." (Mark, vii., 33).
Other passages may be met with in Matth. ix., 18 ; Mark v., 23 ; vi., 5 ; viii., 22 ; x., 13 ; xvi., 18 ; Luke v., 13 ; xviii., 15 ; John ix., 17 ; Acts ix., 17, etc., etc. In the histories of the saints, innumerable examples are recorded, and the command, " In my name shall they cast out devils ; they shall speak with new tongues ; they shall take up serpents ; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them ; they shall lay their hands on the sick and they shall recover," appiies to ali true followers of Christ. Those, however, who are wanting in the power of the spirit and in faith cannot perform these acts like the saints, on whom they ca'st doubts because they cannot imitate them.
The saints accomplished everything through faith in Christ, and therefore were able to perform such miracles. We shall make mention of a few of the most remarkable accounts. St. Patrick, the Irish apostle, healed the blind by laying on his hands. St. Bernard is said to have restored eleven blind persons to sight, and eighteen lame persons to the use of their limbs, in one day at Constance. At Cologne he healed twelve lame, caused three dumb persons to speak, ten who were deaf to hear ; and, when he himself was ill, St. Lawrence and St. Benedict appeared to him, and cured him by touching the affected part. Even his plates and dishes are said to have cured sickness after his death. The miracles of SS. Margaret, Katherine, Elizabeth, Hildegarde, and especially the miraculous cures of the two holy martyrs Cosmas and Damianus, belong to this class. Among others, they freed the Emperor Justinian from an incurable sickness. St. Odilia embraced a leper, who was shunned by all men, in her arms, warmed him, and restored him to health.
Remarkable above all others are -those cases where persons who were at the point of death have recovered by .holy baptism or extreme unction. The Emperor Constan- tine is one of the most singular examples. Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, had the power of assuaging colic and affections of the spleen by laying the patients on their backs and passing his great toe over them. (Plutarch. Vita Pyrrhi : " Digitum maximum pedis divinitatem habuisse adeo quod igne non potuit comburi.") The Emperor Vespasian cured nervous affections, lameness, and blindness, solely by the laying on of his hands (Suelin, Vita Vespas). Accord- ing to Coelius Spartianus, Hadrian cured those afflicted with dropsy by touching them with the points of his fingers, and recovered himself from a violent fever by similar treatment. King Olaf healed Egill on the spot by merely laying his hands upon him and singing proverbs (Edda, p, 216). The kings of England and France cured diseases of the throat by touch. It is said that the pious Edward the Confessor, and in France that Philip the First, were the first who possessed this power. The formula used on such occasions was, L" Le roi te touche, allez at guerissez ; " so that the word was connected with the act of touching. In England the disease was therefore called " King's Evil." In France this power was retained until the time of the Revolution, and it is said that at the corona- tion the exact manner of touching, and the formula — '•' Le roi te touche, dieu te guerisse " — were imparted to the monarch. In the reign of Louis XHI. the Duke d'Epernon is said to have exclaimed, when Richelieu was made generalissimo against the Spaniards, '" What ! has the king nothing left but the power of healing wens ? "
Among Geiman princes this curative power was ascribed to the Counts of Hapsburg, and also that they were able to cure stammering by a kiss. Pliny says, ■■ There are men whose whole bodies possess medicinal properties, — as the Marsi, the Psyli, and others, who cure the bite of serpents
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merely by the touch." This he remarks especially of the Island of Cyprus ; and later travellers confirm these cures by the touch. In later times, the Salmadores and Ensal- madores of Spain became very celebrated, who healed almost all disjases by prayer, laying on of hands, and by breathing. In Ireland, Valentine Greatrakes (q.v.) cured at first " Icing's evil " by touch. In the seventeenth cen- tury, the gardener Levret and the notorious Streeper per- formed cures in London by stroking with the hand. In similar manner cures were performed by Michael Medina, and the Child of Salamanca ; also Marcellus Empiricus (Sprengel, Gesch. der Med. Part 2, p. 179). Richter, an innkeeper at Royen, in Silicia, cured, in the years 1817-18, many thousands of sick persons in the open fields, by touching them with his hands. Under the Popes, laying on of hands was called Chirothesy. Diepenbroek wrote two treatises on it, and, according to Lampe, four-and-thirty Chirothetists were declared to be holy. Mesmer (q.v.) and his assistants also employed manipulations largely.
Hearn, Lafcadio : (See Fiction, Occult English.)
Heart : It is said in Ecclesiates that the heart of the wise is at the right side, the heart of the foolish at the left. But this saying must be placed in the same category as that of Jonas, who said of some of the Ninevites that they did not know their right hand from their lelt — that is, they could not distinguish good from evil.
Heat and Light : Spiritualistic Journal. (See Spiritualism.)
Heavenly Man, The : According to the Zohar, the first of the Sephiroth, or divine emanations. Before the creatiSn God was without form, above and beyond all attributes. But when He had created the Heavenly Man He used him as a Chariot in which to descend. And desiring to make Him- self known by His attributes, " He let Himself be styled as the God of pardon, the God of Justice, the God Omnipotent, the God of Hosts and He who is (Jahveh)." The Heavenly Man is to be distinguished from the " earthly man."- The creation of the earthly man was, indeed, the work of the Heavenly Man — that is, of the first emanation from God, the Supreme Manifestation, the Divine activity.
Hecate : Originally a Greek goddess of uncertain parentage. She appears to have been one of the Titans who ruled the heaven, earth and sea ; and could bestow gifts on mortals at pleasure. Later she wasconfounded with other goddesses until she became at length a mystic goddess having all the magic powers of nature at command. Magicians and witches besought her aid, and sacrifices were offered to her where three ways met of dogs, honey and female black lambs. Festivals were celebrated to her annually at ^Egina. In appearance she was frightful, and serpents hung hissing around her shoulders.
Keckman : (See Dee.)
Hekalot : According to the Zohar, the seven halls of the world of Yetsirah, the divine halls into which the seekers for the Chariot (Merkabah) strive to enter. Here dwell the angels, presided over by Metatron ; likewise the souls of men not specially noted for their piety. (The souls of the pious dwell in the world of Beriah) .
Hela, or " Death " : One of the offspring of Loki and the giantess Angurbodi. The gods becoming alarmed of her and the other monsters which were coming to life in Jotun- heim, it was deemed advisable by All-father that they should be brought before him. Hela was cast into Nifl- heim, to which are sent all those who die of sickness or old age. She governs this world, which is composed of nine regions, into which she distributes those who come to her ; and in which she inhabits a strongly-protected abode.
'" Niflheim is said to be "' a dark abode far from the sun " ; its gates open to the "cutting north" : "its walls are formed of wreathed snakes and their venom is ever falling like rain " ; and it is surrounded by dark and poisonous
streams. " Nidhog, the great dragon, who dwells beneath the central root of Ygdrassil, torments and gnaws the dead." It is said that one-half of Hela's body is livid, and the other half flesh-coloured. Hunger is her table ; Starvation, her knife ; Delay, her man ; Slowness, her maid ; Precipice, her threshold ; Care, her bed ; and Burning Anguish forms the hangings of her apartments.
Heliotrope : Said to render its possessor invisible if it be rubbed over with the juice of the herb of the same name ; stops bleeding, and averts danger from poison.
Hell : The derivation of this word is probably from the root helan to cover, designating a subterranean or hidden place. In Ward's Mythology we find it in the form of Hel as a " place of the dead " alone, by no means a place of punish- ment. The conception of such has a more or less clear train of evolution behind it. The Christian idea of a place of punishment was directly coloured by the Jewish con- ception of Sheol, which in turn took shape from Babylonian sources. When exactly the idea began to form itself as a place of punishment is not clear, as among the ancient Semites, Egyptians and Greeks, we find the under-world regarded as a place of the dead alone. Thus in Egypt we find Amenti distinctly a place of the dead, in which the tasks of life are for the most part duplicated. This is the case also among barbarian people, who merely regard the land of the dead as an extension of human existence, in which man led a more or less shadowy life. The savage does not believe in punishment after death, and conceives that any breach of moral rule is summarily dealt with in this life. It is only when a higher moral code emerges from totemic or similar rule that the idea of a place of punish- ment is invented by priest-craft. This is, however, not always the case : in Greece, Rome and Scandinavia, we find that Hades was merely looked upon as a place of the dead, where, like shadowy ghosts, mankind flit to and fro, gibbering and squeaking as phantoms are supposed to do. According to the Greeks, Hades was only some twelve feet under the surface of the ground, so that Orpheus would have had no very long journey from the subterranean spheres to reach earth once more. Hell is generally regarded as a sovereignty, a place definitely ruled in an ordinary manner by a monarch set there for the purpose by the celestial powers. Thus the Greek Hades ruled the Sad Sphere of the Dead ; Osiris was lord and governor of the Egyptian Amenti ; in Central America, we find twin rulers in the Kiche Hades, Xibalba, whose names are given as Hun-came and Vukub-came. These latter are actively malignant, unlike the Mictlan of the Mexican, whose empire was for the generality of the people. These could only exist there for the space of four years, after which they finally became entirely extinct. The Mexicans represent Mictlan as a huge monster with open mouth ready to devour his victims, and this we find paralelled in the Babylonian Tiawith. We thus see that at a certain stage in all mythologies, the conception of a place of the dead was confounded with the idea of a place of punishment. The Greeks generally bewailed the sad end of humanity which was condemned for ever to dwell in semi-darkness after death. The possibility of the existence of a place of reward never seemed to appeal to them. To the vivid Greek mind life was all in all, and it was left to the finer and altogether more upright Semitic conscience to evolve in the near East the conception of a place of punishment. Thus Sheol, from being regarded as a place of the dead became the home of fire, into which the wicked and unjust were thrust for their sins. This was certainly foreshadowed by Babylonian and Egyptian ideals, for we find the Egyptian unable to pass the test of justification simply rejected ; . from the idea of rejection would soon spring the idea of active punishment. The Semitic conception of Hell was
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probably re-inforced on the introduction of Christianity into Europe, and coloured by the conception of the places of the dead belonging to the other mythologies of Europe. Thus the Scandinavian idea, which was also that of our Saxon forefathers, undoubtedly coloured the English conception of the place of punishment.
" ' Hela,' or " Death,' in the prose Edia, is one of the offspring of Loki and the giantess Angurbodi ; their other two being the wolf Fcnrir and the Midgard serpent. The gods were not long ignorant that these monsters continued to be bred up in Jotunheim, and having had recourse to divination, became aware of all the evils they would have to suffer from them ; their being sprung from such a mother was a bad presage, and from such a sire one still worse. All-father therefore deemed it advisable to send one of the gods to bring them to him. When they came he threw the serpent into that deep ocean by which the earth is engirdled. But the monster has grown to such an enormous size that, holding his tail in his mouth he encircles the whole earth. ' Hela ' he cast into Niflheim, and gave her power over nine worlds (regions), into which she dis- tributes those who are sent to her, that is to say, all who die through sickness or old age. Here she possesses a habita- tion protected by exceedingly high walls and strongly- barred gates. Her hall is called Elvidner ; Hunger is her table ; Starvation, her knife ; Delay, her man ; Slowness, her maid ; Precipice, her threshold ; Care, her bed ; and Burning Anguish forms the hangings of her apartments. The one-half of her body is livid, the other half the colour of human flesh.' A description of Niflheim itself, the abode of Loki and his evil progeny, in given in the Voluspa. It is ' a dark abode far from the sun ' ; its gates are open to ' the cutting north ' ; 'its walls are formed of wreathed snakes, and their venom is ever falling like rain.' It is surrounded by the dark and poisonous streams ' Elivagar.' Nidhog, the great dragon, who dwells beneath the central root of Ygdrassil, torments and gnaws the dead."
The probabilities are that the ideas concerning the Celtic other-world had little to do in forming the British conception of Hell. The Brythonic "Annwyl" was cer- tainly a subterranean locality, but it was by no means a place of punishment, being merely a microcosm of the world above, where folk hunted, ate and drank, as in early Britain. Nor was the Irish other-world much different and after crossing the waters of oblivion the possessed person found himself in a sphere in many ways resembling the earth-life.
In southern Europe again the idea of Hell appears to have been strongly coloured by both classical and Jewish conceptions. Our best picture of the mediaeval conception of the place of punishment is undoubtedly the Inferno of Dante, who in most things followed the teaching of con-, temporary schoolmen in describing it. Acknowledging Virgil as his ma.ster, he follows him in many descriptions of Tartarus ; but we find the Semitic idea cropping up every here and there, as in the beginning of one of the cantos, where, what looks suspiciously like a Hebrew incantation, is set down. The dramatis personae are classical ; thus we have Pluto and many of the breed of Tartarus. In later mediaeval times the ingenuity of the monkish mind came to the rescue and conceptions which in some instances appear to be perfectly original sprang up. Thus, Hell obtained an annexe. Purgatory. Its inhabitants took on a form which may distinctively be alluded to as European, in contra- distinction to the more satyr-like shape of the earlier hierarchy of Hades. We find grizzly forms of bird-like shape, with exaggerated beaks and claws, and the animal forms and faces of later mediaeval gargoyles give us a capital idea of what the denizens of Hades seemed like in the eyes of the superstition of the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries. It was only a modified version of these ideas which came down to our grandfathers, and one may suspect that such superstitions were not altogether disbelieved by our fathers. This is not the place to embark upon a theological discussion as to whether the Hell of the Christians exists, or does not exist ; but it may be interesting to remark that a great controversy has raged ever since the time of Origen as to the question whether or not the pxmish- ments of Hell are eternal. Those who denied that this was so were called Universalists, and believed in the final redemption of all. Enough has been said to show that most Eastern mythological systems possess a Hades which does not differ in any fundamental respect from that of most barbarian races, except that it is perhaps rather more specialised and involved. Many later writers, such as Swedenborg, Boehme, Blake and others (not to forget Milton), have given us vivid pictures of the hierarchy and general condition of Hell. For the most part these ar» based on the patristic writings. In the Middle Ages endless controversy took place as to the nature and offices, of the various inhabitants of the place of punishment (See Demonology), and the descriptions of later visionaries are practically mere repetitions of the conclusions then arrived at.
The locality of Hell has also been a question of endless speculation ; some believed it to be resident in the sun,_ giving as their reason for this the fact the Greek name of that luminary Helios ; but such childish etymologies appear to have been in disfavour with most writers on the- subject, and the grand popular idea that Hell is subterra- nean has had no real rival. Hellawes : A sorceress. Lady of the Castle Nigramous. She attempted to win the love of Lancelot, but being unable to do so, she perished. Hellenbach, Baron : (See Germany.)
Helmont, John Baptists van, must be ranked as one of the pioneers of science by reason of his experimental researches, his acute judgment, his penetrating attitude of mind leading him to say '" Names do not trouble me, I contemplate the thing in itself as near as I can," and his untiring search for ' the truth, not for personal aggrandizement or power, but in the service of progress and for the good of mankind. He was born of a noble family in the year 1557 at Bois-le-Duc in Brabant. Studying at Louvain, he early attained dis- tinction in the science of mathematics, lecturing on physics- at the age of seventeen. Before he was twenty-two he had read Hippocrates and the Greek and Arabian authors and become eminent in the doctrines of Aristotle and Galen and the practice of medicine according to Vopiscus and Plem- pius. In the year 1599 he took his degree of doctor of medicine. After this some years were spent in the practice of physic, but meeting a follower of Paracelsus he became interested in his theories of chemical medicine to such a degree that he retired to the castle of Vilvord, near Brussels, to spend the rest of his life in the study of experimental chemistry on which he wrote various treatises, becoming famous throughout Europe for his scientific knowledge. He revolutionized medicine as known in his day, turning aside from the theories of Galen and the Arabs, and created an epoch in the history of physiology, being the first to recognize the functions of the stomach and its relation to the other organs of the body. His many and varied experiments led him to deal with aerial fluids, to which he gave the name of gas — carbonic acid gas being his discovery — and it is said that without him the chemistry of steel in all probability would have been unknown to science. The writings of van Helmont contain many truths, foreshadowings of ideas and principles now accepted as indispensable commonplaces, though these almost of necessity are hidden under much of the incomprehensible
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beliefs and illusions prevalent in his time. Alchemy, with its visions of the Elixir of Life and the Philosopher's Stone represented to him another field for experiment and research and though he never pretended to the art of making the transmuting powder, he testified his belief in the transmutation of metals, having seen the experiment performed many times. Among other things he became a firm believer in Mineral and Human Magnetism, anticipat- ing Mesmer in almost the very terms of the later exponent of the theory and basing his argument on the well-known facts of the sympathy or antagonism spontaneously arising between individuals and the influence exerted by a firm will- over a weak imagination. To the last he declined to leave his retirement, though his fame brought him flattering invitations and offers from the Emperor and Elector Palatine. Almost unknown to his neighbours he yet attended any stricken by illness without accepting any fees for his services. He lived to the age of sixty-seven, dying at his castle of Vilvord in 1624. Helvetius, John Frederick : A physician of the Hague who in 1667 published a work concerning a strange adventure of his life in which he claimed to have taken part in a veritable act of metallic transmutation by alchemical processes. The book was translated into English and published at London 1670 under the title Of a Transmuta- tion. As it is one of the few exact descriptions of such an experiment, it has been thought well to append the passage recounting it in full, as follows : —
" On the 27th December, 1666, in the afternoon, a stranger, in a plain, rustic dress, came to my house at the Hague. His manner of address was honest, grave authortative ; his stature was low, with a long face and hair black, his chin smooth. He seemed like a native of the north of Scotland, and I guessed he was about forty- four years old. After saluting me he requested me most respectfully to pardon his rude intrusion, but that his love of the pyrotechnic art made him visit me. Having read some of my small treatises, particularly that against the sympathetic powder of Sir Kenelm Digby and observed therein my doubt of the Hermetic mystery, it caused him to request this interview. He asked me if I still thought there was no medicine in Nature which could cure all diseases, unless the principal parts, as the lungs, liver, etc. were perished, or the time of death were come. To which I replied I never met with an adept, or saw such a medicine, though I read of much of it and often wished for it. Then I asked if he was a physician. He said he was a founder of brass, yet from his youth learned many rare things in chemistry, particularly of a friend — the manner to extract out of metals many medicinal arcana by the use of fire. After discoursing of experiments in metals, he asked me, would I know the philosophers' stone if I saw it ? I answered, I would not, though I read much of it in Para- celsus, Helmont, Basil, and others, yet I dare not say I could know the philosophers' matter. In the interim he drew from his breast pocket a neat ivory box, and out of it took three ponderous lumps of the stone, each about the size of a small walnut. They were transparent and of a pale brimstone colour, whereto some scales of the crucible adhered when this most noble substance was melted. The value of it I since calculated was twenty tons weight of gold. When I had greedily examined and handled the stone almost a quarter of an hour, and heard from the owner many rare secrets of its admirable effects in human and metallic bodies, also its other wonderful properties, I returned him this treasure of treasures, truly with a most sorrowful mind, like those who conquer themselves, yet, as was just, very thankfully and humbly. I further desired to know why the colour was yellow, and not red, ruby colour, or purple, as the philosophers write. He answered
that was nothing, for the matter was mature and ripe enough. Then I humbly requested him to bestow a little piece of the medicine on me, in perpetual memory of him, though but of the size of a coriander or hemp seed. He presently answered, " Oh no, this is not lawful, though thou wouldst give me as many ducats in gold as would fill this room, not for the value of the metal, but for some particular consequences. Nay, if it were possible," said he, '" that fire could be burnt by fire, I would rather at this instant cast all this substance into the fiercest flames." He then demanded if I had a more private chamber, as this was seen from the public street. I presently conducted him into the best furnished room backward, not doubting but he would bestow part thereof or some great treasure on me. He entered without wiping his shoes, although they were full of snow and dirt. He asked me for a little piece of gold, and, pulling off his cloak, opened his vest, under which he had five pieces of gold. They were hanging to a green silk ribbon, and were of the size of breakfast plates. This gold so far excelled mine that there was no comparison for flexibility and colour. The inscriptions engraven upon them he granted me to write out ; they were pious thanks- givings to God, dated 20th August, 1666, with the characters of the Sun, Mercury, the Moon, and the signs of Leo and Libra.
" I was in great admiration, and desired to know where and how he obtained them. He answered, " A foreigner, who dwelt some days in my house, said he was a lover of this science, and came to reveal it to me. He taught me various arts — first, of ordinary stones and chrystals, to make rubies, chrysolites, sapphires, etc., much more valu- able than those of the mine ; and how in a quarter of an hour to make oxide of iron, one dose of which would infallibly cure the pestilential dysentery, or bloody flux ; also how to make a metallic liquor to cure all kinds of dropsies, most certainly and in four days ; as also a limpid, clear water, sweeter than honey, by which in two hours of itself, in hot sand, it would extract the tincture of garnets, corals, glasses, and such like." He said more, which I Helvetius, did not observe, my mind being occupied to understand how a noble juice could be drawn out of minerals to transmute metals. He told me his said master caused him to bring a glass of rain-water, and to put some silver leaf into it, which was dissolved therein within a quarter of an hour, like ice when heated. " Presently he drank to me the half, and I pledged him the other half, which had not so much taste as sweet milk, but whereby, methought, I became very light-headed. I thereupon asked if this were a philosophical drink, and wherefore we drank this potion ; but he replied, I ought not to be so curious." By the said master's directions, a piece of a leaden pipe being melted, he took a little sulphureous powder out of his pocket, put a little of it on the point of a knife into the melted lead, and after a great blast of the bellows, in a short time he poured it on the red stones of the kitchen chimney. It proved most excellent pure gold, which the stranger said brought him into such trembling amazement that he could hardly speak ; but his master encouraged him saying, " Cut for thyself the sixteenth part of this as a memorial and give the rest away among the poor," which the stranger did, distributing this alms, as he affirmed if my memory fail not, at the Church of Sparenda. " At last," said he, '"the generous foreigner taught me thor- oughly this divine art."
'" As soon as his relation was finished, I asked my visitor to show me the effect of transmutation and so confirm my faith ; but he declined it for that time in such a discreet manner that I was satisfied, he promising to come again in three weeks, to show me some curious arts in the fire, provided it were then lawful without prohibition. At the
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three weeks end he came, and invited me abroad for an hour or too. In our walk we discoursed of Nature's secrets, but he was very silent on the subject of the great elixir gravely asserted that it was only to magnify the sweet fame and mercy of the most glorious God ; that few men endeavoured to serve Him, and this he expressed as a pastor or minister of a church ; but I recalled his atten- tion, entreating him to show me the metallic mystery, desiring also that he would eat, drink, and lodge at my house, which I pressed, but he was of so fixed a determination that all my endeavours were frustrated. I could not forbear to tell him that I had a laboratory ready for an experiment, and that a promised favour was a kind of debt. " Yes, true," said he, " but I promised to teach thee at my return, with this proviso, if it were not forbidden."
" When I perceived that all this was in vain, I earnestly requested a small crumb of his powder, sufficient to trans- mute a few grains of lead to gold, and at last, out of his philosophical commiseration, he gave me as much as a turnip seed in size, saying, " Receive this small parcel of the greatest treasure of the world, which truly few kings or princes have ever seen or known." " But," I said, "this perhaps will not transmute four grains of lead," whereupon he bid me deliver it back to him, which, in hopes of a greater parcel, I did, but he, cutting half off with his nail, flung it into the fire, and gave me the rest wrapped neatly up in blue paper, saying, " It is yet sufficient for thee." I answered him, indeed with a most dejected countenance, " Sir, what means this ? The other being too little, you give me now less." He told me to put into the crucible half an ounce of lead, for there ought to be no more lead put in than the medicine can transmute. I gave him great thanks for my diminished treasure, con- centrated truly in the superlative degree, and put it charily up into my little box, saying I meant to try it the next day, nor would I reveal it to any. ' Not so, not so,' said he, ' for we ought to divulge all things to the children of art which may tend alone to the honour of God, that so they may live in the theosophical truth.' I now made a confession to him, that while the mass of his medicine was in my hands, I endeavoured to scrape away a little of it with my nail, and could not forbear ; but scratched off so very little, that, it being picked from my nail, wrapped in a paper, and projected on melted lead, I found no transmu- tation, but almost the whole mass sublimed, while the remainder was a glassy earth. At this unexpected account he immediately said, " You are more dexterous to commit theft than to apply the medicine, for if you had only wrapped up the stolen prey in yellow wax, to preserve it from the fumes of the lead, it would have sunk to the bottom, and transmuted it to gold ; but having cast it into the fumes, the violence of the vapour, partly by its sym- pathetic alliance, carried the medicine quite away.' I brought him the crucible, and he perceived a most beautiful saffron-like tincture sticking to the sides. He promise J to come next morning at nine o'clock, to show me that this tincture would transmute the lead into gold. Having taken his leave, I impatiently awaited his return, but the next day he came not, nor ever since. He sent an excuse at half-past nine that morning, and promised to come at three in the afternoon, but I never heard of him since. I soon began to doubt the whole matter. Late that night my wife, who was a most curious student and inquirer after the art, came soliciting me to make an experiment of that little grain of the stone, to be assured of the truth. ' Unless this be done,' said she, ' I sha.ll have no rest or sleep this night.' She being so earnest, I commanded a fire to be made, saying to myself, L I fear, I fear indeed, this man hath deluded me.' My wife wrapped the said matter in wax, and I cut half an ounce of lead, and put it into a
crucible in the fire. Being melted, my wife put in the medicine, made into a small pill with the wax, which presently made a hissing noise, and in a quarter of an hour the mass of lead was totally transmuted into the best and finest gold, which amaxed us exceedingly. We could not sufficiently gaze upon this admirable and miraculous work of nature, for the melted lead, after projection, showed on the fire the rarest and most beautiful colours imaginable, settling in green, and when poured forth into an ingot, it had the lively fresh colour of blood. When cold it shined as the purest and most splendid gold. Truly all those who were standing about me were exceedingly startled, and I ran with this aurified lead, being yet hot, to the goldsmith, who wondered at the fineness, and after a short trial by the test, said it was the most excellent gold in the world.
" The next day a rumour of this prodigy went about the Hague and spread abroad, so that man}' illustrious and learned persons gave me their friendly visits for its sake. Amongst the rest, the general Assay-master, examiner of coins of this province of Holland, Mr. Porelius, who with others earnestly besought me to pass some part of the gold through all their customary trials, which I did, to gratify my own curiosity. We went to Mr. Brectel, a silversmith, who first mixed four parts of silver with one part of the gold, then he filled it, put aquafortis to it, dissolved the silver, and let the gold precipitate to the bottom ; the solution being poured off and the calx of gold washed with water, then reduced and melted, it appeared excellent gold, and instead of a loss in weight, we found the gold was increased, and had transmuted a scruple of the silver into gold by its abounding tincture.
" Doubting whether the silver was now sufficiently separated from the gold, we mingled it with seven parts of antimony, which we melted and poured out into a cone, and blew off the regulus on a test, where we missed eight grains of our gold ; but after we blew away the red of the , antimon5r, or superfluous scoria, we found nine grains of gold for our eight grains missing, yet it was pale and silver- like but recovered its full colour afterwards, so that in the best proof of fire we lost nothing at all of this gold, but gained, as aforesaid. These tests I repeated four times and found it still alike, and the silver remaining out of the acquafortis was of the very best flexible silver that could be, so that in the total the said medicine or elixir had transmuted six drams and two scruples of the lead and silver into most pure gold." Henry III. of France : (See France.) HerebUTge, Frankish title for a witch : (See France.) Hermes Trismegistus ( ' the thrice greatest Hermes ") : The name given by the Greeks to the Egyptian god Thoth or Tehuti, the god of wisdom, learning and literature. Thoth is alluded to in later Egyptian writings as " twice very great" and even as "five times very great" in some demotic or popular scripts, (ca. third century B.C.) To him was attributed as " scribe of the gods " the author- ship of all sacred books which were thus called " Hermetic " by the Greeks. These, according to Clemens Alexandrinus were forty-two in number and were sub-divided into six portions, of which the first dealt with priestly education, the second with temple ritual and the third with geographi- cal matter. The fourth division treated of astrology, the fifth of hymns in honour of the gods and a text-qook for the guidance of Kings, while the sixth was medical. It is unlikely that these books were all the work of oneindividual, and it is more probable that they represent the accumulated wisdom of Egypt, attributed in the course of ages to the great god of wisdom.
As " scribe of the gods " Thoth was also the author of all strictly sacred writing. Hence by a convenient fiction the name of Hermes was placed at the head of an extensive
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cycle of mystic literature, produced in post-Christian times. Most of this Hermetic or Trismegistic literature has perished, but all that remains of it has been gathered and translated into English. It includes the '/ Poimandres," the " Perfect Sermon," or the " Asclepius," excerpts by Stobacus, and fragments from the Church Fathers and from the philosophers, Zosimus and Fulgentius. Hitherto these writings have been neglected by theologians, who have dismissed them as the offspring of third century Neo- Platonism. According to the generally accepted view, they were eclectic compilations, combining Neo-Platonic philosophy, Philonic Judaism and Kabalistic theosophy in an attempt to supply a philosophic substitute for, Christianity. The many Christian elements to be found in these mystic scriptures were ascribed to plagiarism. By an examination of early mystery writings and traditions it has been proved with some degree of certainty that the main source of the Trismegistic Tractates is the wisdom of Egypt, and that they " go back in an unbroken tradition of type and form and context to the earliest Ptolemaic times."
The '; Poimandres," on which all later Trismegistic literature is based, must, at least in its original form, be placed not later than the first century. The charge of plagiarism from Christian writings, therefore, falls to the ground. If it can be proved that the " Poimandres " belongs to the first century, we have in it a valuable docu- ment in determining the environment and development of Christian origins.
Mr. G. R. S. Mead, author of " Thrice Greatest Hermes " says in a illuminating passage : — ■
" The more one studies the best of these mystical ser- mons, casting aside all prejudices, and trying to feel and think with the writers, the more one is conscious of approach- ing the threshold of what may well be believed to have been the true adytum of the best in the mystery traditions of antiquity. Innumerable are the hints of the greatnesses and immensities lying beyond that threshold — among other precious things the vision of the key to Egypt's wisdom, the interpretation of apocalypsis by the light of the sun-clear epopteia of the intelligible cosmos."
Hermetic Magic : (See Hermes Trismegistus.)
Hermetic Society : (See Alchemy.)
Hermitage Castle : (See Haunted Houses.)
Heme, J. : A medium who was associated with Charles Williams (q.v.) during a part of the latter's career and who afterwards practised on his own account. Materialisation was a special feature of his seances. And Miss Florence Cook held her first materialisation seance in conjunction with Heme. He was one of the mediums present on the occasion of Mrs. Guppy's famous transit, and was himself on one occasion transported in like manner.
Heyd : A Norwegian sea-witch or storm-fiend in the shape of a white bear, alluded to in the saga of Grettir. With the other storm-fiend Ham, she was sent by Helgi to engulf Frithjof as he sailed for the island of Yarl Angantyr.
Heydon, John : English Astrologer (fl. — 1667). In his useful if not invaluable Lives of the Alchemystical Philoso- phers, Waite speaks with great scorn of the English Astrolo- ger, John Heydon, describing him as no better than a charlatan, and for that reason furnishing no facts whatso- ever concerning his career.
The astrologer appears to have been born in 1629, his father being Francis Heydon, owner of a small estate called Sidmouth, in Devonshire. It was not in that romantic shire, however, that the astrologer first saw the light of day, but at a house in London boasting the pleasant name of Green Arbour ; and after some years spent here Heydon went to Worcestershire, when his education was attended to by various clergymen. Being a clever boy, his
parents naturally desired to send him to the University, but this was soon rendered virtually impossible by the outbreak of the great civil war, and thereupon Heydon took arms on behalf of the king, and fought in several battles. He is said to have been successful as a soldier, and to have won to the captaincy of a troop of horse under Prince Rupert, but on the ultimate triumph of the Roundhead party, the young man found it advisable to leave England, and for some years he sojourned in various countries on the Continent, notably Spain and Turkey. Indeed, if his contemporaneous biographers are to be trusted, he pene- trated so far afield as Zante, the island in the Levant whose praise has been sung so beautifully by Edgar Allan Poe ; but by 1652 Heydon was. back in his native England, and in 1655 we find him studying law and established in the Temple, a place almost sacred by virtue of its many literary associations. Nor was law his only study, for soon he was deep in that craft of astrology wherewith his name was destined to become associated, and on one occasion, having prophesied that Cromwell would shortly die by hanging, he was straightway imprisoned accordingly. So, at least, says Thomas Carte in his life of the great- Marquis of Ormonde, that storehouse of information con- cerning England in Stuart and Cromwellian days.
Those who take an interest in the history of medicine will doubtless recall Nicholas Culpeper, who, after fighting for the Parliament in the Civil war, devoted a wealth of energy to compiling elaborate treatises on astrology and pharmacopoeia, arts which went hand in hand in the seventeenth century. And it was the widow of this Culpeper whom Heydon took to wife, the year of their marriage being 1656, while it would seem that a daughter wasvborn of their union, for among the astrologers' writings is a volume entitled Advice to a Daughter (1658). Whether Heydon continued living in the Temple after his marriage is not recorded, nor do we hear that he even attended greatly to legal business, and it is likely, on the contrary that astrology occupied all his time, while it appears that that imprisonment already mentioned was not the only one he suffered. He became intimate with many of the great scientists of the Restoration, but quarrelled with a number of them too ; while, though he always maintained that he was not actually affiliated with the Rosicrucians, it is a fact that he explained their theories publicly. Little is known about his later years, while the date of his death is unknown, and, before turning to the subject of his writings, it only behoves to state that his portrait was engraved by Thomas Cross.
Mr. Waite declares that Heydon's writings are sorry pastiches, and it cannot be questioned that the bulk of his work is derivative, Sir Thomas Browne being one whom he apes particularly. Nevertheless Heydon must be credited with considerable assiduity, and his Rosicrucian books alone are numerous, the best of them being probably The New Method of Rosie-Crucian Physick (1658), The Rosie-Crucian Infallible Axiomater (r66o), The Wise Man's Crown, or The Glory of the Rosie-Cross (1664), and The Rosie-Cross Uncovered (1662). In addition to them he was author of Theomagia or The Temple of Wisdom (1664), and The Prophetic Trumpeter, sounding an Allarum to England (1655), the latter being dedicated to Henrj'- Crom- well, while according to Wood's Athenes Oxonicsis, Heydon was likewise the compiler of A Rosiecrucian Theological Dictionary. Yet another book from his pen was Idea of the Law, and at the end of this we find advertisements of several works of his, probably pamphlets, none of which is known to exist nowadays, but whose titles are worth recording here. One is called The Familiar Spirit, another The Way to Converse with Angels, while the others are A New Method of Astrology, Of Scandalous Nativities, and
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Cabballa, or the Art 'by which Moses and Elijah did so many Miracles. It is quite possible, of course, that these pam- phlets were advertised while yet in course of preparation, and that the author was prevented from bringing them to a finish, but their titles are significant, showing how far Heydon waded into the sea of mysticism, and suggesting that he was really more erudite therein than Mr. Waite
imagines.
Hharis : {See Eblis.)
Hidden Interpretation: (See Kabala).
Hieroglyphs : Hieroglyphs were, and are, frequently made use of by the spirits in the so-called " direct " writing, i.e., writing produced without a medium or any physical agent.
' Direct writing, though fiequently produced at seances, is perhaps most common in poltergeistic outbreaks, when the poltergeist is wont to distribute messages through the house. Thus in the disturbance in the house of Dr. Phelps, Stratford, in 1850-51, hieroglyphs were found on the walls and ceilings, while turnips covered with them were seen to grow from the pattern of the carpet. On this occasion the matter was investigated by Andrew Jackson Davis, who recognised the hieroglyphs as spiritual symbols, which he was inspired to interpret as friendly messages from high spiritual powers.
Hilarion : {See Michael Maer.)
Hippomancy : A method of divination practised by the ancient Celts, who kept certain white horses in consecrated groves. These were made to walk immediately after the sacred car, and auguries were drawn from their move- ments. The ancient Germans kept similar steeds in their temples. If on leaving these on the outbreak of hostilities they crossed the threshold with the left forefoot first, the presage was regarded as an evil one, and the war was abandoned.
Hirschborgen : (See Gustenhover.)
History of Human Follies : (See Adelung, Jean Christophe).
Hmana Zena : (Common Woman), Dalmatian name for a witch : (See Slavs.)
Hmin Nat : An evil spirit. (See Burma.)
Hobgoblin, Robin Goodfellow, or Puck : An English domestic fairy or brownie of nocturnal habits. He is of a happy disposition, and is believed to be one of the courtiers, probably the jester, at the court of Oberon. Reginald Scot, in his Discovery of Witchcraft says :— " Your gran- dames' maids were wont to set a bowl of milk for him for his pains in grinding of malt and mustard, and sweeping the house at midnight. This white bread, and bread and milk, was his standard fee." He is perhaps best known in Britain by his appellation of Puck, and his qualities and attributes are represented under this name in Shakespeare's " Midsummer's Night's Dream." By some he is believed to be the demon who leads men astray during the night. Sometimes he is clothed in a suit of leather close to his body, and sometimes he wore green. He is usually repre- sented as full of tricks and mischief.
Hocus Focus : Words of magical import, which by some are believed to be derived from " Ochus Bochus." a magician and demon of the north. It is perhaps more probable, however, that as others say they are a corruption of the Latin words " hoc est corpus," and are an imitation of the act of transubstantiation practised by the priests of the Church of Rome.
Hod : The name assigned in the Kabbala to the number eight and meaning " Eternity " — that is, Eternity of the conquests achieved by mind over matter, active over passive, life over death.
Hodgson, Dr. : (See Spiritualism.)
Holland : For early matter see Teutons).
Spiritualism. — Since the introduction of spiritualism into Holland, in 1857-8, no small part of its history has been
enacted in that country, notwithstanding that the phleg- matic and by no means impressionable temperament of the Dutchman would seem to make but an indifferent medium of him. The first Dutch spiritualist of whom we have record is one J. N. T. Marthese, who, after studying psychic phenomena in foreign countries, finally returned to his native Holland, bringing with him the American medium Home. The latter held seances at the Hague, before several learned societies, and by command of Queen Sophia, a seance was given in her presence. The medium, himself, in an account of the performance, tells us that the royal lady was obliged to sit out seven stances, on con- secutive evenings, before any results were obtained. These results, however, were apparently satisfactory, for the Queen was thereafter a staunch supporter of the movement. During Home's visit, spiritualism gained a considerable hold on the people of Holland, and the practice of giving small private seances became fairly wide-spread. Spirit voices were heard at these gatherings, the touch of spirit hands was felt, and musical instruments were played upon by invisible performers. Particularly were these seances appreciated which were held at the house of Mr. T. D. Van Herwerden, in the Hague, and which were attended by many enthusiastic students of spiritualistic phenomena. His medium was, as a rule, a Japanese boy of Ins household, about fourteen years old, and very ignorant. The mani- festations ranged from spirit rapping and table turning in the earlier seances to form materialisation in those of a later date. One of the principal spirits purported to be a monk, Paurellus, who had been assassinated some three hundred years previously in that city. Afterwards Mr. Van Herwerden was induced by his friends to publish his diary, under the title of Experiences and Communications on a still Mysterious Territory. For a time, as has been said, spiritualistic seances were only conducted in family circles, and were of a quite private nature. But as the attention of the intellectuals became more and more directed to the new science, societies were formed to pro- mote research, and to throw light upon that which was obscure and perplexing. The first of these was the society called the " Oromase," or Ormuzd, which was founded by Major J. Revius, a friend of Marthese, in 1859, and which included among its numbers many people of high repute. They met at the Hague, and the records of their transactions were carefully preserved. Major Kevius was president and continued to act in that capacity till 1871, the year of his death. The society's secretary, A. J. Rita, was also a prominent worker in " the cause." The " Oromase " library contained a fine collection of works on spiritualism, mesmerism, and kindred subjects, and included American, French, German and English books. Another society, the " Veritas," was founded in Amsterdam in 1869. The studies of this latter association were conducted in a some- what less searching and scientific spirit than those of the " Oromase." Its mediums specialized in trance utterances and written communications from the spirits, and its members inclined to a belief in re-incarnation, which was at variance with the opinions of the older society. Rotter- dam had, for a time, a society with similar objects known as the " Research after Truth," but it soon came to an end, though its members continued to devote themselves privately to the investigation of spirit phenomena. Other equally short-lived societies were formed in Haarlem and other towns. In all of these, however, there was a dearth of mediums able to produce form materializations, and to supply the want a number of foreign mediums hastened to Holland. Hitherto the comparatively private nature ot the seances, and the high standing of those who took part in them, had prevented the periodicals from making any but the most cautious comments on the stances. But the
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advent of professional mediums on the scene swept away the barrier and let loose a flood of journalistic ridicule and criticism. This in turn provoked the supporters of spirit- ualism to retort, and soon a lively battle was in progress between the spiritualists and the sceptics. The con- sequence was, that " the cause " was boomed as much by the articles which derided it as by those which were in favour of it. Such mediums as Mrs. Margaret Fox Kane, the Davenport brothers, Rita, Home, Miss Cook, and Henry Slade, came over to Holland. Writers arose who were prepared to devote their abilities to the defence of spiritualism. Such an one was Madame Elise van Calcar, who not only wrote a novel expounding spiritualistic principles, but also conducted a monthly journal " On the Boundaries of Two Worlds," and held a sort of spiritualistic salon, where enthusiasts could meet and discuss their favourite subject. Dr. H. de Grood, Dr. J. Van Velzen, Dr. Van der Loef, Herr Schirnmel, are among the other prominent Dutch authors who wielded their pens in defence of the same opinions. The writings of Professors Varley, Crookes, and Wallace were translated into the Dutch lan- guage, and lecturers helped to spread the belief in com- munication with the Other World. A mesmerist, Signor Donata, carried on the practice of " Animal Magnetism " in Holland, and endeavoured to identify the magnetic force emanating from the operator with the substance of which disembodied spirits are composed. Many exposures were made of unscrupulous mediums, and these, naturally, cast discredit upon the entire movement. But on the whole the mediums, professional or otherwise, were well received. Such phases of psychic phenomena as haunted houses and poltergeists are also very common, but are so similar to these manifestations in other countries that they require no separate treatment.
Holly : This name is probably a corruption of the word '" holy " as this plant has been used from time immemorial as a protection against evil influence. It was hung round, or planted near nouses, as a protection against lightning. Its common use at Christmas is apparently the survival of an ancient Roman custom, occurring during the festival to Saturn, to which god the holly was dedicated. While the Romans were holding this feast, which occurred about the time of the winter solstice, they decked the outsides of their houses with holly ; at the same time the Christians were quietly celebrating the birth of Christ, and to avoid detection, they outwardly followed the custom of their heathen neighbours, and decked their houses with holly also. In this way the holly came to be connected with our Christ- mas customs. This plant was also regarded as a symbol of the resurrection. The use of mistletoe along with holly is probably due to the notion that in winter the fairies took shelter under its leaves, and that they protected all who sheltered the plant. The origin of kissing under the mistletoe is considered to have come from our Saxon ancestors, who regarded this plant as dedicated to Freya, the goddess of love.
Holy Trinity Church, York : (See Haunted Houses).
Home, Eaniel Dunglas (1833-1886) : One of the best known of spiritualistic mediums, was born near Edinburgh in 1833. At the age of nine he was taken by his aunt to America, where in 1850 he became a convert to the new doctrine of spiritualism, and himself developed mediumistic powers. The next five years saw him occupied in giving seances in New York and elsewhere. In 1855 some of his friends subscribed a sum of money to send him to Europe. In England his seances were attended by many notable people, and on the Continent also he was admitted into the highest society. Until 1859 he had subsisted on the bounty of his wealthy friends — for at no time did he take actual fees for his services — but in that year he married a
Russian lady of noble birth, young, charming, and possessed of means. But on her death in 1862 his financial circum- stances were altered again. Four years later he was adopted by a wealthy widow, Mrs. Lyon, who made him large money gifts. In a few months, however, she tired of her adopted son and sued him in the law courts for the recovery of her " gifts." The charge of fraud was not proved, and many distinguished persons filed affidavits testifying to the actuality of Home's mediumistic powers, but the court was not satisfied that he had not influenced Mrs. Lyon, and judgment was given in her favour. During all this time he had largely exercised his faculties as a medium, and in 1870-72 he held a series of sittings with Sir William Crookes In 1871 he married again, and for the second time his wife was a Russian lady of means. From 1872 onwards he lived mostly on the Continent, where he died in 1886, after a long and painful illness. Home's mediumship presents many remarkable features. His seances were productive of both trance and physical phenomena, the latter including raps and table-tilting, levitation and elongation, materialisa- tion, the fire-ordeal, and practically every form of manifes- tation. Unlike other mediums, he was never detected in fraud, though his mediumship was spread over so many years, and his phenomena are among the best-attested in the records of spiritualism. But a more important factor in Home's success was his wonderful personality. Though of lowly birth, he early acquired an ease and charm of manner which fitted him for the good society wherein he was destined to move. Artless and spontaneous and very affectionate, of pleasing manners and generous disposition, he won the hearts of all with whom he came in contact, and inspired in his sitters an emotional confidence which seems frequently to have over-ruled their judgment. Sir W. Crookes said of him that he was " one of the most lovable of men," whose " perfect genuineness and upright- ness were beyond suspicion." Whether a medium should ever be " beyond suspicion " to a scientific investigator is, of course, open to question, but the instance shows abundantly that even scientists are not immune from the influence of personal magnetism.
Homunculas : An artificial man supposed to have been made by the alchemists, and especially by Paracelsus. To manufacture one, he states that the needful spagyric substances should be taken and shut up in a glass phial, and afterwards be placed to digest in horse-dung for the space of forty days. At the end of this time, there will be something which will begin to move and live in the bottle. This something is a man, but a man who has no body and is transparent. Nevertheless, he exists, and nothing remains but to bring him up — which is not more difficult to do than to make him. You may accomplish it by daily feeding him — during forty weeks, and without extricating him from his dung-hill — with the arcanum of human blood. At the end of this time you shall have a veritable living child, having every member as well-proportioned as any infant born of a woman. He will only be much smaller than an ordinary child, and his physical education will require more care and attention.
Hopedale Community : A socialistic and religious community founded in 1842 near Milford in Massachusetts, by the Rev. Adin Ballon. In 1850 various spirit manifestations made their appearance in the Community, while on the death of its founder in 1852, communications of a spiritual- istic cast, purporting to come from him, were received through the hand of a living member of the Community. The little band at Hopedale did a good deal to help the advance of Spiritualism.
Hopkins, Matthew : Called the witchfinder ; flourished in 1640. Of him Godwin says, "Nothing can place the credulity of the English nation on the subject of witchcraft
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in a more striking point of view, than the history of Matthew Hopkins, who, in a pamphlet published in 1647 in his own vindication, assumes to himself the surname of the Witch- finder. He fell by accident, in his native country of Suffolk, into contact with one or two reputed witches, and, being a man of an observing turn and an ingenious invention, struck out for himself a trade, which brought him such moderate returns as sufficed to maintain him, and at the same time gratified his ambition by making him a terror to many, and the object of admiration and gratitude to more, who felt themselves indebted to him for ridding them of secret and intestine enemies, against whom, as long as they proceeded in ways that left no footsteps behind, they felt they had no possibility of guarding themselves."
After two or three successful experiments, Hopkins en- gaged in a regular tour of the countries of Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Huntingdonshire. He united to him two con- federates, a man named John Stern, and a woman whose name has not been handed down to us. They visited every town in their route that invited them, and secured to them the moderate remuneration of twenty shillings and their expenses, leaving what was more than this to the spontaneous gratitude of those who should deem themselves indebted to the exertions of Hopkins and his party. By this expedient they secured to themselves a favourable reception and a set of credulous persons who would listen to their dictates as so many oracles. Being three of them, they were enabled to play the game into one another's hands, and were sufficiently strong to overawe all timid and irresolute opposition. In every town to which they came, they inquired for reputed witches, and having taken them into custody, were secure for the most part of a certain number of zealous abettors, and took care that they should have a clear stage for their experiments. They overawed their helpless victims with a certain air of authorit}', as if they had received a commission from heaven for the discovery of misdeeds. They assailed the poor creatures with a multitude of questions constructed in the most artful manner. They stripped them naked, in search for the devil's marks in different parts of their bodies, which they ascertained by running pins to the head into those parts, that, if they were genuine marks, would prove themselves such by their insensibility. They swam their victims in rivers and ponds, it being an un- doubted fact, that, if the persons accused were true witches the water, which was the symbol of admission into the Christian Church, would not receive them into its bosom. If the persons examined continued obstinate, they seated them in constrained and uneasy attitudes, occasionally binding them with cords, and compelling them to remain so without food or sleep for twenty- four hours. They walked them up and down the room, two taking them under each arm, till they dropped down with fatigue. They carefully swept the room in which the experiment was made, that they might keep away spiders and flies, which were supposed to be devils or their imps in that disguise.
The most plentiful inquisition of Hopkins and his con- federates was in the years 1644, 1645, and 1646. At length there were so many persons committed to prison upon suspicion of witchcraft, that the government was com- pelled to take in hand the affair. The rural magistrates before whom Hopkins and his confederates brought their victims, were obliged, willingly or unwillingly, to commit them for trial. A commission was granted to the earl of Warwick and others to hold a session of jail-delivery against them for Essex at Chelmsford. Lord Warwick was at this time the most popular nobleman in England. He was appointed by the parliament lord high admiral during the civil war. He was much courted by the independent clergy, was shrewd, penetrating and active, and exhibited
a singular mixture of pious demeanour with a vein of facetiousness and jocularity. With him was sent Dr. Calamy, the most eminent divine of the period of the Commonwealth, to see (says Baxter) that no fraud was committed, or wrong done to the parties accused. It may well be doubted, however, whether the presence of this clergyman did not operate unfavourably to the persons suspected. He preached before the judges. It may readily be believed, considering the temper of the times, that he insisted much upon the horrible nature of the sin of witchcraft, which could expect no pardon, either in the world or the world to come.
He sat on the bench with the judges, and participated in their deliberations. In the result of this inquisition sixteen persons were hanged at Yarmouth in Norfolk, fifteen at Chelmsford, and sixty at various places in the county of Suffolk. Whitlocke in his Memorials of English Affairs, under the date of 1649, speaks of many witches being apprehended about Newcastle, upon the information of a person whom he calls the Witch-finder, who, as his experi- ments were nearly the same, though he is not named, we may reasonably suppose to be Hopkins ; and in the follow- ing year about Boston in Lincolnshire. In 1652 and 1653 the same author speaks of women in Scotland, who were put to incredible torture to extort from them a confession of what their adversaries imputed to them.
The fate of Hopkins was such as might be expected in similar cases. The multitude are at first impressed with horror at the monstrous charges that are advanced. They are seized, as by contagion, with terror at the mischiefs which seem to impend over them, and from which no innocence and no precaution appear to afford them sufficient protec- tion. They hasten, as with an unanimous effort, to avenge themselves upon these malignant enemies, whom God and man alike combine to expel from society. But, after a time, they begin to reflect, and to apprehend that they have acted with too much precipitation, that they have been led on with uncertain appearances. They see one victim led to the gallows after another, without stint or limitation. They see one dying with the most solemn asseverations of innocence, and another confessing apparent- ly she knows not what, what is put into her mouth by her relentless persecutors. They see these victims old, crazy and impotent, harassed beyond endurance by the ingenious cruelties that are practised against them. They were first urged on by implacable hostility and fury, to be satisfied with nothing but blood. But humanity and remorse also have their turn. Dissatisfied with themselves, they are glad to point their resentment against another. The man that at first they hailed as a public benefactor, they presently come to regard with jealous eyes, and begin to consider as a cunning imposter, dealing in cool blood with the lives of his fellow-creatures for a paltry gain, and, still more horrible, for the lure of a perishable and short- lived fame. The multitude, we are told, after a few seasons, rose upon Hopkins and resolved to subject him to one of his own criterions. They dragged him to a pond and threw him into the water for a witch. It seems he floated on the surface, as a witch ought to do. They then pursued him with hootings and revilings, and drove him for ever into that obscurity and ignominy which he had amply merited.
Horbehutet : The Egyptian winged disk. He was a solar deity who accompanied the sun-god, Ra, on his daily journey across Egypt for the purpose of warding off evil from him. His symbol was placed over the gates and doors of temples to protect them from malign influences.
Horoscope : {See Astrology).
Horse Shoes: Horse shoes were nailed on the thresholds in the Middle Ages to keep out witches.
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Horse-Whispering : A secret method by which certain persons are able to acquire power over refractory horses. As is well known to students of gypsy lore, that interesting people appear to be in possession of some secret by which they are enabled to render vicious horses entirely tame ; and opinions are divided as to whether this secret consists in the application of a certain odour or balm to the horse's muzzle, or whispering into its ear a spell or incantation. It is said, indeed, that the gypsy horse-charmer applies aniseed to the nose of the animal. But besides being practised by gypsies, horse-iuhispering is in vogue amongst many other peoples. Camden in his Recital of Irish Superstitions says : — " It is by no means allowable to praise a horse or any other animal unless you say ' God save him.' If any mischance befalls a horse in three days after, they find out the person who commended him, that he may whisper the Lord's Prayer in his right ear." It was said by Con Sullivan, a famous Irish horse-whisperer of the eighteenth century, that it is out of the power of the professors of the art to explain the source of their influence, — the same thing being affirmed by those who practise it in South America, where a couple of men will tame half a dozen wild horses in three days. The same art is widely practised in Hungary and Bohemia, and it was from a Bohemian gypsy that a family in the county of Cork claimed to hold a secret by which the wildest or most vicious horse could be tamed. For generations this secret was regularly transmitted as a parting legacy at the time of death from the father to the eldest son.
Throughout the North of Scotland there are disseminated members of a secret society for the breaking in of refractory horses, which is believed to be called the Horseman's Society, and which purports to be able to trace its origin away back into the dark ages Those only are admitted who gain their livelihood by the care and management of horses, and the more affluent and better educated are jealously excluded. Many farmers entertain a prejudice against the "members of the society, but they are forced to admit that they are always very capable in the manage- ment of their teams, and can perform services which would otherwise require the calling in of a veterinary surgeon. They are usually skilled in the knowledge of herbs and simples, and a great deal of the marvellous is imputed to them. In fact it is stated that they hold their meetings at night and in the clear moonlight, going through various equestrian performances with horses borrowed for the occasion from their masters' stables. There is further said to be an inner circle in the society, where the black art and all the spells and charms of witchcraft are the objects of study, and the members of which can smite the horses and cattle with mysterious sickness, and even cast a glamour over human beings. Indeed a local writer goes so far as to say that the inner circle of the Horsemen employ hypnotic influence both on men and animals, as it is said certain North-American Indians, and some of the jungle tribes of Hindustan, do.
The famous Con Sullivan has already been alluded to, and his achievements were really wonderful. On one occasion his services were requisitioned by Colonel Westenra afterwards Earl of Rosmore, who possessed a racehorse called " Rainbow," of the most savage description, which would attack any jockey courageous enough to mount him by seizing him by the leg with his teeth, and dragging him from the saddle. A friend of the Colonel's told him that he knew a person who could cure Rainbow, and a wager of /i.ooo was laid on the matter. Con Sullivan, who was known throughout the countryside as " The "Whisperer " was sent for, and after being shut' up alone with the animal for a quarter of an hour, he gave the signal for the admission of those who had been waiting on the
result. When they entered, they found the horse extended on his back, playing like a kitten with Sullivan, who was quietly sitting by him ; but both horse and operator appeared exhausted, and the latter had to be revived with brandy. The . horse was perfectly tame and gentle from that day. Another savage steed named " King Pippin " took an entire night to cure, but in the morning he was seen following Sullivan like a dog, lying down at the word of command, and permitting any person to put his hand into his mouth. Shortly afterwards he won a race at the Curragh. Sullivan is described by one who knew him well as an ignorant rustic of the lower class, but there can be no question as to his extraordinary powers.
The statement of Sullivan is probably correct, that the successful whisperer is not acquainted with the secret of his own power. " The reason," says Rich, " is obvious. A force proceeding immediately from the will or the in- stinctive life would be impaired by reflection in the under- standing and broken up or at least diminished by one half. The violent trembling of the animal under this operation is like the creaking and shivering of the tables before they begin to ' tip,' and indicates a moral or nervous force acting physically, by projection perhaps from the spirit of the operator. None of these cases are, after all, more wonderful than the movement of our own limbs and bodies by mental force, for how does it move them with such ease ? And may not the same power that places its strong but invisible little fingers on every point of our muscular frames, stretch its myriad arms a little further into the sphere around us, and operate by the same laws, and with as much ease, on the stalwart frame of a horse, or even a clothes-horse ? "
House of Light : (See Babylonia.)
House of Washing : (See Babylonia.)
House of Wisdom : The tarik or " path " of the House of Wisdom was founded by Moslem mystics at Cairo in the ninth' century, and had seven initiatory degrees. The original founder appears to have been one Abdallah, a Persian, who, believing in the Gnostic doctrine of the Aeons or Sephiroths, applied the system to the successors of Mohammed, stating that Ismael was the founder of his tarik and one of his descendants as the seventh Imaum. He established an active system of propaganda and sent missionaries far and wide. He was succeeded in his office as chief of the society by his son and grandson. After the institution had been in existence for some time it was transferred to Cairo, and assemblies were held twice a week, when all the members appeared clothed in white. They were gradually advanced through the seven degrees of which the tarik consisted, and over which a Dai-al-doat or " Missionary of missionaries " presided. A later chief, Hakem-bi-emir-Illah, increased the degrees to nine, and in 1004 erected a stately home for the society, which he elaborately furnished with mathematical instruments. As the institution did not meet with the approval of the authorities, it was destroyed in n 23 by the then Grand Vizier, but meetings continued elsewhere. The officers of the society were : — Sheik, Dai-el-keber, or Deputy, Dai, or Master, Refik, or Fellow, Fedavie, or Agent, Lassik, or Aspirant, Muemini, or Believer. The teaching was to the effect that there had been seven holy Imaums, that God had sent seven Lawgivers, who had each seven helpers, who in turn had each twelve apostles. (See Assassins.)
Houses, Twelve Planetary : (See Astrology.)
Howitt, William : A well-known English writer on spiritual- ism who became interested in the movement at an early stage. Besides his numerous contributions to the Spiritual Magazine and other periodicals, he wrote a History of the Supernatural, in two volumes, and translated Ennemoser's History of Magic. He did much to separate spiritualism
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from the socialistic and humanitarian doctrines with which it was confused in America.
Howling of Dogs : The howling of dogs at night presages death to those who are ill.
Huaca : Peruvian Oracle. {See Divination.)
Hudson : Photographer. {See Spirit Photography.)
Huet, Pierre-Daniel: A celebrated bishop of Avrenches, who died in 1 72 1. One finds in his Reminiscences many inter- esting passages relating to the vampires by the Greek Archipelago. " Many strange things," he says " are told of the broucolagnes, or vampires of the Archipelago. It is said in that country that if one leads a wicked life, and dies in sin, he will appear again after death as he was wont in his lifetime, and that such a person will cause great affright among the living." Huet believed that the bodies of such people were abandoned to the power of the devil, who retained the soul within them for the vexation of mankind. Father Richard, a Jesuit, employed on a mission in these islands, provided Huet with details of many cases of vampirism. In the Island of St. Erini, the Thera of the ancients occurred one of the greatest chapters in the history of vampirism. He says that these people were tormented by vampires, that they were constantly disinterring corpses for the purpose of burning them Huet states that this evidence is worthy of credence as emanating from a witness of unimpeachable honesty, who has had ocular demonstrations of what he writes about. He further says that the inhabitants of these islands after the death of a person, cut off his feet, hands, nose, and ears, and they call this act acroteriazein. They hang all these round the elbow of the dead. It is noteworthy that the bishop appears to think that the modern Greeks may .have inherited the practice of burning bodies from their fathers in classical times, and that they imagine that unless the corpse is given to the flames, all cannot be well with the soul of the deceased.
Human Nature : Spiritualistic Journal. {See Spiritualism).
Hun-Came : {See Hell.)
Hungerford, Lord : {See England.)
Huns : The ancient historians credited the Huns with a monstrous origin. They were often called children of the devil, because it was said that they were born of a union between demons and hideous witches, the latter cast out of their own county by Philimer, king of the Goths, and his army. The old writers state that the Huns were of horrible deformity, and could not be mistaken for anything but the children of demons. Besoldus, following Servin, claims that their name of Huns comes from a Celtic or barbaric word signifying great magicians . Many stories are told of their magic prowess, and of their raising spectres to assist them in battle.
Hydromaney : Divination by water, is said by Natalis Comes to have been the invention of Nereus, and according to Delrio, a most respectable authority in these matters, it is a method of divination than which nulla fcecundior im- posturis. Iamblichus, he says, mentions one kind of hydromaney to which the Emperor Andronicus Comnenus had recourse ; not in person, for regard for his character (a character richly demanding such caution !) forbade this humiliation. This worthy applied to Sethos, a diviner, who from his youth upward had been addicted to magic, and on that account had been deprived of sight by the Emperor Manuel. The question proposed by hydromaney was, who was to be the successor of Andronicus, a doubt which grievously perplexed the superstitious tyrant, and left him in hesitation as to the fittest victim whom his suspicious vengeance might first sacrifice. The evil spirit when summoned, showed upon the water the letters S.I., and upon being asked at what time the person so designated should succeed, he replied, before the Feast of the exalta-
tion of the Cross. His prediction was verified, for, within the time named, Isaac Angelus had thrown Andronicus to be torn in pieces by the infuriated populace of Constantin- ople. It should be remembered here that the devil spells, as he repeats the Lord's Prayer, not in the natural order, but backwards. S.I., when inverted, would fairly enough represent Isaac, according to all laws of magic.
The same story is related with great spirit by Nicetas. The arts with which the tempter cheats the ear of his votary are vividly displayed, and there is one very pic- turesque touch, when the fiend is asked respecting time, which we are surprised should have escaped Delrio, who evidently borrows from this source, though he refers to Iamblichus. The annalist has already remarked that he neither knows, nor indeed wishes to know, the method of practising hydromaney, but Delrio, on the contrary, describes several kinds. In one a ring was suspended by a thread in a vessel of water, and this being shaken, a judg- ment was formed according to the strokes of the ring against the sides of the vessel. In a second, three pebbles were thrown into standing water, and observations were drawn from the circles which they formed. A third depended upon the agitations of the sea, whence the learned Jesuit deduces a custom prevalent among the Oriental Christians of annually baptizing that element ; at the same time taking especial care to show that the be- trothment of the Adriatic by the Doge of Venice has a widely different origin. A fourth divination was taken from the colour of water, and certain figures appearing in it, which Varro says afforded numerous prognostics of the event of the Mithridatic War. But this branch was of sufficient importance to deserve a separate name, and we read accordingly of divination by fountains, these being the waters most frequently consulted. Among the most celebrated fountains for this purpose were those of Palicorus in Sicily, which invariably destroyed the criminal who ventured to adjure them falsely in testimony of his inno- cence. A full account of their usage and virtue is given by Macrobius. Pausanias has described a fountain near Epidaurus, dedicated to Ino, into which on her festival, certain loaves were wont to be thrown. It was a favourable omen to the applicant if these offerings were retained ; on the other hand, most unlucky if they were washed up again. So, also, Tiberius cast golden dice into the fountain of Apomus, near Padua, where they long remained as a proof of the imperial monster's good fortune in making the highest throw. Several other instances of divining springs may be found collected by the diligence of Boissard ; and to a belief in them Delrio thinks a custom of the ancient Germans is referable, who threw their new-born children into the Rhine, with a conviction that if they were spurious they would sink, if legitimate they would swim. In a fifth method, certain mysterious words were pronounced over a cup full of water, and observations were made upon its spontaneous ebullition. In a sixth, a drop of oil was let fall on water in a glass vessel, and this furnished as it were a mirror upon which many wonderful objects became visible. This, says Delrio, is the Modus Fessanus. Clemens Alexandrinus is cited for a seventh kind, in which the women of Germany watched the sources, whirls, and courses of rivers, with a view to prophetic interpretation ; the same fact is mentioned by Vives in his Commentary upon St. Augustine. In modern Italy, continues the learned Jesuit, diviners are still to be found who write the names of any three persons suspected of theft upon a like number of little balls, which they throw into the water and some go to so profane an extent as to abuse even holy water for this most unsanctified purpose. Boissard, as cited above, has explained more fully than Delrio two of these methods of hydromaney, that by the ring suspended
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in a vessel of water, and the method by its spontaneous ebullition. A very similar account is given by Wierus.
In a fragment of Varro's book, de Cultu Deorum, the practice of hydromancy is attributed to Numa. Upon this statement St. Augustine has commented in the passage to ■which we have already referred, and he mentions that the practice of hydromancy was attributed by Varro to the Persians, and afterwards to the philosopher Pythagoras. Strabo in like manner has ascribed the practice to the Persians.
Hydromancy is, in principle, the same thing as divination by the crystal or mirror, and in ancient times a natural basin of rock kept constantly full by a running stream, was a favourite medium. The double meaning of the ■word " reflection " ought here to be considered, and how gazing down into clear water, the mind is disposed to self-retirement and to contemplation, deeply tinctured with melancholy. Rocky pools and glomy lakes figure in all stories of witchcraft — witness the Craic-pol-nain in the Highland woods of Laynchork ; the Devil's Glen in the •county of Wicklow, Ireland ; the Swedish Blokula ; the witch mountains of Italy ; and the Bibiagora, between Hungary and Poland. Similar resorts in the glens of ■Germany were marked, as Tacitus mentions, by salt springs ; for this again there was an additional good reason, which would carry us far from the present subject to explain.
It was really only another form of divination by the gloomy water pool that attracted so much public attention at that time, when Mr. Lane, in his work on Modern Egypt testified to its success as practised in Egypt and Hindostan. That gentleman having resolved to witness the performance of this species of sorcery, the magician -commenced his operations by writing forms of invocation to his familiar spirits on six slips of paper, a chafing dish •with some live charcoal in it Was then procured, and a boy summoned who had not yet reached the age of puberty. "Mr. Lane inquired who were the persons that could see in the fluid mirror, and was told that they were a boy not arrived at puberty, a virgin, a black female slave, and a ^pregnant woman. To prevent any collusion between the sorcerer and the boy, Mr. Lane sent his servant to take the first boy he met. When all was prepared, the sorcerer threw some incense and one of the strips of paper into the •chafing-dish ; he then took hold of the boy's right hand, and drew a square with some mystical marks on the palm ; in the centre of the square he poured a little ink, which formed the magic mirror, and desired the boy to look •steadily into it without raising his head. In this mirror the boy declared that he saw, successively, a man sweeping, seven men with flags, an army pitching its tents, and the various officers of state attending on the Sultan. The rest must be told by Mr. Lane himself.
" The sorcerer now addressed himself to me, and asked me if I wished the boy to see any person who was absent or dead. I named Lord Nelson, of whom the boy had evi- dently never heard, for it was with much difficulty that he pronounced the name after several trials. The magician desired the boy to say to the Sultan, ' My master salutes thee and desires thee to bring Lord Nelson ; bring him before my eyes that I may see him speedily.' The boy then said so, and almost immediately added, ' A messenger has gone and brought back a man dressed in a black (or rather, ■dark blue) suit of European clothes ; the man has lost his left arm.' He then paused for a moment or two, and looking more intently and more closely into the ink, said ' No, he has not lost his left arm, but it is placed on his breast.' This correction made his description more striking than it had been without it ; since Lord Nelson generally had his empty sleeve attached to the breast of ;his coat ; but it was the right arm that he had lost. With
out saying that I suspected the boy had made a mistake, I asked the magician whether the objects appeared in the ink as if actually before the eyes", or as if in a glass, which makes the right appear left. He answered that they appeared as in a mirror. This rendered the boy's descrip- tion faultless. Though completely puzzled, I was some- what disappointed with his performances, for they fell short of what he had accomplished in many instances in presence of certain of my friends and countrymen. On one of these occasions an Englishman present ridiculed the performance, and said that nothing would satisfy him but a correct description of the appearance of his own father, of whom he was sure no one of the company had any knowledge. The boy, accordingly, having called by name for the person alluded to, described a man in a Frank dress, with his hand placed on his head, wearing spectacles, and with one foot on the ground and the other raised behind him, as if he were stepping down from a seat. The description was exactly true in every respect ; the peculiar position of the hand was occasioned by an almost constant headache, and that of the foot or leg by a stiff knee, caused by a fall from a horse in hunting. On another occasion Shakespeare was described with the most minute exactness, both as to person and dress, and I might add several other cases in which the same magician has excited astonishment in the sober minds of several Englishmen of my acquain- tance." So far Mr. Lane, whose account may be compared with that given by Mr. Kinglake, the author of Eothen.
It may be Worth adding, that in another case of hydro- mancy known to Elihu Rich, the boy could see better without the medium than with it — though he could also see reflected images in a vessel of water. This fact may be admitted to prove that such images are reflected to the eye of the seer from his own mind and brain ; how the brain becomes thus enchanted, or the eye. disposed for vision, is another question ; certainly it is no proof that the recollected image in the mind of the inquirer is transferred to the seer, as proofs can be shown to the contrary.
Hyena : A many-coloured stone, taken from the eye of the animal so called. Put under the tongue, it enables its possessor to foretell future events. It cures the gout and quartan ague.
Hyle : The name given by the Gnostics to one of the three degrees in the progress of spirits.
Hyperesthesia : An actual or apparent exaltation of the perceptive faculties, characteristic of the hypnotic state. The smallest suggestion, whether given by word, look, gesture, or even breathing or unconscious movement, is instantly seized upon and interpreted by the entranced subject, who for this reason is often termed " sensitive." The phenomenon of hyperesthesia, observed but wrongly interpreted by the early magnetists and mesmerists, was largely responsible for the so-called clairvoyance, thought- reading, community of sensation, and other kindred phenomena. The realisation of suggestion and hyperes- thesia was the great achievement of Beitrand and Braid, which brought hypnotism into the domain of scientific fact. The significance of hyperesthesia in connection with every form of psychic phenomena can hardly be over estimated. Nor is it met with only in the trance state. It enters into the normal existence to an extent that is but imperfectly understood. Dreams, for instance, frequently reproduce impressions which have been recorded in some obscure stratum of consciousness, while much that we call intuition is made up of inferences subconsciously drawn from indica- tions too subtle to reach the normal consciousness. Hyper- esthesia has been defined above as "an actual or apparent exaltation of the perceptive faculties." The reason for this is that modern scientists declare that it is not known whether the senses are actually sharpened or not. Most
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probably the hyper (esthetic perception is merely a normal perception which by reason of the state of cerebal dissocia- tion operates in a free field. Very slight sense-impressions may be recorded in the brain during normal consciousness, but such is the inhibiting effect of the excitement occasioned by other similar impressions, that they do not reach full consciousness. Hypnosis : [See Hypnotism).
Hypnotism : A peculiar state of cerebral dissociation dis- tinguished by certain marked symptoms, the most prominent and invariable of which is a highly-increased suggestibility in the subject. The hypnotic state may be induced in a very large percentage of normal individuals, or may occur spontaneously. It is recognised as having an affinity with normal sleep, and likewise with a variety of abnormal conditions, among which may be mentioned somnambulism, ecstasy, and the trances of Hindu fakirs and savage medicine-men. In fact, in one or other of their forms, hypnosis and its kindred have been known in practically all countries and all times.
Hypnotism is no longer classed with the occult sciences. It has gained, though only within comparatively recent years, a definite scientific status, and no mean place in legitimate medicine. Nevertheless its history is inextricably interwoven with occultism, and even to-day much hypnotic phenomena is classed as " spiritualistic " ; so that the consideration of hypnotism in this place is very necessary to a proper understanding of much of the occult science of our own and former times.
The Early Magnetists. — So far back as the 16th century hypnotic phenomena were observed and studied by men of science, who attributed them to magnetism, an effluence radiating from every object in the universe, in a greater -or less degree, and through which all objects might exercise a mutual influence one on another. From this doctrine was constructed the " sympathetic " system of medicine, by means of which the magnetic effluence of the planets, of the actual magnet, or of the physician, was brought to bear upon the patient. Paracelsus is generally supposed to be the originator of the sympathetic system, as he was its most powerful exponent. Of the magnet he says : —
" The magnet has long lain before all eyes, and no one has ever thought whether it was of any further use, or whether it possessed any other property, than that of attracting iron. The sordid doctors throw it in my face that I will not follow the ancients ; but in what should I follow them ? All that they have said of the magnet amounts to nothing. Lay that which I have said of it in the balance, and judge. Had I blindly followed others, and had I not myself made experiments, I should in like manner know nothing more than what every peasant sees — that it attracts iron. But a wise man must enquire for himself, and it is thus that I have discovered that the magnet, besides this obvious and to every man visible power, that of attracting iron, possesses another and concealed power." — That of healing the sick.
And there is no doubt that cures were actually effected by Paracelsus with the aid of the magnet, especially in cases of epilepsy and- nervous affections. Yet the word "magnet" is most frequently used by Paracelsus and his followers in a figurative sense, to denote the magnes microcosmi, man himself, who was supposed to be a repro- duction in miniature of the earth, having, like it, his poles and magnetic properties From the stars and planets, he taught, came a very subtle effluence which affected man's mind or intellect, while earthly substances radiated a grosser emanation which affected his body. The human mummy especially was a " magnet " well suited for remedial purposes, since it draws to itself the diseases and poisonous properties of other substances. . The most
effective mummy was that of a criminal who had been hanged, and it was applied in the following manner. " If a person suffer from disease, " says Paracelsus, " either local or general, experiment with the following remedy. Take a magnet impregnated with mummy, and combined with rich earth. In this earth sow some seeds that have a likeness to, or homogeneity with, the disease ; then let this- earth, well sifted and mixed with mummy, be laid in an earthen vessel, and let the seeds committed to it be watered daily with a lotion in which the diseased limb or body has- been washed. Thus will the disease be transplanted from the human body to the seeds which are in the earth. Having done this, transplant the seeds from the earthen vessel to the ground, and wait till they begin to flourish into herbs. As they increase, the disease will diminish, and when they have reached their mature growth, will altogether disappear." The quaint but not altogether illogical idea of " weapon-salve " — anointing the weapon instead of the wound — was also used by Paracelsus, his theory being that part of the vital spirits clung to the weapon and exercised an ill effect on the vital spirits in the wound, which would not heal until the ointment had first been applied to the weapon ; this also was an outcome of the magnetic theory. s . ' i
Towards the end of the 16th century Paracelsus was- worthily succeeded by J. B. van Helmont, a scientist of distinction and an energetic protagonist of magnetism. " Material nature," he writes, " draws her forms through constant magnetism from above, and implores for them, the favour of heaven ; and as heaven, in like manner, draws something invisible from below, there is established a free and mutual intercourse, and the whole is contained in an individual." Van Helmont believed also in the power of the will to direct the subtle fluid. There was, he held, in all created things, a magic or celestial power through which they were allied to heaven. This power or strength is greatest in the soul of man, resides in a less degree in his body, ancpto some extent is present in the lower animals, plants, and inorganic matter. It is by reason of his superior endowment in this respect that man is enabled to rule the other creatures, and to make use of inanimate objects for his own purposes. The power is strongest when one is asleep, for then the body is quiescent, and the soul most active and dominant ; and for this- reason dreams and prophetic visions are more common in sleep. " The spirit," he says, " is everywhere diffused, and the spirit is the medium of magnetism ; not the spirits of heaven and of hell, but the spirit of man, which is con- cealed in him as the fire is concealed in the flint. The human will makes itself master of a portion of its spirit of life, which becomes a connecting property between the- corporeal and the incorporeal, and diffuses itself like the light." To this ethereal spirit he ascribes the visions seen by " the inner man " in ecstasy, and also those of the " outer man " and the lower animals. In proof of the mutual influence of living creatures he asserts that men may Mil animals merely by staring hard at them for a. quarter of an hour. That Van Helmont was not ignorant of the power of imagination is evident from many of bis writings. A common needle, he declares, may by means of certain manipulations, and the will-power and imagina- tions of the operator, be made to possess magnetic proper- ties. Herbs may become very powerful through the imagination of him who gathers them. And again : — " I have hitherto avoided revealing the great secret, that the strength lies concealed in man, merely through the sug- gestion and power of the imagination to work outwardly, and to impress this strength on others, which then continues of itself, and operates on the remotest objects. Through, this secret alone will all receive its true illumination —
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all that has hitherto been brought together labor- iously of the ideal being out of the spirit — all that has been said of the magnetism of all things — of the strength of the human soul — of the magic of man, and of his dominion over the physical world." Van Helmont also gave special importance to the stomach as the chief seat of the soul, and recounts an experience of his own in which, on touching some aconite with his tongue, he finds all his senses trans- ferred to his stomach. In after years this was to be a favourite accomplishment of somnambules and cataleptic subjects. (See Stomach, Seeing with.)
A distinguished English magnetist was Robert Fludd, who wrote in the first part of the 17th century. Fludd was an exponent of the microcosmic theory, and a believer in the magnetic effluence from man. Not only were these emanations able to cure bodily diseases, but they also affected the moral sentiments ; for if radiations from two individuals were, on meeting, flung back or distorted, negative magnetism, or antipathy resulted, whereas if the radiations from each person passed freely into those from the other, the result was positive magnetism, or sympathy. Examples of positive and negative magnetism were also to be found among the lower animals and among plants. Another magnetist of distinction was the Scottish physician. Maxwell, who is said to have anticipated much of Mesmer's doctrine. He declares that those who are familiar with the operation of the universal spirit can, through its agency cure all diseases, at no matter what distance. He also suggests that the practice of magnetism, though very valuable in the hand of a well-disposed physician, is not without its dangers, and is liable to many abuses.
While the theoretical branch of magnetism was thus receiving attention at the hands of the alchemical philoso- phers, the practical side was by no means neglected. There were in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries a number of " divine healers," whose magic cures were without doubt the result of hypnotic suggestion. Of these perhaps the best known and most successful were Valentine Greatrakes, an Irishman, and a Swabian priest named Gassner. Great- rakes was born in 1628, and on reaching manhood served for some time in the Irish army, thereafter settling down on his estate in Waterford. In 1662 he had a dream in which it was revealed to him that he possessed the gift of curing king's evil. The dream was repeated several times ere he paid heed to it, but at length he made the experiment, his own wife being the first to be healed by him. Many who came to him from the surrounding country were cured when he laid his hands upon them. Later the impression came upon him strongly that he could cure other diseases besides king's evil. News of his wonderful powers spread far and wide, and patients came in hundreds to seek his aid. Despite the fact that the Bishop of the Diocese forbade the exercise of these apparently magical powers, Greatrakes continued to heal the afflicted people who sought him. In 1666 he proceeded to London, and though not invariably successful, he seems to have per- formed there a surprising number of cures, which were testified to by Robert Boyle, Sir William Smith, Andrew Marvell, and many other eminent people. He himself describes them in a work entitled " Val. Greatrakes, Esq., of Waterford, in the kingdom of Ireland, famous for curing several diseases and distempers by the stroak of his hand only : London, 1660." His method of healing was to stroke the affected part with his hand, thus driving the disease into the limbs and so finally out of the body. Sometimes the treatment acted as though by magic, but if immediate relief was not obtained the rubbing was continued, and but few cases were dismissed as incurable. Even epidemic diseases he healed by a touch. It is said that during the treatment the patient's fingers and toes
remained insensible to external stimuli, and frequently he- himself showed every symptom of such a magnetic crisis as was afterwards to become a special feature of mesmeric treatment. Personally Greatrakes was a simple and pious gentleman, persuaded that his marvellous powers were a divinely-bestowed gift, and most anxious to make the best use of them. The other healer mentioned, Gassner, belongs to a somewhat later period — about the middle of the eighteenth century. Gassner was a priest of Bludenz in Vorarlberg, where his many cures gained for him a wide celebrity. All diseases, according to him, were caused by evil spirits possessing the patient, and his mode of healing thus consisted of exorcising the demons. He too was a man of kindly disposition and piety, and made a large use of the Scriptures in his healing operations. The ceremony of exorcism was a rather impressive one. Herr Gassner sat at a table, the patient and spectators in front of him, A blue red-flowered cloak hung from his shoulders ; the rest of his clothing, we are told, was " clean, simple, and modest." On his left was a window, on his right, the crucifix. His fine personality, deep- learning, and noble character inspired the faith of the patient and his friends and doubtless played no small part in his curative feats. Sometimes he made use of magnetic manipulations, stroking or rubbing the affected part, and driving the disease, after the manner of Greatrakes, into the limbs of the patient. The formula of exorcism he generally pronounced in Latin, with which language the demons showed a perfect familiar- ity. Not only could he control sickness by these means, but the passions also were amenable to his treatment. " Now anger is apparent, now patience, now joy, now sorrow, now hate, now love, now confusion, now reason, — each carried to the highest pitch. Now this one is blind, now he sees, and again is deprived of sight, etc." These curious results suggest the phreno-magnetism of later years, where equally sudden changes of mood were produced by touching with the finger-tips those parts of the subject's head which phrenology associated with the various emotions to be called forth.
Hitherto it will be seen that the rational and supernatural explanations of magnetism had run parallel with one another, the former most in favour with the philosophers, the latter with the populace. It was reserved for Emanuel Swedenborg (q.v.) (1688-1772), the Swedish philosopher and spiritualist, to unite the doctrine of magnetism with that of spiritualism — i.e., the belief in the action in the external world of the discarnate spirits of deceased human beings. That Swedenborg accepted some of the theories of the older magnetists is evident from his mystical writings, from which the following passage has been extracted.
" In order to comprehend the origin and progress of this influence (i.e., God's influence over man), we must first know that that which proceeds from the Lord is the divine sphere which surrounds us, and fills the spiritual and natural world. All that proceeds from an object, and surrounds and clothes it, is called its sphere.
" As all that is spiritual knows neither time nor space, it therefore follows that the general sphere or the divine one has extended itself from the first moment of creation to the- last. This divine emanation, which passed over from the spiritual to the natural, penetrates actively and rapidly through the whole created world, to the last grade of it, where it is yet to be found, and produces and maintains all that is animal, vegetable, and mineral. Man is continually surrounded by a sphere of his favourite propensities ; these unite themselves to the natural sphere of his body, so that together they form one. The natural sphere surrounds every body of nature, and all the objects of the three kingdoms. Thus it allies itself to the spiritual world. This is the foundation of sympathy and antipathy, of union and
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separation, according to which there are amongst spirits presence and absence.
" The angel said to me that the sphere surrounded man more lightly on the back than on the breast, where it was thicker and stronger. This sphere of influence peculiar to man operates also in general and in particular around him by means of the will, the understanding, and the prac- tice.
" The sphere proceeding from God, which surrounds man -and constitutes his strength, while it thereby operates on his neighbour and on the Whole creation, is a sphere of peace, and innocence ; for the Lord is peace and innocence. Then only is man consequently able to make his influence ■effectual on his fellow man, when peace and innocence rule in his heart, and he himself is in union with heaven. This spiritual union is connected with the natural by a benevo- lent man through the touch and the laying on of hands, by which the influence of the inner man is quickened, prepared, and imparted. The body communicates with others which are about it through the body, and the spiritual influence diffuses itself chiefly through the hands, because these are the most outward or ultimum of man ; and through him, as in the whole of nature, the first is con- tained in the last, as the cause in the effect. The whole ■soul and the whole body are contained in the hands as a medium of influence."
Mesmerism or Animal Magnetism. — In the latter half ■of the eighteenth century a new era was inaugurated in •connection with the doctrine of a magnetic fluid. The fresh impetus which the science of magnetism received at that period was due in a very large measure to the works of Franz Antoine Mesmer (q.v.), a physician from whose name the word " mesmerism " was taken. He was born at Wiel, near Lake Constance, in 1733, and studied medicine at the University of Vienna, taking his doctor's degree in 1766. In the same year he published his first work, De Planetarum Influxu (" De l'influence des Pianettes sur le •corps humain "). Though he claimed to have thereby •discovered the existence of a universal fluid, to which he gave the name of magnetisme animal, there is no doubt that his doctrine was in many respects identical with that of the -older magnetists mentioned above. The idea of the univer- sal fluid was suggested to him in the first place by his observation of the stars, which led him to believe the celestial bodies exercised a mutual influence on each other and on the earth. This he identified with magnetism, and it was but a step — and a step which had already been taken by the early magnetists — to extend this influence to the human body and all other objects, and to apply it to the •science of medicine. In 1776 Mesmer met with Gassner, the Swabian priest whose miraculous cures have already been considered ; and, setting aside the supernatural explanation offered by the healer himself, Mesmer declared that the cures and severe crises which followed on his manipulations were attributable to nothing but magnetism. Nevertheless this encounter gave a new trend to his ideas. Hitherto he himself had employed the magnet in order to cure the sick, but seeing that Gassner dispensed with that aid, he was led to consider whether the power might not reside in a still greater degree in the human body. Mesmer's first cure was performed on an epileptic patient, by means of magnets, but the honour of it was disputed by a Jesuit named Hell, who had supplied the magnetic plates, and who claimed to have discovered the principles on which the physician worked. Thereafter for a few years Mesmer practised in various European cities, and strove to obtain recognition for his theories, but without success. In 1778 however, he went to Paris, and there attained an immediate and triumphant success in the fashionable world, though the learned bodies still refused to have angthing to say to
him. Aristocratic patients flocked in hundreds to Mes- mer's consulting-rooms, which were hung with mirrors, it being one of the physicians' theories that mirrors augmented the magnetic fluid. He himself wore, it is said, a shirt of leather, lined with silk, to prevent the escape of the fluid, while magnets were hung about his person to increase his natural supply of magnetism. The patients were seated round a baguel or magnetic tub, of which the following description is given by Seifert, one of Mesmer's biographers.
" This receptacle was a large pan, tub, or pool of water, filled with various magnetic substances, such as water, sand, stone, glass bottles (filled with magnetic water), etc. It was a focus within which the magnetism was con- centrated, and out of which proceeded a number of con- ductors. These being bent pointed iron wands, one end was retained in the baguet, whilst the other was connected with the patient and applied to the seat of the disease. This arrangement might be made use of by any number of persons seated round the baguet, and thus a fountain, or any receptacle in a garden, as in a room, would answer for the purpose desired." For the establishment of a school of Animal Magnetism Mesmer was offered 20,000 livres by the French government, with an annual sum of 10.000 livres for its upkeep ; but this he refused. Later, however, the sum of 340,000 livres was subscribed^ by prospective pupils, and handed over to him. One of Mesmer's earliest and most distiguished disciples was