M. de Velles, Master Robert de May, canon of the Church

Notre-Dame of Laon, and others."
The same author gives an account of the contortions of the demoniac of Laon : he says : — " As often as the reverend father swung the sacred host before her eyes, saying, ' Begone, enemy of God,' so did she toss from side to side, twisting her face towards her feet, and making horrible noises. Her feet were reversed, with the toes in the position of the heel, and despite the restraining power of eight or the men, she stiffened herself and threw herself into the air a height of six feet, the stature of a man, so that the attendants, sometimes even carried with her into the air, perspired at their work. And although they bore down with all their might, still could they not restrain her, and torn away from the restraining hands, she freed herself without any appearance of being at all ruffled.
" The people, seeing and hearing such a horrible sight, one so monstrous, hideous and terrifying cried out, ' Jesus, have mercy. on us ! ' Some hid themselves, not daring to look ; others, recognising the wild cruelty of such excessive and incredible torment, wept bitterly, reiterating piteously, ' Jesus, have mercy on us ! ' The reverend father then gave permission to those who wished to touch and handle the patient, disfigured, bent, and deformed, and with the rigidity of death. Chief among these were the would-be reformers, such men as Francois Santerre, Christofle, Pasquot, Gratian de la Roche, Masquette, Jean du Glas, and others well-known for their tendencies towards reform, all vigorous men. They all endeavoured, but in vain, to straighten her limbs, and bring them to a normal position, and to open her eyes and mouth — it was futile. Further, so stiff and rigid was she, that the limbs would have broken rather than give, as also the nose and ears. And then, as she said afterwards, she was possessed, declaring that she
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was enduring incredible pain. That is, by the soul tor- ment, the devil makes the body become stone or marble."
Jean Le Breton gives the following concerning those possessed in Louviers : —
•' The fourth fact is that many times a day they show transports of rage and fury, during whch they call them- selves demons, without, however, offending anyone or even hurting the fingers of the priests, which were put into their mouths at the height of their fury.
" The fifth is that during these furies they show strange convulsions and contortions, bending themselves back, among other things, in the form "of a circle, without the use of the hands, and in such a way that their bodies are supported as much on the forehead as on the feet. The rest of the body is unsupported and remains so for a long time — the position being repeated seven or eight times. After such feats as this and many others, kept up some- times for four hours, chiefly during the exorcism and during the warmest parts of the dog days, they are found on coming to, to be as normal, as fresh and with a pulse as even as if nothing had happened to them.
" The sixth is that some of them faint away at will during the exorcism and this condition occurs at a time when the face is the most suffused with blood and the pulse is the strongest. They come to of themselves and the recovery is more remarkable than the swooning — it begins as a move- ment of the toe, then of the foot and in their order, of the leg, thigh, abdomen, chest and throat, the movement of the, last three being one of wide dilation. The face, meanwhile is apparently devoid of expression, which finally returns with grimaces and shoutiugs, the spiritual element returning at the same time with its former disturbing contortions."
Doctor Ese gives- the following as the case of Sister Mary, of the Convent at Louviers : —
" The last was Sister Mary of St. Esprit, supposedly possessed by Dagon, a large woman, slender-waisted, and of good complexion, with no evidence of illness. She came into the refectory. . . . head erect and eyes wandering from, side to side, singing, dancing and skipping. Still moving about and touching lightly those around her, she spoke with an elegance of language expressive of the good feeling and good nature which were his (using the person of the devil.) All this was done with movements and carriage alike haughty, following it up with a violence of blasphemy, then a reference to his dear little friend Magdalen, his darling and his favourite mistress. And then, without springing or using effort of any kind, she projected herself into a pane of glass and hanging on to a central bar of iron passed bodily through it, but on making an exit from the other side the command was given in Latin, ' est in nomine Jesu rediret non per aliam sed per eadem viam.' After some discussion and a definite refusal to return she, how- ever, returned by the same route, whereupon the doctors examined her pulse and tongue, all of which she endured while laughing and discussing other things. They found no disturbance such as they had expected, nor any sign of the violence of her actions and words, her coming to being accompanied with some trivial remarks. The company then retired."
Another writer on those possessed in Louviers gives the following astonishing fact : —
" Placed in the middle of the nave of this chapel was a vase of some kind of marble, some two feet in diameter and a little under a foot deep, with sides about three fingers' breadth in thickness. So heavy was it that three of the most robust persons would have had difficulty in raising it while on the ground, yet this girl, to all appearances of very low vitality, came into the chapel and grasping the vase merely by the ends of her fingers, raised it from the pedestal on which it was placed, turned it upside down and threw
it on to the ground with as much ease as if it had been a piece of cardboard or paper. Such great strength in one so weak astonished all those present. Moreover, the girl, appearing wild and possessed, ran hither and thither with movements so abrupt and violent that it was difficult to- stop her. One of the clerics present, having caught her by the arm, was surprised to find that it did not prevent the rest of her body from turning over and over as if the arm were fixed to the shoulder merely by a spring. This wholly unnatural performance was carried out some seven or eight times and that with an ease and speed difficult to imagine."
The Relation des Ursulives possedees d'Auxonne contains the following : —
" M. de Chalons was no sooner at the altar (at midnight) than from the garden of the monastery and around the house was heard a confused noise, accompanied by un- known voices and some whistling ; at times loud cries with strange and indistinct sounds as from a crowd, all of which was rather terrifying among the shadows of the night. At the same time stones were thrown from different places against the windows of the choir where they were celebrating holy mass and this despite the fact that these windows were a good distance from the walls which enclosed the monastery which made it improbable that they came from without. The glass was broken in one place but the stone did not fall into the choir. This noise was heard by several persons, inside and out. The sentinel in the citadel on that side of the town took alarm at it as he said the next day, and at the altar the bishop of Chalons could not but feel a suspicion that something extraordinary was going on in the house and that demons or sorcerers were making some attempts at that moment which he repelled from where he was by secret imprecations and inward exorcisms."
" The Franciscan nuns of the same town heard the noise and were terrified by it. They thought that the monastery shook beneath them and in this confusion and fear they were compelled to have recourse to prayer."
" At the same time voices were heard in the garden, weak and moaning and as if asking for help. It was nearly an hour after midnight and very dark and stormy. Two clerics were sent out to see what was the matter and found Marguerite Constance and Denise Lamy in the monastery garden, the former up a tree and the latter seated at the foot of the stairway into the choir. They were at liberty and in the full possession of their senses, yet appeared dis- tracted, especially the latter, and very weak and pale, though with blood on her face ; she was terrified and had difficulty in composing herself. The other had blood on her face also though she was not wounded. The doors of the house were tightly closed and the walls of the garden were some ten or twelve feet high."
" In the afternoon of the same day the bishop of Chalons, with the intention of exorcising Denise Lamy, sent for her and when she was not found, he inwardly commanded her to come to him in the chapel of St. Anne where he was. It was striking to see the prompt obedience of the demon to this command, formulated merely in the mind, for in about a quarter of an hour a violent knocking was heard at the door of the chapel, as if by one hard pressed. On opening the door this girl entered the chapel abruptly, leaping and bounding, her face changed greatly and with high colour and sparkling eyes. So bold and violent was she that it was difficult to restrain her, nor would she allow the putting on of the stole which she seized and threw violently into the air despite the efforts of four or five clerics who did their best to stop her, so that finally it was proposed to bind, her, but this was deemed too difficult in the condition in which she was."
" On another occasion, at the height of her frenzy
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the demon was ordered to stop the pulse in one of her arms, and it was immediately done, with less resistance and pain than before. Immediate response was also made to the further order to make it return. The command being given to make the girl insensible to pain, she avowed that she was so, boldly offering her arm to be pierced and burnt as wished. The exorcist, fortified by his earlier experience, took a sufficiently long needle and drove it, full length, into the nail and flesh, at which she laughed aloud, saying that she felt nothing at all. Accordingly as he was ordered, blood was allowed to flow or not, and she herself took the needle and stuck it into different parts of her arm and hand. Further, one of the company took a pin and, having drawn out the skin a little above the wrist, passed it through and through so that the two ends were only visible, the rest of the pin being buried in the arm. Unless the order was given for some no blood issued, nor was there the least sign of feeling or pain."
The same account gives, as proofs of the possession of the Auxonne nuns, the following : —
" Violent agitation of the body only conceivable to those who have seen it. Beating of the head with all their might against the pavement or walls, done so often and so hard that it causes one to shudder on seeing it and yet they show no sign of pain, nor is there any blood, wound or contusion.
" The condition of the body in a position of extreme violence, where they support themselves on their knees with the head turned round an inclined towards the ground for a foot or so, which makes it appear as if broken. Their power of bearing, for hours together without moving, the head being lowered behind below the level of the waist ; their power of breathing in this condition ; the unruffled expression of the face which never alters during these disturbances ; the evenness of the pulse ; their coolness during these movements ; the tranquil state they are in when they suddenly return and the lack of any quickening in the respirations ; the turning back of the head, even to the ground, with marvellous rapidity. Sometimes the movement to and fro is done thirty or forty times running, the girl on her knees and with her arms crossed in front ; at other times, in the same position with the head turned about, the body is wound around into a sort of semicircle, with results apparently incompatible with nature."
" Fearful convulsions, affecting all the limbs and accom- panied with shouts and cries. Sometimes fear at the sight of certain phantoms and spectres by which they say they are menaced, causes such a change in their facial expression that those present are terrified ; at other times there is a flood of tears beyond control and accompanied by groans and piercing cries. Again, the widely-opened mouth, eyes wild and showing nothing but the white, the pupil being turned up under cover of the lids — the whole returning to the normal at the mere command of the exorcist in conjunction with the sign of the cross.
" They have often been seen creeping and crawling on the ground without any help from the hands or feet ; the back of the head or the forehead may be touching the soles of the feet. Some lie on the ground, touching it with the pit of the stomach only, the rest of the body, head, feet and arms, being in the air for some length of time. Sometimes, bent back so that the top of the head and the soles of the feet touch the ground, the rest of the body being supported in the air like a table, they walk in this position without help from the hands. It is quite common for them, while on their knees to kiss the ground, with the face twisted to the back so that the top of the head touches the soles of the feet. In this position and with the arms crossed on the chest they make the sign of the cross on the pavement with their tongues.
" A marked difference is to be noticed between their condition when free and uncontrolled and that which they- show when controlled and in the heat of their frenzy. By reason of their sex and delicate constitutions as much as- from illness they may be weak, but when the demon enters them and the authority of the church compels them to appear they may become at times so violent that all the power of four or five men may be unable to stop them. Even their faces become so distorted and changed that they are no longer recognisable. What is more astonishing is that after these violent transports, lasting sometimes three or four hours ; after efforts which would make the strongest feel like resting for several days ; after continuous shrieking and heart-breaking cries ; when they become normal again — a momentary proceeding — they are un- wearied and quiet, and the mind is as tranquil, the face as composed, the breathing as easy and the pulse as little changed as if they had not stirred out of a chair.
" It may be said, however, that among all the signs of possession which these girls have shown, one oi the most surprising, and at the same time the most common, is the understanding of the thought and inward commands which are used every day by exorcists and priests, without there being any outward manifestation either by word or other sign. To be appreciated by them it is merely necess- ary to address them inwardly or mentally, a fact which has been verified by so many of the experiences during the stay of the bishop of Chalons and by any of the clergy, who wished to investigate, that one cannot reasonably doubt such particulars and many others, the details of which cannot be given here. "
A number of archbishops or bishops and doctors in Sorbonne made the following notification with regard to the condition at Auxonne.
" That among these differently-placed girls there are seculars, novices, postulants and professed nuns ; some are young, others old ; some from the town, others not ; some of high estate, others of lesser parentage ; some rich, others poor and of low degree. That it is ten years or more since the trouble began in this monastery ; that it is remarkable that a reign of deceit was able for so long to preserve the secret among girls in such numbers and of conditions and interests so varied. That after research and a stricter enquiry, the said Bishop of Chalons has found nobody, either in the monastery or in the town, who could speak other than well of the innocence and integrity, alike of the girls and of the clergy who worked with him in the exorcisms, and, for himself, he finds them with the bearing of persons of uprightness and worth — evidence which he gives in the interest of truth and justice."
" Added to the above is the certificate of Morel, doctor and present at everything, who asserts that all these things exceed the bounds of nature and can only occur as the work of a demon ; in short, we consider that all the extra- ordinary findings with these girls are beyond the jpowers of human nature and can only be instigated by a demon possessing and controlling their bodies."
Goulart culls from Wier many stones of demoniacs.
" Antoine Benivenius in the eighth chapter of the Livre des causes cachees des maladies tells of having seen a girl of sixteen years whose hands contracted curiously whenever she was taken with a pain in the abdomen. With a cry of terror her abdomen would swell up so much that she had the appearance of being eight months pregnant — later the swelling went down and, not being able to lie still, she tossed about all over the bed, sometimes putting her feet above her head as if trying a somersault. This she kept up throughout the throes of her illness and until it had gone down by degrees. When asked what had happened to her, she denied any remembrance of it. But on seeking
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the causes of this affection we were of opinion that it arose from a choking of the womb and from the rising of malig- nant vapours affecting adversely the heart and brain. We were at length forced to relieve her with drugs but these were of no avail and becoming more violent and congested she at last began to throw up long iron nails all bent, brass needles stuck into wax, and bound up with hair and a part •of her breakfast — a mass so large that a man would have had difficulty in swallowing it all. I was afraid, after seeing several of these vomitings, that she was possessed by an evil spirit, who deluded those present while he removed these things and afterwards we heard predictions and other things given which were entirely beyond human comprehension."
" Meiner Clath, a nobleman living in the castle of Bouten- brouch in the duchy of Juliers, had a valet named William who for fourteen years had had the torments of a pos- session by the devil, and when, at the instigation of the devil, he began to get ill, he asked for the cure of St. Gerard
as confessor who came to carry out his little part. . . .
but failed entirely. Seeing him with a swollen throat and discoloured face and with the fear of his suffocating, Judith, wife of Clath and an upright woman, with all in the house, began to pray to God. Immediately there issued from William's mouth, among other odds and ends, the whole of the front part of the trousers of a shepherd, stones, some whole and other broken, small bundles of thread, a peruke such as women are accustomed to use, needles, a piece of the serge jacket of a little boy, and a peacock's feather which William had pulled from the bird's tail eight days before he became ill. Being asked the cause of his trouble he said that he had met a woman near Camphuse who had blown in his face and that his illness was the result of that and nothing else. Some time after he had recovered he contradicted what he had said and confessed that he had been instructed by the devil to say what he had. He added -that all those curious things had not been in his stomach but had been put into his throat by the devil despite the fact that he was seen to vomit them. Satan deceives by illusions. The thought comes at times to kill oneself or to run away. One day, having got into a hog-shed and protected more carefully than usual he remained with his «yes so firmly closed that it was impossible to open them. At last Gertrude, the eldest daughter of Clath, eleven years old, came along and advised him to pray to God for the return of his sight, but he asked her to pray and the fact •of her praying, to the great surprise of both, opened his «yes. The devil exhorted him often not to listen to his mistress or anyone else who bowed the head at the name of God, who could not help him as he had died once, a fact which was openly preached.'-'
" He had once attempted rudely to touch a kitchen- maid and she had reproved him by name, when he answered in a voice of rage that his name was not William but Beel- zebub, at which the mistress asked — ' Do you think we fear you ? He Whom we serve is infinitely more powerful than you are.' Clath then read the eleventh chapter of St. Luke where mention is made of the casting out of the •dumb devil by the power of the Saviour and also of Beel- zebub, prince of devils. Finally William began to rest and slept till morning like a man in a swoon, then taking some broth and feeling much relieved he was sent home to his parents, after having thanked his master and mistress and asked God to reward them for the trouble they had been caused by his affliction. He married afterwards and had children, but was never again tormented by the devil."
On the 1 8th March, 1566, there occurred a memorable case in Amsterdam, Holland, on which the Chancellor of Gueldres, M. Adrian Nicolas, made a public speech, from which is the following : — " Two months or so ago thirty
children of this town began to be strangely disturbed, as if frenzied or mad. At intervals they threw themselves on the ground and for half an hour or an hour at the most this torment lasted. Recovering, they remembered noth- ing, but thought they had had a sleep and the doctors, sorcerers, and exorcists were all equally unable to do any good. During the exorcism the children vomited a number of pins and needles, finger-stalls for sewing, bits of cloth, and of broken jugs and glass, hair and other things. The children didn't always recover from this but had recurrent attacks of it — the unusualness of such a condition causing great astonishment."
Jean Languis, a learned doctor, gives the following, in the first book of his Epitres,as having happened in 1539 in Fugenstall, a village in the bishopric of Eysteten and sworn to by a large number of witnesses : — .
" Ulric Neusesser, a ploughman in this village, was greatly troubled by a pain in the side. On an incision being made into the skin by a surgeon an iron nail was removed, but this did not relieve the pain, rather did it increase so that, becoming desperate, the poor man finally committed suicide. Before burying him two surgeons opened his stomach, in front of a number of persons, and in it found some long round pieces of wood, four steel knives, some sharp and pointed, others notched like a saw, two iron rods each nine inches long and a large tuft of hair. One wondered how and by what means this mass of old iron could be collected together into the space of his stomach. There is no doubt that it was the work of the devil who is capable of anything which will maintain a dread of him."
" Antoine Lucquet, knight of the order of the Fleece, of high repute throughout Flanders, and privy counsellor of Brabant, had married in Bruges, and his wife, soon after the nuptials, began to show the torments of an evil spirit, so much so that at times, even in company, she was suddenly taken up and dragged through rooms and thrown from one corner to another, despite the efforts of those around to restrain and hold her. She was little conscious of her bodily welfare while in this frenzy and it was the general opinion that her condition had been induced by a former lover of her young and light-hearted husband. Meanwhile she became pregnant without a cessation in the evil torment and the time of her delivery being at hand the only woman present was sent for the midwife but instead, - she came in and herself acted as midwife which disturbed the invalid so much that she fainted. She found, on recovering, that she had been delivered, yet to the aston- ishment of both there was no sign of a child. The next day on wakening up she found a child in swaddling clothes in the .bed and she nursed it a couple of times. Falling asleep shortly afterwards the child was taken from her side and was never seen again. It was reported that notes with the hall-mark of magic had been found inside the door."
Goulart gives an account from Wier, of the multitude of terrible convulsions suffered by the nuns of the convent of Kentorp near Hammone, " Just before and during the attack their breath was foetid and sometimes continued so for hours. While affected they did not lose their power of sound judgment nor of hearing and recognising those around them, despite the fact that owing to the spasm of the tongue and respiratory organs they could not speak during the attack. All were not equally affected but as soon as one was affected the others, though in different rooms, were immediately affected also. A soothsayer, who was sent for, said they had been poisoned by the cook. Else Kamense, and the devil taking advantage of the occasion increased their torment, making them bite and strike each other and throw each other down. After Else and her mother had been burnt some of the inhabitants
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of Haramone began to be tormented by an evil spirit. The minister of trie Church took five of them home to warn them and strengthen them against the machinations of the enemy. They laughed at him and mentioned certain women of the place whom they would like to visit on their goats, which were to carry them there. Immediately one straddled a stool calling out that he was off, while another, squatting down, doubled himself up and rolled towards the door of the room which opened suddenly and through which he went falling to the bottom of the steps without hurting himself."
" The nuns of the Convent of Nazareth at Cologne (according to the same writer) were affected much the same as those of Kentorp. After being troubled for along time and in various ways by the devil they were more terribly affected in 1564 when they would lie out on the ground, with clothing disordered, as if for the companion- ship of man. During this their eyes would be closed and they would open them later with shame and feeling that they had endured some deep injury. A young girl of fourteen named Gertrude who had been shut up in this convent was subject to this misfortune. She had often been troubled by wild apparitions in bed as witness her mocking laughter, although she tried in vain to overcome it. A companion slept near her specially to protect her from the apparition but the poor girl was terrified at the noise from Gertrude's bed, the devil finally controlling the latter and putting her through a variety of contortions. . . . The beginning of all this trouble was in the acquaintance picked up with one or two of the nuns on a neighbouring tennis court by some dissolute young man who kept up their amours over the walls."
"The torments suffered by the nuns in Wertet in the county of Home are also wonderful. The beginning is traced to a poor woman who borrowed from the nuns during Lent some three pounds of salt and returned double the amount before Easter. From that they began to find in their dormitory small white balls like sugar-plums, and salt to the taste, which they did not eat, nor did they know - whence they came. Shortly after they heard a moaning as of a sick man, then warnings to rise and go to the help of a sick sister, which they would do but would find nothing. Sometimes in endeavouring to use a chamber it would be pulled away suddenly with a consequent soiling of the bed. At times they were pulled out by the feet, dragged some length, and tickled so much on the soles of the feet that they nearly died with laughter. Pieces of flesh were pulled out of some, while others had their legs, arms and heads twisted about. Thus tormented some would throw up a large quantity of black fluid, although for six weeks previously they had taken nothing but the juice of horse- radish without bread. This fluid was so bitter and so sharp that it blistered their mouths and one could evolve nothing which would give them an appetite for anything else. Some were raised into the air to the height of a man and as suddenty thrown to the ground again. When some thirty of their females visited this convent to congratulate those who seemed relieved and practically cured, some of them immediately fell backwards from the table they were at, losing the power of speech and of recognising anyone, while others were stretched out as if dead with arms and legs turned around. One of them was raised into the air against the restraining efforts of those present and then brought again to the ground so forcibly that she seemed dead. She rose, however, as if from a deep sleep and left the convent uninjured. Some moved about on the fronts of their legs as if lacking feet and as if dragged in a loose sack from behind. Others even climbed trees like cats and came down as easily. The Abbess told Margaret, Countess of Bure, that she cried aloud when pinched in the
leg ; it Was as severe as if a piece had been pulled out, and that she was carried to bed at once and the place became black and blue, but she finally recovered. This derange- ment of the nuns was an open secret for three years but has been kept dark since."
" What we have just said applies equally to the early case of the Biidget nuns in their convent near Xanthus. Now, they gambol or bleat like sheep or make horrible noises. Sometimes they were pushed from their seats in church where their veils would be fastened above their heads. At other times their throats would be so stopped up that they could swallow no food, and this affliction lasted for ten years in some of them. It was said that the cause of all this was a young nun whose parents had refused to allow her to marry the young man she loved Further that the devil in the form of this young man had come to her at the height of her passion and had advised her to return to the convent which she did at once and when there she became frenzied and her actions were strange and terrible. The trouble spread like the plague through the other nuns, and the first one abandoned herself to her warder and had two children. Thus does Satan both within and without the convent, carry out his hateful schemes."
" Cardan relates that a ploughman. . . . often threw up glass, nails and hair and, on recovering, felt within a large quantity of broken glass which made a noise like that from a sackful of broken glass. This noise he said troubled him greatly and for some eighteen nights towards seven o'clock, although he had not observed the time and although he had felt cured for some eighteen years, he had felt blows in his heart to the number of hours which were to strike. All this he bore not without great agony."
" I have often seen," says Goulart, " a demoniac named George, who for thirty years on and off was tormented by an evil spirit and often I have seen her swell up, and become so heavy that eight strong men could not raise her from the ground. Then, exhorted and encouraged in the name of God and the hand of some good man extended to her, she would rise to her feet and return home, bent and groaning. She did harm to no one whether by day or night while in this condition, and she lived with a relative who had a number of children so used to her ways that when they saw her twisting her arms, striking her hands and her body swelling up in this strange way, they would gather in some part of the house and commend her to God and their prayers were never in vain. Finding her one day in another house of the village in which she lived I exhorted her to patience. . . She began to roar in a strange way and with a marvellous quickness shot out her left hand at me and enclosed in it my two hands, holding me as firmly as if I had been bound with stout cords. I tried, but in vain, to free myself, although I am of average strength. She interfered with me in no other way nor did she touch me with her right hand. I was held as long as it has taken to tell the incident and then she let me go suddenly, begging my pardon, and I commended her to God and led her quietly home. . . . Some days before her death being much tormented she went to bed with a low fever. The fury of the evil one was then so much curtailed that the patient, wonderfully strengthened inwardly, continued to praise God who had been so merciful to her in her affliction and comforting all who visited her. ... I may add that Satan was overcome, and that she died peacefully, calling on her Saviour."
. According to Goulart " there was, in the village of Leuensteet and duchy of Brunswick, a young girl of twenty years, Margaret Achels, who lived with her sister. Wishing to clean some shoes one day in June she took a knife some six inches long and sat down in a corner of the room for she was still weak from a fever of long standing, whereupon an.
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old woman entered and inquired how she was and whether she still had the fever and then left without further words. After the shoes were cleaned she let the knife fall in her lap but subsequently could not find it despite a diligent search. The girl was frightened and still more so when she found a black dog under the table. She drove it out, hoping to find the knife, but the dog got angry, showed its teeth and growlingly made its way into the street and fled. The girl at once seemed to feel something indefinable which passed down her back like a chill and fainting suddenly she remained so for three days when she began to breathe better and to take a little food. When carefully questioned as to the cause of her illness she said that the knife which had fallen into her lap had entered her left side and that there she felt pain. Although her parents contradicted her, attributing her condition to a melancholic disposition, her' long abstinence and other things, she did not cease to complain, to cry and to keep a continuous watch, so much so that her mind became deranged and sometimes for two days at a time she would take nothing even when kindly entreated to do so, so that sometimes force had to be used. Her attacks were more severe at times than others and her rest was broken by the continuous pains which beset her, being forced as she was to hold herself doubled over a stick. What increased her pain and lessened the chance of relief was her firm belief that the knife was buried in her body and the stubborn contradiction of the others who said it was impossible and thought it nothing but a phantom of the mind, since they saw nothing which would give them ground for believing her unless it were her continual com- plaints and tears. These were kept up for some months and until there appeared on her left side between the two false ribs a tumour as large as an egg which fluctuated in size with the changes in her own girth. Then the girl said to them : ' Up to the present you haven't wanted to believe that the knife was in my side, but you will soon see now that, it is.' On the 30th June, that is after almost thirteen months of the trouble, the ulcer which developed on her side poured out so much material that the swelling began to go down and the point of the knife showed and the girl wanted to pull it out but her parents prevented her and sent for the surgeon of Duke Henry who was at the Castle of Walfbutel. This surgeon arrived on the 4th July and begged the curate to comfort, instruct and encourage the girl, and to take particular note of her answers since she was regarded as a demoniac. She agreed to be attended by the surgeon, not without the idea that a~quick death would follow. The latter, seeing the point of the knife projecting, grasped it with his instruments and found that it was just like the other in the sheath and very much worn about the middle of the blade. The ulcer was finally cured."
Goulart, quoting Melanchthon, says that " there was a girl in the marquisate of Brandebourg who pulled some hairs off the clothing of some person and that these hairs were at once changed into coins of the realm which the girl chewed with a horrible cracking of the teeth. Some of these coins are kept still by persons who snatched them away from the girl and found them real. From time to time this girl was much tormented but after some months got quite well and has remained so since. Prayers, but nothing more, are often offered up for her."
The same author also says : "I have heard that there was in Italy a demented woman who when controlled by a devil and asked by Lazare Bonami for the best verse of Virgil, answered at once :
' Discite Justitiam Moniti et non temnere divos,' ' That,' she added, ' is the best and most-deserving verse that Virgil every wrote ; begone and don't come back here again to try me.' "
Louise Maillat, a young demoniac who lived in 1598
lost the use of her limbs and was found to be possessed by five demons who called themselves, wolf, cat, dog, beauty and a griffin. At first two of these demons came out from her mouth in the form of balls the size of the fist, the first fire-red, the second, which was the cat, quite black ; the others left her with less violence. On leaving her they all made a few turns round the hearth and disappeared. Frances Secretain was known to have made this girl swallow these devils in a crust of bread the colour of manure."
Od Force : (See Emanations.)
Odyle (also Od, Odic Force, Odyllic Force) : The term first used by Baron von Reichenbach to denote the subtle effluence which he supposed to emanate from every sub- stance in the universe, particularly from the stars and planets, and from crystals, magnets and the human body. The odyle was perceptible only to sensitives, in whom it produced vague feelings of heat or cold, according to the substance from which it radiated ; or a sufficiently sensi- tive person might perceive the odyllic light, a clear flame of definite colour, issuing from the human finger-tips, the poles of the magnet, various metals, chemicals, etc., and hovering like a luminous cloud over new-made graves. The colours varied with each substance ; thus silver and gold had a white flame ; cobalt, a blue ; copper and iron, a red. The English mesmerists speedily applied Reichenbach' s methods to their own sensitives, with results that passed their expectations. The thoroughness of Reichenbach' s experiments, and the apparent soundness of his scientific methods, made a deep impression of the public mind. The objections of Braid, who at this time advanced his theory of suggestion, were ignored by the protagonists of odyle. In after years, when spiritualism had established itself in America, there remained a group of " rational " defenders of the movement, who attributed the phenomena of spirit- ualism as well as those of the poltergeist to the action of odylic force. Table-turning and rapping were also referred to this emanation by many who laughed to scorn Faraday's theory of unconscious muscular action. Others again, such as Mr. Guppy, regarded the so-called " spirit " intelligences producing the manifestations as being compounded of odylic vapours emanating from the medium, and probably connected with an all-pervading thought-atmosphere — an idea sufficiently like the " cosmic fluid " of the early magnetists.
Oil, Magical : (See Magic.)
Ointment, Witches' : It was believed in mediaeval times that all the wonders performed by witches — i.e., changing them- selves into animals, being transported through the air, etc. — were wrought by anointing themselves with a potent salve. As ointments are still used in Oriental countries as a means of inducing visions, it is possible that something of the kind may account for the hallucinations which the witches seem to have experienced. Lord Verulam says, " The ointment, that witches use, is reported to be made of the fat of children, digged out of their graves ; of the juices of smallage, wolfe- bane, and cinque foil, mingled with the meal of fine wheat : but I suppose that the soporiferous medicines are likest to do it, which are hen-bane, hemlock, mandrake, moonshade, tobacco, opium, saffron, poplar leaves, etc."
Okey Sisters : (See Spiritualism.)
Olcott, Colonel Kenry Steel : The founder, together with Madame Blavatsky, of the movement known as Theosophy, and president of the Theosophicai Society. Before he identified himself with this movement he was a well-known authority on matters connected with agriculture. In 1856 he founded in America an agricultural school on the Swiss model, was offered by the American Government the Chief Commissioncrship of Agriculture and by the Greek Govern- ment the Professorship of Agriculture at Athens. He was for a time agricultural editor of Horace Greeley's New York
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Tribune, and published three works on agriculture. When the Civil War broke out he joined the Northerners, saw active service, and was invalided home. The government then made him Special Commissioner of the War Depart- ment. On the cessation of the war he retired into private life, and from 1875 till his death in 1906 taught the doctrines of Theosophy and neo-Buddhism. On the death of Madame Blavatsky he associated himself with Mrs. Annie Besant as the leader of Theosophy in India. (See Theosophy.) Old Hat used for Raising the Devil : A popular mode of raising the devil in former times was to make a circle, place an old hat in the centre, and repeat the Lord's Prayer backwards. It was really a caricature of magical incanta- tion. Old man of the Mountain : [See Assassins.) "Old Scratch" : One of the appellations given to the Evil One. It is supposed to have been derived from Skrati, an old Teutonic faun or Satyr, half-man and half-goat, and possessed of horns. Olympian Spirits : {See Seven Stewards of Heaven.) Olympic Spirits: (See Arbatel.)
Om : A Sanskrit word of peculiar sanctity in the Hindu religion. It is pronounced at the beginning and end of every lesson in the Veda, and is also the introductory word of the Pur anas. It is said in the Katha-Upanishad : " Whoever knows this syllable obtains whatever he wishes." Various accounts are given of its origin ; one that it is the term of assent used by the gods, and probably an old contracted form of the Sanskrit word evam meaning " thus." The laws of the Manit say that the word was formed by Brahma himself, who extracted the letters a u m from the Vedas, one from each ; and they thus explain its mysterious power and sanctity. Om is also the name given by the Hindus to the spiritual sun, as opposed to " Sooruj " the natural sun. Omar Khayyam : (See Assassins.)
Onimancy, or the observation of the angel Uriel, is thus performed. Upon the nails of the right hand of an un- polluted boy or a young virgin, or the palm of the hand, is put some oil of olives, or what is better, oil of walnuts mingled with tallow or blacking. If money or things hidden in the earth be sought, the face of the child must be turned towards the east. If crime be inquired into, or the knowledge of a person out of affection, towards the south ; for robbery towards the west, and for murder towards the south. Then the child must repeat the seventy-two verses of the Psalms, which the Hebrew kabal- ists collected for the Urim and Thummim. These will be found in the third book of Reuclin on the kabalistical art, and in a treatise de verbo mirifico. In each of these verses occurs the venerable name of four letters, and the three lettered name of the seventy-two angels, which are referred to the inquisitive name Schemhammaphoras, which was hidden in the folds of the lining of the tippet of the high priest. When the curious student has done thus much, Saunders assures him that he " shall see wonders," but he omits to specify what these wonders are. Chiromancers give the name Onyomancy to the inspection of the natural signs on the nails. Onion : The Onion was regarded as a symbol of the universe among the ancient Egyptians, and many curious beliefs were associated with it. It was believed by them that it attracted and absorbed infectious matters, and was usually hung up in rooms to prevent maladies. This belief in the absorptive virtue of the onion is prevalent even at the present day. " When a youth," says Napier, " I remember the following story being told, and implicitly believed by all. There was once a certain king or nobleman who was in ■want of a physician, and two celebrated doctors applied, j As both could not obtain the situation, they agreed among
themselves that the one was to try to poison the other, and he who succeeded in overcoming the poison would thus be left free to fill the situation. They drew lots as to, who should first take the poison. The first dose given was a stewed toad, but the party who took it immediately applied a poultice of peeled onions over his stomach, and thus abstracted all the poison of the toad. Two days after, the other doctor was given the onions to eat. He ate them, and died. It was generally believed that the poultice of peeled onions laid on the stomach, or underneath the arm- pits, would cure anyone who had taken poison."
Onomancy, it has been properly said, more correctly signifies divination by a donkey, than by a name ; and the latter science ought to be termed Onomamancy.or Onomatomancy. The notion that an analogy existed between men's names and their fortunes is supposed to have originated with the Pythagoreans ; it furnished some reveries to Plato, and has been the source of much small wit in Ausonius, which it may amuse the classical scholar to collate from his epigrams.
Two leading rules in the science of Onomancy were first, that an even number of vowels in a man's name signifies something amiss in his left side ; an uneven number a similar affection on the right ; so that, between the two, perfect sanity was little to be expected. Secondly, of two competitors, that one would prove successful the numeral letters in whose name when summed up exceeded the amount of those in the name of his rival ; and this was one of the reasons which enabled Achilles to triumph over Hector.
The Gothic King, Theodotus, is said, on the authority of Caelius Rhodiginus to have practised a peculiar species of Onomancy on the recommendation of a Jew. The diviner advised the prince, when on the eve of a war with Rome, to shut up thirty hogs in three different styes, having, previously given some of them Roman and others Gothic names. On an appointed day, when the styes were opened, all the Romans were found alive, but with half their bristles fallen off — all the | Goths, on the other hand, were dead ; and from this prognostic the onomantist foreboded that the Gothic army would be utterly destroyed by the Romans, who, at the same time, would lose half their own force.
Onychomancy : Divination by the finger-nails. It is prac- tised by watching the reflection of the sun in the nails of a boy, and judging the future by the shape of the figures which show themselves on their surface.
Onyx : Its properties resemble those of Jasper, besides which it increases saliva in boys, and is said to bring terrible shapes to the dreamer. If applied to the eye it acts as if it were alive, by creeping about and removing anything noxious.
Ooscopy and Oomantia : Two methods of divination by eggs. An . example under the former name is related by Suetonius, who says, that Livia, when she was anxious to know whether she should be the mother of a boy or girl, kept an egg in her bosom at the proper temperature, until a chick with a beautiful cockscomb came forth. The latter name denotes a method of divining the signs or characters appearing in eggs. The custom of pasche or paste eggs, which are stained with various colours, and given away at Easter, is well known, and is described at considerable length by Brand. The custom is most religiously observed in Russia, where it is derived from the Greek Church. Gilded or coloured eggs are mutually exchanged both by men and women, who kiss one another, and if any coolness existed previously become good friends again on these occasions. The egg is one of the most ancient and beautiful symbols of the new birth, and has
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been applied to natural philosophy as well as the spiritual creation of man.
Opal : Recreates the heart, preserves from contagion in the air, and dispels sadness ; it is also good for weak eyes. Pliny's description of this stone glows with enthusiasm, and he gives the preference to those which are shadowed as it were with the colour of wine. The name poederos, applied to the opal, is understood to indicate the beautiful complexion of youth.
Ophites : This gnostic sect seems to have dated from the second century. A full system of initiation was in vogue among the members, and they possessed symbols to represent purity, life, spirit and fire. The whole appears to have been of Egyptian origin. (See Gnostics.)
Oracles : Shrines where a god speaks to human beings through the mouths of priests or priestesses. The con- cept of the god become vocal in this manner was by no means confined to Greece or Egypt. Our object here is to deal with the most celebrated oracles of all nations as well as those of antiquity. Probably all the primitive gods — those, that is to say, of the fetish class, now under con- sideration— were consulted as oracles ; it is certain that they derived this character in a state of animism and that they transmitted it to gods of the most advanced type. In early times the great question was whether man would have food on the morrow or no ; perhaps the first oracle was the spirit which directed the hungry savage in his hunting and fishing expeditions. The Esquimaux still consult spirits for this purpose, and their wizards are as familiar with the art of giving ambiguous replies to their anxious clients as were the well-informed keepers of the oracles of Greece. As advancement proceeded, the direction of the gods was obtained in all the affairs of private and public life.
Greece. — The Oracle of Delphi. When Jupiter was once desirous to ascertain the central point of the earth, he despatched two eagles, or two crows, as they are named by Strabo. The messengers took flight in opposite courses, from sunrise and sunset ; and they met at Delphi, which place was thenceforward dignified with the title " The navel of the earth ; " an " umbilicus " being represented in white marble within its celebrated temple. Delphi thus became a place of great distinction, but it was not yet oracular, till the fumes which issued from a neighbouring cave were first discovered by a shepherd named Coretas. His attention was forcibly attracted to a spot round which whenever his goats were browsing they gambolled and bleated more than was their wont. Whether these fumes arose in consequence of an earthquake, or whether they were generated by demoniacal art is not to be ascertained ; but the latter hypothesis is thought by Clasen to be the more probable of the two. Coretas, on approaching the spot, was seized with ecstacy, and uttered words which were deemed inspired. It was not long before the danger arising in consequence of the excitement of curiosity among the neighbours, the deadly stupefaction often produced among those who inhaled the fumes without proper caution, and the inclination which it aroused in some to plunge them- selves into the depths of the cavern below, occasioned the fissure to be covered by a sort of table, having a hole in the centre, and called a tripod, so that those who wished to try the experiment could resort there in safety. Eventually a young girl, of unsophisticated manners, became the chosen medium of the responses, now deemed oracular and called Pythian, as proceeding from Apollo, the slayer of Python, to whom Delphi was consecrated. A sylvan bower of laurel branches was erected over the spot, and at length the marble temple and the priesthood of Delphi arose where the Pythoness, seated on her throne, could be charged with
the divine " afflatus," and was thus rendered the vehicle of Apollo's dictation.
As the oracle became mere celebrated, its prophetic machinery was constructed of more costly materials. The tripod was then formed of gold, but the lid, which was placed in its hollow rim, in order to afford the Pythoness a more secure seat, continued to be made of brass. She prepared herself by drinking out of a sacred fountain (Castalia), adjoining the crypt, the waters of which were reserved for her only, and in which she bathed her hair ; by chewing a laurel leaf, and by circling her brows with a laurel crown. The person who made inquiry from the oracle, first offered a victim, and then having written his question in a note-book, handed it to the Pythoness, before she ascended the tripod ; and he also as well as the priestess, wore a laurel crown. In early times the oracle spoke only in one month of the year, named " Byssus," in which it originated ; and at first only on the seventh day of that month, which was esteemed the birth-day of Apollo, and was called " Polypthonus."
Virginity was at first an indispensable requisite in the Pythoness ; on account, as Diodorus tells us, of the purity of that state and its relation to Diana ; moreover, because virgins were thought better adapted than others of their sex to keep oracular mysteries secret and inviolate. But an untoward accident having occurred to one of these consecrated damsels, the • guardians of the temple, in order, as they imagined, to prevent its repetition for the future, permitted no one to fulfil the duties of the office till she had attained the mature age of fifty ; they still indulged her, however, with the use of a maiden's habit. The response was always delivered in Greek.
Oracle of Dodona. Another celebrated oracle, that of Jupiter, was at Dodona, in Epirus, from which Jupiter derived the name of Dodonus. It was situated at the foo of Mount Tomarus, in a wood of oaks ; and there the answers were given by an old woman under the name of Pelias. Pelias means dove in the Attic dialect, from which the fable arose, that the doves prophesied in the groves of Dodona. According to Herodotus, this legend con- tains the following incident, which gave rise to the oracle : — Two priestesses of Egyptian Thebes were carried away by Phoenician merchants ; one of them was conveyed to Libya, where she founded the oracle of Jupiter Ammon ; the other to Greece. The latter one remained in the Dodonian wood, which was much frequented on account of the acorns. There she had a temple built at the foot of an oak in honour of Jupiter, whose priestess she had been in Thebes ; and here afterwards a regular oracle was founded. He adds, that this priestess was called a dove, because her language could not be understood. The Dodonid and African oracles were certainly connected, and Herodotus distinctly states, that the manner of prophecy in Dodona was the same as that in Egyptian Thebes. Diana was worshipped in Dodona in conjunction with Zeus, and a female figure was associated with Amun in the Libyan Ammonium. Besides this, the dove was the bird of Aphrodite, the Diana of Zeus, or the Mosaic divine love, which saved mankind from complete destruction. According to other authors, there was a wondrous intoxi- cating spring at Dodona ; and in later times more material means were employed to produce the prophetic spirit.
Several copper bowls, namely, were placed upon a column, and the statue of a boy beside them. When the wind moved a rod or scourge having three bones attached to chains, it struck upon the metallic bowls, the sound of which was heard by the applicants. These Dodonian tones gave rise to a proverb : ess Dodonizum — an unceasing babbler.
The oracle at Dodona was dedicated to the Pelasgian
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Zeus, who was worshipped here at the same time as the almighty ruler of the world, and as the friendly associate of mankind. In the course of the theogonic process, Diana was associated with him as his wife, — the mother of Aphrodite. The servants, of Zeus were Selles, the priests of Diana, the so-called Peliades. According to Homer, the Selles inhabited the sanctum at Dodona, sleeping upon the earth, and with naked unwashed feet ; they served the Pelasgian Zeus. It is probable that they slept upon the earth on the hides of newly-sacrificed animals, to receive prophetic 'dreams, as was customary at other places, Calchos and Oropus, with many others.
As regards the mantic of Dodona, it was partly natural, from the excitement of the mind, partly artificial. Of the latter we may mention three modes — the ancient oak of Zeus, with its prophetic doves, the miraculous spring, and the celebrated Dodonian bowls of brass.
The far-spreading, speaking tree, the incredible wonder, as jEschylus calls it, was an oak, a lofty beautiful tree, with evergreen leaves and sweet edible acorns, which according to the belief of the Greeks and Romans, were the first sustenance of mankind. The Pelasgi regarded this tree as the tree of life. In this tree the god was supposed to reside, and the rustling of its leaves and the voices of birds showed his presence. When the questioners entered, the oak rustled, and the Peliades said, " Thus speaks Zeus." Incense was burned beneath it, which may be compared to the altar of Abraham under the oak Ogyges, which had stood there since the world's creation. According to the legend, sacred doves continually inhabited the tree, like the Marsoor oracle at Tiora Mattiene, where a sacred hawk foretells futurity from the top of a wooden pillar.
At the foot of the oak a cold spring gushes as it were from its roots, and from its murmur the inspired priestesses prophesied.
Of this miraculous fountain it is related, that lighted torches being thrust into it were extinguished, and that extinguished torches were re-lit ; it also rose and fell at various seasons. " That extinction and rekindling has," says Lassaulx, " perhaps the mystical signification that the usual sober life of the senses must be extinguished, that the prophetic spirit dormant in the soul may be aroused. The torch of human existence must expire, that a divine one may be lighted ; the human must die that the divine may be born ; the destruction of individuality is the awakening of God in the soul, or, as the mystics say, the setting of sense is the rising of truth."
The extinguishing of a burning light shows that the spring contained carbonic acid gas, which possesses stupi- fying and deadly properties, like all exhalations arising especially from minerals, ^he regular rising and sinking of the water is a frequent phenomenon, and has been observed from the earliest ages.
It appears that predictions were drawn from the tones of the Dodonian brass bowls, as well as from the rustling of the sacred oak and the murmuring of the sacred well.
The Dodonian columns, with that which stood upon them, appears to express the following : — =The medium- sized brazen bowl was a hemisphere, and symbolised of heaven ; the boy-like male statue a figure of the Demiurgos, or constructor of the universe ; the bell-like notes a symbol of the harmony of the universe and music of the spheres. That the Demiurgos is represented as a boy is quite in the spirit of Egypto-Pelasgian theology as it reigned in Samo- thrace. The miraculous bell told all who came to Dodona to question the god that they were on holy ground, must inquire with pure hearts, and be silent when the god replied. It is easily imagined that these tones, independent and uninfluenced by human will, must have made a deep
impression upon the minds of pilgrims. Those who questioned the god were also obliged to take a purificatory bath in the temple, similar to that by which the Delphian Pythia prepared herself for prophecy.
Besides this artificial soothsaying from signs, natural divination by the prophetic movements of the mind was practised. Where there are prophesying priestesses, there must also be ecstatic ones, similar to those in the magnetic state. Sophocles calls the Dodonean priestesses divinely inspired : Plato (Phaedrus) says, more decidedly, that the prophetess at Delphi and the priestesses at Dodona had done much good in sacred madness, in private and public affairs, to their country, but in their senses little or nothing. We may see from this that the Delphian Pythia, as well as the Dodonian priestesses, did not give their oracles in the state of common waking consciousness, but in real ecstasy, to which the frequent incense — and drink — offerings would assist. Aristides states, still more clearly than the others, that the priestesses at Dodona neither knew, before being seized upon by the spirit, what would be said, nor remem- bered afterwards, when their natural consciousness re- turned, what they had uttered ; so that all others, rather than they, knew it.
Oracle oj Jupiter Trophonius. — Trophonius, according to Pausanias, was the most skilful architect of his day. Con- cerning the origin of his oracle there are many opinions. Some say he was swallowed up by an earthquake in the cave which afterwards became prophetic ; others, that after having completed the Adytum of Apollo at Delphi (a very marvellous specimen of his workmanship, which Dr. Clarke thought might at some time be discovered on account of its singularity), he declined asking any specific pay, but modestly requested the god to grant him what- ever was the greatest benefit a man could receive ; and in three days afterwards he was found dead. This oracle was discovered after two years of scarcity in its neighbourhood, when the Pythoness ordered the starving population, who applied to her, to consult Trophonius in Lebadaea. The deputation sent for that purpose could not discover any trace, of such an oracle, till Saon, the oldest among them, obtained the desired information by following the flight of a swarm of bees. The responses were given by the genius of Trophonius to the inquirer, who was compelled to descend into a cave, of the nature of which Pausanias has left a very lively representation. The votary resided for a certain number of days in a sanctuary of good fortune, in which he underwent customary lustrations, abstained from hot baths, but dipped in the river Hercyna, and was plentifully supplied with meat from the victims which he sacrificed. Many, indeed, were the sacred personages whom he was bound to propitiate with blood ; among them were Trophonius himself and his sons, Apollo, Saturn, Jupiter, Vasileus, Juno Henioche, and Ceres Europa, who is affirmed to have been the nurse of Trophonius. From an inspection of the entrails, a soothsayer pronounced whether Trophonius was in fit humour for consultation. None of the " exta," however favourable they might have been, were of the slightest avail, unless a ram, immolated to Agamedes at the mouth of the cave on the very night of the descent, proved auspicious. When that propitious signal had been given ,the priests led the inquirer to the river Hercyna, where he was anointed and washed by two Lebadaaan youths, thirteen years of age, named " Hermai." He was then carried farther to the two spiing-heads of the stream, and there he drank first of Lethe, in order that he might forget all past events and present his mind to the oracle as a " tabula rasa " ; and secondly of Mnemosyne, that he might firmly retain remembrance of every occurrence which was about to happen within the cave. An image, reputed to be the workmanship of Daedalus, was then
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exhibited to him, and so great was its sanctity, that no other eyes but those of a person about to undertake the adventure of the cave were ever permitted to behold it. Next he was clad in a linen robe, girt with ribbons, and shod with sandals peculiar to the country. The entrance to the oracle was a very narrow aperture in a grove on the summit of a mountain, protected by a marble parapet about two cubits in height, and by brazen spikes above it. The upper part of the cave was artificial, like an oven, but no steps were cut in the rock, and the descent was made by a ladder brought to the spot on each occasion. On approaching the mouth of the adytum itself the adven- turer lay flat, and holding in each hand some honeyed cakes, first inserted his feet into the aperture, then drew his knees and the remainder of his body after them, till he was caught by some hidden force, and carried downward as if by a whirlpool. The responses were given sometimes by a vision, sometimes by words ; and a forcible exit was then made through the original entrance, and in like manner feet foremost. There was only a single instance on record of any person who had descended failing to return and that one deserved his fate ; for his obj ect was to discover treasure, not to consult the oracle. Immediately on issuing from the cavern, the inquirer was placed on a seat called that of Mnemosyne, not far from the entrance, and there the priests demanded a relation of everything which he had seen and heard ; he was then carried once again to the sanctuary of good fortune, where he remained for some time overpowered by terror and lost in forget- fulness. By degrees his former powers of intellect returned, and, in contradiction to the received opinion, he recovered the power of smiling.
Dr. Clarke, in his visit to Lebadaea, found everything belonging to the hieron of Trophonius' in its original state, excepting that the narrow entrance to the adytum was choked with rubbish. The Turkish governor was afraid of a popular commotion if he gave permission for cleansing this aperture. Mr. Cripps, however, introduced the whole length of his body into the cavity, and by thrusting a long pole before him found it utterly stopped. The waters
l of Lethe and Mnemosyne at present supply the washer- women of Lebadaea.
> Oracles of Delos and Bronchus. — -The oracle of " Delos," notwithstanding its high reputation, had few peculiarities : its virtue was derived from the nativity of Apollo and Diana in that island. At Dindyma, or Didyma, near Miletus, Apollo presided over the oracle of the " Branchi- dae," so called from either one of his sons or of his favourites Branchus of Thessaly, whom he instructed in soothsaying while alive, and canonized after death. The responses were given by a priestess who bathed and fasted for three days before consultation, and then sat upon an axle or bar, with a charming-rod in her hand, and inhaling the steam from a hot spring. Offerings and ceremonies were necessary to render the inspiration effectual, including baths, fasting, and solitude, and Iamblichus censures those who despise them.
Oracle of the Clarion Apollo at Colophon. — Of the oracle of Apollo at Colophon, Iamblichus relates that it prophesied by drinking of water. " It is known that a subterranean spring exists there, from which the prophet drinks ; after he has done so, and has performed many consecrations and sacred customs on certain nights, he predicts the future ; but he is invisible to all who are present. That this water can induce prophecy is clear, but how it happens, no one knows, says the proverb." It might appear that the divine spirit pervades this water, but it is not so. God is in all things, and is reflected in this spring, thereby giving it the prophetic power. This inspiration of the water is not of an entirely divine nature, for it only prepares us
and purifies the light of the soul, so that we are fit to receive the divine spirit. There the divine presence is of such a nature that it punishes every one who is capable of receiving the god. The soothsayer uses this spirit like a work-tool over which he has no control. After the moment of pre- diction he does not always remember that which has passed ; often he can scarcely collect his faculties. Long before the water-drinking, the soothsayer must abstain day and night from food, and observe religious customs, which are impossible to ordinary people, by which means he is made capable of receiving the god. It is only in this manner that he is able to hold the mirror of his soul to the radiance of free inspiration."
Oracle of Amphiaraus. — Another very celebrated oracle was that of Amphiaraus, who distinguished himself so much in the Theban war. He was venerated at Oropus, in Bceotia, as a seer. This oracle was consulted more in sick- ness than on any other occasion. The applicants had here, also, to lie upon the skin of a sacrificed ram, and during sleep had the remedies of their diseases revealed to them. Not only, however, were sacrifices and lustrations per- formed here, but the priests prescribed other preparations by which the minds of the sleepers were to be enlightened. They had to fast one day, and refrain from wine three. Amphilochus, as son of Amphiaraus, had a similar oracle at Mallos, in Cilicia, which Pausanias calls the most trust- worthy and credible of the age. Plutarch speaks of the oracles of Amphilochus and Mopsus as being in a very flourishing state ; and Lucian mentions that all those who wished to question the oracle had to lay down two oboles.
Egyptian Oracles. — The oracles of Ancient Egypt were as numerous as those of Greece. It must have been due to foreign influence that the oracle, that played so important a part in the Greek world at this time, was also thoroughly established on the banks of the Nile. Herodotus knew of no fewer than seven gods in Egypt who spake by oracles. Of these, the most reliable was considered to give an intimation of their intentions by means of remarkable events. These are carefully observed by the Egyptians, who write down what follows upon these prodigies. They aiso consider that the fate of a person is fixed by the day of his birth, for every day belongs to a special god. The oracle of Jupiter Ammon at the oasis of that name and the same deity at Thebes existed from the twentieth to the twenty-second Dynasty. He was consulted not only con- cerning the fate of empires but upon such trifling matters as the identification of a thief. In all serious matters, however, it was sought to ascertain his views. Those about to make their wills sought his oracle, and judgments were ratified by his word.
" According to the inscriptions, intercourse between king and god was arranged as follows : — The King present himself before the god and preferred a direct question, so framed as to admit of an answer by simple yes or no ; in reply the god nodded an affirmative, or shook his head in negation. This has suggested the idea that the oracles were worked by manipulating statues of divinities mechan- ically set in motion by the priests. But as yet no such statues have been found in the Valley of the Nile, and con- trivances of this kind could have had no other object than to deceive the people, — a supposition apparently excluded in this case by the fact that it was customary fcr the king to visit the god alone and in secret. Probably the king presented himself on such occasions before the sacred animal in which the god was incarnate, believing that the divine will would be manifested by its movements."
The Apis bull also possessed oracles. Bes, too, god of pleasure or of the senses, had an oracle at Abydos.
American Oracles. — Among the American races the oracle was frequently encountered. All the principal gods
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of aboriginal America universally act as oracles. With the ancient inhabitants of Peru, the huillcas partook of the nature of oracles. Many of these were serpents, trees, and rivers, the noises made by which appeared to the primitive Peruvians — as, indeed, they do to primitive folk all over the world — to be of the quality of articulate speech. Both the Huillcamayu and the Apurimac rivers at Cuzco were huillca oracles of this kind, as their names, " Huillca- river " and " Great Speaker," denote. These oracles often set the mandate of the Inca himself at defiance, occasionally supporting popular opinion against his policy.
The Peruvian Indians of the Andes range within recent generations continued to adhere to the superstitions they had inherited from their fathers. A rare and interesting account of these says that they " admit an evil being, the inhabitant of the centre of the earth, whom they consider as the author of their misfortunes, and at the mention of whose name they tremble. The most shrewd among them take advantage of this belief to obtain respect, and represent themselves as his delegates. Under the denom- ination of mohanes, or agoreros, they are consulted even on the most trivial occasions. They preside over the intrigues of love, the health of the community, and the taking of the field. Whatever repeatedly occurs to defeat their prognos- tics, falls on themselves ; and they are wont to pay for their deceptions very dearly. They chew a species of vegetable called piripiri, and throw it into the air, accom- panying this act by certain recitals and incantations, to injure some, to benefit others, to procure rain and the inun- dation of rivers, or, on the other hand, to occasion settled weather, and a plentiful store of agricultural productions. Any such result, having been casually verified on a single • occasion, suffices to confirm the Indians in their faith, although they may have been cheated a thousand times.
There is an instance on record of how the huillca could refuse on occasion to recognise even royalty itself. Manco, the Inca who had been given the kingly power by Pizarro, -offered a sacrifice to one of these oracular shrines. The oracle refused to recognise him, through the medium of its guardian priest, stating that Manco was not the rightful Inca. Manco therefore caused the oracle, which was in the shape of a rock, to be thiown down, whereupon its guardian spirit emerged in the form of a parrot and flew away. It is -probable that the bird thus liberated had been taught by the priests to answer to the questions of those who came to consult the shrine. But we learn that on Manco com- manding that the parrot should be pursued it sought another rock, which opened to receive it, and the spirit of the huillca was transferred to this new abode.
Like the greater idols of Mexico, most of the principal hua- •cas of Peru seem to have been also oracles. The guardians •of the great speaking huacas appear to have exercised in virtue of their office an independent influence which was sometimes sufficiently powerful to resist the Apu-Ccapac- Inca himself. It was perhaps natural that they should be the exponents of the popular feeling which supported them, rather than of the policy of the sovereign chiefs, whose interest it was to suppress them : -there was even a tradition that the Huillac-umu, a venerable huillac whom the rest acknowledged as their head, had in old times possessed jurisdiction over the supreme war-chiefs.
Many Indian tribes employ fetishes as oracles, and among the ancient Mexicans practically all the great gods were oracular. Orbas : The name given by the French to a species of metallic electrum. According to Pliny a vessel of this substance has a certain magical property ; when it is filled with liquor is discovers poison by showing semi-circles like rainbows, while the fluid sparkles and hisses as if on the
fire. The occult qualities of electrum are of a tell-tale nature.
Orchis, the Root of the : The Root of the Satyrios Orchis was believed to be a sure remedy against enchantment.
Ordinate of Alchemy, The : (See Dalton, Thomas.)
Orenda : A magical force. [See American Indians.)
Orleans, Duchess of : (See France.)
Orleans, Duke of : (See France.)
Ornithomancy is the Greek work for augury, the method of divination by the flight or the song of birds, which, with the Romans, became a part of their national religion, and had a distinct priesthood. For this reason it is treated in a separate article.
Oromase, Society : (See Holland.)
Orphic Magic : (See Greece.)
Orton : Alluded to by Froissart as the familiar of the Lord of Corasse, near Orthes. A clerk whom his lordship had wronged set this spirit the task of tormenting his superior, but by fair words the Lord of Corasse won him over to himself so that Orton became his familiar. Nightly Orton would shake his pillow and waken him to tell him the news of the world. Froissart says of their connection : —
" So Orion continued to serve the Lord of Corasse1 for a long time. I do not know whether he had more than one master, but, every week, at night, twice or thrice, he visited his master, and related to him the events which had happened in the different countries he had traversed, and the lord of Corasse wrote of them to the Count of Foix, who took a great pleasure in them, for he was the man in all the world who most willingly heard news of strange countries.
" Now it happened that the Lord of Corasse, as on other nights, was lying in his bed in his chamber by the side of his wife, who had become accustomed to listen to Orion without any alarm. Orton came, and drew away the lord's pillow, for he was fast asleep, and his lord awoke, and cried, ' Who is this ? ' He answered, ' It is I, Orion.' ' And_ whence comest thou ? ' 'I come from Prague, in Bohemia.' ' And how far from hence is this Prague, in Bohemia ? ' ' Why,' said he, ' about sixty days' journey.' ' And thou hast come so quickly ? ' ' Faith, I go as q'uickly as the wind, or even swifter.' ' And thou hast wings ? ' ' Faith, none.' ' How then canst thou fly so quickly ? ' Orion replied— ' It does not concern thee to know.' ' Nay,' said he, ' I shall be very glad to know what fashion and form thou art of,' Orton answered, ' It does not concern thee to know ; it is sufficient that I come hither, and bring thee sure and certain news.' ' By G — , Orion,' exclaimed the lord of Corasse, ' I should love thee better if I had seen thee.' ' Since you have so keen a desire to see me,' said Orton ' the first thing thou shalt see and encounter to-morrow morning, when you rise from your bed, shall be — I.' ' That as enough,' said the Lord of Corasse. ' Go, therefore ; I give thee leave for this night.'
" When the morrow came, the Lord of Corasse began to rise-, but the lady was so affrighted that-she fell sick and could not get up that morning, and she said to her lord,
. who did not wish her to keep her bed, ' See if thou seest Orton. By my faith, I neither wish, if it please God, to see nor encounter him.' ' But I do,' said the Lord of Corasse He leapt all nimbly from his bed, and seated himself upon the edge, and waited there to see Orton, but saw nothing. Then he went to the windows and threw them upon that he might see more clearly about the room, but he saw nothing, so that he could say, ' This is Orton.' The day passed, the night returned. When the Lord of Corasse was in his bed asleep, Orton came, and began speaking in his wonted manner. ' Go, go,' said his master, ' thou art a fibber : thou didst promise to show me to-day who thou wert, and thou hast not done so.' ' Nay,' said he, ' but I did/ ' Thou didst not.' ' And didst thou not see anything,
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inquired Orton, ' when thou didst leap out of bed ? ' The Lord of Corasse thought a little while, and said — ' Yes, while sitting on my bed, and thinking of thee, I saw two long straws upon the pavement, which turned towards each other and played about.' ' And that was I,' cried Orton ; ' I had assumed that form.' Said the Lord of Corasse : ' It does not content me : I pray thee change thyself into some other form, so that I may see and know thee.' Orton replied : ' You will act so that you will lose me.' ' Not so, 'said the Lord of Corasse : ' When I have once seen you, I shall not want to see you ever again.' 'Then,' said Orton, 'you shall see me to-morrow; and remember that the first thing you shall see upon leaving your chamber, will be I.' ' Be it so,' replied the Lord of Corasse. ' Begone with you, therefore, now. I give thee leave, for I wish to sleep.'
" Orton departed. When the morrow came, and at the third hour, the Lord of Corasse was up and attired in his usual fashion, he went forth from his chamber into a gallery that looked upon the castle-court. He cast therein his glances, and the first thing he saw was the largest sow he had ever seen ; but she was so thin she seemed nothing but skin and bones, and she had great and long teats, pendant and quite attenuated, and a long and inflamed snout. The Sire de Corasse marvelled very much at this sow, and looked at her in anger, and exclaimed to his people, ' Go quickly, bring the dogs hither, and see that this Sow be well hunted.' The varlets ran nimbly, threw open the place where the dogs lay, and set them at the sow. The sow heaved a loud cry, and looked up at the Lord of Corasse, who supported himself upon a pillar buttress in front of his chamber. She was seen no more afterwards, for she vanished, nor did any one note what became of her. The Sire de Corrasse returned into his chamber pensively, and bethought himself of Orton, and said, ' I think that I have seen my familiar ; I repent me that I set my dogs upon him, for I doubt if I shall ever behold him again, since he has several times told me that as soon as I should provoke him I should lose him, and he would return no more.' He spoke truly ; never again did Orton return to the
Lord of Corasse, and the knight died in the following year."
Ostiaks : (See Siberia.)
Oupnekhat, The : The Oupnekhat or Oupnekhata (Book of the Secret) written in Persian, gives the following instructions for the production of visions. " To produce the wise Maschqgui (vision), we must sit on a four-cornered base, namely the heels, and then close the gates of the body. The ears by the thumbs ; the eyes by the forefingers ; the nose by the middle ; the lips by the four other fingers. The lamp within the body will then be preserved from wind and movement, and the whole body will be full of light. Like the tortoise, man must withdraw every sense within himself ; the heart must be guarded, and then Brahma will enter into him, like fire and lightning. In the great fire ;n the cavity of the heart a small flame will be lit up, and in its centre is Atma (the soul) ; and he who destroys all. worldly desires and wisdom will be like a hawk which has broken through the meshes of the net, and will have become one with the great being." Thus will he become Brahma- Atma (divine spirit), and will perceive by a light that far exceeds that of the sum. " Who, therefore, enters this path be Brahma must deny the world and its pleasures ; must only cover his nakedness, and staff in hand collect enough, but no more, alms to maintain life. The lesser ones only do this ; the greater throw aside pitcher and staff, and do not even read the Oupnekhata."
Owen, Robert : An early convert to spiritualism. He had been for many years an advanced socialist, and though at the time he embraced the spiritualistic doctrines — 1853 — ■ he was already in his eighty-third year, he preached the new faith with undiminished vigour and with characteristic scorn of caution. Having first published his views in his periodical, the Rational Quarterly Review, he brought out, in 1854, the New Existence of Man upon Earth, at this period the only English paper devoted to the interests of spiritualism. Owen's view of the movement was that it was the inauguration of a sort of millennium, a. social revolution, for which he had looked throughout his life.
Paigoels, The : The devils of Hindustan. Some of the Hindus believe that the Paigoels were originally created devils ; others that they were put out of heaven because of their great sin, and of all worlds that the earth is the only one with which they are allowed intercourse. Some of these devils have individual names, and are the tempters of men to special sins, — others again enter into the bodies of men and take possession of them. The Hindus also believe that the souls of wicked men go to join the number of the paigoels.
Palingenesy : A term employed by the philosophers of the seventeenth century to denote the " resurrection of plants," and the method of achieving their astral appearance after destruction. In very early times, we find philosophers inclined to doubt if apparitions might not be accounted for on natural principles, without supposing that a belief in them was either referable to hallucinations, to human imagination, or to impositions that might have been practised. At length Lucretius attacked the popular notion entertained of ghosts, by maintaining that they were not spirits returned from the mansions of the dead, but nothing more than thin films, pellicles, or membranes, cast off from the surface of all bodies like the exuviae or sloughs of reptiles.
An opinion, by no means dissimilar to that of the Epicu- reans, was revived in Europe about the middle of the 1 7th century. It had its origin in Palingenesy, or the resurrec-
tion of plants, a grand secret known to Digby, Kircherf Schot, Gafferel, Vallemont, and others. These philosophers performed the operation of Palingenesy after the following manner : — They took a plant, bruised it, burnt it, collected its ashes, and, in the process of calcination, extracted from it a salt. This salt they then put into a glass phial, and mixed with it some peculiar substance, which these chemists- have not disclosed. When the compound was formed, it was pulverulent, and possessed a bluish colour. The powder was next submitted to a gentle heat, when its- particles being instantly put into motion, there then, gradually arose, as fiom the midst of the ashes, a stem, leaves and flowers ; or, in other words, an apparition of the plant which had been submitted to combustion. But as soon as the heat was taken away, the form of the plant, which had been thus sublimed, was precipitated to the bottom of the vessel. Heat was then re-applied, and the vegetable phoenix was resusitated ; it was withdrawn, and the form once more became latent among the ashes. This notable experiment was said to have been performed before the Royal Society of England, and it satisfactorily proved to this learned body, that the presence of heat gave a sort of life to the vegetable apparition, and that the absence of caloric caused its death.
Cowley was quite delighted with the experiment of the rose and its ashes, and in conceiving that he had detected the same phenomenon in the letters written with the juice-
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of lemons, which were revived on the application of heat, he celebrated the mystic power of caloric after the follow- ing manner : — ■
Strange power of heat, thou yet dost show,
Like winter earth, naked, or cloth' d with snow,
But as the quick' ning sun approaching near,
The plants arise up by degrees,
A sudden paint adorns the trees,
And all kind nature's characters appear.
So nothing yet in thee is seen,
But when a genial heat warms thee within,
A new-born wood of various lines there grows ;
Here buds an A, and there a B,
Here sprouts a V, and there a T,
And all the nourishing letters stand in rows.
The rationale of this famous experiment made on the ashes of roses was attempted by Kircher. He supposed that the seminal virtue of every known substance, and even its substantial form, resided in its salt.- This salt was concealed in the ashes of the rose. Heat put it in motion. The particles of the salt were quickly sublimed, and being moved about in the phial like a vortex, at length arranged themselves in the same general form they had possessed from nature. It was evident, then, from the result, of this experiment, that there was a tendency in the particles of the salt to observe the same order of position which they had in the living plant. Thus, for instance, each saline corpuscle, which in its prior state had held a place in the stem of the rose-slip, sympathetically fixed itself in a corresponding position when sublimed in the chemist's vial. Other particles were subject to a similar law, and accordingly, by a disposing affinity, resumed their proper position, either in the stalk, the leaves, or the flowers, and thus, at length, the entire apparition of a plant was generated.
The next object of these philosophers was to apply their doctrine to the explanation of the popular belief in ghosts. As it was incontestably proved that the substantial form of each body resided in a sort of volatile salt, it was perfectly evident in what manner superstitious notions must have arisen about ghosts haunting churchyards. When a dead body had been committed to the earth, the salts of it, during the heating process of fermentation, were exhaled. The saline particles then each resumed the same relative situation they had held in the living body, and thus a complete human form was induced, calculated to excite superstitious fear in the minds of all but Palingenesists.
It is thus evident that Palingenesy was nothing more Lucretius had made, with regard to the filmy substances than a chemical explanation of the discovery which that he had observed to arise from all bodies.
Yet, in order to prove that apparitions might be really explained on this principle, the experimentum crucis was still wanting. But this deficiency was soon supplied. Three alchemists had obtained a quantity of earth-mould from St. Innocent's Church, in Paris, supposing that this matter might contain the true philosopher's stone. They subjected it to a distillatory process. On a sudden they perceived in their vials forms of men produced,, which immediately caused them to desist from their labours. This fact coming to the knowledge of the Institute of Paris, under the protection of Louis XIV., this learned body took up the business with much seriousness, and the result of their labours appears in the Miscellania Curiosa. Dr. Ferrier, in a volume of the Manchester Philosophical Transactions, went to the trouble of making an abstract of one of these French documents, which we prefer giving on account of its conciseness, rather than having rceourse to the original dissertation.
" A malefactor was executed, of whose body a grave- physician got possession for the purpose of dissection. After disposing of the other parts of the body, he ordered his assistant to pulverize part of the cranium, which was a remedy at that time admitted in dispensatories. The powder was left in a paper on the table of the museum, where the assistant slept. About midnight he was awakened by a noise in the room, which obliged him to rise immediately. The noise continued about the table, without any visible agent; and at length he traced it to the powder, in the midst of which he now beheld, to his unspeakable dismay, a small head with open eyes staring at him ; presently two branches appeared, which formed into arms and hands ; then the ribs became visible, which were soon clothed with muscles and integuments ; next the lower extremities sprouted out, and when they appeared perfect, the puppet (for his size was small) reared himself on his feet ; instantly his clothes came upon him, and he appeared in the very cloak he wore at his execution. The affrighted spectator, who stood hitherto mumbling his prayers with great appli- cation, now thought of nothing but making his escape from the revived ruffian ; but this was impossible, for the apparition planted himself in the way, and, after divers fierce looks and threatening gestures, opened the door and went out. No doubt the powder was missing next day."
But older analogous results are on record, indicating that the blood was the chief part of the human frame in which those saline particles resided, the arrangements of which gave rise to the popular notion of ghosts. Dr. Webster, in his book on witchcraft, relates an experiment, given on the authority of Dr. Flud, in which this very satisfactory conclusion was drawn.
" A certain chymical operator, by name La Pierre, near that place in Paris called Le Temple, received blood from the hands of a certain bishop to operate upon. Which he setting to work upon the Saturday, did continue it for a week with divers degrees of fire. But about midnight, the Friday following, this artificer, lying in a chamber next to his laboratory, betwixt sleeping and waking, heard a horrible noise, like unto the lowing of kine, or the roaring of a lion ; and continuing quiet, after the ceasing of the sound in the laboratory, the moon being at the full, and, by shining enlightening the chamber suddenly, betwixt himself and the window he saw a thick little cloud, condensed into an, oval form, which, after, by little and little, did seem com- pletely to put on the shape of a man, and making another and a sharp clamour, did suddenly vanish. And not only some noble persons in the next chambers, but also the host with his wife, lying in a lower room of the house, and also the neighbours dwelling in the opposite side of the street, did distinctly hear as Well the bellowing as. the voice ; and some of them were awaked with the vehemency thereof. But the artificer said, that in this he found solace, because the bishop, of whom he had it, did admonish him, that if any of them from whom the blood was extracted should die, in the time of its putrefaction, his spirit was wont often to appear to the sight of the artificer, with per- turbation. Also forthwith, upon Saturday following, he took the retort from the furnace, and broke it with the light stroke of a little key, and there, in the remaining blood, found the perfect representation of an human head, agreeable in face, eyes, nostrils, mouth, and hairs, that were somewhat thin, and of a golden colour."
Regarding this narrative Webster adds : — " There were many ocular witnesses, as the noble person, Lord of Bour- dalone, the chief secretary to the Duke of Guise ; and he- (Flud) had this relation from the Lord of Menanton, living in that house at the same time, from a certain doctor of physic, from the owner of the house, and many others."
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Palladino, Eusapia : The most famous physical medium of recent years, and one whose phenomena, investigated at length by some of the most distinguished scientists of Britain, France, and Italy, have led many to conclude that . they are genuine manifestations from the spirit world, or that they illustrate the workings of some unknown force. Eusapia was a Neapolitan peasant woman who from her childhood had shown herself possessed of mediumistic powers. In 1892 a group of scientists — Professors Schia- parelli, Brofferio, Geroso, the well-known spiritualist