V. 18. : Novorum Da:moniorum videtur

annunciator, et datam doctrinam exsibil- labunt. Sed isti tenebuntur solvere argu- menta supra posita, et dicere quinam sint Dxmones isti Incubi, vulgo Foletti, qui exorcismos, res sacras, et Christi Crucem non pavent, ac alios effectus istorum, ac phcenomena salvare, qua; nos ex data do- ctrina ostendimus.
104. Solvitur ergo ex his, quce hucus- que deducta sunt, qucestio, quam proposui-
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fessor to destroy that beast, with a view to suppressing the occasion of relapsing, it ' may likewise happen that the penitent de- mon should slay the animal with which it sinned, whether man or beast; nor will death thus occasioned to a man be reckon- ed a sin to the Demon, any more than death inflicted on a beast is imputed as a sin to man ; for, considering the essential difference between a Demon of that kind and man, the man will be the same thing to the Demon as the beast is to man.
103. I am aware that many, perhaps most of my readers, will say of me what the Epicureans and some Stoic Philo- sophers said of St Paul [Acts of the Apostles^ ch. 17, V. 18). « He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods » , and will deride my doctrine. But they will none the less have to answer the foregoing arguments, to show what are those Incubi Demons, commonly called Goblins^ who dread neither exorcisms, nor the holy things, nor the Cross of Christ, and to explain the various effects and phenomena related when pro- pounding that doctrine.
104. What we have hitherto deduced ac- cordingly solves the question laid down
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mus supra n° 3o et n® 34 ; resolutive innuimus, quomodo mulier potest ingravi- dari a dcemone Incubo. Non enim hoc prcestare potest ex semine sumpto ab ho- mine, ut fert communis opinio, quam con- futavimus n° 3i et 32 : sequitur ergo, quod ipsa impra’gnatur a semine Incubi, cum enim animal sit, et generet, proprio pollet semine : et hoc modo optime salvatur ge- neratio Gigantum secuta ex commixtione Filiorum Dei cum Filiabus hominum; nati siquidem sunt ex tali concvbitu Gigantes, qui licet homini essent similes, corpore ta- men erant majores : et quamvis a Damio- nibus geniti, viribus proinde pollerent, non tamen Da’monum vires et potentiam cpqua- bant, ut sequitur in mulis, hinnis et burdo- nibus, qui medii quodammodo sunt inter eas species animalium, a quibus promiscue generantur , et superant quidem imper/e- ctiorem, non attingunt autem perfectiorem speciem generantium : mulus enim supe- rat asinum, sed non cequat perfectionem equce, a quibus generatur.
io5. Confirmat autem hanc sententiam consideratio, quod animalia genita excom- mixtione diversarum specierum non gene-
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N'® 3o and 34, to wit : how a woman can be got with child by an Incubus Demon? In fact, it cannot be brought about by sperm assumed from a man, agreeably to the common opinion which we confuted, N" 3 1 and 32; it follows, therefore, that she is directly impregnated by the sperm of the Incubus, which, being an animal and capable of breeding, has sperm of its own. And thus is fully explained the begetting of Giants from the intercourse of the Sons of God with the Daughters of men : for that intercourse gave birth to Giants who, although like unto men, were of higher stature, and, though begotten by Demons, and consequently of great strength, yet equalled them neither in might nor in power. It is the same with mules, which are intermediate, as it were, between the kinds of animals from whose proraiscuousness they are sprung, and which excel indeed the most imperfect, but never equal the most perfect : thus, the mule excels the ass, but does not attain the perfection of the mare, which have begotten it.
io5. In confirmation of the above infer- ence, we observe that animals sprung from the mixing of different kinds do not
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rant; sed sunt sterilia, ut patet in mulis. Gigantes autem non leguntiir Gigantes generasse, sed 7tatos a Filiis Dei, pula In- cubis, et Filiabus liominum : cum cnini con- cepti fuerint e.v semine Dcemoniaco mixto cum humano, non potuerunt, tamquam medice speciei inter Daunonem et hominem, generare.
loG. Dicelur fortasse contra hoc, non posse, ex semine Dcemonum, quod pro sui natura opportet esse tenuissimum , fieri mixturai7i cwn semine humano, quod cras- sum est; unde nec generatio sequi possit.
107. Respondeo quod, ut dictum fuit su- pra n° 32 : virtus generandi consistit in spiritu, qiii simul cum materia spumosa et viscida deciditur a generante; sequitur ex hoc, quod semen Dcemonis quantumvis te- nuissimum, quia tamen materiale , optime potest commisceri cum spiritu materiali seminis humani, ac fieri generatio.
108. Replicabitur adhuc contra conclu- sionem, quod si vere fuisset Gigantum ge- neratio ex semine Incuborum et Mulierum,
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breed, but are barren, as is seen with mules. Now we do not read of Giants having been begotten by other Giants, but of their having been born of the Sons of God, tjiat is Incubi, and the Daughters of men : being thus begotten of the Demoniac sperm mixed with the human sperm, and being, as it were, an intermediate species between the Demon and man, they had no generative power.
106. It may be objected that the sperm of Demons, which must, by nature, be most fluid, could not mix with the human sperm, which is thick, and that, conse- quently, no generation would ensue.
107. I reply that, as has been said above, N’’ 32, the generative power lies in the spirit that comes from the generator at the same time as the spumy and viscous matter; it follows that, although most liquid , the sperm of the Demon , being nevertheless material, can very well mix with the material spirit of the human sperm, and bring about generation.
108. It will be retorted that, if the gene- ration of Giants had really come from the combined sperms of Incubi and Women,
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)iunc quoque Gigantes nasccrentur : non de- sunt enim mulieres coeuntes cum Incubis, ut patet ex gestis SS. Bernardi et Petri de Alcantara, et aliarum historiarum, quce passim ab auctoribus recitantur.
109. Respondeo, quod prout ex Guaccio dictum fiiit supra n° 81 : alii sunt hujus- modi Dcemones terrei , alii aquei, aerei alii, et alii ignei, qui respective in propriis corum elementis habitant. Videmus autem animalia eo majora esse quo majus est elementum in quo degunt, ut patet in pis- cibus, inter quos licet multi sint minuti, ut etiam sunt plura animalia terrestria minu- tissima , et tamen quia elementum aqua.’ majus est elemento terrce (utpote continens majus semper est contento), ideo pisccs a tota specie superant in magnitudine molis animalia terrestria, ut patet in balenis, or- cynis , pistis sen pistricibus, thynnis, ac aliis piscibus cetaccis, sen viviparis, qui quodvis animal terrestre longe superant. Porro cum Dcemones hujusmodi animalia sint, ut hucusque probatum est , eo erunt majores in magnitudine quo elementum majus pro sui natura inhabit abunt. Et cum aer excedat aquam, et ignis aere major sit, sequitur, quod Dcemones atherei ac
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Giants would still be born in our time, since there is no lack of women who have intercourse with Incubi, as is shown by the Acts of St Bernard and Peter of Al- cantara, and other stories related by various authors.
109. I reply that, as has been said above, N"" 81, from Guaccius, some of those De- mons are earthly, some aqueous, some aerial, some igneous, and they all dwell in their respective element. Now, it is well known that animals are of larger size, according to the element they live in ; thus with fishes, many of which are diminutive, it is true, as happens with animals that live on land; but, the element water being larger than the element earth, since the container is always larger than the con- tents, fishes as a species, surpass in size the animals that dwell on land, as shown by whales, tunnies, cachalots, and other cetaceous and viviparous fish which surpass by far all animals that live on land. Conse- quently, these Demons being animals, as has been shown, their size will be propor- tionate to the extent of the element they dwell in, according to their nature. And, air being more extensive than water, and fire than air, it follovvs that ethereal and
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ignei longe superabunt terrestres et aqueos, turn ill mole corporis, turn in virtute. Ncc contra hoc facit instantia de avibus, qui licet incolant aerem , qui major est aqua, tamen corpore minores sunt a tota specie piscibus et quadrupedibus, quia aves, licet per aerem volatu spatientur, revera tamen pertinent ad elementum terrcc, in qua quiescunt ; aliter cnim pisces nonnulli qui volant, ut hirundo marina, et alii, did deberent animalia aerea, quod falsum est.
iio. Advertendum autem, quod post di- luvium aer iste terraqueo globo citissimus magis incrassatus est ex humiditate aqua- rum, quam fuerit ante diluvium, et hinc forte est, quod ex tali liumido, quod est principium corruptionis, fiat , quod homi- nes non a’tatem ita producant, ut faciebant ante diluvium. Ex ista autem aeris crassi- tie fit, quod Dannones cetherei, ac ignei, ca’teris corpulentiores , nequeunt diutius manere in hoc acre crasso, et si descendunt aliquando hoc fit violenter, et eo modo quo urinatores ad ima maris descendunt.
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Igneous Demons will by far surpass their earthly and aqueous fellows, both in stat- ure and might. It would be to no purpose to instance, as an objection, birds which, although inhabitants of the air, a more extensive element than water, are smaller, . as a species, than fishes and quadrupeds; for, if birds do indeed travel through the air by means of their wings, they no less belong to the element earth, where they rest; otherwise, some fishes that fly, such as the sea swallow, would have to be classed among aerial animals , which is not.
110. Now, it must be observed that, after the flood, the air which surrounds our earthy and aqueous globe, became, from the damp of the waters, thicker than it had been before; and, damp being the principle of corruption, that may be the reason why men do not live as long as they did before the flood. It is also on account of that thickness of the air that ethereal and igneous Demons, more cor- pulent than the others, can no longer dwell in that thick atmosphere , and if they do descend into it occasionally, do so only by force, much as divers descend into the depths of the sea.
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111. AtUe diluvium autem, cum adhuc aer non ita crassus erat, veniepant Dcvmo- ncs, et cum mulieribus miscebantur, et gi- gantes procreabant , qui magnitudinem corpoream Dcemonum generantium ccmii- labantur. Nunc vero ita non est : Dcemo- nes enim Incubi, qui foeminas inccssunt, sunt aquei quorum corporis moles magna non est : et proinde in forma homuncionum apparent, ct quia aquei etiam salacissimi sunt; luxuria enim in humido est : ut proinde Venerem e mari natam Poetce fin- xcrint, quod Mythologi explicant de li- bidine, qua’ oritur ab humiditate. Cum ergo Da’mones, qui corpore parvi sunt his temporibus mulieres impragnent , non gi- gantes, sed staturce ordinarice filii nas- cuntur. Sciendum porro quod si miscentur corporaliter cum mulieribus Dcemones in sua ipsorum corpulentia naturali , nulla facta immutatione aut artificio, mulieres illos non vident, nisi tanquam umbram pane incertam, ac quasi insensibilem, ut patet in muliere ilia, de qua diximus supra n° 28., qua osculabatur ab incubo , cujus tactus VIA- ab ea sentiebatur. Qjiando vero volunt se visibiles amasiis reddere, atque ipsis delectationem in congressu carnali afferre, sibi indumentum visibile assumiint, et corpus crassum reddunt. Qua vero hoc
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