because thou hast denyed thy faith thy health and salvation For thy great disobedience thou art worthy to be condemned Therefore let the divine trinity thrones dominions principats potestats virtutes cherubim and seraphim and all the soules of saints both of men and women condemn thee for ever and be a witnesse against thee at the day of judgement because of thy disobedience And let all creatures of our Lord Jesus Christ say thereunto Fiat fiat fiat Amen And when he is appeared in the crystall stone as is said before bind him with this bond as followeth to wit I conjure thee spirit N. that an appeared to me in this crystall stone to me and to my fellow I conjure thee by all the royall words aforesaid the which did constrain thee to appeare therein and their vertues I charge thee by them all that thou shall not depart out of this crystall stone untill my will being fulfilled thou be licensed to depart I conjure and bind thee spirit N. by that omnipotent God which commanded the angell S. Michaâ—ll to drive Lucifer out of the heavens with a sword of vengeance and to fall from joy to paine and for dread of such paine as he is in I charge thee spirit N. that thou shalt not goe out of the crystall stone nor yet to alter thy shape at this time except I command thee otherwise but to come unto me at all places and in all houres and minutes when and wheresoever I shall call thee by the vertue of our Lord Jesus Christ or by any conjuration of words that is written in this book and to shew me and my friends true visions in this crystall stone of any thing or things that we would see at any time or times and also to goe and fetch me the fairy Sibylla that I may talk with her in all kinde of talk as I shall call her by any conjuration of words contained in this book I conjure thee spirit N. by the great wisdome and divinity of his Godhead my will to fulfill as is aforesaid I charge thee upon pain of condemnation both in this world and in the world to come Fiat fiat fiat Amen I conjure thee spirit N. in this crystall stone by God the father by God the son Jesus Christ and by God the Holy Ghost three persons and one God and by their vertues I conjure thee spirit that thou do goe in peace and also to come again to me quickly and to bring with thee into that circle appointed Sibylia fairie that I may talk with her in those matters that shall be to her honour and glory and so I change thee declare unto her I conjure thee spirit N. by the bloud of the innocent lamb the which redeemed all the world by the vertue thereof I charge thee thou spirit in the crystal stone that thou do declare unto her this message Also I conjure thee spirit N. by all angels and archangels thrones dominations principats potestates virtues cherubim and seraphim and by their vertues and powers I conjure thee N. that thou do depart with speed and also to come again with speed and to bring with thee the fairie Sibylia to appeare in that circle before I doe read the conjuration in this booke seven times Thus I charge thee my will to be fulfilled upon pain of everlasting condemnation Fiat fiat fiat Amen Then the figure aforesaid pinned on thy brest rehearse the words therein and say ✚ Sorthie ✚ Sorthia ✚ Sorthios ✚ then begin your conjuration as followeth here and say I conjure thee Sibylia O gentle virgine of fairies by the mercy of the Holy Ghost and by the dreadfull day of doom and by their vertues and powers I conjure thee Sibylia O gentle virgin of fairies and by all the angels of ♃ and their characters and vertues and by all the spirits of ♃ and ♀ and their characters and vertues and by all the characters that be in the firmanent and by the king and queen of fairies and their vertues and by the faith and obedience that thou bearest unto them I conjure thee Sibylia by the bloud that ran out of the side of our Lord Jesus Christ crucified and by the opening of heaven and by the renting of the Temple and by the darknesse of the Sunne in the time of his death and by the rising up of the dead in the time of his resurrection and by the Virgin Mary Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the unspeakable name of God Tetragrammaton I conjure thee O Sibylia O blessed and beautifull Virgine by all the riall words aforesaid I conjure thee Sibylia by all their vertues to appeare in that circle before me visible in the form and shape of a beautifull woman in a bright and white vesture adorned and garnished most fair and to appeare to me quickly without deceit or tarrying and that thou faile not to fulfill my will and desire effectually For I will choose thee to be my blessed virgin and will have common copulation with thee Therefore make hast and speed to come unto me and to appear as I have said before To whom be honor and glory for ever ever Amen The which done and ended if thee come not repeat the conjuration till they doe come for doubtlesse they will come And when shee is appeared take your censers and incense her with frankincense then bind her with the bond as followeth I doe conjure thee Sibylia by God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Ghost three persons and one God and by the blessed virgine Mary mother of our Lord Jesus Christ and by all the whole and holy company of heaven and by the dreadfull day of doome and by all angels and archangels thrones dominations principates potestates virtutes cherubim and seraphim and their vertues and powers I conjure thee and binde thee Sibylia that thou shalt not depart out of the circle wherein thou art appeared nor yet to alter thy shape except I give thee licence to depart I conjure thee Sibylia by the bloud that ran out of the side of our Lord Jesus Christ crucified and by the vertue hereof I conjure thee Sibylia to come to me and to appeare to me at all times visibly as the conjuration of words leadeth written in this book I conjure thee Sibylia O blessed Virgine of fairies by the opening of heaven and by the renting of the Temple and by the darknesse of the Sun at the time of his death and by the rising of the dead in the time of his glorious resurrection and by the unspeakable name of God ✚ Tetragrammaton ✚ and by the king and queen of fairies and by their vertues I conjure thee Sibylia to appeare before the conjuration be read over four times and that visibly to appeare as the conjuration leadeth written in this book and to give mee good counsell at all times and to come by treasures hidden in the earth and all other things
sort as is elsewhere expressed already in this 〈◊〉 treatise A figure or type proportionall shewing what form must be observed and kept in making the figure whereby the former secret of inclosing a spirit in crystall is to be accomplished c. CHAP. XIII An experiment of Bealphares THis is proved the noblest carrier that ever did serve any man upon the earth and here beginneth the inclosing of the said spirit and how to have a true answer of him without any craft or harm and he will appeare unto thee in the likenesse of a fair man or fair woman the which spirit will come to thee at all times And if thou wilt command him to tell thee of hidden treasures that be in any place hee will tell it thee or if thou wilt command him to bring to thee gold or silver he will bring it thee or if thou wilt goe from one country to another he will bear thee without any harm of body or soul. Therefore he that will doe this work shall abstaine from leacherousnesse and drunkennesse and from false swearing and doe all the abstinence that he may doe and namely three dayes before he goe to work and in the third day when the night is come and when the starres doe shine and the element faire and clear he shall bath himselfe and his fellows if he have any all together in a quick welspring Then he must be cloathed in cleane white cloathes and he must have another privy place and beare him inke and pen wherewith he shall write this holy name of God Almighty in his right hand ✚ Agla ✚ and in his left hand this name ✚ ♊ â—â—◠✚ and he must have a dry thong of a lions or of a hâ—â—e skin and make thereof a girdle write the holy names of God all above and in the end ✚ A Ω ✚ And upon his brest he must have this presenâ— figure or mark written in virgin parchment as it is here shewed And it must bâ—sowed upon a peece of new linnen anâ— so made fast upon thy brest And if thoâ— wilt have a fellow to worke with thee hee must bee appointed in the same manner You must have also a bright knife that was never occupied and hee must write on the one side of the blade of the knife ✚ Agla ✚ and on the other side of the knifes blade ✚ ♊ â—â—◠✚ And with the same knife he must make a circle as hereafter followeth the which is called Salomons circle When that hee is made goe into the circle and close again the place there where thâ— wentest in with the same knife and say Per crucis hoâ— signum ✚ suâ— at procui omne malignum Et per idem signum ✚ salvetur quodque bexâ—num By the sign of the Crosse ✚ may all evill fly farre away and by the same signe ✚ may all that is good be preserved and make suffurâ—gations to thy self and to thy fellow or fellows with frankincense mâ—stike lignum aloes then put it in wine and say with good devotion in the worship of the high God Almighty all together that he may defend you from all evils And when he that is master will close the spirit he shall say towards the east with meeke and devout devotion these psalmes and prayers as followeth here in order The two and twentieth Psalm O My God my God look upon me why hast thou forsaken me and art so farre from my health and from the words of my complaint And so forth to the end of the same psalm as it is to bee found in the book This psalm also following being the fifty one psalme must be said three times ever c. HAve mercy upon me O God after thy great goodnesse according to the multitude of thy mercies doe away mine offences And so forth to the end of the same psalm concluding it with Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end Amen Then say this verse O Lord leave not my soul with the wicked nor my life with the bloud-thirsty Then say a Pater noster an Ave Maria and a Credo ne nos inducas O Lord shew us thy mercy and we shall be saved Lord heare our prayer and let our cry come unto thee Let us pray O Lord God almighty as thou warnedst by thine angell the three kings of Cullen Iasper Mâ—lchior and Balthasar when they came with worshipfull presents toward Bethlehem Iasper brought myrrh Melchior incense Balthasar gold worshipping the high king of all the world Jesus Gods son of heaven the second peâ—son in Trinity being born of the holy and clean virgine S. Mary queen of heaven empresse of hell and lady of all the world at that time the holy angell Gabriel warned and had the foresaid three kings that they should take another way for dread of perill that Herod the king by his ordinance would have destroyed these three noble kings that meekly sought out our Lord and Saviour As wittily and truly as these three Kings turned for dread and took another way so wisely and so truly O Lord God of thy mightifull mercy blesse uâ— now at this time for thy blessed passion save us and keep us all together from all evill and thy holy angell defend us Let us pray O Lord King of all Kings which containest the throne of heavens and beholdest all deeps weighest the hils and shuttest up with thy hand the earth hear us most meekeâ—t God and grant unto us being unworthy according to thy great mercy to have the verity and vertue of knowledge of hidden treasure by this spirit invoÌ„cated through thy help O Lord Jesus Christ to whom be all honour and glory from worlds to worlds everlastingly Amen Then say these names ✚ Helic ✚ â—ely◠✚ essejero ✚ Dâ—us â—â—ternus ✚ cloy ✚ clemen◠✚ â—eloye ✚ Deus sanctus ✚ sabâ—oti ✚ Deus exercâ—â—â—â—donay ✚ Deus mirabilis ✚ jao ✚ verax ✚ anephâ—neton ✚ Deus ineffabilis ✚ sodoy ✚ dominator dominus ✚ on sortissimus ✚ Deus ✚ qui the which wouldest be prayed unto of sinners receive we beseech thee these sacrifices of praise and our meek prayers which we unworthy doe offer unto thy divine majesty Deliver us and have mercy upon us and prevent with thy holy spirit this work and with thy blessed help to follow after that this our work begun of thee may be ended by thy mighty power Amen Then say this anon after ✚ homo ✚ sacarus ✚ Museolameus ✚ â—heruborca ✚ being the figure upon thy brest aforesaid the girdle about thee the circle made blesse the circle with holy water and sit down in the midst and read this conjuration as followeth sitting back to back at the first time I exorcise and conjure Bealphares the practiser and preceptor of this art by the maker of heavens and of earth and by his vertue
I. The Hebrew word Nahas expounded of the art of augury who invented it how slovenly a science it is the multitude of sacrifices and sacrificers of the heathen and the causes thereof NAHAS is to observe the flying of birds and comprehendeth all such other observations where men do ghesse upon uncertain toies It is found in Deut. 18. and in 2. Chron. 33. and elsewhere Of this art of augury Tyresias the king of the Thebans is said to be the first inventor but Tages first published the discipline thereof being but a little boy as Cicero reporteth out of the bookes of the Hetruscans themselves Some points of this art are more high and profound than some others yet are they more homely and slovenly then the rest as namely the divination upon the entrails of beasts which the Gentiles in their sacrifices specially observed Insomuch as Marcus Varro seeing the absurdity thereof said that these gods were not only idle but very slovens that used so to hide their secrets and councels in the guts and bowels of beasts How vainly absurdly and superstitiously the heathen used this kind of divination in their sacrifices is manifested by their actions and ceremonies in that behalfe practised as well in times past as at this hour The Aegyptians had 666. several sorts and kinds of sacrifices the Romans had almost as many the Graecians had not so few as they the Persians and the Medes were not behind them the Indians and other nations have at this instant their sacrifices full of variety and more full of barbarous impiety For in sundry places these offer sacrifices to the devil hoping thereby to move him to lenity yea these commonly sacrifice such of their enemies as they have taken in war as we reade that the Gentiles in ancient time did offer sacrifice to appease the wrath and indignation of their feigned gods CHAP. II. Of the Iews sacrifice to Moloch a discourse thereupon and of Purgatory THe Jewes used one kind of diabolical sacrifice never taught them by Moses namely to offer their children to Moloch making their sonnes and their daughters to runne through the fiâ—e supposing such grace and efficacy to have been in that action as other witcheâ— affirm to be in charmes and words And therefore among other points of witchcraft this is specially and namely forbidden by Moses We reade of no more miracles wrought hereby than by any other kind of witchcraft in the old or new Testament expressed It was no ceremony appointed by God no figure of Christ perhaps it might be a sacrament or rather a figure of purgatory the which place was not remembred by Moses Neither was there any sacrifice appointed by the law for the releefe of the Israelites soules that there should be tormented Which without all doubt should not have beene omitted if any such place of purgatory had been then as the Pope hath lately devised for his private and speciall lucre This sacrificing to Moloch as some affirme was usual among the Gentiles from whence the Jewes brought it into Israel and there of likelyhood the Eutichists learned the obomination in that behalfe CHAP. III. The Canibals cruelty of popish sacrifices exceeding in tyranny the Iewes or Gentiles THe incivility and cruel sacrifices of popish priests do yet exceed both the Jew and the Gentile for these take upon them to sacrifice Christ himselfe And to make their tyranny the more apparent they are not contended to have killed him once but dayly and hourely torment him with new deaths yea they are not ashamed to sweare that with their carnal hands they teare his humane substance breaking it into small gobbets and with their external teeth chew his flesh and bones contrary to divine or humane nature and contrary to the prophesie which saith There shall not a bone of him be broken Finally in the end of their sacrifices as they say they eate him up rawe and swallow downe into their guts every member and parcel of him and last of all that they convey him into the place where they bestowe the residue of all that which they have devoured that day And this same barbarous impiety exceedeth the cruelty of all others for all the Gentiles consumed their sacrifices with fire which they thought to be holy CHAP. IV. The superstition of the heathen about the element of fire and how it grew in such reverence among them of their corruptions and that they had some inkling of the godly fathers doings in that behalfe AS touching the element of fire and the superstition thereof about those businesses you shall understand that many superstitious people of all nations have received and reverenced as the most holy thing among their sacrifices insomuch I say as they have worshipped it among their gods calling it Orimasda to wit holy fire and divine light The Greekes called it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Romans Vesta which is The fire of the Lord. Surely they had heard of the fire that came downe from heaven and consumed the oblations of the fathers and they understood it to be God himselfe For there came to the heathen the bare names of things from the doctrine of the godly fathers and patriarches and those so obscured with fables and corrupted with lies so overwhelmed with superstitions disguised with ceremonies that it is hard to judge from whence they came Some cause thereof I suppose was partly the translations of governments whereby one nation learned folly of another and partly blind devotion without knowledge of Gods word but specially the want of Grace which they sought not for according to Gods commandement and will And that the Gentiles had some inkling of the godly fathers doings may diversly appeare Do not the Muscovits and Indian prophets at this day like apes imitate Esay Because he went naked certaine years they forsooth counterfeit madnes and drink potions for that purpose thinking that whatsoever they say in their madnesse will certainly come to passe But hereof is more largely discoursed before in the word Kasam CHAP. V. Of the Romane sacrifices of the estimation they had of augury of the law of the twelve tables THe Romans even after they were growne to great civility and enjoyed a most flourishing state and common-wealth would sometimes sacrifice themselves sometimes their children sometimes their friends c. consuming the same with fire which they thought holy Such estimation I say was attributed to that of divination upon the entrails of beasts c. At Rome the chiefe princes themselves exercised the same namely Romulus Fabius Maximus c. insomuch as there was a decree made there by the whole senate that â—ix of the cheefe magistrates sonnes should from time to time be put forth to learne the mystery of these arts of augury and divination at Hetruria where the cunning and knowledge thereof most abounded When they came home well informed and instructed in this art their estimation and dignity was such as
that is to do me pleasure and to fulfill my will without any deceit or tarrying nor yet that thou shalt have any power of my body or soul earthly or ghostly nor yet to perish so much of my body as one haire of my head I conjure thee Sibylia by all the riall words aforesaid and by their vertues and powers I charge and binde thee by the vertue thereof to be obedient unto me and to all the words aforesaid and this bond to stand between thee and me upon pain of everlasting condemnation Fiat fiat fiat Amen CHAP. IX A license for Sibylia to goe and come by at all times I Conjure thee Sibyliae which art come hither before me by the commandement of thy Lord and mine that thou shalt have no powers is thy going or comming unto me imagining any evill in any manner of wayes in the earth or under the earth of evill doings to any person or persons I conjure and command thee Sibylia by all the riall work and vertues that be written in this Book that thou shalt not goe to the place from whence thou camest but shalt remaine peaceably invisibly and look thou be ready to come unto me when thou are called by any conjuration of words that be written in this book to come I say at my commandement and to answer unto me truly and duly of all things my will quickly to be fulfilled Vade in pace in nomine patris filii spirtus sancti And the holy ✚ crosse ✚ be between thee and me or between us and you and the Lion of Iuda the root of Iesse the kindred of David be between thee and mee ✚ Christ commeth ✚ Christ commandeth ✚ Christ giveth power ✚ Christ defend me ✚ and his innocent bloud ✚ from all perils of body and soul sleeping or waking Fiat fiat Amen CHAP. X. To know of treasure hidden in the earth WRite in paper these characters following on the saturday in the 〈◊〉 of ☽ and lay it where thou thinkest treasure to be if there be any the paper will burn else not And these be the characters This is the way to goe invisible by these three sisters of Fairies In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost First goe to a fair parlor or chamber and an even ground and in no lost and from people nine dayes for it is the better and let all thy clothing be clean and sweet Then make a candle of Virgine wax and light it and make a faire fire of charcoles in a fair place in the midle of the parlour or chamber Then take fair clean water that runneth against the east and set it upon the fire and yet thou wathest thy selfe say these words going about the fire three times holding the candle in the right hand ✚ Panthon ✚ Craton ✚ Muriton ✚ Lisecognaton ✚ Seston ✚ Diaton ✚ Maton ✚ Tetâ—agrammaton ✚ Agla ✚ Agarion ✚ Tegra ✚ Pentessaron ✚ Tendicata ✚ Then rehearse these names ✚ So thie ✚ Sorthia ✚ Sortheos ✚ Milia ✚ Achilia ✚ Sibylia ✚ In nomine patris filii spiritus sancti Amen I conjure you three sisters of fairies Milia Achilia Sibylia by the Father by the Son and by the Holy Ghost and by their vertues and powers and by the most mercifull and living God that will command his angell to blow the trump at the day of Judgement and he shall say Come come come to judgement and by all angels archangels thrones dominations principats potestaâ—es virtutes cherubim and seraphim and by their vertues and powers I conjure you three sisters by the vertue of all the riall words aforesaid I charge you that you doe appeare before me visibly in form and shape of faire women in white vestures and to bring with you to me the ring of invisibility by the which I may goe invisible at mine owne will and pleasure and that in all houres and minutes In nomine patris filii spiritus sancti Amen * Being appeared say this bond following O blessed virgins ✚ Milia ✚ Achili◠✚ I conjure you in the name of the Father in the name of the Son and in the name of the Holy Ghost by their vertues I charge you to depart from me in peace for a time And Sibylia I conjure thee by the vertue of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the vertue of his flesh and pretious bloud that he took of our blessed Lady the Virgine and by all the holy company in heaven I charge thee Sibylia by all the vertues aforesaid that thou be obedient unto me in the name of God that when and in what time and place I shall call thee by this foresaid conjuration written in this book looke thou be ready to come unto me at all houres and minutes and to bring unto me the ring of invisibility whereby I may goe invisible at my will and pleasure and that at all houres and minutes Fiat fiat Amen And if he come not the first night then doe the same the second night and so the third night untill they doe come for doubtlesse they will come and lie thou in thy bed in the same parlor or chamber And lay thy right hand out of the bed and look thou have a faire silken kercher bound abound thy head and be not afraid they will doe thee no harm For there will come before thee three fair women and all in white clothing and one of them will put a ring upon thy finger wherewith thou shalt goe invisible Then with speed bind them with the bond aforesaid When thou hast this ring on thy finger looke in a glasse and thou shalt not see thy self And when thou wilt goe invisible put in on thy finger the same finger that they did put it on and every new ☽ renew it again For after the first time thou shalt ever have it and ever begin this work in the new of the ☽ and in the houre of ♃ and the ☽ in ♋ ♠♓ CHAP. XI An experiment following of Citrael c. angeli diei dominici Say first the prayers of the angels every day for the space of seaven dayes O Ye glorious angels written in this square be you my coadjutors and helpers in all qâ—estions and demands in all my businesse and other causes by him which shall â—ome to judge both the quick and the dead and the world by fire O angeli gloriosi in hac quadra scripti estote câ—adjutores auxiliatores in omnibus quaestionibus intervogationibus in omnibus negotiis caeterisque causis per eum qui venturus est judicare vivos mortuos mumdum per ignem Say this prayer fasting called Regina linguae ✚ Lemae ✚ solma ac ✚ elmay ✚ gezagra ✚ raamaasin ✚ ezierego ✚ mial ✚ egziephiaz Iosamin ✚ sabach ✚ ha ✚ aem ✚ re ✚ be ✚ esepha ✚ sephar ✚ â—â—mar ✚ semoit ✚ lemajo ✚ pheralon ✚ amic ✚
is expressely called upon the names of persons are not expressed but almighty and everlasting God invocated who abideth in trinity and unity it doth easily appear elsewhere also that the persons being not named under the name of almighty everlasting God not only the father to be understood but God which abideth in trinity and unity that is the father the sonne and the Holy-ghost A third objection of theirs is this The sonne of God oftentimes praying in the gospels speaking unto the father promiseth the holy spirit and doth also admonish the apostles to pray unto the heavenly father but yet in the name of the sonne Besides that he prescribeth them this forme of prayer Our father which art in heaven Ergo the father only is to be called upon and consequently the father only is that one and very true God of whom it is written Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve Whereto I answer first by denying the consequent The son prayed to the father only Ergo the father only is of us also to be prayed unto For the sonne of God is distinguished of us both in person and in office he as a mediator maketh intercession for us to the father and although the sonne and the holy spirit do both together receive and take us into favour with God yet is he said to intreat the father for us because the father is the fountain of all counsels and divine works Furthermore touching the forme of praying described of Christ it is not necessary that the fathers name should personally be there taken sith there is no distinction of persons made but by the name of father indefinitely wee understand God or the essence of God the father the sonne and the Holy-ghost For this name hath not alwaies a respect unto the generation of the sonne of God but God is called the father of the faithfull because of his gracious and free adopting of them the foundation whereof is the son of God in whom we be adopted but yet so adopted that not the father only receiveth us into his favour but with him also the sonne and the holy spirit doth the same Therefore when we in the beginning of prayer do advertise our selves of Gods goodnesse towards us we doe not cast an eye to the father alone but also to the sonne who gave us the spirit of adoption and to the holy spirit in whom we cry Abba Father And if so be that invocation and prayer were restrained to the father alone then had the saints done amisse in calling upon invocating and praying to the son of God and with the son the holy spirit in baptisme according to the forme by Christ himselfe assigned and delivered Another objection is out of the fourth of Amos in this manner For lo it is I that make the thunder and create the spirit and shew unto men their Christ making the light and the clouds and mounting above the high places of the earth the Lord God of hosts is his name Now because it is read in that place shewing unto men their Christ the Pneumatomachi contended that these words are to be understood of the holy spirit But Ambrose in his book De spiritu sancto lib. 2. cap. 7. doth rightly answer that by spirit in this place is meant the wind for if the prophets purpose and will had been to speak of the holy spirit he would not have begunne with thunder nor have ended with light and clouds Howbeit the same father saith If any suppose that these words are to be drawn unto the interpretation of the holy spirit because the prophet saith Shewing unto men their Christ he ought also to draw these words unto the mystery of the Lords incarnation and he expoundeth thunder to be the words of the Lord and spirit to be the reasonable and perfect soul. But the former interpretation is certain and convenient with the words of the prophet by whom there is no mention made of Christ but the power of God is set forth in his works Behold saith the prophet he that formeth the mountains and createth the wind and declareth unto man what is his thought which maketh the morning darknesse and walketh upon the high places of the earth the Lord God of hosts is his name In this sort Santes a right skilfull man in the Hebrew tongue translateth this place of the prophet But admit this place were written of the holy spirit and were not appliable either to the wind or to the Lords incarnation yet doth it not follow that the holy spirit is a creature because this word of Creating doth not alwaies signifie a making of something out of nothing 〈◊〉 Eusebius in expounding these words The Lord created me in the beginning of his wayes writeth thus The prophet in the person of God saying Behold I am he that made the thunder and created the spirit and shewed unto men their Christ this word created is not so to be taken as that it is to be concluded thereby that the same was not before For God hath not so created the spirit sithence by the same he hath shewed and declared his Christ unto all men Neither was it a thing of late beginning under the sonne but it was before all beginning and was then sent when the apostles were gathered together when a sound like thunder came from heaven as it had been the comming of a mighty wind this word Created being used for sent downe for appointed ordained c. and the word thunder signifying in another kind of manner the preaching of the gospels The like saying is that of the Psalmist A clean heart create in me O God wherein he prayed not as one having no heart but as one that had such a heart as needed purifying as needed perfecting and this phrase also of the scripture that he might create two in one new man that is that he might join couple or gather together c. Furthermore the Pneumaâ—omachi by these testimonies insuing endeavour to prove the holy spirit to be a creature Out of Iohn the 1. cha By this word were all things made and without it nothing was made Out of the 1 Cor. 8. We have one God the father even he from whom are all things c we in him and one Lord Jesus Christ through whom are all things and we by him Out of the 1. Coloss. By him were all things made things in heaven and things in earth visible and invisible c. Now if all things were made by the sonne it followeth that by him the holy spirit was also made Whereto I answer that when all things are said to be made by the sonne that same universall proposition is restrained by Iohn himself to a certain kind of things Without him saith the evangelist was nothing made that was made Therefore it is first to be shewed that the holy spirit was made and then will we conclude out
the person of the deity I mean the spirit of sanctification to oppose mans power mans wit mans policy c. which was well signified by that poeticall fiction of the giants who were termed Anguipedes Snakefooted which as Ioachimus Cameravius expoundeth of wicked counsellours to whose filthy perswasions tyrants doe trust as unto their feet and Iames Sadolet interpreteth of philosophers who trusting over much unto their own wits become so bold in challenging praise for their wisdome that in fine all turneth to folly and confusion so I expound of heretikes and schismatikes who ' either by corrupt doctrine or by maintaining precise opinions or by open violence c. assay to overthrow the true religion to break the unity of the church to deny Caesar his homage and God his duty c. and therefore let Iovis fulmen wherewith they were slain assure these that there is Divina ultio due to all such as dare in the ficklenesse of their fancies arrear themselves against the holy spirit of whom sith they are ashamed hereupon earth otherwise they would confidently boldly confesse him both with mouth and pen he will be ashamed of them in heaven where they are like to be so farre from having any society with the saints that their portion shall be even in full and shaken measure with miscreants and infidels And therefore let us if we will discerne and try the spirits whether they be of God or no seek for the illumination of this inlightning spirit which as it bringeth light with it to discover all spirits so it giveth such a fiery heat as that no false spirit can abide by it for fear of burning Howbeit the holy spirit must be in us otherwise this prerogative of trying spirits will not fall to our lot But here some will peradventure move a demand and do aske how the holy spirit is in us considering that Infiniti ad infinitum nulla est proportio neque loci angustia quod immensum est potest circumscribi of that which is infinite to that which is finite there is no proportion neither can that which is unmeasurable be limited or bounded within any précinct of place c. I answer that the most excellent father for Christs sake sendeth him unto us according as Christ promised us in the person of his apostles The comforter saith he which is the holy spirit whom my father will send in my name And as for proportion of that which is infinite to that which is finite c. I wil in no case have it thought that the holy spirit is in us as a body placed in a place terminably but to attribute thereunto as duly belongeth to the deity an ubiquity or universall presence not corporally and palpably but effectually mightily mystically divinely c. Yea and this I may boldly adde that Christ Jesus sendeth him unto us from the father neither is he given us for any other end but to inrich us abundantly with all good gifts and excellent graces and among the rest with the discerning of spirits aright that we be not deceived And here an end FINIS The summe of every chapter contained in the sixteene books of this discovery with the discourse of divels and spirits annexed thereunto The first Booke AN impeachment of witchespower in meteors and elementary bodies tending to the rebuke of such as attribute too much unto them Pag. 1. The inconvenience growing by mens credulity herein with a reproofe of some churchmen which are inclined to the common conceived opinion of witches oâ—nipotency and a familiar example thereof pag. 3. Who they be that are called witches with a manifest declaration of the cause that moveth men so commonly to thinke witches themselves to beleeve that they can hurt children cattell c. with words and imaginations and of cousening witches pag. 5. What miraculous actions are imputed to witches by witchmongers papists and poets pag. 6. A confutation of the common conceived opinion of witches and witchcraft and how detestable a sinne it is to repaire to them for counsell or helpe in time of affliction pag. 8. A further confutation of witches miraculous and omnipotent power by invincible reasons and authorities with dissuasions from such sond credulity pag. 9. What meanes the name of witches becommeth so famous and how diversly people be opinioned concerning them and their actions pa. 10. Causes that move as well witches themselves as others to thinke that they can work impossibilities with answers to certaine objections where also their punishment by law is touched pag. 11. A conclusion of the first book wherein is foreshewed the tyrannicall cruelty of witchmongers and inquisitors with a request to the reader to peruse the same pag. 12. The second Booke WHat testimonies and witnesses are allowed to give evidence against reputed witches by the report and allowance of the inquisitors themselves and such as are speciall writers herein Pag. 13. The order of examination of witches by the inquisitors ibid. Matters of evidence against witches pag. 15. Confessions of witches whereby they are condemned pag. 16. Presumptions whereby witches are condemned pag. 17. Particular interrogatories used by the inquisitors against witches pa. 18. The inquisitors triall of weeping by conjuration pag. 19. Certaine cautions against witches and of their tortures to procure confession pag. 20. The 15. crimes laid to the charge of witches by witchmongers specially by Bodin in Demonomania 22. A confutation of the former surmised crimes patched together by Bodin and the only way to escape the inquisitors hands pag 23. The opinion of Cornelius Agrippa concerning witches of his pleading for a poore woman accused of witchcraft and how he convinced the inquisitors pag. 24. What the feare of death and feeling of torments may force one to do and that it is no marvell though witches condemne themselves by their owne confessions so tyrannically extorted pag. 33. The third Book THe witches bargaine with the divell according to M. Mal. Bodin Nâ—der Daneus Psellus Brastus Hemingius Cumanus Aquinas Bartholomeus Spineus c. Pag. 35. The order of the witches homage done as it is written by lewd inquisitors and peevish witchmongers to the divell in person of their songs and danses and namely of Lavolta and of other ceremones also of their excourses pag. 36. How witches are sommoned to appeare before the divell of their riding in the air of their accompts of their conference with the divell of his supplies and their conference of their farewell and sacrifices according to Daneus Psellus c. 37 That there can no real league be made with the divell the first author of the league and the weake proofes of the adversaries for the same 38. Of the private league a notable table of Bodin concerning a French lady with a confutation pag. 39. A disproofe of their assemblies and of their bargaine pag. 40. A confutation of the objection concerning witches confessions pag. 41. What folly it were for witches
attended on oracles waxed â—eary of the peoples curiosity and importunity and for shame forsooke â—he temple But as one that of late hath written against prophesies saith â—t is no marvel that when the familiars that speak in truâ—ks were repelâ—ed â—rom their harbour for feare of discovery the blocks almighty lost their â—enses For these are all gone now and their knavery is espied 〈◊〉 as they can to longer abuâ—â— the world with such bables But whereas these great doctors suppâ—se that the cause of their dispatch was the coming of Christ if they meane that the devil died so soone as he was born or that then he gave over his occupation they are deceived For the popish church hath made a continuall practise hereof partly for their own private profit lucre and gaine and partly to be had in estimation of the world and in admiration among the simple But indeed 〈◊〉 that have learned Christ and been conversant in his word have discovered and shaken off the vanity and abomination hereof But if those doctors had lived till this day they would have said and written that oracles had ceased or rather been driven out of England in the time 〈◊〉 King Henry the eight and of Queene Elizabeth his daughter who 〈◊〉 done so much in that behalfe as at this houre they are not onely all gone but forgotten here in this English nation where they swarmed as this as they did in Boeâ—tia or in any other place in the world But the credit they had depended not upon their desert but upon the credulity 〈◊〉 others Now therefore I will conclude and make an end of this â—â—â—ter with the opinion and saying of the prophet Vaine is the answer 〈◊〉 idols For they have eyes and see not eares and heare not mounthes 〈◊〉 speak not c. and let them shew what is to come and I will say â—â— are gods indeed The ninth Booke CHAP. I. The Hebrew word Kasam expounded and how farre a Christian may conjecture of things to come KAsam as Iohn Wierus upon his owne knovvledge affirmeth and upon the word of Andraeas Masius reporteth differeth little in signification from the former word Ob betokening Vaticinari which is To prophesie and is most commonly taken in evil part as in Deut. 18. Jer. 27. c. howbeit sometime in good part as in Esay 3. verse 2. To foretel things to come upon probable conjectures so as therein we reach no further than becometh humane capacity is not in mine opinion unlawful but rather a commendable manifestation of wisdome and judgement the good gifts and notable blessings of GOD for the which we ought to be thankful as also to yeeld due honour and praise unto him for the noble order which he hath appointed in nature praying him to lighten our hearts with the beames of his wisdome that we may more and more profit in the true knowledge of the workemanship of his hands But some are so nice that they condemne generally all sorts of divinations denying those things that in nature have manifest causes and are so framed as they soreshew things to come and in that shew amonish us of things after to insue exhibiting â—ignes of unknowne and future matters to be judged upon by the order law and course of nature proposed unto us by God And some on the other side are so bewitched with solly as they attribute to creatures that estimation which rightly and truly appertaineth to God the creator of all things affirming that the publike and private destinies of all humane matters and whatsoever a man would know of things come or gone is manifested to us in the heavens so as by the starres and planets all things might be knowne These would also that nothing should be taken in hand or gone about without the favourable aspect of the planets By which and other the like devises they deprave and prophane the ancient and commendable observations of our forefathers as did Colebrasus who taught that all mans life was governed by the seven planets and yet a christian and condemned for heresie But let us so farre forth imbrace and allow this philosophie and prophesying as the word of God giveth us leave and commendeth the same unto us CHAP. II. Proofes by the old and new Testamentâ— that certaine observations of the weather are lawful WHen God by his word and wisdome had made the heavens and placed the starres in the firmanent he said Let them be for signes and for seasons and for dayes and years When he created the rainebowe in the clouds he said it should be for a signe and token unto us Which we find true not onely of the â—â—ood past but also of the shewers to come And therefore according to Jesus Sirachs advise let us behold it and praise him that made it The â—rophet David saith The heavens declare the glory of God and the earth sheweth his handy worke day unto day uttereth the same and night unto night teacheth knowledge It is also written that by the commandement of the holy one the starres are placed and continue in their order and â—aile not in their watch Iâ— should appeare that Christ himselfe did not altogether neglect the course and order of the heavens in that he said When you see a cloud rise out of the west streightway you say a shewer cometh and so it is And when you see the southwinde blowe you say it will be hot and so it cometh to passe Againe when it is evening you say â—aire weather for the skie is red and in the morning you say to day shall be a tempest for the skie is red and louring Wherein as he noteth that these things do truly come to passe according to ancient observation and to the rule astronomical so doth he also by other words following admonish us that in attending too much to those observations we neglect not specially to follow our christian vocation The physician is commended unto us and allowed in the scriptures but so to put trust in him as to neglect and distrust God is severely forbidden and reproved Surely it is most necessary for us to know and observe divers rules astrological otherwise we could not with opportunity dispatch our ordinary affaires And yet Lactantius condemneth and recounteth it among the number of witchcrafts from whose censure Calvine doth not much varie The poore husbandman perceiveth that the increase of the moone maketh plants and living creatures fruitful so as in the full moone they are in best strength decaying in the wane and in the conjunction do utterly wither and sade Which when by observation use and practise they have once learned they distribute their businesse accordingly 〈◊〉 their times and seasons to sowe to plant to pruine to let their 〈◊〉 blood to cut c. CHAP. III. That certaine observations are indifferent certaine ridiculous and certaine impious whence that cunning is derived of Apollo and of
yielded thereby of Gods will and pleasure Neverthelesse the Hebrewes write that there hath been ever since that time a divine voice heard among them which in Latine is called Filia vocis in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in English the Daughter of speech CHAP. VI. Of Prophesies conditionall whereof the Prophesies in the old testament do intreat and by whom they were published witchmongers answers to the objections against witches supernaturall actions CHrist and his Apostles prophesied of the calamities and afflictions which shall greeve and disturb the church of God in this life also of the last day and of the signes and tokens that shall be shewed before that day and finally of all things which are requisite for us to foreknow Howbeit such is the mercy of God that all prophesies threatnings plagues and punishments are annexed to conditions of repentance as on the other side corporall blessings are tied under the condition of the crosse and castigation So as by them the mysteries of our salvation being discovered unto us we are not to seek new signes and miracles but to attend to the doctrine of the Apostles who preached Christ exhibited and crucifyed for our sinnes his resurrection ascension and thereby the redemption of as many as believe c. The prophesies in the old testament treat of the contiâ—ance the government and the difference of estates of the distinction of the four Monarchies of their order decay and instauration of the changes and ruines of the Kingdomes of Juda Israel Aegypt Persia Graecia c. and specially of the comming of our Saviour Jesus Christ and how he should be borne of a Virgin and where of his Tribe passion resurrection c. These prophesies were published by Gods speciall and peculiar Prophets endued with his particular and excellent gifts according to his promise I will raise them up a Prophet out of the midst of their Brethren I will put my words in his mouth c. Which though it were specially spoken of Christ yet was it also spoken of those particular prophets which were placed among them by God to declare his will which were also figures of Christ the prophet himself Now if prophesie be an extraordinary gift of God and a thing peculiar to himself as withoâ—â— whose special assistance no creature can be a Prophet or shew what is to come why should we believe that those lewd persons can perform by divinations and miracles that which is not in humane but in Divine power to accomplish Howbeit when I deny that witches can ride in the aire and the miraculous circumstance thereof by and by it is objected to me that Enoch and Ely were rapt into the heaven bodily and Abacuck was carryed in the aire to feed Daniel and so falsly oppose a devils or a witches power against the vertue of the Holy Ghost If I â—eride the Poets opinions saying that witches cannot Coelo deducere lunam fetch the moon from heaven c. they tell me that at Joshua's battel the sunne stayed and at the passion of Christ there was palpable darknesse If I deny their cunning in the exposition of dreams advising them to remember Jeremie's counsel not to follow or credit the expositors of dreams they hit me in the teeth with Daniel and Joseph for that the one of them expounded Pharaoh the Persian Kings the other Nâ—buchadnâ—zzer the Aegyptian Kings dream If I say with Solomon that the dead know nothing and that the dead know us not neither are remooveable out of Abrahams bosome c. they produce the story of Samuel wherein I say they set the power 〈…〉 creature as high as the Creator If I say that these witches cannot transubstantiate themselves nor others into beasts c. they ciâ—e the story of Nebuchadnezzer as though indeed he were made a maâ—eâ—iall beast and that also by witch-craft and strengthen that their assertion with the fables of Circe and Ulysses his companions c. CHAP. VII What were the miracles expressed in the old Testament and what are they in the new testament and that we are not now to looke for any more miracles THe miracles expressed in the old Testament were many but the end of them all was one though they were divers and differing in shewâ— as where the sacrifices of Moses Elias and Solomon being abundantly wet were burnt with fire from heaven c. The variety of tongues at the building of Babylon Isaacs birth of Sarah being by nature past children the passage through the red sea Daniels foretelling of the four monarchies in the fourth whereof he apparently foresheweth the coming of the Lord. All these and many other which are expressed in the old testament were merciful instructions and notable miracles to strengthen the faith of Gods people in their Messias If you had gone to Delphos Apollo would have made you beleeve with his amphibological answers that he could have foretold you all these things The miracles wrought by Christ were the raising up of the dead which many would impute to the woman of Endor and also to our witches and conjurors the restoring of the lame to limbs the blinde to sight the dumb to speech and finally the healing of all diseases which many beleeve our witches can do yea and as they themselves will take it upon them As for casting out of devils which was another kind of miracles usual with Christ witches and conjurors are said to be as good thereat as ever he was and yet if you will beleeve Christs words it cannot be so For he saith Every kingdome divided against it selfe shall be brought to nought c. If Satan cast out Satan he is divided c. and his kingdome shall not endure c. Peters chaines fell off in prison so did Richard Gallisies fetters at Windsor marry the prison doores opened not to Richard as they did to Peter Helias by special grace obtained raine our witches can make it raine when they list c. Buâ— sithens Christ did these miracles and many more and all to confirme his truth and strengthen our faith and finally for the conversion of the people as appeareth in John 6.7 and 12. insomuch as he vehemently reproved such as upon the sight of them would not beleeve saying Wo be to thee Corazin wo be to thee Bethsaida If the miracles had been done in Tyre and Sidon which have been done in you they had a great while ago repented c. Let us setle and acquiet our faith in Christ and beleeving all his wonderous works let us reject these old wives fables as lying vanities whereof you may finde in the golden legend M. Mal. and specially in Bodin miraculous stuffe enough to checke all the miracles expressed in the old new testament which are of more credit with many bewitched people then the true miracles of Christ himselfe Insomuch as they stand in more awe of the menacies of a witch then of all
dilatáque longâ Haesit nocte dies legi non paruit aeâ—ber Torpuit praeceps audito carmine mundus The course of nature ceased quite The aire obeyed not his lawe The day delay'd by length of night Which made both day and night to yawe And all was through that charming geare Which caus'd the world to quake for feare Carmine Thessalidum dura in praecordia fluxit Non fatis adductus amor flaminÃsque severi Illicitis arsere ignes With Thessall charmes and not by fate Hot love is forced for to flowe Even where before hath been debate They cause affection for to grow Gens invisa diis maculandi callida coeli Quos genuit terra mali qui sidera mundi Iuráque fixarum possunt perverâ—ere rerum Nam nunc stare polos flumina mittere nôrunt Aethera sub terras adigunt montésque revellunt These witches hatefull unto God And cunning to defile the aire Which can disorder with a nod The course of nature every where Do cause the wandering starres to stay And drive the winds below the ground They send the streames another way And throw downe hills where they abound linguis dixere volucrum Consultare fibras rumpere vocibus angues Solicitare umbras ipsúmque Acheront a movere In noctémque dies in lucem vertere noctes Omnia conando docilis solertia vincit They talked with the tongues of birds Consulting with the salt sea coasts They burst the snakes with witching words Solliciting the spirituall ghosts They turne the night into the day And also drive the light away And what ' its that cannot be made By them that do apply this trade CHAP. VIII Poetry and popery compared is inchantments popish witchmongers have more advantage herein than protestants YOu see in these verses the poets whether in earnest or in jest I know not ascribe unto witches and to their charmes more than is to be found in humane or diabolical power I doubt not but the most part of the readers hereof will admit them to be fabulous although the most learned of mine adversaries for lack of scripture are â—aine to produce these poetries for proofes and for lack of judgement I am sure do think that Actaeons transformation was true And why not As well as the metamorphosis or transubstantiation of Ulysses his companions into swine which S. Augustine and so many great clerkes credit and report Neverthelesse popish writers I conâ—esse have advantage herein of our protestants for besides these poeticall proofes they have for advantage the word and authority of the pope himselfe and others of that holy crew whose charmes conjurations blessings cursings c. I mean in part for a taste to set down giving you to understand that poets are not altogether so impudent as papists herein neither seeme they so ignorant prophane or impious And therefore I will shew you how lowd also they lie and what they on the other side ascribe to their charmes and conjurations and together will set down with them all manner of witches charmes as conveniently as I may CHAP. IX Popish periapts amulets and charmes agnus Dei a wastecote of proofe a charme for the falling evill a writing brought to S. Leo from heaven by an angell the vertues of S. Saviours epistle a charme against theeves a writing found in Christs wounds of the crosse c. THese vertues under these verses written by pope Urbane the fifth to the emperour of the Grecians are contained in a periapt or tablet be continnally worne about one called Agnus Dei which is a little cake having the picture of a lambe carrying of a flag on the one side and Christs head on the other side and is hollow so as the gospel of Iohn written in fine paper is placed in the concavitie thereof and it is thus compounded or made even as they themselves report Balsamus munda cera cum chrismatis unda Conficiunt agnum quod munus do tibi magnum Fonte velut natum per mystica sanctificatum Fulgura de sur sum depellit omne malignum Peccatum frangit ut Christi sanguis angit Praegnans servatur simul partus liâ—eratur Dona refert dignis virtutem destruit ignis Portaâ—us mundè de fluctibus eripit undae Balme vigine wax and holy water An Agnus Dei make A gift than which none can be greater I send thee for to take From fountain clear the same hath issue In secret sanctified 'Gainst lightning it hath soveraigne vertue And thunder crackes beside Each hainous sinne it weares and wasteth Even as Christs precious blood And women whiles their travel lasteth It saves it is so good It doth bestowe great gifts and graces On such as well deserve And borne about in noisome places From peril doth preserve The force of fire whose heat destroyeth It breaks and bringeth down And he or she that this enjoyeth No water shall them drowne A Charme against shot or a wastecote of proof BEfore the coming up of these Agnus Dei's a holy garment called a wastecote for necessity was much used of our forefathers as a holy relique c. as given by the pope or some such arch-conjuror who promised thereby all manner of immunity to the wearer thereof insomuch as he could not be hurt with any shot or other violence And otherwise that woman that would weare it should have quick deliverance the composition thereof was in this order following On Christmas day at night a threed must be spunne of flax by a little virgine girle in the name of the devil and it must be by her woven and also wrought with the needle In the brest or fore-part thereof must be made with needle-worke two heads on the head at the right side must be a hat and a long beard the left head must have on a crowne and it must be so horrible that it may resemble Beelzebub and on each side of the wastecote must be made a crosse Against the falling evill MOreover this insuing is another counterfeit charme of theirs whereby the falling evill is presently remedied Gaspar fert myrrham thus Melchior Balthasar aurum Haec tria qui secum portabit nomina regum Solvitur à morbo Christi pietate caduco Gasper with his mirth beganne These presents to unfold Then Melchior brought in frankincense And Balthasar brought in gold Now he that of these holy kings The names about shall bear The falling ill by grace of Christ Shall never need to fear THis is as true a copy of the holy writing that was brought downe from heaven by an angell to S. Leo pope of Rome and he did bid him take it to king Charles when he went to the battel at Ronceval And the angell said that what man or woman beareth this writing about them with good devotion and saith every day three Pater nosters three Aves and one Creede shall not that day be overcome of his
the weather is faire and cleer Cardanus derideth these and such like fables and setteth downe his judgement therein accordingly in the sixteenth booke De rerum ver These conjurors and coseners forsooth will shew you in a glasse the theefe that hath stolne any thing from you and this is their order They take a glasse-viall full of holy water and set it upon a linnen cloth which hath been purified not onely by washing but by sacrifice c. On the mouth of the viall or urinall two olive-leaves must be laid acrosse with a little conjuration said over it by a child to wit thus Angele bone angele candide per tuam sanctitatem meamque virginiteâ—em ostende mihi furem with â—hree Pater nosteâ—s three Aves and betwixt either of them a crosse made with the naile of the thombe upon the mouth of the viall and then shall be seen angels ascending and descending as it were motes in the sunne-beames The theefe all this while shall suffer great torments and his face shall be seen plainly even as plainly I beleeve as the man in the moone For in truth there are toies artificially conveyed into glasse which will make the water bubble and devises to make images appeare in the bubbles as also there be artificial glasses which will shew unto you that shall looke thereinto many images of divers formes and some so small and curious as they shall in favour resemble whomsoever you think upon Looke in John Bap. Neap for the confection of such glasses The subtilties hereof are so deâ—ected and the mysteries of the glasses so common now and their cosenage so well knowne c. that I need not stand upon the particular confutation hereof Cardanus in the place before cited reporteth how he tried with children these and divers circumstances the whole illusion and found it to be plaine knavery and cosenage Another way to find out a theefe that ahht stolne any thing from you GO to the sea-side and gather as many pebles as you suspect persons for that matter carry them home throw them into the fire bury them under the threshold where the parties are like to come over There let them lie three dayes and then before sun rising take them away Then set a porrenger full of water in a circle wherein must be made crosses every way as many as can stand in it upon the which must be written Christ overcometh Christ reigneth Christ commandeth The porrenger also must be signed with a crosse and a form of conjuration must be pronounced Then each stone must be thrown into the water in the name of the suspected And when you put in the stone of him that is guilty the stone will make the water boile as though glowing iron were put thereinto Which is a meere knack of legierdemaine and to be accomplished divers waies To put out the theeves eye Reade the seven psalmes with the Letany and then must be said a horrible prayer to Christ and God the father with a curse against the theefe Then in the middest of the step of your foote on the ground where you stand make a circle like an eye and write thereabout certain barbarous names and drive with a coopers hammer or addes into the middest thereof a brazen naile consecrated saying Iustus es Domine et justa judicia tua Then the thiefe shall be bewraied by his crying out Another way to find out a thiefe STick a paire of sheeres in the rind of a sive and let two persons set the top of each of their forefingers upon the upper part of the sheeres holding it with the sive up from the ground steddily and aske Peter and Paul whether A. B. or C. hath stolne the thing lost and at the nomination of the guilty person the sive will turne round This is a great practise in all countries and indeed a very bable For with the beating of the pulse some cause of that motion ariseth some other cause by slight of the fingers some other by the wind gathered in the â—ive to be staid c. at the pleasure of the holders Some cause may be the imagination which upon conceit at the naming of the party altereth the common course of the pulse As may well be conceived by a ring held steddily by a thred betwixt the finger and the thombe over or rather in a goblet or glasse which within short space will strike against the side thereof so many strokes as the holder thinketh it a clocke and then will stay the which who so proveth shall find true A Charme to find out or spoile a theefe OF thâ—s matter concerning the apprehension of theeves by wâ—â—ds I will ciâ—e one charme called S. Adelberts curse being both for length of words sufficient to wery the reader and for substantiall stuffe comprehending all that appertaineth unto blasphemous speech or cursing allowed in the church of Rome as an excommunication and inchantment Saint Adelberts curse or charme against theeves BY the authority of the omnipotent Father the Sonne and the holy ghost and by the holy virgine Mary mother of our Lord Jesu Christ and the holy angels and archangels and S. Michael and S. John Baptist and in the behalfe of S. Peter the apostle and the risidue of the apostles and of S. Stephen and of all the martyrs of S. Sylvester and of S. Adelbert and all the confessors and S. Alegand and all the holy virgins and of all the saints in heaven and earth unto whom there is given power to bind and loose we do excommunicate damne curse and bind with the knots and bands of excommunication and we do segregate from the bounds and lists of our holy mother the church all those theeves sacrilegious persons ravenous catchers doers counsellers coadjutors male or female that have committed this theft or mischiefe or have usurped any part thereof to their owne use Let their share be with Dathan and Abiran whom the earth swallowed up for their such and pride and let them have part with Iudas that betrayed Christ Amen and with Pontius Pilat and with them that said to the Lord Depart from us we will not understand thy wayes let their children be made orphanes Cursed be they in the field in the grove in the woods in their houses barnes chambers and beds and cursed be they in the court in the way in the towne in the castle in the water in the church in the churchyard in the tribunall place in battell in their abode in the market place in their talke in silence in eating in watching in sleeping in drinking in feeling in sitting in kneeling in standing in lying in idlenesse in all their worke in their body and soule in their five wits and in every place Cursed be the fruit of their wombâ— and cursed be the fruit of their lands and cursed be all that they haâ—e Cursed be their heads their mouthes their nostrels their noses their lips their jawes their teeth their eyes
other I doe call upon thee â—â— beseech thee O Lord Jesus Christ by thy nativity and baptisme thy crosse and passion by thine ascension and by the comming of the 〈◊〉 ghost by the bitternes of thy soule when it departed from the body thy five wounds by the bloud and water which went out of thy body thy vertue by the sacrament which thou gavest thy disciples the day before thou sufferedst by the holy trinity and the inseparable unity by blessed Mary thy mother by thine angels arch-angels prophets patriarchs and by all thy saints and by all the sacraments which are made in thine honor I doe worship and beseech thee to accept these prayers conjurations and words of my mouth which I will use I require thee O Lord Jesus Christ that thou give me thy vertue and power over all thine angeâ—â— which were throwne downe from heaven to deceive mankind to draw them to me to tie and bind them and also to loose them to gather them together before me and to command them to do all that they can and that by no meanes they contemne my voyce or the words of my mouth but that they obey me and my sayings and feare me I beseech thee by thine humanity mercy and grace and I require thee Adony Amay Horia Vege dova Mitaâ— Hel Suranat Ysion Ysesy and by all thy holy names and by all thine holy he saints and the saints by all thine angels and archangels powers dominations and verâ—ues and by that name that Solomon did bind the divels and shut them up Elbrach Ebanher Agle Goth Ioth Othie Venoch Nabrat and by all thine holy names which are written in this booke and by the vertue of them all that thou enable me to congrerate all thy spirits throwne downe from heaven that they may give me a true answer of all my demands and that they satisfie all my requests without the hurt of my body or soule or any thing else that of mine through our Lord Jesus Christ thy sonne which liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy ghost one God world without end Oh father omnipotent oh wise sonne oh Holy ghost the searcher of hearts oh you three in persons one true Godhead in substance which drift spare Adam and Eve in their sinnes and oh though sonne which diedst for their sinnes a most filthy death sustaining it upon the holy 〈◊〉 oh thou most mercifull when I flie unto thy mercy and beseech thee by all the means I can by these thy holy names of thy sonne to 〈◊〉 A and Q and all other his names grant me thy vertue and power that I may be able to cite before me thy spirits which where thrown downe from heaven and that they may speak with me and dispatch by and by without delay and with a good will and without the hurt of my body soule or goods c. as is contained in the book called Annulus S. Lomonis Oh great and eternall vertue of the highest which through disposition these being called to judgement Vaichâ—on Stimulamaton Esphares Tetragrammaton Olioraâ— Cryon Esytion Existion Eâ—iona Onela Brasim Noym Messias Soter Emanuel Sabbath Adonay I worship thee I invocate thee I imploy thee with all the strength of my mind that by thee my present prayers consecrations and conjurations be hollowed and wheresoever wicked spirits are called in the vertue of thy names they may come together from every coast and diligently fulfill the will of me the exorcist Fiat fiato fiat Amen CHAP. V. A confutation of the manifold vanities conteined in the precedent chapters specially of commanding of divels HE that can be perswaded that these things are true or wrought indeed according to the assertion of conseners or according to the supposition of witch mongers and papists may soone be brought to beleeve that the moone is made of green cheese You see in this which is called Salomons conjuration there is a perfect inventary registred of the number of divels of their names of their offices of their personages of their qualities of their powers of their properties of their kingdomes of their governâ—rs of their orders of their dispositions of their 〈◊〉 of their submission and of the wayes to bind or loose them with a note what wealth learning office commodity pleasure 〈◊〉 they can give and may be forced to yeeld in spight of their hearts to 〈◊〉 forsooth as are cunning in this art of whom yet was never seen 〈◊〉 rich man or at least that gained any thing that way or any 〈◊〉 man that became learned by that meanes or any happy man 〈◊〉 could with the helpe of this art either deliver himselfe or his 〈◊〉 from adversity or adde unto his estate any point of felicity yet 〈◊〉 men in all worldly happineâ—se must need exceed all others 〈◊〉 things could be by them accomplished according as it is presupposed 〈◊〉 if they may learne of Marbas all secrets and to cure all diseases and Furcas wisdome and to be cunning in all mechanicall arts and change any mans shape of Zepar if Bune can make them rich and eloquent if Beroâ—h can tell them of all things present past and to 〈◊〉 if Asmodie can make them go invisible and shew them all hidden treasure if Salmacke will afflict whom they list and Allocer can procure the 〈◊〉 of any woman if Amy can provide them excellent familiars if 〈◊〉 can make them understand the voyce of all birds and beasts and 〈◊〉 and Bifrons can make them live long and finally if Orias could proâ—â— unto them great friends and reconcile their enemies and they 〈◊〉 end had all these at commandement should they not live in all world honor and felicity whereas contrariwise they lead there lives in all oâ—â—quy misery and beggery and in fine come to the gallowes as thou they had chosen unto themselves the spirit Valefer who they say 〈◊〉 all them with whom he entereth into familiarity to no better end than the gibbet or gallowes But before I proceed further to the confuâ—â—tion of this stuffe I will shew other conjurations devised more lately and of more authority wheâ—ein you shall see how fooles are trained to beleeve these absurdities being wonne by little and little to such credulity For the author hereof beginneth as though all the cunning of conjurors were deâ—â—ved and fetcht from the planetary motions and true course of the 〈◊〉 celestiall bodies c. CHAP. VI. The names of the Planets their characters together with the twelve signes of the zodiake their dispositions aspects and government with other observations The disposition of the Planets The aspects of the Planets ☌ Is the best aspect with good planets and the worst with evill âš¹ Is a meane aspect in goodnese or badnesse â–³ Is very good in aspect to good planets and hâ—rteth not in evill â–¡ This aspect is of enimity not full perfect ☠This aspect is of enimity most perfect How the day is divided or
distinguished A day naturall is the space of foure and twenty houres accounting the night withall and beginneth at one of the clocke after midnight An artificiall day is that space of time which is betwixt the rising and falling of the ☉ c. All the rest is night 〈◊〉 beginneth at the ☉ rising Hereafter followeth a table shewing how the day and the night is divided by houres and reduced to the regiment of the planets The division of the day and the planetary regiment The division of the night and the planetary regiment CHAP. VII The characters of the angels of the seven days with their names of figures scales and periapts These figures are called the scales of the earth without the which no spirit will appeare except thou have them with thee CHAP. VIII An experiment of the dead FIrst fast and pray three dayes and abstaine thee from all filthynesse go to one that is new buried such a one as killed himselfe or destroyed himselfe willfully or else get thee promise of one that shall be hanged and let him sweare an oath to thee after his body is dead that his spirit shall come to thee and do thee true service at thy commandements in all dayes houres and minuts And let no persons see thy doings but thy fellow And about eleven a clocke in the night goe to the place where he was buried and say with a bold faith and hearty desire to have the spirit come that thou doest call for thy fellow having a candle in his left hand and in his right hand a crystall stone and say these words following the master having a hazell wand in his right hand and these names of God written thereupon Tetragrammaton ✚ Adonay ✚ Agla ✚ Craton ✚ Then strike three strokes on the ground and say Arise N. Arise N. Arise N. I conjure thee spirit N. by the resurrection of our Lord Jesu Christ that thou do obey to my words and come unto me this night verily and truly as thou beleevest to be saved at the day of judgement And I will swear to the an oath by the perill of my soule that if thou wilt come to me and appeare to me this night and shew me true visions in this crystall stone and fetch me the fairie Sibylia that I may talke with her visibly and she may come before me as the conjuration leadeth and in so doing I will give thee an almesse deed and pray for thee N. to my Lord God whereby thou mayest be restored to thy salvation at the resurrection day to be received as one of the elect of God to the everlasting glory Amen The master standing at the head of the grave his fellow having in his hands the candle and the stone must begin the conjuration as followeth and the spirit will appeare to you in the crystall stone in a faire forme of a child of twelve yeares of age And when he is in feele the stone and it will be hot and feare nothing for he or she will shew many delusions to drive you from your worke Feare God but feare him not This is to constraine him as followeth I conjure thee spirit N. by the living God the true God and by the holy God and by their vertues and powers which have created both thee and me and all the world I conjure thee N. by these holy names of God Tetragrammaton ✚ Adonay ✚ Algramay ✚ Saday ✚ Sabaoth ✚ Plaâ—â—both ✚ Panthon ✚ Craton ✚ Neupuraton ✚ Deus ✚ Homo ✚ Omnipotens ✚ Simpiternus ✚ Ysus ✚ Terra ✚ Vnigeniius ✚ Salvator ✚ Via ✚ Vita ✚ Manus ✚ Fons ✚ Origo ✚ Filius ✚ And by their vertues and powers and by all their names by the which God gave power to man both to speak or think so by their vertues and powers I conjure thee spirit N. that now immediately thou doe appeare in this crystall stone visibly to me and to my fellow without any tarrying or deceipt I conjure thee N. by the excellent name of Jesus Christ A and Ω the first and the last For this holy name of Jesus is above all names for in this name of Jesus every knee doth bow and obey both of heavenly things earthly things and infernall And every tongue doth confesse that our Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of the Father neither is there any other name given to man whereby he must be saved Therefore in the name of Jesus of Nazareth and by his nativity resurrection and ascension and by all that appertaineth unto his passion and by their vertues and powers I conjure the spirit N. that thou doe appeare visible in this crystall stone to me and to my fellow without any dissimulation I conjure thee N. by the blood of the innocent lambe Jesus Christ which was shed for us upon the crosse for all those that doe beleeve in the vertue of his bloud shall be saved I conjure thee N. by the vertues and powers of all the royall names and words of the living God of me pronounced that thou be obedient unto me and to my words rehearsed If thou refuse this to doe I by the holy trinity and by their vertues and powers doe condemne thee thou spirit N. into the place where there is no hope of remedy or rest but everlasting horror of paine there dwelling and a place where there is pain upon pain dayly horribly and lamentably thy pain to be there augmented as the starres in the heaven and as the gravell or sand in the Sea except thou spirit N. doe appeare to me and to my fellow visibly immediately in this crystall stone and in a fair form and shape of a childe of twelve yeares of age and that thou alter not thy shape I charge thee upon pain of everlasting condemnation I conjure thee spirit N. by the golden girdle which girdeth the loins of our Lord Jesus Christ so thou spirit N. be thou bound into the perpetuall paines of hell fire for thy disobedience and unreverent regard that thou hast to the holy names and words and his precepts I conjure thee N. by the two edged sword which Iohn saw proceed out of the mouth of the Almighty and so thou spirit N. be torne and cut in peeces with that sword and to be condemned into everlasting pain where the fire goeth not out and where the worm dyeth not I conjure thee N. by the heavens and by the celestiall city of Ierusalem and by the earth and the sea and by all things contained in them and by their vertues and powers I conjure thee spirit N. by the obedience that thou dost owe unto the principall prince And except thou spirit N doe come and appear visibly in this crystall stone in my presence here immediately as it is aforesaid Let the great curse of God the anger of God the shadow and darknesse of death and of eternall condemnation be upon thee spirit N. for ever and ever
and by his unspeakable name Tetragrammaton and by all the holy sacraments and by the holy majesty and deity of the living God I conjure and exorcise thee Bealphares by the vertue of all angels archangels thrones dominations principaâ—s potestats virtures cherubim and seraphim and by their vertues and by the most truest and speciallest name of your master that you doe come unto us in faire form of man or woman kinde been visibly before this circle and not terrible by any manner of wayes This circle being our tuition and protection by the mercifull goodnesse of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and that you doe make answer truly without craft or deceit unto all my demands and questions by the vertue and power of our Lord Jesus Christ Amen CHAP. XIIII To bind the spirit Bealphares and to loose him again NOw when he is appeared bind him with these words which follow I conjure thee Bealphares by God the father by God the son and by God the Holy Ghost and by all the holy company in heaven and by their vertues and powers I charge thee Bealphares that thou shalt not depart out of my sight nor yet to alter thy bodily shape that thou art appeared in nor any power shalt thou have of our bodies or soules eartly or ghostly but to be obedient to me and to the words of my conjuration that be written in this book I conjure thee Bealphares by all angels and archangels thrones dominations principats potestates vertutes cherubim and seraphim and by their vertues and powers I conjure and charge binde and constraine thee Bealphares by all the 〈◊〉 words aforesaid and by their vertues that thou be obedient unto me and to come and appeare visibly unto me and that in all dayes houres and minutes wheresoever I be being called by the vertue of our Lord Jesus Christ the which words are written in this book Look ready thou be to appeare unto me and to give mee good counsell how to come by treasures hidden in the earth or in the water and how to come to dignity and knowledge of all things that is to say of the magick art and of grammar dialectike rhetorike arithmeticke musick geometry and of astromomy and in all other things my will quickly to be fulfilled I charge upon pain of everlasting condemnation Fiat fiat fiat Amen When he is thus bound ask him what thing thou wilt and he will tell thee and give thee all things that thou wilt request of him without any sacrifice doing to him and without forsaking thy God that is thy maker And when the spirit hath fulfilled thy will and intent give him license to depart as followeth A license for the spirit to depart GO unto the place predestinated and appointed for thee where thy Lord God hath appointed thee untill I shall call thee again Be thou ready unto me and to my call as often as I shall call thee upon pain of everlasting damnation And if thou wilt thou mayst recite two or three times the last conjuration untill thou doe come to this â—earin In throno If he will not depart and then say In throno that thou depart from this place without hurt or damage of any body or of any deed to be done that all creatures may know that our Lord is of all power most mightiest and that there is none other God but he which is three and one living for ever and ever And the malediction of God the father omnipotent the son and the holy ghost descend upon thee and dwell alwayes with thee except thou doe depart without damage of us or of any creature or any other evill deed to be done and thou to goe to the place predestinated And by our Lord Jesus Christ I do else send thee to the great pit of hell except I say that thou depart to the place whereas thy Lord God hath appointed thee And see thou be ready to me and to my call at all times and places at mine own will and pleasure day or night without damage or hurt of me or of any creature upon pain of everlasting damnation Fiat fiat fiat Amen Amen The peace of Jesus Christ be between us and you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Amen Por crucis hoc ✚ signum c. Say In principio erat verbum verbum erat apud Deum In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and God was the word and so forward as followeth in the first chapter of saint Iohns Gospell staying at these words Full of grace and truth to whom bee all honour and glory world without end Amen A type or figure of the circle for the master and his fellowes to sit in shewing how and after what fashion it should be made THis is the circle for the master to sit in and his fellow or fellowes at the first calling sit back to back when hee calleth the spirit and for the fairies make this circle with chalk on the ground as is said before This spirit Bealphares being once called and found shall never have power to hurt thee Call him in the houre of ♃ or ♀ the ☽ increasing CHAP. XV. The making of the holy water EXorciso te creaturam salis per Deum vivum ✚ per Deum ✚ verum ✚ per Deum sanctum ✚ per Duem qui te per Elizaeum prophetam in aquam mitli jussit â—tâ—s naretur sterrilitas aquae ut efficiaâ—is sal exorcisaâ—us in saluum credentium ut sit omnibus te sumentibus sanitas animae corporis essugiat atque discedat ab co loco qui aspersus stâ—â—at omnis phantasia nequitia vel versutia diabolicae fraudis omnisque spiritus adjuratus per cum qui venturus est judicare vivos mo tuos saeculum perignem Amen Oremus Imunsam clementiam tuam omnipotens aeterne Deus humiliter imploramus ut hanc creaturam salis quam in usum generis humani tribuisti bene ✚ dicere sancti ✚ ficare tua prelate digneris ut sit omnibus sumentibus saâ—is menlis corporis ut quicquid ex co tactum suerit vel respersum careat omni immundicia omnique impugnatione spiritualis nequitia per Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum filium tuum qui tecum vivit regnat in unitate spiritus sancti Deus per omnia saecula saeculorum Amen To the water say also as followeth Exorciso te creaturam aquae in nomine ✚ patris ✚ Iesu Christi filii ejus Domini nostri in virtute spiritus ✚ sanct ✚ ut siat aquae exorcisata ad estisgandam omnem potestatem inimici ipsum inimicum erodicare explantare valeas cum angelis suis apostatis per virtutem ejusdem Domini nostri Iesu Christi qui venturus est judicare vivos mortuos saeculum per ignem Amen Oremus Deus qui ad
crawled out of follies breecâ—es they take upon them to shew us first whereof these angels that fell from heaven were created to wit of the left side of thaâ— massie mold whereof the world was compounded the which say they was Putredo terrae that is the rottennesse of the earth The Cabalistâ— with whom Avicen seemeth to agree say that one of these begat anotherâ— others say they were made all at once The Greeks doe write that angels were created before the world The Latinists say they were made the fourth day when the stars were made Laurence Ananias saith they were made the first day and could not be made the fourth day because it is written Quando saâ—ta sunt sider a laudaverunt me angelâ— When the stars were made the angels praised me so as saith he they were made under the names of the heavens There is also a great question among the schoolemen whether more angels sell down with Lucifer or remained in heaven with Michael Many having a bad opinion of the angels honesties affirm that the greater part fell with Lucifer but the better opinion is saith Laurentius Ananias that the most part remained And of them that think so some say the tenth part were cast down some the ninth and some gather upon S. Iohn that the third part were only damned because it is written that the dragon with his raile plucked down with him the third part of the starres CHAP. IX Of the contention between the Greek and Latine church touching the fall of angels the variance among papists themselves herein a conflict between Michael and Lucifer THere was also another contention between the Greek church and the Latine to wit of what orders of angels they were that did fall with Lucifer Our schoolmen say they were of all the nine orders of angels in Lucifers conspiracy But because the superior order was of the more noble constitution and excellent estate and the inferior of a less worthy nature the more part of the inferior orders fell as guilty and offenders with Lucifer Some say the divell himself was of the inferior order of angels and some that he was of the highest order because it is written In cherubim extentus protegens posui te in monte sanctâ— Dei Extended upon a cherubin and protecting I have put thee in the holy mountain of God And these say further that he was called the dragon because of his excellent knowledge Finally these great doctors conclude that the divell himselfe was of the order of Seraphim which is the highest because it is written Quomodo enim mane oriebaris Lucifer For when thou didst rise in the morning O Lucifer They of this sect affirm that Cacodsmones were they that rebelled against Iove I mean they of Plato his sect himself also holding the same opinion Our schoolmen differ much in the cause of Lucifers fall For some say it was for speaking these words Ponam sedem meam in aquilone similis ero altissimo I will put my seat in the North and I will be like the most High Others say because he utterly refused felicity and thought scorn thereof others say because he thought all his strength proceeded from himself and not from God others say that it was because he attempted to doe that by himself and his own ability which he should have obtained by the gift of another others say that his condemnation grew hereupon for that he challenged the place of the Messias others say because he detracted the time to adore the majesty of God as other angels did others say because he uttâ—rly refused it Scotus and his disciples say that it was because he rebelliously claimed equall omnipotency with God with whom lightly the Themists never agree Others say it was for all these causes together and many more so as hereupon saith Laurentius Ananias grew a wonderfull conflict between Michael and the good angels on the one side and Lucifer and his siends on the other so as after a long and doubtfull sâ—itmish Michael overthrew Lucifer and turned him and his fellowes ouâ— of the doores CHAP. X. Where the battell between Michael and Lucifer was fought how long it continued and of their power how fondly papists and infidels write of them and how reverently Christians oughâ— iâ— think of them NOw where this battel was fought and how long it continued there is as great contention among the schoolemen as was betwixt Michael and Luâ—ifer The Thomists say this battel was fought in the empyreal heâ—ven where the abode is of blessed spirits and the place of pleasure and felicity Augustine and many others say that the battel was fought in the highest region of the air others say in the sirmament others in pâ—radise The Thomists also say it continued but one instant or prick of timeâ— for they tarried but two instants in all even from their creation to their expulsion The Scotists say that between their production and their â—â—l there were just four instants Neverthelesse the greatest number of schoolemen affirm that they continued only three instants becaus◠〈◊〉 stood with Gods justice to give them three warnings so as at the tâ—â—â— warning Lucifer fel down like lead for so are the words to the boâ—â—â—â—â— of hell the rest were left in the air to tempt man The Sadduces 〈◊〉 as grosse the other way for they said that by angels was meant nothing else but the motion that God doth inspire in men or the tokens of his power He that readeth Eusebius shall see many more absurd opinions and asseverations of angels as how many thousand years they serve as angels before they come to the promotion of archangels c. Monsieur Bodin M. Mal. and many other papists gather upon the seventh of Daniel that there are just ten millions of angels in heaven Many â—y that angels are not by nature but by office Finally it were infiniâ—e to shew the absurd and curious collections hereabout I for my part think with Calvine that angels are creatures of God though Moses spake â—â—thing of their creation who only applied himselfe to the capacity of the common people reciâ—ing nothing but things seen And I say further wiâ—â— him that they are heavenly spirits whose ministration and service God useth and in that respect are called angels I say yet again wiâ—â— hiâ— that it is very certain that they have no shape at all for they are spirits who never have any and finally I say with him that the scriptures for the capacity of our wit doth not in vain paint out angels unto us with wings because we should conceive that they are ready swiftly to succour us And certainly all the founder divines do conceive and give out that both the names and also the number of angels are set downe in the scripture by the Holy-ghost in termes to make us understand the greatnesse and the manner of their messageâ— which I say are either expounded
lady having not one dramme of faith repentance nor yet of honesty in him Neverthelesse so credulous is the nature of man as to beleeve this and such like fables yea to discredit such stuffe is thought among the papists flat heresie And though we that are protestants will not beleeve these toies being so apparently popish yet we credit and report other appearances and assuming of bodies by souls and spirits though they be as prophane absurd and impious as the other We are sure the holy maid of Kents vision was a very cousenage but we can credit imprint and publish for a true possession or history the knavery used by a cousening varlot at Maidstone and many other such as that was We think soules and spirits may come out of heaven or hell and assume bodies beleeving many absurd tales told by the schoolemen and Romish doctors to that effect but we discredit all the stories that they and as grave men as they are tell us upon their knowledge and credit of soules condemned to purgatory wandering for saccour and release by trentals and masses said by a popish priest c. and yet they in probability are equall and in number farre exceed the other We think that to be a lie which is written or rather fathered upon Luther to wit that he knew the divell and was very conversant with him and had eaten many bushels of salt and made jolly good cheere with him and that he was confuted in a disputation with a reall divell about the abolishing of private masse Neither do we beleeve this report that the divell in the likenesse of a tall man was present at a sermon openly made by Carolostadius and from this sermon went to his house and told his sonne that he would fetch him away after a day or twain as the papists say he did indeed although they lie in every point thereof most maliciously But we can beleeve Platina and others when they tell us of the appearances of pope Benedict the eight and also the ninth how the one rode upon a black horse in the wildernesse requiring a bishop as I remember whom he met that he would disribute certain money for him which he had purloined of that which was given in almes to the poor c. and how the other was seen a hundred years after the divell had killed him in a wood of an heremite in a bears skinne and an asses head on his shoulders c. himselfe saying that he appeared in such sort as he lived And diverse such stuffe rehearsed by Platina Now because S. Ambrose writeth that S. Anne appeared to Constance the daughter of Constantine and to her parents watching at her sepulchre and because Eusebius and Nicephorus say that the Pontamian virgine Origens disciple appeared to S. Basil and put a crown upon his head in tokâ—n of the glory of his martyrdome which should shortly follow and because Hierome writeth of Pauls appearance and Theodoret of S. Iohn the Baptist and Athanasuis of Ammons c. many do beleeve the same stories and miraculous appearances to be true But few protestants will give credit unto such shamefull fables or any like them when they finde them written in the Legendary Festivall Rosaries of our Lady or any other such popish authors Whereby I gather that if the protestant beleeve some few lies the papists beleeve a great number This I write to shew the imperfection of man how attentive our ears are to hearken to tales And though herein consist no great point of faith or infidelity yet let us that professe the gospell take warning of papists not to be carryed away with every vain blast of doctrine but let us cast away these prophane and old wives fables And although this matter have passed so long with generall credit and authority yet many grave authors have condemned long since all those vain visions and apparitions except such as have been shewed by God his sonne and his angels Athanasius saith that soules once loosed from their bodies have no more society with mortall men Augustine saith that if soules could walk and visit their friends c. or admonish them in sleep or other-wise his mother that followed him by land and by sea would shew her self to him and reveal her knowledge or give him warning c. But most true it is that is written in the gospell We have Moses and the prophets who are to be hearkened unto and nor the dead CHAP. XXVIII A confutation of Iohannes Laurentius and of many others maintaining these fained and ridiculous tales and apparitions and what driveth them away of Moses and Helias appearance in mount Thabor FUrthermore to prosecute this matter in more words if I say that these apparitions of soules are but knavaries and cousenages they object that Moses and Helias appeared in mount Thabor and talked with Christ in the presence of the principal apostles yea and that God appeared in the bush c. As though spirits and souls could do whatsoever it pleaseth the Lord to do or appoint to be done for his owne glory or for the manifestation of his sonne miraculously And therefore I thought good to give you a taste of the witchmongers absurd opinions in this behalf And first you shal understand that they hold that all the soules in heaven may come down and appear to us when they list and assume any body saving their owne otherwise say they such souls should not be perfectly happy They say that you may know the good souls from the bad very easily For a damned soul hath a very heavy and sowre look but a saints soul hath a cheerfull and a merry countenance these also are white and shining the other cole black And these damned souls also may come up out of hell at their pleasure although Abraham made Dives beleeve the contrary They affirme that damned souls walk oftenest next unto them the souls of purgatory and most seldome the souls of saints Also they say that in the old law souls did appear seldome and after dooms day they shal never be seen more in the time of grace they shall be most frequent The walking of these souls saith Michael Andr. is a most excellent argument for the proof of purgatory for saith he those souls have testified that which the popes have affirmed in that behalfe to wit that there is not only such a place of punishment but that they are released from thence by masses and such other satisfactory works whereby the goodnesse of the masse is also ratified and confirmed These heavenly or purgatory souls say they appear most commonly to them that are born upon ember daies and they also walk most usually on those ember daaes because we are in best state at that time to pray for the one and to keep company with the other Also they say that soules appear oftenest by night because men may then be at best leisure and most
M. Mal. and the residue of that crew doe expound this word Diabolus for Dia say they is Duo and Bolus is Morsellus whereby they gather that the divell eateth up a man both body and soul at two morsels Whereas in truth the wicked may be said to eat up and swallow down the divell rather then the divell to eat up them though it may well be said by a figure that the divell like a roaring lion seeketh whom he may devoure which is meant of the soul and spirituall devouring as very novices in religion may judge CHAP. XXXIII Against fond witchmongers and their opinions concerning corporall divels NOw how Brian Darcies he spirits and she spirits Titty and Tifâ—â— Suckin and Pidgin Liard and Robin c. his white spirits and blacke spirits gray spirits and red spirits divell tode and divell lambe 〈◊〉 cat and divels dam agree herewithall or can stand consonant with the word of God or true philosophy let heaven and earth judge It 〈◊〉 mean time let any man with good consideration peruse that book 〈◊〉 by W. W. and it shall suffice to satisfie him in all that may required touching the vanities of the witches examinations confessions and executions where though the tale be told only of the accusers part without any other answer of theirs than their adversary â—â—teth down mine assertion will be sufficiently proved true And 〈◊〉 it seemeth to be performed with some kind of authority I will say 〈◊〉 more for the confutation thereof but referre you to the book it selfe whereto if nothing be added that may make to their reproach I 〈◊〉 warrant nothing is left out that may serve to their condemnation 〈◊〉 whether the witnesses be not single of what credit sex and age they â—â— namely lewd miserable and envious poor people most of them 〈◊〉 speak to any purpose being old women and children of the age of 4 5 6 7 8 or 9. years And note how and what the witches confesse and see of what weight and importance the causes are whether their confessions be not wonne through hope of favour and extorted by flattery or threats without proof But in so much as there were not past seventeen or eighteen condemned at 〈◊〉 at S. Osees in the county of Essex being a whole parish though of no great quantity I will say the lesse trusting that by this time there remain not many in that parish If any be yet behind I doubt not but 〈◊〉 Darcie will find them out who if he lack aid Richard Gallis of Windsor were meet to be associated with him which Gallis hath set forth another book to that effect of certain witches of Windsor executed at Abiâ—â—ton But with what impudency and dishonesty he hath finished it with what lies and forgeries he hath furnished it what folly and frenzy he hath mered in it I am ashamed to report and therefore being but a two penny book I had rather desire you to buy it and so to peruse it than to fill my book with such beastly stuffe CHAP. XXXIIII A conclusion wherein the Spirit of spirits is described by the illumination of which spirit all spirits are to be tryed with a confutation of the Pneumatomachi flatly denying the divinity of this Spirit TOuching the manifold signification of this word Spirit I have elsewhere in this brief discourse told you my minde which is a word nothing differing in Heb. from breath or wind For all these words following to wit Spiritus Ventus Flatus Halitus are indifferently use by the Holy Ghost and called by this Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the sacred scripture For further proof whereof I cite unto you the words of Isay For his spirit or breath is as a river that overfloweth up to the neck c. in which place the prophet describeth the comming of God in heat and indignation unto judgment c. I cite also unto you the words of Zaccharie These are the four spirits of the heaven c. Likewise in Genesis And the spirit of God moved upon the waters Moreover I cite unto you the words of Christ The spirit or wind bloweth where it listeth Unto which said places infinite more might be added out of holy writ tending all to this purpose namely to give us this for a note that all the sayings above cited hath many more that I could alleadge where mention is made of spirit the Hebrew text useth no word but one to wit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth as I said Spiritum ventum flatum halitum which may be Englished Spirit wind blast breath But before I enter upon the very point of my purpose it shall not bee misse to make you acquainted with the collection of a certaine Schoole divine who distinguisheth and divideth this word Spirit into six significations saying that it is sometimes taken for the air sometimes for the bodies of the blessed sometimes for the souls of the blessed sometimes for the power imaginative or the minde of man and sometimes for God Again he saith that of spirits there are two sorts some created and some uncreated A spirit uncreated saith he is God himselfe and it is essentially taken and agreeth unto the three persons notionally to the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost personally A spirit created is a creature and that is likewise of two sorts to wit bodily and bodilesse A bodily spirit is also of two sorts for some kinde of spirit is so named of spiritualnesse as it is distinguished from bodilinesse otherwise it is called Spiritus a spirando id est a stando of breathing or blowing as the winde doth A bodilesse spirit is one way so named of spiritualnesse and then it is taken for a spirituall substance and is of two sorts some make a full and compleat kind and is called compleat or perfect as a spirit angelicall some doe not make a full and perfect kind and is called incompleat or unperfect as the soule There is also the spirit vitall which is a certaine subtill or very fine substance necessarily disposing and tending unto life There be moreover spirits naturall which are a kind of subtill and very fine substances disposing and tending unto equall complexions of bodies Again there be spirits animall which are certain subtill and very fine substances disposing and tempering the body that it might be animated of the form that is that it might be perfected of the reasonable soul. Thus far he In whose division you see a philosophicall kinde of proceeding though not altogether to be condemned yet in every point not to be approved Now to the spirit of spirits I mean the principall and holy spirit of God which one defineth or rather describeth to be the third person in trinity issuing from the Father and the Son no more the charity dilection love of the Father and the Son than the Father is the charity dilection and love of the Son and Holy