Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/799

 DEMONOLOGY 795 Turkey ; Rimmon, ambassador in Russia; Thamuz, ambassador in Spain; Hutgin, am- bassador in Italy; Martinet, ambassador in Switzerland ; Lucifer, highest officer of justice; Alastor, executive officer in great undertakings ; Nisroch, chief cook; Behemoth, chief cup- bearer ; Dagon, chief pantler ; Mullin, chief valet de chambre ; Kobal, director of spectacles and amusements; Asmodeus, superintendent of gambling houses; Nybas, master of pageants; Antichrist, conjurer and necromancer. Accord- ing to Paracelsus, the air is not so full of flies in summer as it is at all times of invisible devils. Demons and sorcerers celebrate their nocturnal orgies in an assembly called the sab- bat, which was first convened, say some cab- alists, by the great Orpheus. Sorcerers or witches bear a mark upon their bodies im- printed by the devil, which by a certain in- ward sensation gives notice of the hour of gathering; or in a case of urgency, a sheep is made to appear in the sky in a cloud, which is seen only by the ministers of Satan. Ordinarily it is necessary either to sleep or to close one eye before proceeding, and sorcerers always fly to the sabbat through the air on staves or broomsticks, or on the backs of sub- altern demons, and are often transformed into goats, cats, or other animals. They usually issue from their houses through the chimney. The demon Leonard, in the favorite form of a three-horned goat with a black human counte- nance, presides at the sabbat, and every guest does homage to him. Stolen children are brought to him, and swear through their god- parents to renounce God, the Holy Virgin, and the saints, and are marked by one of his horns with a sign which they bear during their novitiate. Singing, dancing, and feast- ing are continued till the first crowing of the cock, when the assembly suddenly disperses. Demons also retreat from the sound of bells. Angels and demons have been said to be incor- poreal as compared with mankind, but cor- poreal as compared with God. It is remark- able that the Europeans more frequently represent demons as black, but the negroes of Africa suppose them to be white. Bodin makes them and also the souls of departed men not only corporeal, but round like the sun and moon, because that is the most perfect form ; yet they can assume any shape at their pleasure, traverse miles in an instant, trans- form the bodies of others, and remove them from place to place ; the most powerful magicians, too, as Simon Magus, Apollonius of Tyana, Pasetes, lamblichus, and Odo de Stellis, can force them to deceive all the senses, build cas- tles in the air, represent armies and prodigies, command treasures, reveal secrets, and per- form many other wonders. Sorcery, or black magic, is the art of invoking the infernal pow- ers in order to obtain supernatural knowledge, or the power of performing supernatural things. Cardan relates that his father, after the accus- tomed solemnities, conjured up, Aug. 13, 1491, seven devils in Greek apparel, about 40 years of age, some of ruddy and some of pale com- plexion, who boasted their superiority to men, and affirmed that their average life was TOO or 800 years. Eric, king of Sweden, is recorded to have had an enchanted cap, by virtue of which and some magical words he could com- mand spirits to trouble the air, make the wind blow which way he would, and raise tempests. There are witches in Sweden and Norway who make a business of selling favorable winds to sailors. The most mighty cabalistic word is agla, which being uttered toward the east will either drive away malignant spirits or produce mar- vellous revelations. In Webster's "Witch- craft" an account is given of a cnild who, hav- ing heard some fearful spell muttered, caught the words, and afterward repeated them till such tempests and thunderings were produced that a whole village was burned by the light- ning. Jacob Boehm declared that he could not without peril to his soul disclose the ori- ginal name of Lucifer, so tremendous would be its influence. The devil usually appears un- called to persons in distress, and avails himself of the temptation of the moment to conclude a pact by which he extricates them, and serves them for a specified number of years, after which he shall own their souls. The compact must be written in blood. To invoke a demon, it is necessary, for safety, that the person first enclose himself in 'a magic circle drawn with charcoal and blessed water, which no evil spirit can cross. The formulas of conjuration being then repeated, the demons first appear with frightful bowlings, vomiting fire and fumes of brimstone all about the circle. The conjurer must not exhibit a tremor if he would keep his ascendancy, but must firmly pronounce all the forms of constriction, till at length he reduces them to the human form and to gentle counte- nance and behavior. The conjuration must be in different words for different demons, times, and purposes, and if rightly performed no de- mon can resist it. Paracelsus was believed to carry a demon in the hilt of his sword, which the alchemists, however, maintained to be the philosopher's stone, and no demon; and the magicians of Salamanca and Toledo imprisoned demons in rings, phials, boxes, and caskets. Solomon is reputed to have had a signet ring with the hidden name of God engraved upon it, which gave him command of the spirits, and transported him every day at noon into the firmament, where he heard the secrets of the universe. Cardan affirms that no man was ever great in any art or action who did not have one of these demons to aid him. If a de- mon has entered into a person and " possessed " him, he can be expelled by means of exorcism. Exorcists were recognized by the council of Antioch (341) as a special ecclesiastical order, and in the Latin church are still one of the four minors orders of the clergy. Holy words, as the names of God, Christ, and the saints, holy water, the sign of the cross, the recita-