History and Philosophy of Spirits, Demons and Apparitions
HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SPIRITS, DEMONS AND APPARITIONSINTRODUCTION.PREFACE.ADVERTISEMENT.CHAPTER I.CHAPTER II.CHAPTER III.CHAPTER IV.CHAPTER V.CHAPTER VI.CHAPTER VII.CHAPTER VIII.CHAPTER IX.CHAPTER X.CHAPTER XI.CHAPTER XII.CHAPTER XIII.CHAPTER XIV.CHAPTER XV.CHAPTER XVI.CHAPTER XVII.CHAPTER XVIII.CHAPTER XIX.CHAPTER XX.CHAPTER XXI.CHAPTER XXII.CHAPTER XXIII.CHAPTER XXIV.CHAPTER XXV.CHAPTER XXVI.CHAPTER XXVII.CHAPTER XXVIII.CHAPTER XXIX.CHAPTER XXX.CHAPTER XXXI.CHAPTER XXXII.CHAPTER XXXIII.CHAPTER XXXIV.CHAPTER XXXV.CHAPTER XXXVI.CHAPTER XXXVII.CHAPTER XXXVIII.CHAPTER XXXIX.CHAPTER XL.CHAPTER XLI.CHAPTER XLII.CHAPTER XLIII.CHAPTER XLIV.CHAPTER XLV.CHAPTER XLVI.CHAPTER XLVII.CHAPTER XLVIII.CHAPTER XLIX.CHAPTER L.CHAPTER LI.CHAPTER LII.Copyright
HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SPIRITS, DEMONS AND APPARITIONS
Augustin Calmet
INTRODUCTION.
Among the many phases presented by human credulity, few
are more interesting than those which regard the realities of the
invisible world. If the opinions which have been held on this
subject were written and gathered together they would form hundreds
of volumes—if they were arranged and digested they would form a
few, but most important. It is not merely because there is in
almost every human error a substratum of truth, and that the more
important the subject the more important the substratum, but
because the investigation will give almost a history of human
aberrations, that this otherwise unpromising topic assumes so high
an interest. The superstitions of every age, for no age is free
from them, will present the popular modes of thinking in an
intelligible and easily accessible form, and may be taken as a
means of gauging (if the expression be permitted) the philosophical
and metaphysical capacities of the period. In this light, the
volumes here presented to the reader will be found of great value,
for they give a picture of the popular mind at a time of great
interest, and furnish a clue to many difficulties in the
ecclesiastical affairs of that era. In the time of Calmet, cases of
demoniacal possession, and instances of returns from the world of
spirits, were reputed to be of no uncommon occurrence. The church
was continually called on to exert her powers of exorcism; and the
instances gathered by Calmet, and related in this work, may be
taken as fair specimens of the rest. It is then, first, as a
storehouse of facts, or reputed facts, that Calmet compiled the
work now in the reader's hands—as the foundation on which to rear
what superstructure of system they pleased; and secondly, as a
means of giving his own opinions, in a detached and desultory way,
as the subjects came under his notice. The value of the first will
consist in theirevidence—and
of this the reader will be as capable of judging as the compiler;
that of the second will depend on their truth—and of this, too, we
are as well, and in some respects better, able to judge than Calmet
himself. Those accustomed to require rigid evidence will be but ill
satisfied with the greater part of that which will be found in this
work; simple assertion for the most part suffices—often first made
long after the facts, or supposed facts, related, and not
unfrequently far off from the places where they were alleged to
have taken place. But these cases are often thebestauthenticated, for in the more
modern ones there is frequently such an evident mistake in the
whole nature of the case, that all the spiritual deductions made
from it fall to the ground.Not a few instances of so-called demoniacal possession
are capable of being resolved into cataleptic trance, a state not
unlike that produced by mesmerism, and in which many of the same
phenomena seem naturally to display themselves; the well-known
instance of the young servant girl, related by Coleridge, who,
though ignorant and uneducated, could during her sleep-walking
discourse learnedly in rabbinical Hebrew, would furnish a case in
point. The circumstance of her old master having been in the habit
of walking about the house at night, reading from rabbinical books
aloud and in a declamatory manner; the impression made by the
strange sounds upon her youthful imagination; their accurate
retention by a memory, which, however, could only reproduce them in
an abnormal condition—all teach us many most interesting
psychological facts, which, had this young girl fallen into other
hands, would have been useless in a philosophical point of view,
and would have been only used to establish the doctrine of
diabolical possession and ecclesiastical exorcism. We should have
been told how skilled was the fallen angel in rabbinical tradition,
and how wholesome a terror he entertained of the Jesuits, the
Capuchins, or theFratres Minimi, as the case might be. Not a few of the most remarkable
cases of supposedmodernpossession are to be accounted for by involuntary or natural
mesmerism. Indeed the same view seems to be taken by a popular
minister of the church (Mr. Mac Niel), in our own day, viz., that
mesmerism and diabolical possession are frequently identical. Our
difference with him is that we should consider the cases called by
the two names as all natural, and he would consider them as all
supernatural. And here, to avoid misconception, or rather
misinterpretation, let me at once observe, that I speak thus
ofmodernandrecordedcases only, acceptingliterallyall related in the New
Testament, and not presuming to say that similar casesmightnot occur now. Calmet, however,
may be supposed to have collected all the most remarkable of modern
times, and I am compelled to say I believe not one of them. But
when we pass from the evidence of truth, in which they are so
wanting, to the evidence of fraud and collusion by which many are
so characterized, we shall have less wonder at the general spread
of infidelity in times somewhat later, on all subjects not
susceptible of ocular demonstration. Where a system claimed to be
received as a whole, or not at all, it is hardly to be wondered at
that when some portion was manifestly wrong, its own requirements
should be complied with, and the whole rejected. The system which
required an implicit belief in such absurdities as those related in
these volumes, and placed them on a level with the most awful
verities of religion, might indeed make some interested use of them
in an age of comparative darkness, but certainly contained within
itself the seeds of destruction, and which could not fail to
germinate as soon as light fell upon them. The state of Calmet's
own mind, as revealed in this book, is curious and interesting. The
beliefof the intellectin much
which he relates is evidently gone, the beliefof
the willbut partially remains. There is a
painful sense of uncertainty as to whether certain thingsoughtnot to be received more fully
than he felt himself able to receive them, and he gladly follows in
many cases the example of Herodotus of old, merely relating stories
without comment, save by stating that they had not fallen under his
own observation.The time, indeed, had hardly come to assert freedom of belief
on subjects such as these. Theology embraced philosophy, and the
Holy Inquisition defended the orthodoxy of both; and if the
investigators of Calmet's day were permitted to hold, with some
limitation, the Copernican theory, it was far otherwise with regard
to the world of spirits, and its connection with our own. The
rotundity of the earth affected neither shrines nor exorcisms;
metaphysical truth might do both one and the other; and the cry of
"Great is Diana of the Ephesians," was not raised in the capital of
Asia Minor, till the "craft by which we get our wealth" was proved
to be in danger.Reflections such as these are painfully forced on us by the
evident fraud exhibited by many of the actors in the scenes of
exorcism narrated by Calmet, the vile purposes to which the
services of the church were turned, and the recklessness with which
the supposed or pretended evil, and equally pretended remedy, were
used for political intrigue or state oppression.Independent of these conclusions, there is something
lamentable in a state of the public mind, which was so little prone
to examination as to receive such a mass of superstition without
sifting the wheat, for such there undoubtedly is, from the chaff.
Calmet's work contains enough, had we the minor circumstances in
each case preserved, to set at rest many philosophic doubts, and to
illustrate many physical facts; and to those who desire to know
what was believed by our Christian forefathers, and why it was
believed, the compilation is absolutely invaluable. Calmet was a
man of naturally cool, calm judgment, possessed of singular
learning, and was pious and truthful. A short sketch of his life
will not, perhaps, be unacceptable to the reader.Augustine Calmet was born in the year 1672, at a village near
Commerci, in Lorraine. He early gave proofs of aptitude for study,
and an opportunity was speedily offered of devoting himself to a
life of learning. In his sixteenth year he became a Benedictine of
the Congregation of St. Vannes, and prosecuted his theological and
such philosophical studies as the time allowed with great success.
He was soon appointed to teach the younger portion of the
community, and gave in this employment such decided satisfaction to
his superiors, that he was soon marked for preferment. His chief
study was the Scriptures; and in the twenty-second year of his age,
a period unusually early, in an age when all benefices and
beneficial employments were matters of sale, he was appointed to be
sub-prior of the monastery of Munster, in Alsace, where he presided
over an academy. This academy consisted of ten or twelve monks, and
its object was the investigation of Scripture. Calmet was not idle
in his new position; besides communicating so much valuable
information as to make his pupils the best biblical scholars of the
country, he made extensive collections for his Commentary on the
Old and New Testaments, and for his still more celebrated work, the
History of the Bible. These materials he subsequently digested and
arranged. The Commentary, a work of immense value, was published in
separate volumes from 1707 to 1716. His labors attracted renewed
and increased attention, and the offer of a bishopric was made to
him, which he unhesitatingly declined.In 1718, he was elected to the abbacy of St. Leopold, in
Nancy; and ten years afterwards, to that of Senones, where he spent
the remainder of his days. His writings are numerous—two have been
already mentioned—and so great was the popularity attained by his
Commentaries, that they have been translated into no fewer than six
languages within ten years. It exhibits a favorable aspect of the
author's mind, and gives a very high idea of his erudition. One
cause which tended greatly to its universal acceptability, was its
singular freedom from sectarian bitterness. Protestants as well as
Romanists may use it with equal satisfaction; and accordingly, it
is considered a work of standard authority in England as much as on
the continent.In addition to these Commentaries, and his History of the
Bible, and Fragments, (the best edition of which latter work in
English, is by Isaac Taylor,) he wrote the "Ecclesiastical and
Civil History of Lorraine;" "A Catalogue of the Writers of
Lorraine;" "Universal History, Sacred and Profane;" a small
collection of Reveries; and a work entitled, "A Literal, Moral, and
Historical Commentary on the Rule of St. Benedict," a work which is
full of curious information on ancient customs, particularly
ecclesiastical. He is among the few, also, who have written on
ancient music. He lived to a good old age; and died regretted and
much respected in 1757.Of all his works, the one presented here to the reader,
is perhaps the most popular; it went rapidly through many editions,
and received from the author's hand continual corrections and
additions. To say that it is characterized by uniform judgment,
would be to give it a praise somewhat different as well as somewhat
greater than that which it merits. It is a vast repertory of
legends, more or less probable; some of which have very little
foundation—and some which Calmet himself would have done well to
omit, thoughnow, as a picture
of the belief entertained in that day, they greatly add to the
value of the book. For the same reasons which have caused the
retention of these passages, no alterations have been made in the
citations from Scripture, which being translations from the
Vulgate, necessarily differ in phraseology from the version in use
among ourselves. The apocryphal books too are quoted, and the story
of Bel and the Dragon referred to as a part of the prophecy of
Daniel; but what is of consequence to observe, is, thatdoctrinesare founded on these
translations, and on those very points in which they differ from
our own.If the history of popery, and especially that form and
development of it exhibited in the monastic orders, be ever
written, this work will be of the greatest importance:—it will show
the means by which dominion was obtained over the minds of the
ignorant; how the most sacred mysteries were perverted; and frauds,
which can hardly be termed pious, used to support institutions
which can scarcely be called religious. That the spirits of the
dead should be permitted to return to earth, under circumstances
the most grotesque, to support the doctrines of masses for the
dead, purgatory and propitiatory penance; that demons should be
exorcised to give testimony to the merits of rival orders of monks
and friars; that relics, many of them supposititious, and many of
the most disgusting and blasphemous character, should have power to
affect the eternal state of the departed; and thatallsaints, angels, demons, and the
ghosts of the departed, should support, with great variations
indeed, the corrupt dealings of a corrupt priesthood—form a creed
worthy of the darkest and most unworthy days of
heathenism.There is, however, one excuse, or rather palliation, for the
superstition of that time. In periods of great public depravity—and
few epochs have been more depraved than that in which Calmet
lived—Satan has great power. With a ruler like the regent Duke of
Orleans, with a Church governor like Cardinal Dubois, it would
appear that the civil and ecclesiastical authority of France had
sold itself, like Ahab of old, to work wickedness; or, as the
apostle says, "to work all uncleanness with greediness." In an age
so characterized, it does not seem at all improbable that
portentous events should from time to time occur; that the servants
of the devil should be strengthened together with their master;
that many should be given over to strong delusions and to believe a
lie; and that the evil part of the invisible world should be
permitted to ally itself more closely with the men of an age so
congenial. Real cases of demoniacal possession might, perhaps, be
met with, and though scarcely amenable to the exorcisms of a clergy
so corrupt as that of France in that day, they would yet justify a
belief in the reality of those cases got up for the sake of filthy
lucre, personal ambition, or private revenge. If the public mind
was prepared for a belief in such cases, there were not wanting men
to turn it to profitable account; and the quiet student who
believed the efficacy of the means used, and was scarcely aware of
the wickedness of the age in which he lived, might easily be
induced to credit the tales told him of demons expelled by the
power of a church, to which in the beginning an authority to do so
had undoubtedly been given, and whose awful corruptions were to him
at least greatly veiled.Calmet was a man of great integrity and considerable acumen,
but he passed an innocent and exemplary life in studious seclusion;
he mixed little with the world at large, resided remote "from
courts, and camps, and strife of war or peace;" and there appears
occasionally in his writings a kind of nervous apprehension lest
the dogmas of the church to which he was pledged should be less
capable than he could wish of satisfactory investigation. When he
meets with tales like those of the vampires or vroucolacas, which
concern only what he considered a heretical church, and with which,
therefore, he might deal according to his own will—apply to them
the ordinary rules of evidence, and treat them as mundane
affairs—there he is clear-sighted, critical and acute, and
accordingly he discusses the matter philosophically and logically,
and concludes without fear of sinning against the church, that the
whole is delusion. When, on the other hand, he has to deal with
cases of demoniacal possession, in countries under the rule of the
Roman hierarchy, he contents himself with the decisions of the
scholastic divines and the opinions of the fathers, and makes
frequent references to the decrees of various provincial
parliaments. The effects of such a state of mind upon scientific
and especially metaphysical investigation, may be easily imagined,
and are to be traced more or less distinctly in every page of the
work before us.To conclude: books like this—the "Disquisitiones Magicæ" of
Delrio, the "Demonomanie" of Bodin, the "Malleus Maleficarum" of
Sprengel, and the like, are at no time to be regarded merely as
subjects of amusement; they have their philosophical value; they
have a still greater historical value; and they show how far even
upright minds may be warped by imperfect education, and slavish
deference to authority.The edition here followed is that of 1751, which contains the
latest corrections of the author, and several additional pieces,
which are all included in the present volumes.Sion College, London Wall,
PREFACE.
The great number of authors who have written upon the
apparitions of angels, demons, and disembodied souls is not unknown
to me; and I do not presume sufficiently on my own capacity to
believe that I shall succeed better in it than they have done, and
that I shall enhance their knowledge and their discoveries. I am
perfectly sensible that I expose myself to criticism, and perhaps
to the mockery of many readers, who regard this matter as done
with, and decried in the minds of philosophers, learned men, and
many theologians. I must not reckon either on the approbation of
the people, whose want of discernment prevents their being
competent judges of this same. My aim is not to foment
superstition, nor to feed the vain curiosity of visionaries, and
those who believe without examination everything that is related to
them as soon as they find therein anything marvelous and
supernatural. I write only for reasonable and unprejudiced minds,
which examine things seriously and coolly; I speak only for those
who assent even to known truth but after mature reflection, who
know how to doubt of what is uncertain, to suspend their judgment
on what is doubtful, and to deny what is manifestly
false.As for pretended freethinkers, who reject everything to
distinguish themselves, and to place themselves above the common
herd, I leave them in their elevated sphere; they will think of
this work as they may consider proper, and as it is not calculated
for them, apparently they will not take the trouble to read
it.I undertook it for my own information, and to form to myself
a just idea of all that is said on the apparitions of angels, of
the demon, and of disembodied souls. I wished to see how far that
matter was certain or uncertain, true or false, known or unknown,
clear or obscure.In this great number of facts which I have collected I have
endeavored to make a choice, and not to heap together too great a
multitude of them, for fear that in the too numerous examples the
doubtful might not harm the certain, and in wishing to prove too
much I might prove absolutely nothing. There will, even amongst
those I have cited, be found some which will not easily be credited
by many readers, and I allow them to regard them as not
related.I beg those readers, nevertheless, to discern justly amongst
these facts and instances; after which they can with me form their
opinion—affirm, deny, or remain in doubt.From the respect which every man owes to truth, and the
veneration which a Christian and a priest owes to religion, it
appeared to me very important to undeceive people respecting the
opinion which they have of apparitions, if they believe them all to
be true; or to instruct them and show them the truth and reality of
a great number, if they think them all false. It is always shameful
to be deceived; and in regard to religion, to believe on
light grounds, to remain wilfully in doubt, or to maintain oneself
without any reason in superstition and illusion; it is already much
to know how to doubt wisely, and not to form a decided opinion
beyond what one really knows.I never had any idea of treating profoundly the matter of
apparitions; I have treated of it, as it were, by chance, and
occasionally. My first and principal object was to discourse of the
vampires of Hungary. In collecting my materials on that subject, I
found many things concerning apparitions; the great number of these
embarrassed this treatise on vampires. I detached some of them, and
thus have composed this treatise on apparitions: there still
remains a large number of them, which I might have separated for
the better arrangement of this treatise. Many persons here have
taken the accessory for the principal, and have paid more attention
to the first part than to the second, which was, however, the first
and the principal in my design. For I own I have always been much
struck with what was related of the vampires or ghosts of Hungary,
Moravia, and Poland; of the vroucolacas of Greece; and of the
excommunicated, who are said not to rot. I thought I ought to
bestow on it all the attention in my power; and I have deemed it
right to treat on this subject in a particular dissertation. After
having deeply studied it, and obtaining as much information as I
was able, I found little solidity and certainty on the subject;
which, joined to the opinion of some prudent and respectable
persons whom I consulted, had induced me to give up my design
entirely, and to renounce laboring on a subject which is so
contradictory, and embraces so much uncertainty.But looking at the matter in another point of view, I resumed
my pen, decided upon undeceiving the public, if I found that what
was said of it was absolutely false; showing that what is uttered
on this subject is uncertain, and that one ought to be very
reserved in pronouncing on these vampires, which have made so much
noise in the world for a certain time, and still divide opinions at
this day, even in the countries which are the scene of their
pretended return, and where they appear; or to show that what has
been said and written on this subject is not destitute of
probability, and that the subject of the return of vampires is
worthy the attention of the curious and the learned, and deserves
to be seriously studied, to have the facts related of it examined,
and the causes, circumstances, and means sounded
deeply.I am then about to examine this question as a historian,
philosopher, and theologian. As a historian, I shall endeavor to
discover the truth of the facts; as a philosopher, I shall examine
the causes and circumstances; lastly, the knowledge or light of
theology will cause me to deduce consequences as relating to
religion. Thus I do not write in the hope of convincing
freethinkers and pyrrhonians, who will not allow the existence of
ghosts or vampires, nor even of the apparitions of angels, demons,
and spirits; nor to intimidate those weak and credulous, by
relating to them extraordinary stories of apparitions. I do not
reckon either on curing the superstitious of their errors, nor the
people of their prepossessions; not even on correcting the abuses
which arise from this unenlightened belief, nor of doing away all
the doubts which may be formed on apparitions; still less do I
pretend to erect myself as a judge and censor of the works and
sentiments of others, nor to distinguish myself, make myself a
name, or divert myself, by spreading abroad dangerous doubts upon a
subject which concerns religion, and from which they might make
wrong deductions against the certainty of the Scriptures, and
against the unshaken dogmas of our creed. I shall treat it as
solidly and gravely as it merits; and I pray God to give me that
knowledge which is necessary to do it successfully.I exhort my reader to distinguish between the facts related,
and the manner in which they happened. The fact may be certain, and
the way in which it occurred unknown. Scripture relates certain
apparitions of angels and disembodied souls; these instances are
indubitable and found in the revelations of the holy books; but the
manner in which God operated the resurrections, or in which he
permitted these apparitions to take place, is hidden among his
secrets. It is allowable for us to examine them, to seek out the
circumstances, and propound some conjectures on the manner in which
it all came to pass; but it would be rash to decide upon a matter
which God has not thought proper to reveal to us. I say as much in
proportion, concerning the stories related by sensible,
contemporary, and judicious authors, who simply relate the facts
without entering into the examination of the circumstances, of
which, perhaps, they themselves were not well
informed.It has already been objected to me, that I cited poets and
authors of little credit, in support of a thing so grave and so
disputed as the apparition of spirits: such authorities, they say,
are more calculated to cast a doubt on apparitions, than to
establish the truth of them.But I cite those authors as witnesses of the opinions of
nations; and I count it not a small thing in the extreme license of
opinions, which at this day predominates in the world, amongst
those even who make a profession of Christianity, to be able to
show that the ancient Greeks and Romans thought that souls were
immortal, that they subsisted after the death of the body, and that
there was another life, in which they received the reward of their
good actions, or the chastisement of their crimes.Those sentiments which we read in the poets, are also
repeated in the fathers of the church, and the pagan and Christian
historians; but as they did not pretend to think them weighty, nor
to approve them in repeating them, it must not be imputed to me
either, that I have any intention of authorizing. For instance,
what I have related of the manes, or lares; of the evocation of
souls after the death of the body; of the avidity of these souls to
suck the blood of the immolated animals, of the shape of the soul
separated from the body, of the inquietude of souls which have no
rest until their bodies are under ground; of those superstitious
statues of wax which are devoted and consecrated under the name of
certain persons whom the magicians pretended to kill by burning and
stabbing their effigies of wax; of the transportation of wizards
and witches through the air, and of their assemblies of the
Sabbath; all those things are related both in the works of the
philosophers and pagan historians, as well as in the
poets.I know the value of one and the other, and I esteem them as
they deserve; but I think that in treating this matter, it is
important to make known to our readers the ancient superstitions,
the vulgar or common opinions, and the prejudices of nations, to be
able to refute them, and bring back the figures to truths, by
freeing them from what poesy had added for the embellishment of the
poem, and the amusement of the reader.Moreover, I generally repeat this kind of thing, only when it
is apropos of certain facts avowed by historians, and by other
grave and rational authors; and sometimes rather as an ornament of
the discourse, or to enliven the matter, than to derive thence
certain proofs and consequences necessary for the dogma, or to
certify the facts and give weight to my recital.I know how little we must depend on what Lucian says on this
subject; he only speaks of it to make game of it. Philostratus,
Jamblicus, and some others, do not merit more consideration;
therefore I quote them only to refute them, or to show how far idle
and ridiculous credulity has been carried on these matters, which
were laughed at by the most sensible among the heathens
themselves.The consequences which I deduce from all these stories, and
these poetical fictions, and the manner in which I speak of them in
the course of this dissertation, sufficiently vouch that esteem,
and give as true and certain only what is so in fact; and that I do
not wish to impose on my reader, by relating many things which I
myself regard as false, or as doubtful, or even as fabulous. But
that ought to be prejudicial to the dogma of the immortality of the
soul, and to that of another life, not to the truth of certain
apparitions related in Scripture, or proved elsewhere by good
testimony.The first edition of this work having been printed in my
absence, and upon an incorrect copy, several misprints have
occurred, and even expressions and phrases displeasing and
interrupted. I have tried to remedy this in a second edition, and
to cast light on those passages which they noticed as demanding
explanation, and correcting what might offend scrupulous readers,
and prevent the bad consequences which might be derived from what I
had said. I have even done more in this third edition. I have
retrenched several passages; others I have suppressed; I have
profited by the advice which has been given me; and I have replied
to the objections which have been made.People have complained that I took no part, and did not come
to a decision on several difficulties which I propose, and that I
leave my reader in uncertainty.I make but little defence against this reproach; I should
require more justification if I decided without a perfect knowledge
of causes, for one side of the question, at the risk of embracing
an error, and of falling into a still greater impropriety. There is
wisdom in suspending one's judgment till we have succeeded in
finding the very truth.I have also been told, that certain persons have made a
joke of some facts which I have related. If I have related them as
certain, and they afford just cause for pleasantry, let the
condemnation pass; but if I cited them as fabulous and false, they
present no subject for pleasantry;Falsum non est
de ratione faceti.There are certain persons who delight in jesting on the most
serious things, and who spare nothing, either sacred or profane.
The histories of the Old and New Testament, the most sacred
ceremonies of our religion, the lives of the most respectable
saints, are not safe from their dull, tasteless
pleasantry.I have been reproached for having related several false
histories, several doubtful facts, and several fabulous events.
This is true; but I give them for what they are. I have declared
several times, that I did not vouch for their truth, that I
repeated them to show how false and ridiculous they were, and to
deprive them of the credit they might have with the people; and if
I had gone at length into their refutation, I thought it right to
let my reader have the pleasure of refuting them, supposing him to
possess enough good sense and self-sufficiency, to form his own
judgment upon them, and feel the same contempt for such stories
that I do myself. It is doing too much honor to certain things to
refute them seriously.But another objection, and a much more serious one, is said
to be, what I say of the illusions of the demon, leading some
persons to doubt of the truth of the apparitions related in
Scripture, as well as of the others suspected of
falsehood.I answer, that the consequences deduced from principles are
not right, except when things are equal, and the subjects and
circumstances the same; without that there can be no application of
principles. The facts to which my reasoning applies are related by
authors of small authority, by ordinary or common-place historians,
bearing no character which deserves a belief of anything
superhuman. I can, without attacking their person or their merit,
advance that they may have been badly informed, prepossessed, and
mistaken; that the spirit of seduction may have been of the party;
that the senses, the imagination, and superstition, may have made
them take that for truth, which was only seeming.But, in regard to the apparitions related in the Holy
Scriptures, they borrow their infallible authority from the sacred
and inspired authors who wrote them; they are verified by the
events which followed them, by the execution or fulfilment of
predictions made many ages preceding; and which could neither be
done, nor foreseen, nor performed, either by the human mind, or by
the strength of man, not even by the angel of
darkness.I am but little concerned at the opinion passed on myself and
my intentions in the publication of this treatise. Some have
thought that I did it to destroy the popular and common idea of
apparitions, and to make it appear ridiculous; and I acknowledge
that those who read this work attentively and without prejudice,
will remark in it more arguments for doubting what the people
believe on this point, than they will find to favor the contrary
opinion. If I have treated this subject seriously, it is only in
what regards those facts in which religion and the truth of
Scripture is interested; those which are indifferent I have left to
the censure of sensible people, and the criticism of the learned
and of philosophical minds.I declare that I consider as true all the apparitions
related in the sacred books of the Old and New Testament; without
pretending, however, that it is not allowable to explain them, and
reduce them to a natural and likely sense, by retrenching what is
too marvelous about them, which might rebut enlightened persons. I
think on that point I may apply the principle of St. Paul;[1] "the letter killeth, and the Spirit giveth
life."As to the other apparitions and visions related in
Christian, Jewish, or heathen authors, I do my best to discern
amongst them, and I exhort my readers to do the same; but I blame
and disapprove the outrageous criticism of those who deny
everything, and make difficulties of everything, in order to
distinguish themselves by their pretended strength of mind, and to
authorize themselves to deny everything, and to dispute the most
certain facts, and in general all that savors of the marvelous, and
which appears above the ordinary laws of nature. St. Paul permits
us to examine and prove everything:Omnia
probate; but he desires us to hold fast that
which is good and true:quod bonum est
tenete.[2]Footnotes:[1] 2 Cor. iii.
16.[2] 1 Thess. v.
21.
ADVERTISEMENT.
Every body talks of apparitions of angels and demons, and of
souls separated from the body. The reality of these apparitions is
considered as certain by many persons, while others deride them and
treat them as altogether visionary.I have determined to examine this matter, just to see what
certitude there can be on this point; and I shall divide this
Dissertation into four parts. In the first, I shall speak of good
angels; in the second, of the appearance of bad angels; in the
third, of the apparitions of souls of the dead; and in the fourth,
of the appearance of living men to others living, absent, distant,
and this unknown to those who appear. I shall occasionally add
something on magic, wizards, and witches; on the Sabbath, oracles,
and obsession and possession by demons.
CHAPTER I.
THE APPEARANCE OF GOOD ANGELS PROVED BY THE BOOKS OF
THE OLD TESTAMENT.The apparitions or appearances of good angels are
frequently mentioned in the books of the Old Testament. He who was
stationed at the entrance of the terrestrial Paradise[3] was a cherub, armed with a flaming sword;
those who appeared to Abraham, and who promised that he should have
a son;[4] those who appeared to Lot,
and predicted to him the ruin of Sodom, and other guilty
cities;[5] he who spoke to Hagar in the
desert,[6] and commanded her to return
to the dwelling of Abraham, and to remain submissive to Sarah, her
mistress; those who appeared to Jacob, on his journey into
Mesopotamia, ascending and descending the mysterious
ladder;[7] he who taught him how to
cause his sheep to bring forth young differently marked;[8] he who wrestled with Jacob on his return
from Mesopotamia,[9]—were angels of
light, and benevolent ones; the same as he who spoke with Moses
from the burning bush on Horeb,[10] and
who gave him the tables of the law on Mount Sinai. That Angel who
takes generally the name of God, and acts in his name, and with his
authority;[11] who served as a guide to
the Hebrews in the desert, hidden during the day in a dark cloud,
and shining during the night; he who spoke to Balaam, and
threatened to kill his she-ass;[12] he,
lastly, who contended with Satan for the body of Moses;[13]—all these angels were without doubt good
angels.We must think the same of him who presented himself
armed to Joshua on the plain of Jericho,[14] and who declared himself head of the army of the Lord; it
is believed, with reason, that it was the angel Michael. He who
showed himself to the wife of Manoah,[15] the father of Samson, and afterwards to Manoah himself. He
who announced to Gideon that he should deliver Israel from the
power of the Midianites.[16] The angel
Gabriel, who appeared to Daniel, at Babylon;[17] and Raphael who conducted the young Tobias
to Rages, in Media.[18]The prophecy of the Prophet Zechariah is full of
visions of angels.[19] In the books of
the Old Testament the throne of the Lord is described as resting on
cherubim; and the God of Israel is represented as having before his
throne[20] seven principal angels,
always ready to execute his orders, and four cherubim singing his
praises, and adoring his sovereign holiness; the whole making a
sort of allusion to what they saw in the court of the ancient
Persian kings,[21] where there were
seven principal officers who saw his face, approached his person,
and were called the eyes and ears of the king.Footnotes:[3] Gen. iii.
24.[4] Gen. xviii.
1-3.[5] Gen.
xix.[6] Gen. xxi.
17.[7] Gen. xxviii.
12.[8] Gen. xxxi. 10,
11.[9] Gen.
xxxii.[10] Exod. iii. 6,
7.[11] Exod. iii.
iv.[12] Numb. xxii.
xxiii.[13] Jude
9.[14] Josh. v.
13.[15] Judges
xiii.[16] Judges vi.
vii.[17] Dan. viii. 16; ix.
21.[18] Tobit
v.[19] Zech. v. 9, 10, 11,
&c.[20] Psalm xvii. 10; lxxix.
2, &c.[21] Tobit xii. Zech. iv.
10. Rev. i. 4.
CHAPTER II.
THE APPEARANCE OF GOOD ANGELS PROVED BY THE BOOKS OF
THE NEW TESTAMENT.
The books of the New Testament are in the same manner
full of facts which prove the apparition of good angels. The angel
Gabriel appeared to Zachariah the father of John the Baptist, and
predicted to him the future birth of the
Forerunner.[22] The Jews, who saw
Zachariah come out of the temple, after having remained within it a
longer time than usual, having remarked that he was struck dumb,
had no doubt but that he had seen some apparition of an angel. The
same Gabriel announced to Mary the future birth of the
Messiah.[23] When Jesus was born in
Bethlehem, the angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds in the
night,[24] and declared to them that the
Saviour of the world was born at Bethlehem. There is every reason
to believe that the star which appeared to the Magi in the East,
and which led them straight to Jerusalem, and thence to Bethlehem,
was directed by a good angel.[25] St.
Joseph was warned by a celestial spirit to retire into Egypt, with
the mother and the infant Christ, for fear that Jesus should fall
into the hands of Herod, and be involved in the massacre of the
Innocents. The same angel informed Joseph of the death of King
Herod, and told him to return to the land of Israel.
After the temptation of Jesus Christ in the wilderness,
angels came and brought him food.[26] The
demon tempter said to Jesus Christ that God had commanded his
angels to lead him, and to prevent him from stumbling against a
stone; which is taken from the 92d Psalm, and proves the belief of
the Jews on the article of guardian angels. The Saviour confirms
the same truth when he says that the angels of children constantly
behold the face of the celestial
Father.[27] At the last judgment, the
good angels will separate the just,[28]
and lead them to the kingdom of heaven, while they will precipitate
the wicked into eternal fire.
At the agony of Jesus Christ in the garden of Olives,
an angel descended from heaven to console
him.[29] After his resurrection, angels
appeared to the holy women who had come to his tomb to embalm
him.[30] In the Acts of the Apostles,
they appeared to the apostles as soon as Jesus had ascended into
heaven; and the angel of the Lord came and opened the doors of the
prison where the apostles were confined, and set them at
liberty.[31] In the same book, St.
Stephen tells us that the law was given to Moses by the
ministration of angels;[32] consequently,
those were angels who appeared on Sinai and Horeb, and who spoke to
him in the name of God, as his ambassadors, and as invested with
his authority; also, the same Moses, speaking of the angel of the
Lord, who was to introduce Israel into the Promised Land, says that
"the name of God is in him."[33] St.
Peter, being in prison, is delivered from thence by an
angel,[34] who conducted him the length
of a street, and disappeared. St. Peter, knocking at the door of
the house in which his brethren were, they could not believe that
it was he; they thought that it was his angel who knocked and
spoke. St. Paul, instructed in the school of the Pharisees, thought
as they did on the subject of angels; he believed in their
existence, in opposition to the
Sadducees,[35] and supposed that they
could appear. When this apostle, having been arrested by the
Romans, related to the people how he had been overthrown at
Damascus, the Pharisees, who were present, replied to those who
exclaimed against him—"How do we know, if an angel or a spirit hath
not spoken to him?" St. Luke says that a Macedonian (apparently the
angel of Macedonia) appeared to St. Paul, and begged him to come
and announce the Gospel in that country.
St. John, in the Apocalypse, speaks of the seven angels who
presided over the churches in Asia. I know that these seven angels
are the bishops of these churches, but the ecclesiastical tradition
will have it that every church has its tutelary angel. In the same
book, the Apocalypse, are related divers appearances of angels. All
Christian antiquity has recognized them; the synagogue also has
recognized them; so that it may be affirmed that nothing is more
certain than the existence of good angels and their
apparitions.
I place in the number of apparitions, not only those of
good or bad angels, and the spirits of the dead who show themselves
to the living, but also those of the living who show themselves to
the angels or souls of the dead; whether these apparitions are seen
in dreams, or during sleep, or awaking; whether they manifest
themselves to all those who are present, or only to the persons to
whom God judges proper to manifest them. For instance, in the
Apocalypse,[36] St. John saw the four
animals, and the four-and-twenty elders, who were clothed in white
garments and wore crowns of gold upon their heads, and were seated
on thrones around that of the Almighty, who prostrated themselves
before the throne of the Eternal, and cast their crowns at his
feet.
And, elsewhere: "I saw four angels standing at the four
corners of the world,[37] who held back
the four winds and prevented them from blowing on the earth; then I
saw another angel, who rose on the side of the east, and who cried
out to the four angels who had orders to hurt the earth, Do no harm
to the earth, or the sea, or the trees, until we have impressed a
sign on the foreheads of the servants of God. And I heard that the
number of those who received this sign (or mark) was a hundred and
forty-four thousand. Afterwards I saw an innumerable multitude of
all nations, tribes, people, and languages, standing before the
throne of the Most High, arrayed in white garments, and having
palms in their hands."
And in the same book[38] St.
John says, after having described the majesty of the throne of God,
and the adoration paid to him by the angels and saints prostrate
before him, one of the elders said to him,—"Those whom you see
covered with white robes, are those who have suffered great trials
and afflictions, and have washed their robes in the blood of the
Lamb; for which reason they stand before the throne of God, and
will do so night and day in his temple; and He who is seated on the
throne will reign over them, and the angel which is in the midst of
the throne will conduct them to the fountains of living water."
And, again,[39] "I saw under the altar of
God the souls of those who have been put to death for defending the
Word of God, and for the testimony which they have rendered; they
cried with a loud voice, saying, When, O Lord, wilt thou not avenge
our blood upon those who are on the earth?" &c.
All these apparitions, and several others similar to them,
which might be related as being derived from the holy books as well
as from authentic histories, are true apparitions, although neither
the angels nor the martyrs spoken of in the Apocalypse came and
presented themselves to St. John; but, on the contrary, this
apostle was transported in spirit to heaven, to see there what we
have just related. These are apparitions which may be called
passive on the part of the angels and holy martyrs, and active on
the part of the holy apostle who saw them.
Footnotes:
[22] Luke i. 10-12,
&c.
[23] Luke i. 26, 27,
&c.
[24] Luke ii. 9,
10.
[25] Matt. ii. 13, 14,
20.
[26] Matt. iv. 6,
11.
[27] Matt. xviii.
16.
[28] Matt. xiii. 45,
46.
[29] Luke xxii.
43.
[30] Matt. xxviii.
John.
[31] Acts v.
19.
[32] Acts vii. 30,
35.
[33] Exod. xxiii.
21.
[34] Acts xii. 8,
9.
[35] Rom. i. 18. 1 Cor. iv.
9; vi. 3; xii. 7. Gal. iii. 19. Acts xvi. 9; xxiii. 9. Rev. i.
11.
[36] Rev. iv. 4,
10.
[37] Rev. vii. 1-3, 9,
&c.
[38] Rev. vii. 13,
14.
[39] Rev. vi. 9,
10.
CHAPTER III.
UNDER WHAT FORM HAVE GOOD ANGELS
APPEARED?
The most usual form in which good angels appear, both
in the Old Testament and the New, is the human form. It was in that
shape they showed themselves to Abraham, Lot, Jacob, Moses, Joshua,
Manoah the father of Samson, to David, Tobit, the Prophets; and in
the New Testament they appeared in the same form to the Holy
Virgin, to Zachariah the father of John the Baptist, to Jesus
Christ after his fast of forty days, and to him again in his agony
in the Garden of Olives. They showed themselves in the same form to
the holy women after the resurrection of the Saviour. The one who
appeared to Joshua[40] on the plain of
Jericho appeared apparently in the guise of a warrior, since Joshua
asks him, "Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?"
Sometimes they hide themselves under some form which
has resemblance to the human shape, like him who appeared to Moses
in the burning bush,[41] and who led the
Israelites in the desert in the form of a cloud, dense and dark
during the day, but luminous at
night.[42] The Psalmist tells us that God
makes his angels serve as a piercing wind and a burning fire, to
execute his orders.[43]
The cherubim, so often spoken of in the Scriptures, and
who are described as serving for a throne to the majesty of God,
were hieroglyphical figures, something like the sphinx of the
Egyptians; those which are described in
Ezekiel[44] are like animals composed of
the figure of a man, having the wings of an eagle, the feet of an
ox; their heads were composed of the face of a man, an ox, a lion,
and an eagle, two of their wings were spread towards their fellows,
and two others covered their body; they were brilliant as burning
coals, as lighted lamps, as the fiery heavens when they send forth
the lightning's flash—they were terrible to look
upon.
The one who appeared to
Daniel[45] was different from those we
have just described; he was in the shape of a man, covered with a
linen garment, and round his loins a girdle of very fine gold; his
body was shining as a chrysolite, his face as a flash of lightning;
his eyes darted fire like a lamp; his arms and all the lower part
of his body was like brass melted in the furnace; his voice was
loud as that of a multitude of people.
St. John, in the
Apocalypse,[46] saw around the throne of
the Most High four animals, which doubtless were four angels; they
were covered with eyes before and behind. The first resembled a
lion, the second an ox, the third had the form of a man, and the
fourth was like an eagle with outspread wings; each of them had six
wings, and they never ceased to cry night and day, "Holy, holy,
holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to
come."
The angel who was placed at the entrance of the
terrestrial paradise was armed with a shining
sword,[47] as well as the one who
appeared to Balaam,[48] and who
threatened, or was near killing both himself and his ass; and so,
apparently, was the one who showed himself to Joshua in the plain
of Jericho,[49] and the angel who
appeared to David, ready to smite all Israel. The angel Raphael
guided the young Tobias to Ragès under the human form of a
traveler.[50] The angel who was seen by
the holy woman at the sepulchre of the Saviour, who overthrew the
large stone which closed the mouth of the tomb, and who was seated
upon it, had a countenance which shone like lightning, and garments
white as snow.[51]
In the Acts of the
Apostles,[52] the angel who extricated
them from prison, and told them to go boldly and preach Jesus
Christ in the temple, also appeared to them in a human form. The
manner in which he delivered them from the dungeon is quite
miraculous; for the chief priests having commanded that they should
appear before them, those who were sent found the prison securely
closed, the guards wide awake; but having caused the doors to be
opened, they found the dungeon empty. How could an angel without
opening, or any fracture of the doors, thus extricate men from
prison without either the guards or the jailer perceiving anything
of the matter? The thing is beyond any known powers of nature; but
it is no more impossible than to see our Saviour, after his
resurrection, invested with flesh and bones, as he himself says,
come forth from his sepulchre, without opening it, and without
breaking the seals,[53] enter the chamber
wherein were the apostles without opening the
doors,[54] and speak to the disciples
going to Emmaus without making himself known to them; then, after
having opened their eyes, disappear and become
invisible.[55] During the forty days that
he remained upon earth till his ascension, he drank and ate with
them, he spoke to them, he appeared to them; but he showed himself
only to those witnesses who were pre-ordained by the eternal Father
to bear testimony to his resurrection.
The angel who appeared to the centurion Cornelius, a pagan,
but fearing God, answered his questions, and discovered to him
unknown things, which things came to pass.
Sometimes the angels, without assuming any visible
shape, give proofs of their presence by intelligible voices, by
inspirations, by sensible effects, by dreams, or by revelations of
things unknown, whether future or past. Sometimes by striking with
blindness, or infusing a spirit of uncertainty or stupidity in the
minds of those whom God wills should feel the effects of his wrath;
for instance, it is said in the Scriptures that the Israelites
heard no distinct speech, and beheld no form on Horeb when God
spoke to Moses and gave him the
Law.[56]
The angel who might have killed Balaam's ass was not at
first perceived by the prophet;[57]
Daniel was the only one who beheld the angel Gabriel, who revealed
to him the mystery of the great empires which were to succeed each
other.[58]
When the Lord spoke for the first time to Samuel, and
predicted to him the evils which he would inflict on the family of
the high-priest Eli, the young prophet saw no visible form; he only
heard a voice, which he at first mistook for that of the
high-priest Eli, not being yet accustomed to distinguish the voice
of God from that of a man.
The angels who guided Lot and his family from Sodom and
Gomorrah were at first perceived under a human form by the
inhabitants of the city; but afterwards these same angels struck
the men with blindness, and thus prevented them from finding the
door of Lot's house, into which they would have entered by
force.
Thus, then, angels do not always appear under a visible or
sensible form, nor in a figure uniformly the same; but they give
proofs of their presence by an infinity of different ways—by
inspirations, by voices, by prodigies, by miraculous effects, by
predictions of the future, and other things hidden and impenetrable
to the human mind.
St. Cyprian relates that an African bishop, falling ill
during the persecution, earnestly requested to have the viaticum
administered to him; at the same time he saw, as it were, a young
man, with a majestic air, and shining with such extraordinary
lustre that the eyes of mortals could not have beheld him without
terror; nevertheless, the bishop was not alarmed. This angel said
to him, angrily, and in a menacing tone, "You fear to suffer. You
do not wish to leave this world. What would you have me do for
you?" (or "What can I do for you?") The good bishop comprehended
that these words alike regarded him and the other Christians who
feared persecution and death. The bishop talked to them, encouraged
them, and exhorted them to arm themselves with patience to support
the tortures with which they were threatened. He received the
communion, and died in peace. We shall find in different histories
an infinite number of other apparitions of angels under a human
form.
Footnotes:
[40] Josh. v.
29.
[41] Exod. iii. 3,
44.
[42] Exod. xiii.
xiv.
[43] Psalm civ.
4.
[44] Ezek. i. 4,
6.
[45] Dan. x. 5.
[46] Rev. iv. 7,
8.
[47] Gen. iii.
24.
[48] Numb. xxii. 22,
23.
[49] 1 Chron. xxi.
16.
[50] Tobit v.
5.
[51] Matt. xxviii.
3.
[52] Acts ii.
[53] Matt. xxviii. 1,
2.
[54] John xix.
20.
[55] Luke xxiii. 15-17,
&c.
[56] Deut. iv.
15.
[57] Numb. xii. 22,
23.
[58] Dan. x. 7,
8.
CHAPTER IV.
OPINIONS OF THE JEWS, CHRISTIANS, MAHOMETANS, AND
ORIENTAL NATIONS CONCERNING THE APPARITIONS OF GOOD
ANGELS.
After what we have just related from the books of the Old and
New Testament, it cannot be disavowed that the Jews in general, the
apostles, the Christians, and their disciples have commonly
believed in the apparitions of good angels. The Sadducees, who
denied the existence and the apparition of angels, were commonly
considered by the Jews as heretics, and as supporting an erroneous
doctrine. Jesus Christ refutes them in the Gospel. The Jews of our
days believe literally what is related in the Old Testament,
concerning the angels who appeared to Abraham, Lot, and other
patriarchs. It was the belief of the Pharisees and of the apostles
in the time of our Saviour, as may be seen by the writings of the
apostles and by the whole of the Gospel.
The Mahometans believe, as do the Jews and Christians,
that good angels appear to men sometimes under a human form; that
they appeared to Abraham and Lot; that they punished the
inhabitants of Sodom; that the archangel Gabriel appeared to
Mahomet, and revealed to him all that is laid down in his Koran:
that the genii are of a middle nature, between man and
angel;[59] that they eat, drink, beget
children; that they die, and can foresee things to come. In
consequence of this principle or idea, they believe that there are
male and female genii; that the males, whom the Persians call by
the name ofDives, are bad, very
ugly, and mischievous, making war against
thePeris, who are the females.
The Rabbis will have it that these genii were born of Adam alone,
without any concurrence of his wife Eve, or of any other woman, and
that they are what we callignis
fatuii(or wandering lights).
The antiquity of these opinions touching the
corporality of angels appears in
severaloldwriters, who, deceived
by the apocryphal book which passes under the name of
theBook of Enoch, have explained
of the angels what is said in
Genesis,[60] "That the
children of God, having seen the daughters of men, fell in love
with their beauty, wedded them, and begot giants of
them." Several of the ancient
Fathers[61] have adopted this opinion,
which is now given up by everybody, with the exception of some new
writers, who desire to revive the idea of the corporality of
angels, demons, and souls—an opinion which is absolutely
incompatible with that of the Catholic church, which holds that
angels are of a nature entirely distinct from matter.
