Of Intelligences And Spirits...

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CHAP. VI.

OF INTELLIGENCES AND SPIRITS, AND OF THE THREE-FOLD KIND OF THEM, AND OF THEIR DIFFERENT NAMES, AND OF INFERNAL AND SUBTERRANEAL SPIRITS.

NOW, consequently, we must discourse of intelligences, spirits, and angels. An intelligence is an intelligible substance, free from all gross and putrifying mass of a body, immortal, insensible, assisting all, having influence over all; and the nature of all intelligences, spirits, and angels is the same. But I call angels here, not those whom we usually call devils, but spirits so called from the propriety of the word, as it were, knowing, understanding, and wise. But of these, according to the tradition of magicians, there are three kinds; the first of which we call super-celestial, and minds altogether separated from a body, and, as it were, intellectual spheres worshipping one only God, as it were, their most firm and stable unity or centre. Wherefore they even call them Gods, by reason of a certain participation of the Divinity, for they are always full of God. These are only about God, and rule not the bodies of the world, neither are they fitted for the government of inferior things, but infuse the light received from God unto the inferior orders, and distribute every one's duty to all of them. The celestial intelligences do next follow these in the second order, which they call worldly angels, viz. being appointed, besides the divine worship for the spheres of the world, and for the government of every heaven and star; whence they are divided into so many orders as there are heavens in the world, and as there are stars in the heavens. And they called these Saturnine, who rule the heaven of Saturn, and Saturn himself; others Jovial, who rule the heaven of Jupiter, and Jupiter himself; and in like manner they name different angels, as well for the name as the virtue of the other stars; and because the old astrologers maintained fifty-five motions, therefore they invented so many intelligences or angels. They placed also in the starry heaven angels who

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might rule the signs, triplicities, decans, quinaries, degrees and stars; for although the school of Peripatetics assign one only intelligence to each of the orbs of the stars, yet seeing every star and small part of the heaven hath its proper and different power and influence, it is necessary also that it have its ruling intelligence which may confer power and operate; therefore they have established twelve princes of the angels, who rule the twelve signs of the zodiac, and thirty-six who may rule so many decans, and seventy-two who may rule so many quinaries of heaven, and the tongues of men and nations, and four who may rule the triplicities and elements, and seven governors of the whole world, according to the seven planets; and they have given to all of them names and seals, which they call characters, and used them in their invocations, incantations and carvings, describing them in the instruments of their operations, images, plates, glasses, rings, papers, wax-lights, and such like. And if at any time they operated for the sun, they invocated by the name of the sun and by the names of solar angels, and so of the rest. Thirdly, they established angels as ministers for the disposing of those things which are below, which Origen called certain invisible powers, to which those things which are on earth are committed to be disposed of. For sometimes, they being visible to none do direct our journies and all our business, are often present at battles, and, by secret helps, do give the desired success to their friends; for, at their pleasure, they can procure prosperity, and inflict adversity. In like manner they distribute these into more orders, so as some are fiery, some watery, some aërial, some terrestrial; which four species of angels are computed according to the four powers of the celestial souls, viz. the mind, reason, imagination, and vivifying and moving nature; hence the fiery follow the mind of the celestial souls, whence they concur to the contemplation of more sublime things; but the aërial follow reason, and favour the rational faculty, and, after a certain manner, separate it from the sensitive and vegetative; therefore it serves for an active life, as the fiery the contemplative; but the watery follow the imagination, serve for a voluptuous life; the earthly following nature, favours vegetable nature. Moreover, they distinguish also this kind of angels into saturnine and jovial, according to the names of the stars and the heavens;

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farther, some are oriental, some Occidental, some meridional, some septentrional. Moreover, there is no part of the world destitute of the proper assistance of these angels, not because they are alone, but because they reign there especially; for they are every where, although some especially operate, and have their influence in this place, some elsewhere; neither truly are these things to be understood as though they were subject to the influence of the stars, but as they have correspondence with the heaven above the world, from whence especially all things are directed, and to which all things ought to be conformable; whence, as these angels are appointed for diverse stars, so also for diverse places and times; not that they are limited to any place or time, neither by the bodies which they are appointed to govern, but because the Divine Wisdom hath so decreed; therefore they favour more, and patronize those bodies, places, times, stars: so they have called some diurnal, some nocturnal, others meridional. In like manner some are called woodmen, some mountaineers, some fieldmen, some domestics: hence the gods of the woods, country gods, satyrs, familiars, fairies of the fountains, fairies of the woods, nymphs of the sea, the Naïades, Nereïdes, Dryades, Piërides, Hamadryades, Patumides, Hinnides Agapte, Pales, Parcades, Dodonæ, Fanilæ, Levernæ, Parcæ, Muses, Aonides, Castalides, Heliconides, Pegasides, Meonides, Phebiades, Carnenæ, the graces, the genii, hobgobblins, and such like; whence the vulgar call them superiors, some the demi-gods and goddesses: some of these are so familiar and acquainted with men, that they are even affected with human perturbations; by whose instructions Plato thinks that men do oftentimes wonderful things, even as by the instruction of men; some beasts which are most nigh to us, apes, dogs, elephants, do often strange things above their species; and they who have written the chronicles of the Danes and Norwegians, do testify that spirits of several kinds in those regions are subject to men's commands; moreover, some of these appear corporeal and mortal, whose bodies are begotten and die; yet to be long-lived is the opinion of the Egyptians and Platonists, and especially approved by Proclus, Plutarch also, and Demetrius the philosopher, and Æmilianus the rhetorician, affirm the same; therefore of

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these spirits of the third kind, as the opinion of the Platonists is, they report that there are so many legions as there are stars in the heaven, and so many spirits in every legion as in heaven itself stars: but there are, (as Athanasius delivers,) who think, that the true number of the good spirits is according to the number of men, ninety-nine parts, according to the parable of the hundred sheep; others think only nine parts, according to the parable of the ten goats; others suppose the number of the angels equal with men, because it is written, he that hath appointed the bounds of the people according to the number of the angels of God; and concerning their number many have written many things; but the latter theologians, following the masters of the sentences, Austin and Gregory, easily resolve themselves, saying, that the number of the good angels transcendeth human capacity; to the which, on the contrary, innumerable unclean spirits do correspond, there being so many in the inferior world as pure spirits in the superior; and some divines affirm that they have received this by revelation. Under these they place a kind of spirits subterraneous or obscure, which the Platonists call angels that failed, revengers of wickedness and ungodliness, according to the decree of the divine justice; and they call them evil angels and wicked spirits, because they often annoy and hurt, even of their own accord. Of these also they reckon more legions; and, in like manner, distinguishing them according to the names of the stars and elements, and parts of the world, they place over them kings, princes, and rulers; and the names of them: of these, four most mischievous kings rule over the other, according to the four parts of the world. Under these many more princes of legions govern, and many private officers; hence the Gorgones, Statenocte, the Furies; hence Tisiphone, Alecto, Megæra, Cerberus. They of this kind of spirits, Porphyry says, inhabit a place nigh the earth, yea within the earth itself; there is no mischief which they dare not commit; they have altogether a violent and hurtful nature, therefore they plot, and endeavour violent and sudden mischiefs; and when they make incursions, sometimes they lie hid, and sometimes offer open violence, and are very much delighted in all such things done wickedly and mischievously.