The xvii. Chapter.
Whether spirits and soules can assume bodies, and of their creation and substance, wherein writers doo extreamelie contend and varie.
OME hold opinion, that spirits and soules can assume & take unto them bodies at their pleasure, of what shape or substance they list: of which mind all papists, and some protestants are, being more grosse than another sort, which hold, that such bodies are made to their hands. Howbeit, these doo varie in the elements, wherewith these spirituall bodies are composed. For (as I have said) some affirme that they consist of fier, some thinke of aier, and some of the starres and other celestiall powers. But if they be celestiall, then (as Peter Martyr saith) must they follow the circular motion: and if they be elementarie,For everie naturall motion is either circular or elemētarie. then must they follow the motions of those elements, of which their bodies consist. Of aier they cannot be: for aier is Corpus homogenium; so as everie part of aier is aier, whereof there can be no distinct members made. For an organicall bodie must have bones, sinewes, veines, flesh, &c: which cannot be made of aier. Neither (as Peter Martyr affirmeth) can an aierie bodie receive or have either shape or figure. But some ascend up into the clouds, where they find (as they saie) diverse shapes and formes even in the aier. Unto which objection P. Martyr answereth, saieng, and that trulie, that clouds are not/371. altogether aier, but have a mix- ture of other elements mingled with them.
The xviii. Chapter.517.
Certeine popish reasons concerning spirits made of aier, of daie divels and night divels, and why the divell loveth no salt in his meate.
ANIE affirme (upon a fable cited by M. Mal.) that spirits are of aier, bicause they have beene cut (as he saith) in sunder, and closed presentlie againe; and also bicause they vanish awaie so suddenlie. But of such apparitions I have alreadie spoken, and am shortlie to saie more, which are rather seene in the imagination of the weake and diseased, than in veritie and truth. Which sights and apparitions, as they have beene common among the unfaithfull; so now, since the preaching of the gospell they are most rare. And as among faintharted people; namelie, women, children, and sicke folkes, they usuallie swarmed: so among strong bodies and good stomachs they never used to appeare; as elsewhere I have prooved: which argueth that they were onelie phantasticall and imaginarie. Now saie they that imagine divels and spirits to be made of aier, that it must needs be that they consist of that element; bicause otherwise when they vanish suddenlie awaie, they should leave some earthie substance behind them. If they were of water, then should they moisten the place where they stand, and must needs be shed on the floore. If they consisted of fier, then would they burne anie thing that touched them: and yet (saie they) Abraham and LotGen. 18, 19. washed their feete, and were neither scalded nor burnt.
I find it not in the Bible, but in Bodin,J. Bod. lib. de dæm. 3. ca. 4. that there are daie divels, and night divels. The same fellow saith, that Deber is the name of that divell, which hurteth by night; and Cheleb is he that hurteth by daie: howbeit, he confesseth that Sathan can hurt both by daie and by night; although it be certeine (as he saith) that he can doo more harme by night than by daie; producing for example, how in a night he slew the first borne of Ægypt./518. And yet it appeareth plainelie in the text, that the Lord himselfe did it.Exod. 12 29. Whereby it seemeth, that Bodin putteth no difference betweene God and the divell. For further confirmation of this his foolish assertion, that divels are more valiant by night than by daie, he alledgeth the 104. Psalme,Psa. 104. 20. wherein is written, Thou makest darknesse, and it is night, wherein all the beasts of the forrest creepe foorth, the lions rore, &c: when the sunne riseth, they retire, &c. So as now he maketh all beasts to be divels, or divels to be beasts. Oh barbarous blindnes! This Bodin J. Bod. lib. de dæm. 3. ca. 5. also saith, that the divell loveth no salt in his meate, for that it is a signe of eternitie, and used by Gods commandement in all sacrifices; abusing the scriptures,Levit. 1. which he is not ashamed to quote in that behalfe. But now I will declare how the scripture teacheth our dull capacities to conceive what maner of thing the divell is, by the verie names appropriated unto him in the same./
The xix. Chapter.372.
That such divels as are mentioned in the scriptures, have in their names their nature and qualities expressed, with instancies thereof.
UCH divels as are mentioned in the scriptures by name, have in their names their nature and qualities expressed, being for the most part the idols of certeine nations idolatrouslie erected, in steed, or rather in spight of God. For Beelzebub,2. Reg. 13. which signifieth the lord of the flies, bicause he taketh everie simple thing in his web, was an idol or oracle erected at Ekron, to whom Ahaziah sent to know whether he should recover his disease: as though there had beene no God in Israell. This divell Beelzebub was among the JewesMatth. 10. & 12.
Mark. 3.
Luk. 11. reputed the principall divell. The Græcians called him Pluto, the Latines Sumanus, quasi summum deorum manium, the cheefe ghost or spirit of the dead whom they supposed to walke by night: although they absurdlie beleeved also that the soule died with the bodie. So as they did put a difference be/tweene519. the ghost of a man and the soule of a man: and so doo our papists; howbeit, none otherwise, but that the soule is a ghost, when it walketh on the earth, after the dissolution of the bodie, or appeareth to anie man, either out of heaven, hell, or purgatorie, and not otherwise. aNisrocha 2. Reg. 19. signifieth a delicate tentation, and was worshipped by Senacherib in Assyria. bb 2. Reg. 17.Tarcat*[* Tartac] is in English, fettered, and was the divell or idoll of the Hevites. cBeelphegor,c Ose. 9, 11. [10]
Num. 25.
Deut. 3. &. 4
Josu. 22. otherwise called Priapus, the gaping or naked god was worshipped among the Moabits. dAdramelech,d 2. Reg. 17. that is, the cloke or power of the king, was an idoll at Sepharvais, which was a citie of the Assyrians. eChamos,e Numb. 21.
1. Reg. 11.
2. Reg. 23. that is feeling, or departing, was worshipped among the Moabits. fDagon,f Judg. 16.
1. Macc. 10. that is, corne or greefe, was the idoll of the Philistines. gAstarte,g 1. Reg. 11.
2. Reg. 23. that is, a fold or flocke, is the name of a shee idoll at Sydonia, whom Salomon worshipped: some thinke it was Venus. hMelchom,h 2. Reg. 23.
1. Chro. 20.
Jerem. 49. that is, a king, was an idoll or divell, which the sonnes of Ammon worshipped.
Sometimes also we find in the scriptures, that divels and spirits take their names of wicked men, or of the houses or stats of abhominable persons: as Astaroth, which (as Josephus saith)Joseph. lib. de antiquit.
Judæor. 6. cap. 14.
1. Sam. 7.
2. Reg. 23. was the idoll of the Philistines, whome the Jewes tooke from them at Salomons commandement, and was also worshipped of Salomon. Which though it signifie riches, flocks, &c: yet it was once a citie belonging to Og the king of Basan, where they saie the giants dwelt. In these respects Astaroth is one of the speciall divels named in Salomons conjuration, and greatlie emploied by the conjurors. I have sufficientlie prooved in these quotations, that these idols are Dii gentium, the gods of the Gentiles: and then the prophet David may satisfie you, that they are divels, who saith Dii gentium dæmonia sunt,Psal. 96. [Vulg. vers.] The gods of the Gentiles are divels. What a divell was the rood of grace to be thought, but such a one as before is mentioned and described, who tooke his name of his courteous and gratious behaviour towards his worshippers, or rather those that offered/373. unto him? The idolatrous knaverie wherof being now bewraied, it is among the godlie reputed a divell rather than a god: and so are diverse others of the same stampe./
The xx. Chapter.520.
Diverse names of the divell, whereby his nature and disposition is manifested.
T hath also pleased GOD to informe our weake capacities, as it were by similitudes and examples, or rather by comparisons, to understand what manner of thing the divell is, by the verie names appropriated and attributed unto him in the scriptures: wherein sometimes he is called by one name, sometimes by another, by metaphors according to his conditions. aElephasa Job. 40.
Job. 3.
Isai. 27. is called in Job, Behemoth, which is, Bruta; whereby the greatnes and brutishnes of the divell is figured. Leviathan is not much different from Elephas; whereby the divels great subtiltie and power is shewed unto us. bMammonb Matth. 6.
Matt. 4. &c.
Marc. 16. is the covetous desire of monie, wherewith the divell overcommeth the reprobate. cDæmonc Jam. 2. signifieth one that is cunning or craftie. Cacodæmon is perverslie knowing. All those which in ancient times were worshipped as gods, were so called. dDiabolusd Matth. 4. John. 8. Apoc. 12. is Calumniator, an accuser, or a slanderer. Sathan is Adversarius, an adversarie, that troubleth and molesteth. eAbaddone Apoc. 9. a destroier. fLegio,f Marc. 5.
Luke. 8. bicause they are manie. gPrinceg Eph. 2. of the aire. hPrinceh John. 8. 12. 14. 16. of the world. iA kingi Job. 41. of the sonnes of pride. kA roringk 1. Pet. 5. lion. lAnl John. 8. homicide or manslear, a lier, and the father of lies. The mauthorm 1. John. 3. of sinne. nA spirit.n Acts. 16. Yea somtimes he is called the spirit of the Lord, as the executioner and minister of his displeasure, &c. Sometimes, the ospirito Ose. 4. of fornication, &c. And manie other like epithets or additions are given him for his name. He is also called pthep Psal. 34.
1. Chr. 21. angell of the Lord. qTheq Prov. 17. cruell angell. The rangellr 2. Cor. 12. of sathan. The sangells Apoc. 9. of hell. The tgreatt Apoc. 12. dragon, for his pride and force. The uredu Job. 41. dragon for his blouddines. A xserpent.x Gen. 3. An yowle,y Apoc. 12. a zkite,z Isai. 27.
Isai. 13. 34. a satyre, a crowe, a pellicane, a hedghog, a griph, a storke, &c./
[x should reach to Isai. 27. and y Mark Isai. 13. 34.]
The xxi. Chapter.521.
That the idols or gods of the Gentiles are divels, their diverse names, and in what affaires their labours and authorities are emploied, wherein also the blind superstition of the heathen people is discovered.
NDPsalm. 96. for so much as the idols of the gentiles are called divels, and are among the unlearned confounded and intermedled with the divels that are named in the scriptures; I thought it convenient here to give you a note of them, to whome the Gentiles gave names, according to the offices unto them assigned. PenatesJuno and Minerva. are the domesticall gods, or rather divels/374. that were said to make men live quietlie within doores. But some thinke these rather to be such, as the Gentiles thought to be set over kingdomes: and that Lares are such as trouble private houses, and are set to oversee crosse waies and cities. Larvæ are said to be spirits that walke onelie by night. Genii are the two angels, which they supposed were appointed to wait upon each man. Manes are the spirits which oppose themselves against men in the waie. Dæmones were feigned gods by poets, as Jupiter, Juno, &c. Virunculi terreiCousening gods or knaves. are such as was Robin good fellowe, that would supplie the office of servants, speciallie of maids; as to make a fier in the morning, sweepe the house, grind mustard and malt, drawe water, &c: these also rumble in houses, drawe latches, go up and downe staiers, &c. Dii genialesTerra, aqua, aer, ignis, sol, & Luna. are the gods that everie man did sacrifice unto at the daie of their birth. Tetrici be they that make folke afraid, and have such ouglie shape, which manie of our divines doo call Subterranei. Cobali are they that followe men, and delight to make them laugh, with tumbling, juggling, and such like toies. Virunculi are dwarfes about three handfulles long, and doo no hurt; but seeme to dig in mineralles, and to be verie busie, and yet doo nothing. Guteli or Trulli522. are spirits (they saie) in the likenes of women, shewing great kind/nesse to all men: & hereof it is that we call light women, truls. Dæmones montani are such as worke in the mineralles, and further the worke of the labourers woonderfullie, who are nothing afraid of them. Hudgin *Hudgin[* Hutgin, Wier.] of Germanie, and Rush of England. is a verie familiar divell, which will doo no bodie hurt, except he receive injurie: but he cannot abide that, nor yet be mocked: he talketh with men freendlie, sometimes visiblie, and sometimes invisiblie. There go as manie tales upon this Hudgin, in some parts of Germanie, as there did in England of Robin good fellowe. But this Hudgin was so called, bicause he alwaies ware a cap or a hood†;[† See note.] and therefore I thinke it was Robin hood. Frier Rush was for all the world such another fellow as this Hudgin, and brought up even in the same schoole; to wit, in a kitchen: in so much as the selfe-same tale is written of the one as of the other, concerning the skullian, which is said to have beene slaine, &c: for the reading whereof I referre you to Frier Rush his storie, or else to John Wierus De præstigiis dæmonum.J. Wier. lib. de præst. dæm. 1. cap. 23.
There were also Familiares dæmones, which we call familiars: such as Socrates and Cæsar were said to have; and such as Feats sold to doctor Burcot. Quintus Sertorius had Diana hir selfe for his familiar; and Numa Pompilius had Aegeria: but neither the one nor the other of all these could be preserved by their familiars from being destroied with untimelie death. Simon Samareus boasted, that he had gotten by conjuration, the soule of a little child that was slaine, to be his familiar, and that he told him all things that were to come, &c. I marvell what privilege soules have, which are departed from the bodie, to know things to come more than the soules within mans bodie. There were spirits, which they called Albæ mulieres, and Albæ Silyllæ, which were verie familiar, and did much harme (they saie) to women with child, and to sucking children. Deumus as a divell is worshipped among the Indians in Calecute, who (as they thinke) hath power given him of God to judge the earth, &c: his image is horriblie pictured in a most ouglie shape. Thevet saith, that a divell/375. in America, called Agnan, beareth swaie in that countrie. In Ginnie Bawdie preests in Ginnie. one Grigrie is accounted the great divell, and keepeth the woods: these have preests called Charoibes, which prophesie, after they have lien by the space of one houre prostrate upon a wench/523. of twelve yeares old, and all that while (saie they) he calleth upon a divell called Hovioulsira, and then commeth foorth and uttereth his prophesie. For the true successe whereof the people praie all the while that he lieth groveling like a lecherous knave. There are a thousand other names, which they saie are attributed unto divels; and such as they take to themselves are more ridiculous than the names that are given by others, which have more leasure to devise them.Looke in the word (Ob) lib. 7. cap. 3. pag. 132, 133. In litle bookes conteining the cousening possessed, at Maidstone, where such a woonder was wrought, as also in other places, you may see a number of counterfeit divels names, and other trish trash.