There is no more engrossing subject for the occultist to indulge in than gathering together every verse in the Bible dealing with "The Evil One," and trying, with the aid of ancient traditions, to piece a coherent story together. When one gets a certain distance in the study one comes to the conclusion that there is a great deal more in it than meets the eye. It is a vast subject, and I think the most profoundly occult mystery extant and undeciphered.
The devil now occupies a prominent position in the collective thought of the nation. An enormous number of people believe now in his existence, who would have scorned the bare idea before 1916. It was in that year that he began to loom large in the beliefs of quite materially minded people, and his advent into actual, active existence at once complicated matters terribly.
Said a well-known writer to me, "I think there is something in it. It's very tiresome. I was just beginning to settle down in my beliefs, now I'm all upset again by this conception of a personal adversary to the Supreme Ruler."
In the early weeks of 1917 a new impression drifted in on us.
Some angel came down and stirred the pool of the world, and left with us "The Sacred Heart."
"The Sacred Heart" was the forerunner of "The New Jeanne d'Arc," Claire Ferchaud.
There is nothing that has more astonished the Catholic world than hearing "The Sacred Heart" talked of by Protestants, and actually adopted by them as a sacred symbol. Hitherto it has been exclusively a part of Catholic worship.
There was such a demand for the little metal "Sacred Heart" images (a figure of the Christ, with hands outstretched and a flaming heart at His breast), that can be carried about in the pocket, that they were not to be bought in England, and were hard to procure abroad. Enormous numbers had been sent to the front by persons belonging to all denominations, who treasured one of their own at home. Very suddenly "The Sacred Heart" became an object of veneration amongst thousands to whom Roman Catholicism was anathema.
Then came the demand from France that "The Sacred Heart" should be placed above the tricolor.
I had not heard of Claire Ferchaud before the beginning of 1918, though her Divine Mission began about six years previously.