Charlemagne: Charlemagne; or Charles the Great The greatest of Frankish kings; was the elder son of Pepin the Short, and succeeded his father in 768 A.D. Pepin held the title of Mayor of the Palace, which was to say Prime Minister for the Merovingian Kings who at that time held a role that was largely ceremonial and had some religious import. Since the time of the Mayor of the Palace Charles Martel, real power lay with the mayors Pepin moved to overthrow the last hollow vestiges of the Merovingian Kingship, and crown himself as King, which was acknowledged by the Pope.
He is included in this work chiefly because of his close connection with the supernatural so far as legend is concerned. Again and again in the pages of French romance, notably in these romances dealing with the adventures of William of Orange, do we find the Emperor visited by angels who are the direct messengers of the heavenly power. This of course is to symbolise his position as the head and front of Christendom in the world. He was its champion and upholder, surrounded as he was on all sides by the forces of paganism, - the Moors on his southern borders, and the Prussians and Saxons on his flank. Charles was regarded by the Christians of Europe as the direct representative of heaven, . whose mission it was to Christianise Europe and to defend the true faith in every way. No less do we find him and his court connected with the realm of faery. Notices of the encounters of the fairy folk by his paladins are not so numerous in the original French romances which deal with him and thern; but in the hands of Boiardo, Ariosto, and Pulci, they dwelt in an enchanted region where at any moment they might meet with all kinds of supernatural beings.
But both in the older and later romances the powers of magic and enchantment are ever present. These are chiefly instanced in magical weapons such as the Sword Durandal of Roland which cannot be shivered; the magical ointments of giants like Ferragus, which rubbed on their bodies make them invulnerable; the wearing Nye Encyclopedia of Ancient and Forbidden Secrets - 34 - of armour which exercises a similar guardianship on the body of its possessor, and so forth. But we find heroes like Ogier, the Dane, penetrating into fairy land itself, and wedding its queen. This was the fate of a great many medieval heroes, and Ogier finds in the enchanted realm King Arthur, and several other paladins. The magical and the marvellous is everywhere in use in the romances which dcal with Charlemagne. Indeed in this respect they entirely put in the shade the later romances proper, as distinguished from the Chansons de Geste.
Historically it may not be unreasonable to assume that Charlemagne had some knowledge and acquaintance of at least the rudiments of mysticism and the occult. The Merovingians, who he overthrew, were deeply enmeshed in mysticism, and were the focus of a cult that in some ways combined the Emperor Worship of ancient Rome with Christianity. Their line, from which Charles had some nominal descent, claimed descent from a sea-monster, and on other occasions descent from the divine through Christ, this being an early adaptation of the traditional practice among royal families of claiming descent from the divine, being applied to Christianity. During the time of the Merovingian Kings, Sorcerers were plentiful, and despite the Salic Laws, there is every evidence of a widespread practise of witchcraft and proliferation of vampirism, at even the highest levels of state – and such may have provoked Pepin’s coup. But certainly a lettered ruler such as Charles must not have been ignorant of such practices and well might have excelled at them in order to better oppose the sorcerous Merovingians, which it must not be assumed went quietly, but must have made trouble for some decades or even generations after the fashion of most European rivalries of the sort.
China: Although it can hardly be said that any system of magic worthy of the name ever originated in China, and though magical practice was uncommon, yet instances are not wanting of the employment of magical means in the Celestial Empire, and the belief in a supernatural world peopled by gods, demons and other beings is very strong in the popular Chinese mind.
" Although the Chinese mind possessed under such a constitution but few elements in which magic could strike root and throw out its ramifications and influence, yet we find many traces giving evidence of the instinctive movement of the mind, as well as of magical influence; though certainly not in the manner or abundance that we meet with it in India, The great variety of these appearances is, however, striking, as in no other country are they so seldom met with.
' As the King, as it were, microcosmically represents the human races in fortune or misfortune before the divinity so must his eye be constantly directed to those signs in which the will of the Most High is revealed; ' He must observe dreams as much as the phenomena of nature, the eclipses and the positions of the stars; and, when all else is wanting, he must consult the oracle of the tortoise, or the Plant Tsche, and direct his actions accordingly.' He is therefore, as it were, the universal oracle of the people, as the popular mind is relieved from every flight of imagination by a highly remarkable mental compulsion ... . . .
" It is easy to understand from these circumstances wherefore we find so few of these phenomena of magic and the visionary and ecstatic state, in other parts of the East so frequent, and therefore they are scattered and uncertain. Accounts are, however, not wanting to show that the phenomena as well as theories of prophecy were known in more remote times. Under the Emperor Hoei Ti, about A.D. 304, a mystical sect arose in China calling themselves the teachers of the emptiness and nothingness of - 11 things. They also exhibited the art of binding the power of the senses, and producing a condition which they believed perfection."
Dewonism and Obsession. The Chinese are implicit believers in demons *whom they imagine surround them on every hand. Says Peebles: " English officials, American missionaries, mandarins and many of the ChInese literati (Confucians, Taoists and Buddhist believers alike) declare that spritism in some form, and under some name, is the almost universal belief of China. It is generally denominated ' ancestral worship.' "
" There is no driving out of these Chinese, " says Father Gonzalo, - the cursed belief that the spirits of their ancestors are ever about them, availing, themselves of every opportunity to give advice and counsel."
" The medium consulted, " remarks Dr. Doolittle, " takes in the hand a stick of lighted incense to dispel ail defiling influences, then prayers of some kind are repeated, the body becomes spasmodic, the medium's eyes are shut, and the form sways about, assuming the walk and peculiar attitude of the spirit when in the body. Then the communication from the divinity begins, which may be of a faultfinding or a flattering character. . . . Sometimes these Chinese mediums profess to be possessed by some specified historical god of great healing power, and in this condition they prescribe for the sick. It is believed that the ghoul or spirit invoked actually casts himself into the medium, and dictates the medicine."
" Volumes might be written upon the gods, genii and familiar spirits supposed to be continually in communication with this people, " writes Dr. John L. Nevius, in his works, China and The Chinese. " The Chinese have a large number of books upon this subject, among the most noted of which is the - Liau - chai - chei, ' a large work of sixteen volumes. . . . Tu Sein signifies a spirit in the body, and there are a class of familiar spirits supposed to dwell in the bodies of certain Chinese who became the mediums of communication with the unseen world. Individuals said to be possessed by these spirits are visited by multitudes, particularly those who have lost recently relatives by death, and wish to converse with them. . .
Remarkable disclosures and revelations are believed to be made by the involuntary movements of a bamboo pencil, and through a similar method some claim to see in the dark. Persons considering themselves endowed with sup2rior intelligence are firm believers in those and other modes of consulting spirits."
The public teacher in Chen Sin Ling (W. J. Plumb says)
In the district of Tu - ching, obsessions by evil spirits or demons are very common." He further writes that there are very many cases also in Chang - lo." Again he says:
" When a man is thus afflicted, the spirit (Kwei) takes possession of his body without regard to his being strong or weak in health. It is not easy to resist the demon's power. Though without bodily ailments, possessed persons appear as if ill. When under the entrancing spell of the demon, they seem different from their ordinary selves.
" In most cases the spirit takes possession of a man's body contrary to his will, and he is helpless in the matter. The kwei has the power of driving out the man's spirit, as in sleep or dreams. When the subject awakes to consciousness, he has not the slightest knowledge of what has transpired.
" The actions of possessed persons vary exceedingly. They leap about and toss their arms, and then the demon tells them what particular spirit he is, often taking a false name, or deceitfully calling himself a god, or one of the genii come down to the abodes of mortals. Or, perhaps, it professes to be the spirit of a deceased husband or wife. There are also kwei of the quiet sort, who talk and laugh like other people, only that the voice is changed. Some have a voice like a bird. Some speak Mandarin - the language of Northern China - and some the local dialect but though the speech proceeds from the mouth of the man, what is said does not appear to come from him. The outward appearance and manner is also changed.
" In Fu - show there 'is a class of persons who collect numbers and make use of incense, pictures, candles and lamps to establish what are called - incense tables.' Taoist priests are engaged to attend the ceremonies and they also make use of mediums.' The Taoist writes a charm for the medium, who, taking the incense stick in his hand, stands like a graven image, thus signifying his willingness to have the demon come and take possession of him. Afterward, the charm is burned and the demon spirit is worshipped and invoked, the priest, in the meanwhile going on with his chanting. After a while the medium begins to tremble, and then speaks and announces what spirit has descended, and asks what is wanted of him. Then, whoever has requests to make, takes incense sticks, makes prostrations, and asks a response respecting some disease, or for protection from some calamity. In winter the same performances are carried on to a great extent by gambling companies. If some of the responses hit the mark, a large number of people are attracted. They establish a shrine and offer sacrifices, and appoint days, calling upon people from every quarter to come and consult the spirit respecting diseases. . . .
" There is also a class of men who establish what they call a ' Hall of Revelations.' At the present time there are many engaged in this practice. They are, for the most part, literary men of great ability. The people in large numbers apply to them for responses. The mediums spoken of above are also numerous. All of the above practices are not spirits seeking to possess men; but rather men seeking spirits to possess them, and allowing themselves to be voluntarily used as their instruments.
" As to the outward appearance of persons when possessed, of course, they are the same persons as to outward form as at ordinary times; but the colour of the countenance may change. The demon may cause the subject to assume a threatening air, and a fierce, violent manner, The muscles often stand out on the face, the eyes are closed, or they protrude with a frightful stare. These demons sometimes prophesy.
" The words spoken certainly proceed from the mouths of the persons possessed; but what is said does not appear to come from their minds or wills, but rather from some other personality, often accompanied by a change of voice. Of this there can be no doubt. When the subject returns to consciousness, he invariably declares himself ignorant of what he has said.
" The Chinese make use of various methods to cast out demons. They are so troubled and vexed by inflictions affecting bodily health, or it may be throwing stones, moving furniture, or the moving about and destruction of family utensils, that they are driven to call in the service of some respected scholar or Taoist priest, to offer sacrifices, or chant sacred books, and pray for protection and exemption from suffering. Some make use of sacrifices and offerings of paper clothes and money in order to induce the demon to go back to the gloomy region of Yan - chow. . . As to whether these methods have any effect, I do not know. As a rule, when demons are not very troublesome, the families afflicted by them generally think it best to hide their affliction, or to keep these wicked spirits quiet by sacrifices, and burning incense to them.'
An article in the London Daily News gives lengthy extracts from an address upon the Chinese by Mrs. Montague Beaucham, who had spent many years in China in educational work. Speaking of their spiritism, she said, " The latest London craze in using the planchette has been one of the recognized means in China of conversing with evil spirits from time immemorial. - She had lived in one of the particular provinces known as demon land, where the natives are bound up in the belief and worship of spirits. " There is a real power, " she added, " in this necromancy. They do healings and tell fortunes." She personally knew of one instance that the spirits through the planchette had foretold a great flood. The boxer rising was prophesied by the planchette. These spirits disturbed family relations, caused fits of frothing at the mouth, and made some of Their victims insane. In closing she declared that " Chinese spiritism was from hell, " the obsession baffling the power of both Christian missionaries and native priests.
Dr. Nevins sent out a circular communication for the purpose of discovering the actual beliefs of the Chinese regarding demons through which he obtained much valuable information. Wang Wu - Fang, an educated Chinese wrote:
" Cases of demon possession abound among all classes. They are found among persons of robust health, as well as those who are weak and sickly. In many unquestionable cases of obsession, the unwilling subjects have resisted, but have been obliged to submit themselves to the control of the demon. . . .
" In the majority of cases of possession, the beginning of the malady is a fit of grief, anger or mourning. These conditions seem to open the door to the demons. The outward manifestations are apt to be fierce and violent. It may be that the subject alternately talks and laughs; he walks awhile and then sits, or lie rolls on the ground, or leaps about; or exhibits contortions of the body and twistings of the neck. . . . It was common among. them to send for exorcists, who made use of written charms, or chanted verses, or punctured the body with needles These are among the Chinese methods of cure.
" Demons are of different kinds. There are those which clearly declare themselves; and then those who work in secret. There are those which are cast out with difficulty, and others with ease.
" In cases of possession by familiar demons, what is said by the subject certainly does not proceed. from his own will. When the demon has gone out and the subject recovers consciousness, he has no recollection whatever of what he has said or done. This is true almost invariably.
" The methods by which the Chinese cast out demons are enticing them to leave by burning charms and paper money, or by begging and exhorting them, or by frightening them with magic spells and incantations, or driving them away by pricking with needles, or pinching with the fingers, in which case they cry out and promise to go.
" I was formerly accustomed to drive out demons by means of needles. At that time cases of possession by evil spirits were very common in our villages, and my services were in very frequent demand. . . .
" The Rev. Timothy Richard, missionary, also writing in response to Dr. Nevius' circular, says:
" The Chinese orthodox definition of spirit is, ' the soul of the departed;' some of the best of whom are raised to the rank of gods. . . . There is no disease to which the Chinese are ordinarily subject that may not be caused by demons. In this case the mind is untouched. It is only the body that suffers; and the Chinese endeavour to got rid of the demon by vows and offerings to the gods. The subject in this case is an involuntary one. . . .
" Persons possessed range between fifteen and fifty years of age, quite irrespective of sex. This infliction comes on very suddenly, sometimes in the day, and sometimes in the night. The demoniac talks madly, smashes everything near him, acquires unusual strength, tears his clothes into rags, and rushes into the street, or to the mountains or kills himself unless prevented. After this violent possession, the demoniac calms down and submits to his fate, but under the most heart - rending protests. These mad spells which are experienced on the demon's entrance return at intervals, and increase in frequency, and generally also in intensity, so that death at last ensues from their violence.
" A Chinese boy of fifteen was going on an errand. His path led through fields where men were working at their crops. When he came up to the men and had exchanged a word or two with them, he suddenly began to rave wildly; his eyes rolled, then he made for a pond near by. Seeing this, the people ran up to him, stopped him from drowning himself and took him home to his parents. When he got home, he, sprang up from the ground to such a height as manifested almost a superhuman strength. After a few days he calmed down and became unusually quiet and gentle; but his own consciousness was lost. The demon spoke of its friends in Nan - Kin. After six months this demon departed., He has been in the service of several foreigners in Chefoo since. In this case no worship was offered to the demon.
" Now we proceed to those, who involuntarily possessed, yield to and worship the demon. The demon says he will cease tormenting the demoniac if he will worship him, and he will reward him by increasing his riches. But if not, he will punish his victim, make heavier his torments and rob him of his property. People find that their food is cursed, They cannot prepare any, but filth and dirt comes down from the air to render it uneatable. Their wells are likewise cursed; their wardrobes are set on fire, and their money very mysteriously disappears. Hence arose the custom of cutting off the head of a string of cash that it might not run away. . . . When all efforts to rid themselves of the demon fail, they yield to it, and say 'Hold! Cease thy tormenting and we will worship thee!' A picture is pasted upon the wall, sometimes of a woman, and sometimes of a man, and incense is burned, and prostrations are made to it twice a month. Being thus reverenced, money now comes in mysteriously, instead of going out. Even mill - stones are made to move at the demon's orders, and the family becomes rich at once. But it is said that no luck attends such families, and they will eventually be reduced to poverty. Officials believe these things. Palaces are known to have been built by them for these demons, who, however, are obliged to be satisfied with humbler shrines from the poor. . . .
" Somewhat similar to the above class is another small one which has power to enter the lower regions. These are the opposite of necromancers, for instead of calling up the dead and learning of them about the future. destiny of the individual in whose behalf they are engaged, they lie in a trance for two days, when their spirits are said to have gone to the Prince of Darkness, to inquire how long the sick person shall be left among the living.
"Let us now note the different methods adopted to cast out the evil spirits from the demoniacs. Doctors are called to do it. They use needles to puncture the tips of the fingers, the nose, the neck. They also use a certain pill, and apply it in the following manner: the thumbs of the two hands are tied tightly together, and the two big toes are tied together in the same manner. Then one pill is put on the two big toes at the root of the nail, and the other at the root of the thumb nails. At the same instant the two pills are set on fire, and they are kept until the flesh is burned. In the application of the pills, or in the piercing of the needle, the invariable cry is: ' I am going; I am going immediately. I will never dare to come back again. Oh, have mercy on me this once. I'll never return'
" When the doctors fail, they call on people who practise spiritism. They themselves cannot drive the demon away, but they call another demon to do it. Both the Confucianists and Taoists practise this method. . . . Sometimes the spirits are very ungovernable. Tables are turned, chairs are rattled, and. a general noise of smashing is heard, until the very mediums themselves tremble with fear. If the demon is of this dreadful character, they quickly write another charm with the name of the particular spirit whose quiet disposition is known to them. Lu - tsu is a favourite one of this kind. After the burning of the charm and incense, and when prostrations are made, is procured, to which a Chinese pencil is attached. Two men on each side hold it on a table spread with sand or millet. Sometimes a prescription is written, the pencil moving of its own accord They buy the medicine prescribed and give it to the possessed. . . . Should they find that burning incense and offering sacrifices fails to liberate the poor victim, they may call in conjurors, such as the Taoists, who sit on mats and are carried by invisible power from place to place. They ascend to a height of twenty or fifty feet, and are carried to a distance of four or five 1i (about half a mile). 0. this class are those who, in Manchuria call down fire from the sky in those funerals where the corpse is burned. . . .
"These exorcists may belong to any of the three religions in China. The dragon procession, on the fifteenth of the first month, is said by some to commemorate a Buddhist priest's victory over evil spirits. . . . They paste up charms on windows and doors, and on the body of the - demoniac, and conjure the demon never to return. The evil spirit answers: ' I'll never return You need not take the trouble of pasting all these charms upon the doors and windows.'
" Exorcists are specially hated by the evil spirits. Some times they feel themselves beaten fearfully; but no hand is seen. Bricks and stones may fall on them from the sky or housetops. On the road they may without any warning be plastered over from head to foot with mud or filth or may be seized when approaching a river, and held under the water and drowned."
In his Social Life among the Chinese, Dr. Doolittle says “They have invented several ways by which they find out the pleasure of gods and spirits. One of the most common of their utensils is the Ka-pue, a piece of bamboo root, bean - shaped, and divided in the centre, to indicate the positive and the negative. The incense lighted, the Ka-pue properly manipulated before the symbol god, the pieces are tossed from the medium's hand, indicating the - will of the spirit by the way they fall."
The following manifestation is mental rather than physical The professional takes in the hand a stick of lighted incense to expel all defiling influences; prayers of some sort are repeated, the fingers interlaced, and the medium's eye are shut, giving unmistakable evidence of being possessed by some supernatural or spiritual power. The body sway back and forward; the incense falls, and the person begin to step about, assuming the walk and peculiar attitude of the spirit. This is considered as infallible proof that the divinity has entered the body of the medium. Some times the god, using the mouth of the medium, gives the supplicant a sound scolding for invoking his aid to obtain unlawful or unworthy ends.
" Divination, " writes Sir John Burrows, " with many strange methods of summoning the dead to instruct the living and reveal the future, is of very ancient origin, as is proved by Chinese manuscripts antedating the revelations of the Jewish Scriptures."
An ancient Chinese book called Poh - shi - ching - tsung, consisting of six volumes on the " Source of True Divination. It contains the following preface: This secret of augury consists in the study of the mysteries and in communications with gods and demons. The interpretations of the transformations are deep and mysterious. The theory of the science is most intricate, the practice of it most important. The sacred classic says: ' That which is true gives indications of the future.' To know the condition of the dead, and hold with them intelligent intercourse, as did the ancients, produces a most salutary influence upon the parties. . . . But when from intoxication or feasting, or licentious pleasures, they proceed to invoke the gods, what infatuation to suppose that their prayers will move them Often when no response is given, or the interpretation is not verified, they lay the blame at the door of the augur, forgetting that their failure is due to their want of sincerity. . . . It is the great fault of augurs, too, that, from a desire of gain, they use the art of divination as a trap to ensnare the people."
Peebles adds; " Naturally undemonstrative and secretive, the higher classes of Chinese seek to conceal their full knowledge of spirit intercourse from foreigners, and from the inferior cases of their own countrymen, thinking them not sufficiently intelligent to rightly use it. The~ lower orders, superstitious and money - grasping, often prostitute their magic gifts, to gain and fortune - telling. These clairvoyant fortune - tellers, surpassing wandering gypsies in ' hitting ' the past, infest the temples, streets and roadsides, promising to find lost property, discover precious metals and reveal the hidden future."
Ghosts. - The Chinese are strong in the belief that they are surrounded by the spirits of the dead. Indeed ancestor - worship constitutes a powerful feature in the national faith, but as it deals with religion it does not come within the scope of this article. Suffice it to say that the Celestial has ever before him the likelihood and desirability of communion with the dead. On the death of a person they make a hole in the roof to permit the soul to effect its escape from the house. When a child is at the point of death, its mother will go into the garden and call its name, hoping thereby to bring back its wandering spirit.
" With the Chinese the souls of suicides are specially obnoxious, and they consider that the very worst penalty that can befall a soul is the sight of its former surroundings. This, it is supposed that, in the case, of the wicked man, ' they only see their homes as if they were near them;they see their last wishes disregarded, everything upside down, their substance squandered, strangers possess the old estate; in their misery the dead man's family curse him, his children become corrupt, land is gone, the wife sees her husband tortured, the husband sees his wife stricken down with mortal disease; even friends forget, but some, perhaps, for the sake of bygone times, may stroke the coffin and let fall a tear departing with a cold smile.' "" In China, the ghosts which are animated by a sense of duty are frequently seen: at one time they seek to serve virtue in distress, and at another they aim to restore wrongfully held treasure. Indeed as it has been observed, ' one of the most powerful as well as the most widely diffused of the people's ghost stories is that which treats of the persecuted child whose mother comes out of the grave to succor him.' "
" The Chinese have a dread of the wandering spirits of persons who have come to an unfortunate end. At Canton, 1817, the wife of an officer of Government had occasioned the death of two female domestic slaves, from some jealous suspicion it was supposed of her husband's conduct towards the girls; and, in order to screen herself from the consequences, she suspended the bodies by the neck, with a view to its being construed into an act of suicide. But the conscience of the woman tormented her to such a degree that she became insane, and at times personated the victims of her cruelty, or, as the Chinese supposed, the spirits of the murdered girls possessed her, and utilized her mouth to declare her own guilt. In her ravings she tore her clothes and beat her own person with all the fury of madness; after which she would recover her senses for a time, when it was supposed the demons quitted her, but only to return with greater frenzy, which took place a short time previous to her death. According to Mr. Dennys, the most common form of Chinese ghost story is that wherein the ghost seeks to bring to justice the murderer who shuffled off, its mortal coil."
Poltergeists (q.v.) are not uncommon in China, and several cases of their occurrence have been recorded by the Jesuit missionaries of the eighteenth century in Cochin China. Mr Dennys in his Folk Lore of China, mentions a case in which a Chinaman was forced to take refuge in a temple by the usual phenomena - throwing about of crockery, &c., after the decease of a monkey.
Secret Societies. For an account of secret societies in China, See Thion-ti - Hwir and Triad Society.
It has sometimes been claimed that the systems of Confucius and Lao - Tze are magical or kabbalistic, but such claims have been advanced by persons who did not appreciate their proper status as philosophic systems. (See Y - Kin, Book of.)
Symbolism. There are numerous mysteries of meaning in the strange symbols, characters, personages, birds, beasts, etc. which adorn all species of Chinese art objects. For example a rectangular Chinese vase is feminine, representing the creative or ultimate principle. A group of seemingly miscellaneous art objects, depicted perhaps upon a brush tray, are probably the po - ku, or ' hundred antiques, ' emblematic of culture and implying a delicate compliment to the recipient of the tray. Birds and animals occur with frequency on Chinese porcelains, and, if one will observe closely, it is a somewhat select menagerie, in which certain types are emphasized by repetition. For instance, the dragon is so familiar as to be no longer remarked, and yet his significance is perhaps not fully understood by all. There are, in fact, three kinds of dragons, the lung of the sky, the li of the sea, and the kiau of the marshes. The lung is the favourite kind, however, and may be known when met by his having' the head of a camel, the horns of a deer, the eyes of a rabbit, ears of a cow, neck of a snake, belly of a frog, scales of a carp, claws of a hawk, and palm of a tiger.' His special office is to guard and support the mansions of the gods, and he is naturally the peculiar symbol of the Emperor, or Son of Heaven. A less familiar beast is the chi - lin, which resembles in part a rhinoceros, but has head, feet, and legs like a deer, and a tufted tail. In spite of his unprepossessing appearance he is of a benevolent disposition, and his image on a vase or other ornament is an emblem of good government and length of days. A strange bird, having the head of a pheasant, a long flexible neck and a plumed tail, may often be seen flying in the midst of scroll - like clouds, or walking in a grove of tree peonies. This is the fenghuang, the Chinese phoenix, emblem of immortality and appearing to mortals only as a presage of the auspicious reign of a virtuous Emperor. The tortoise (huei), which bears upon its back the seagirt abode of the Eight Immortals, is a third supernatural creature associated with strength, longevity, and (because of the markings on its back) with a mystic plan of numerals which is a key to the philosophy of the unseen.
Colours have their significance, blue being the colour of the heavens, yellow of 'he earth and the Emperor, red of the sun, white of Jupiter or the Year Star, while each dynasty had its own particular hue, that of the Chou dynasty being described as ' blue of the sky after rain where it appears between the clouds.'
One could go on indefinitely ' reading ' the meaning of the seemingly fantastic creations of the Chinese artist devotee, but enough has been said to show that the strange beings, the conventional arrangements, the apparently haphazard conjunction of object, , in his decorative schemes are far from being matter of chance, but add to their decorative properties the intellectual charm of significance.
Colloquy of the Ancients: A collection of Ossianic legends, made into one about the thirteenth or fourteenth centuries. It relates how the Fian heroes, Keelta and Oisin, each with eight warriors, met to talk over the glorious past for the last time. Then Oisin returns to the Fairy Mound of his mother, and Keelta meets with St. Patrick and his monks at Drumderg. Keelta tells the saint many tales, interspersed with lyrics, with which he is delighted, and he eventually baptises Keelta and his warriors and grants them absolution.
Conte Del Graal: - One of the Quest versions of the legend of the Holy Grail (qv.) compiled by various authors. It tells how Perceval was reared to the life of a forester by his mother; but forsaking her he becomes a member of the Court of King Arthur. Thence he goes forth as a knight - errant, and his numerous adventures are recited. During these, he meets with certain mysteries, but returns to the court. The adventures of Gauvain, another of the knights, are fully detailed, Perceval, himself, sets forth again, and wanders about for five years in a very godless state of mind.
Compass Brothers: - Between the years 1400 and 1790, there existed at Lubeck a guild of this name, which met twice a year. Their badge was a compass and sector suspended from a crowned letter " C, " over which was a 'radiated triangular plate. In 1485 they adopted chains composed of these emblems united by eagles' tails. They appear to have been a magical or Kabbalistic society.
Conan Mae Morna: - A figure in the Ossianic cycle of Irish legend, described as scoffing and deriding - all that was high and noble. One day while hunting, he and others of the Fians, entered a magnificent palace which they found empty and began to feast. It soon became apparent, however, that the palace was enchanted, and the walls *shrank to the size of a fox's hole. Conan seemed to be unaware of the danger and continued to eat; but two of the Fians pulled him off his chair, to which some of his skin stuck. To soothe the pain a black sheep - skin was 'placed on his back, on to which it grow, and he wore it till he died.
Conary Mor: - A legendary High King of Ireland. It is said that his great - grandfather destroyed the Fairy Mound of Bri - Leith, and thus brought down ill - fate upon Conary Mor. When as a child he left his three foster - brothers on the Plains of Liffey, and followed a flock of beautiful birds down to the shore. These were transformed into armed men, who told him that they belonged to his father and were his kin. His geise (or taboo) was made known to him. and later he was proclaimed King of Erin. His reign was good, happy and prosperous, until the Darman folk lured him. to the breaking of his geise. It is told how Conary, dying of thirst after battle, sent his warrior Mac Cecht to bring him water. Mac Cecht had much difficulty in obtaining this, and on his return found that Conary had been beheaded: the water, however, was raised to the mouth of the body less head - which, it is said, thanked Mac Cecht for his deed.
Control: - A spiritualistic term, denoting the spirit who controls the physical organization of a medium. - (See Spiritualism.)
Corpse Candles: Mysterious lights supposed to presage death. They are also called fetch - ligkis and dead men's candles.
Crowley, Aliester: often cited as the “father of Satanism,” Crowley is a learned, if occasionally phlegmatic and obtuse author on the esoteric. Crowley was an eccentric raised by an extraordinarily strict religious sect in southern England, called “The Plymouth Brethren.” He became periodically involved with heroin, homosexuality, and the occult. Crowley delighted in outrageous behavior, and willingly took on the title of “The Great Beast” and “666.” However in fairness, one has to observe that the deck was stacked against Crowley, and he took refuge in flamboyant rebellion as an alternative to humiliation.
Crowley was famous enough to be publicly mocked by famous novelist Somerset Maugham in his novel The Magician in 1908. The Book is a novel and a dramatization, but it forms the basis for Crowley’s legend. Maugham and Crowley were both homosexual (or at least bisexual) and moved in similar artistic social circles. Maugham didn’t like Crowley, whose personality was certainly caustic, and tar-brushed him for the future with a lopsided depiction.
In 1910 Crowley watched his best friend, and homosexual, and fellow occultist, George Cecil Jones put through a humiliating mockery of a trial for homosexuality, probably because of his association with Crowley. Crowley himself was not summoned, probably because prosecutors feared he would turn the courtroom into a circus. Jones’ prosecution was reminiscent of the outrageous trial of luminary Oscar Wilde fifteen years before.
After his public identification as a Homosexual (his name was published in the newspapers in reference to Jones’ trial) Crowley was unlikely to be let alone in England. He found a powerful enemy in Horatio Bottomley, an important English publisher, xenophobe, and bigot, who founded the Financial Times and later established John Bull. Bottomley became a powerful and vitriolic personal detractor of Crowley . It is certainly possible that Crowley created his own problem, but if so it had more to do with his annoying personality and scorching wit than deals with the Devil. Crowley mercilessly lampooned fellow mystic A. E. Waite (of Rider-Waite Tarot fame). Waite was not a particularly important writer, but he was a powerful Freemason, and he’d worked fort Bottomley in the past.
Crowley fell into Bottomley’s sites because Crowley spent WWI in New York, propagandizing against the British on behalf of the Irish independence movement. But Bottomley found the flamboyant and noisy bisexual an easy target. He was largely responsible for Crowley’s virtual exile from England. It might well do to look at the character of the man who is so largely responsible for our perception of Crowley as an outrageous worshipper of Satan. Bottomley, like William Randolph Hearst, would do anything to sell a paper, and Crowley was an interesting man to make people hate, partially because he rose to the bait so well. In 1922 Bottomley was imprisoned for fraud.
Crowley also quarreled with his former mentor, S. L. MacGregor Mathers over his publication of some of the Golden Dawn materials in his periodical "The Equinox" also around 1910, and made a bitter enemy of Mathers. Crowley's publication of the material has been important to the Western Esoteric world, as it provides the only relatively accessible copies of much of the Golden Dawn material, since the ruins of that once great order are largely fragmented concerns.
Anyone who has read a fair amount of Crowley’s esoteric material certainly knows that Crowley wasn’t a Satanist, or even close to one. The only people who think otherwise are people who have read about Crowley, but have never read any of his actual writing.
His basic worldview followed the teachings of the Golden Dawn, and while he enlarged greatly on the group’s teachings, he maintained the fundamental principles. Crowley’s cosmology didn’t allow for the existence of “Satan” in any meaningful sense, and his writing doesn’t refer to Satan, except in an off handed way. His writing does deal extensively with various dark spirits and beings, but even these are not so much evil as objects of illusion – those forces which mask the hidden world and keep the unworthy from comprehending the infinite. His works deal equally with spirits of light, and for the most part with forces which are simply manifestations of the elemental forces of creation.
If anything, Crowley’s rival A. E. Waite deals more directly with Satanism by publishing (presumably for scholastic purposes only) reproductions of late medieval instructions for summoning the Devil in true in his Book of Black Magic and Pacts.
Crowley's most important work was his revelation of the Aeon which he claimed to have been divinely inspired by a spirit called Aiwass at the Great Pyramid in 1904. The revelation is reported in his "Book of the Law" or "Liber Legis" and gives a system called "Thelema" which was incorporated into the practices of the OTO (q.v.) after Crowley revised the ritual of the English order.
Crowley resides as an expatriate in Italy.
Crucifixion, Gnostic Conception of: As soon as Christ was born according - to the Gnostic speculative view of Christianity - Christos, united himself with Sophia (Holy Wisdom). descended through the seven planetary regions, assuming in each an analogous form to the region, and concealing his true nature from its genii, whilst he attracted into himself the spark of Divine Light they severally retained in their angelic essence. Thus Christos, having passed through the seven Angelic Regions before the " Throne, " entered into the man Jesus, at the moment of his baptism in the Jordan. From that time forth, being supernaturally gifted, Jesus began to work miracles. Before that, he had been completely ignorant of his mission. When on the cross, Christos and Sophia left his body, and returned to their own sphere. Upon his death, the two took the man " Jesus, " and abandoned his material body to the earth; for the Gnostics held that the true Jesus did not (and could not) physically suffer on the cross, and die, and that Simon of Cyrene, who bore his cross, did in reality suffer in his room: " And they compelled one, Simon a Cyrenian, wao passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross - (St. Mark XV. 2 1). The Gnostics contended that a portion of the real history of the Crucifixion was never written.
At the resurrection Christos and Sophia gave the man Jesus another body, made up of ether (Rosicrucian Aetheroleum). Thence - forward he consisted of the two first Rosicrucian principles only, soul and spirit; which was the reason that the disciples did not recognise him after the resurrection. During his sojourn upon earth after he ha4 risen, he received from Sophia, or Holy Wisdom, that perfect knowledge or illumination, that true " Gnosis, " which he communicated to the small number of the Apostles who were capable of receiving the same number of fingers on the hands - five male and five female. Pausanias says five, Pherecydes fifty - two, twenty right and thirty - two left; while Orpheus the Argonaut mentions a large number.
Dactyls: A class of sorcerers and scientific physicians who had their origin in Phrygia. Their number is given differently by different authorities.The dactyls were magicians, exorcists, conjurors, soothsayers. Plutarch says that they made their appearance in Italy as sorcerers, while their magical practices and mysteries threw the inhabitants of Samothrace into consternation. They were credited with the discovery of minerals and the notes of the musical scale; also with the discovery and use of the Ephesian mines They introduced fire into Crete, musical instruments into Greece. They were good runners and dancers, skilled in science and learning, and from them came the first wise men. They are said by some to have been the magnetic powers and spirits, whose head was Hercules.
Daemonologie: by King James VI. and I.: It is customary nowadays to sneer at the writings of this royal author, ard as Horace Walpole remarks, his majesty really has more critics than readers; while it should be borne in mind that in his own day the king's books were greatly admired, winning the encomiums of Bacon, Izaak Walton, and numerous equally eminent men of letters. In general, however, it was Basilikon Doron which elicited their homage, and compared to this last the king's study of demonology is but a mediocre performance. Published in 1597, it is couched " in forme of ane dialogue, " the speakers being Philomathes and Epistemon; and the former, being very incredulous as regards all kinds of magic, asks Epistemon to enlighten him. Thereupon many famous acts of witchcraft are adduced, but, when Philomathes requests to be told precisely why the black art should be considered iniquitous, Z interlocutor fails conspicuously to give a satisfactory answer. He merely inveighs against the practice in question, and accordingly there is something distinctly trite in the subsequent pages, wherein Epistemon is represented as being converted to the other speaker's point of view, and declaring loudly that all sorcerers and the like " ought to be put to death according to the Law of God, the civil and imperial Law, and municipal Law of all Christian Nations."
D'Aiglon, Eugene-Auguste Albert de Rochas: a French officer and writer born at Saint-Firmin in 1837. Fluid Theory of magnetics “des Force non definies” (1887) “le Fluide des magnetiseurs” (1891) “les Etats profonds de l’hypnose’’ (1892) ’’l’ Exteriocaation de la sensibilite’’ (1895)
Daiver - Logum: The dwelling place of the daivers (q.v.) a species of Hindoo geni. Besides the daivers, who number three hundred and thirty millions, there dwell in the Daiver Logum those heroes and prophets who are not yet fit for the paradise of Shiva or of Vishnu.'
Daivers and DaivergoeIi: Hindoo geni inhabiting the Daiver Logum, a world of their own. They are, it secras, related to the Persian divs, from which it is suggested that the word " devil " is derived. . They possess material 'bodies as well as spiritual, and have many human attributes, both good and evil. Their king is called Daivuntren, or Indiren, his wife Inderannee, and his son Seedcra - hudderen. The latter records the actions of human beings, by which they must at last be judged. In Daivuntren's immense court of audience there is room not only for the daivers themselves, but for a multitude of attendants, or companions. These are the kuinarer, the musicians of Daiver - Logum; Dumbarim, Nardir, the drummers; Kimprusher, winged beings - of great beauty, who wait on the daivers; Kundagaindoorer, similar beings, the messengers of Vishnu; Paunner, the jugglers; Viddiaser, the bards; Tsettee, those beings who attend them in their aerial flights; Kannanader, or Dordanks, the messengers who lead devotees of Shiva and Vishnu to paradise, and the wicked to hell. There is yet another class of daivergoel, or geni, which comprises the eight keepers of the eight sides of the world, known by their general name of Auslitatiken - Pauli, , aur. These are Indiren, or Daivuntren, their king; AugneBangauven, god of fire; Eemen, king of death and hell; Nerudee, the earth - element personified as a giant; Vaivoo.
Dalan: A druid who figures in the medieval Irish legend of Conary Mor (q.v.).
Damear: A mystical city. (See Rosicrucians.)
Danaans, The: The people of the goddess Dana, often mentioned in Irish medieval romance. They were one of the three Nemedian families who survived the Fomorian victory, and returned to Ireland at a later period. By some it was said that they came " out of heaven, " and by others that they sprang from four cities, in which they learned science and craftsmanship, and from each of which they brought away a magical treasure. From Falias they brought the Stone of Destiny (Lia Fail) (q.v.); from Gorias an invincible sword; from Finias a magical spear; and from Murias the Cauldron of the Dagda. They were believed to have been wafted to Ireland on A magic cloud, carrying their treasures with them. After a victorious battle they took possession of the whole of Ireland, except Connacht which was given to the vanquished. The Danaans were the representatives of power and beauty, of science and poetry, to the writer of the myth; to the common people they were gods of earth. In their battles they were subject to death, but it was by magical powers that they conquered their mortal foes.
Davenport Brothers (Ian and William): Two American mediums who gave seances for physical phenomena in America and Britain during the decade 1860 - 70. They seem to have attained to a considerable measure of fame, and to have won a great many people to the belief that their performances were genuine spirit manifestations. On their coming to England in 1864 they were accompanied by a chaplain, the Rev. L. J. B. Ferguson, who helped to inspire confidence in their good faith. The usual plan of their seances was as follows: The Brothers Davenport took their seats vis - a - vis in a small walnut cabinet " made very like a wardrobe or clothes - press." Any two gentlemen from amon - the audience were requested to bind them firmly to their benches, so as to preclude any possibility of their freeing their hands. Musical instruments. were then placed in the cabinet, apparently out of reach of the medium, and the lights were lowered. Soon the musical instruments began to play within the cabinet, dim " spirit hands " were seen in front of it. At the conclusion of the seance, however, the mediums were found tied as securely as ever. They met with a check, however, on their provincial tour, for at Liverpool there were two men among the audience who possessed the secret of a special knot. The " Tom Fool's knot, " as it was called, baffled the spirits, and the mediums were mobbed. Later in a seance given before a committee of the Anthropological Society, they shirked nearly all the conditions, and succeeded in accomplishing nothing which could not be done by a skilful conjurer. Tolmagne, Anderson, and other conjurers emulated their feats, and Maskelyne and Cooke so successfully that mediums had no resource but to class them as fellow - adepts."
Davies, Lady Eleanor Tuchet:, daughter of George, Lord Audley, married Sir John Davies, an eminent lawyer in the time of James the First, and author of a poem of considerable merit on the Immortality of the Soul. This lady was a person of many talents; but what she seems most to have valued herself upon, was her gift of prophecy; and she accordingly printed a book of Strange and Wonderful Predictions. She professed to receive her prophecies from a spirit, who communicated to her audibly things about to come to pass through the voice could be heard by no other person. Sir John Davies was nominated lord chief justice of the king's bench in 1626. Before he was inducted into the office, lady Eleanor, sitting with him on Sunday at dinner, suddenly burst into a passion of tears. Sir John asked her what made her weep. To which she replied " These are your funeral tears." Sir John turned off the prediction with a merry answer. But in a very few days he was seized with an apoplexy, of which he presently died. She also predicted the death of the duke of Buckingham in the same year. For this assumption of the gift of prophecy, she was cited before the high - commission - court and examined in 1634.
Davis, Andrew jackson: Known as the " Poughkeepsie Seer " from his residence in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., was a prophet, clairvoyant, and mystic philosopher, who commenced his mission to the world about 1844, some time before the Rochester Rappings had inaugurated the movement known as " modern spiritualism." In 1847 he published a volume of trance discourses, The Principles of Nature, Her Divine Revelations and A Voice to Mankind. In the same year he issued & first number of the Univercceluns, a periodical devoted to clairvoyance and trance phenomena generally, which continued till 1849. Not until 1850, however, did Davis and his followers identify themselves with the spiritualists. In his Revelations the Poughkeepsie Seer propounds his Harmonial Philosophy, afterwards to be elaborated in many volumes. His mission, revealed to him by Galen and Swedenborg, was the prophesying of a new dispensation, preceded by a social revolution. He was associated, throughout his career, with many prominent spiritualists.
Dectera: A figure of Irish medieval romance. She was the daughter of Cathbad the Druid, and mother of Cuchulain (q.v.). She and fifty other maidens disappeared from the court of Conor mac Nessa. Three years later, while pursuing a flock of birds which were spoiling the crops, the kin, and courtiers came upon a magnificent palace inhabited by a youth of noble mien and a beautiful woman and fifty maidens. These were recognised as Dectera and her companions, and the youth as Lugh, the sun - god. Conor summoned Dectera to him, but she, sent him instead her new - born son, Cuchulain.
Dee, John: Born in London 1527, this remarkable mathematician and astrologer is supposed to have been descended from a noble old Walsh House, the Dees of Nant y Groes in Radnorshire; while he himself affirmed that among his direct ancestors was Roderick the Great, Prince of Wales. Dee's father appears to have been a gentleman server at the court of Henry VIII., and, being consequently in tolerably affluent circumstances, he was able to give his son a good education. So at the age of fifteen John proceeded to Cambridge, and After two years there he took his degree as Bachelor of Arts; while a little later on his becoming intensely interested in astronomy and the like, he decided to leave England and go and study abroad. In 1547, accordingly, he went to the Low Countries, where he consorted with numerous scholars, and whence he eventually brought home the first astronomer's staff of brass, and also two gloves constructed by Gerard Mercator; but Dee was not destined to remain in his native land for Iong, and in 1548 he lived for some time at Louvain, and in 1550 he spent several months in Paris, lecturing there on the principles of geometry. He was offered, indeed, a permanent post at the Sorbonne; but he declined this, and in 1551 he returned to England, where, having been recommended to Edward VI., he was granted the rectory of Upton - upon - Severn, Worcestershire.
The astrologer was now in a delightful and enviable position, having a comfortable home and assured income, and being able to devote himself exclusively to the studies lie loved. But hardly had he begun to enjoy these benefits, where an ugly cloud darkened his horizon, for, on the accession of Queen Mary in 1553, , he was accused of trying to take the new sovereigns life by thaumaturgic means, and was imprisoned at Hampton Court. He gained his liberty soon afterwards, but he felt very conscious that many people looked on him askance on account of his scientific predilections; and, in a preface which he wrote for an English translation of Euclid, he complains bitterly of being regarded as " a companion of the hellhounds, a caller and a conjuror of wicked and damned spirits." However, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth his fortunes began to improve again; and after making another long tour abroad, going on this occasion so far afield as St. Helena, he took a house at Mortlake on the Thames, and while staving there he rapidly became famous for his intimate knowledge of astronomy. In 1572 on the advent of a new star, people flocked to hear Dee descant on the subject; while five years later, on the appearance of a mysterious comet, the scholar was again vouchsafed ample opportunity of displaying his learning, Elizabeth herself being among those who came to ask him what this addition to the stellar bodies might portend.
The most romantic circumstances in Dee's life, however, are those which deal with his experiments in crystallomancy. Living in comparative solitude - practising astrology for bread, but studying alchemy for pleasure brooding over Talmudic mysteries and Rosicrucian theories - immersed in constant contemplation of wonders which he longed to penetrate - and dazzled by visions of the elixir of life and the Philosopher's Stone, Dee soon attained to such a condition of mystic exaltation that his visions became to him as realities, and he persuaded himself that he was the favoured of the Invisible. In his Diary he records that he first saw in his crystal - globe - that is, saw spirits the 25th of May, 1581. In another year he had attained to a higher level, and one day, in November, 1582, while on his knees and fervently praying, he became aware of a sudden glory which filled the west window of his laboratory, and in whose midst shone the bright angel Uriel. It was impossible for Dee to speak. His tongue was frozen with awe. But Uriel smiled benignly upon him, gave him a convex piece of crystal, and told him that when he wished to communicate with the beings of another world he had but to examine it intently, and they would immediately appear and reveal the mysteries of the future. Then the angel vanished.
Dee, however, found from experience that it was needful to concentrate all one's faculties upon the crystal before the spirits would obey him. In other words, it was necessary to stimulate the imagination to the highest pitch, until the soul became a willing agent in its self - deception. Bring the will to bear upon the imagination, and it is possible to realize a spirit in every shadowy corner - to hear the song of the spirits in the low crooning of the evening wind - to read in the starry heavens the omens and portents of the future. One may become with marvellous case the deceiver of one - self, - the dupe of one's own delusions, - and brood upon a particular subject until one passes the mysterious border between sanity and madness - passes from imagination into mania.
Dee could never remember what the spirits said in their frequent conversations with him. When the excitement was over, he forgot the fancies with which he had been beguiled. He resolved, therefore, to discover some fellow worker, or neophyte, who should converse with the spirits while he himself, in another part of the room, sat and recorded the interesting dialogue. He found the assistant he sought in one Edward Kelly, who unhappily possessed just the requisite boldness and cunning for making a dupe of the amiable and credulous enthusiast.
Edward Kelly was a native of Lancashire, born, according to Dee's own statement, in 1555. We know nothing of his early years, but after having been convicted at Lancaster of coining - for which offence he lost his ears - he removed to Worcester, and established himself as a druggist. Sensual, ambitious, and luxurious, he longed for wealth, and despairing of securing it by honest industry, began to grope after the Philosopher's Stone, and to employ what magical secrets he picked up in imposing upon the ignorant and profligate. Dee sought knowledge for the love of it Kelly as a means to gratify his earthly passions. He concealed the loss of his ears by a black skull - cap, and being gifted with a good figure and tolerably handsome countenance, looked the very incarnation of mysterious wisdom, Before his acquaintance with Dee began, he had obtained some repute as a necromancer and alchymist, who could make the dead utter the secrets of the future. One night he took a wealthy dupe with some of his servants, into the park of Walton le Dale, near Preston in Lancashire, and there alarmed him with the most terrific incantations. He then inquired of one of the servants whose corpse had been last buried in the neighbouring churchyard, and being told that a poor man had been interred there within a very few hours, exhumed the body, and pretended to draw from it oracular utterances.
Dee appears to have had a scryer, or seer before his introduction to Kelly, who was named Barnabas Saul. He records in his Diary on the 9th of October, 1581, that the unfortunate medium was strangely troubled by a " spiritual creature " about midnight. On the 2nd of December he willed his scryer to look into the " great crystalline globe " for the apparition of the holy angel Angel. Saul looked and saw. But his invention appears to have become exhausted by the following March, when he confessed that he neither saw nor heard any spiritual creature any more; whereat the enthusiastic Dee grew strangely dissatisfied, and soon dismissed the unsatisfactory and unimaginative medium. Then came Edward Kelly (who appears to have been also called Talbot), and the conferences with the spirits rapidly increased in importance as well as curiosity.
A clever rogue was Kelly. Gifted with a fertile fancy and prolific invention, he never gazed into the " great crystalline globe " without making some wondrous discoveries, and by his pretended enthusiasm gained the entire confidence of the credulous Dee. The mathematician, despite his learning and his profound intellect, became the easy tool of the plastic, subtle Scryer. The latter would sometimes pretend that he doubted the innocent character of the work upon which he was engaged; would affect a holy horror of the unholy; and profess that the spirits of the crystal were not always " spirits of health, " but - perish the thought! - " goblins damn'd; demons whose task it was to compass their destruction. The conferences held between Kelly and the spirits were meanwhile, carefully recorded by Dr. Dee; and whoever has stomach for the perusal of a great deal of absurdity and not a little blasphemy, may consult the folio published in, 1659 by the learned Meric Casaubon, and entitled " A True and Faithful Relation of what passed between Dr. John Dee and some Spirits; tending, had it succeeded, to a General Alteration of most States and Kingdoms in the World."'
Two such shining lights could not hide themselves under a bushel, and their reputation extended from Mortlake even to the Continent. Dee now declared himself possessed of the elixir vitae, which he had found he said, among the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey; so that the curious were drawn to his house by a double attraction. Gold flowed into his coffers in an exhaustless stream, but his experiments in the transmutation of metals absorbed a "eat portion of his substance.
At this time the court of England was visited by a Polish nobleman named Albert Laski, Count Palatine of Siradz, who was desirous to see the magnificence of the famous "Gloriana." Elizabeth received him with the flattering welcome she always accorded to distinguished strangers, and placed him in charge of the splendid Leicester. He visited all the England of the sixteenth century worth showing, and especially her two Universities, but was sorely disappointed at not finding the famous Dr. Dee at Oxford. " I would not have come hither, " he said to the Earl, " had I wot that Dee, was not here." Leicester undertook to introduce him to the learned philosopher on their return to London, and so soothed his discontent.
A few days afterwards the Pole and Leicester were waiting in the antechamber at Whitehall for an audience of the Queen, when Dr. Dee arrived. Leicester embraced the opportunity, and introduced him to Albert Laski. The interview between two genial spirits was interesting, and led to frequent visits from Laski to Dee's house at Mortlake. Kelly soon perceived what a source of income this Pole would prove, and as he was imbued with all the extravagant superstitions of the age relative to the elixir and the Philosopher's Stone, it was easy enough to play upon his imagination, and entangle him in the meshes of an inextricable deception. Dee, in want of money to prosecute his splendid chimeras, and influenced by Kelly's artful suggestions, lent himself in some measure to the fraud, and speedily the " great crystalling globe " began to reveal hints and predictions which inflamed the ardent fancy of the " noble Polonian." But Kelly imposed upon Dee as well as upon Laski. He appears to have formed some wild but magnificent projects for the reconstruction of Europe, to be effected through the agency of the Pole, and thenceforth the spirits could converse upon nothing but hazy politics.
On a careful perusal of Dee's Diary, it is impossible to come to any other conclusion than that he was imposed upon by Kelly, and accepted his revelations as the actual utterances of the spirits; and it seems probable that the clever, plastic, slippery Kelly not only knew something of the optical delusions then practised by the pretended necromancers, but possessed considerable ventriloquial powers, which largely assisted in his nefarious deceptions.
Kelly had undoubtedly conceived some extravagant notions of a vast European monarchy, in which Laski was to play the part of a Royal and he himself of a Mayor of the Palace. To this point all the spiritual revelations now tended, and they were managed, it must be owned, with consummate skill. Laski was proved, by the agency of scrying, to be descended from the Anglo - Norman family of the Lacies. Then an angel named Murifre, who was clothed like a husbandman, pointed out Laski as destined to effect the regeneration of the world.
But it did not answer Kelly's purposes to bring matters too suddenly to a conclusion, and with the view of showing the extreme value of his services, he renewed his complaints upon the wickedness of dealing with spirits, and his fear of the perilous enterprises they might enjoin. He threatened, moreover, to abandon his task, a threat which completely perturbed the equanimity of Dr. Dee. Where indeed, could he hope to meet with another scryer of such infinite ability ? Once when Kelly expressed his desire of riding from Mortlake to Islington on some pretended business, the doctor grew afraid that it was only an excuse to cover his absolute evasion. "Whereupon, " says the doctor, " I asked him why he so hasted to ride thither, and I said if it were to ride to Mr. Harry Lee I would go thither, and to be acquainted with him, seeing now I had so good leisure, being ease~ of the book writing. Then he said that one told him the other day that the duke (Laski) did but flatter him, and told him other things both against the duke and me. I answered for the duke and myself, and also said that if the forty pounds annuity which - Kr. Lee did offer him was the chief cause of his mind setting that way, that then I contrary to many of his former promises would assure him of fifty pounds yearly, and would do my best, by following of my suit, to bring it to pass as soon as I possibly_ could; and thereupon did make him promise upon the Bible.
" Then Edward Kelly again upon the same Bible did swear unto me constant friendship, and never to forsake me; and moreover said that unless this had so fallen about he would have gone beyond the seas, taking ship at Newcastle within eight days next.
" And so we plight our faith each to the other, taking each other by the hand, upon these points of brotherly and friendly fidelity during life, which covenant I beseech God to turn to his honour, glory, and service, and the comfort of our brethren (his children) here on earth."
Kelly now returned to his crystal and his visions, and Laski was soon persuaded that he was destined by the spirits to achieve great victories over the Saracens, and win enduring glory. But for this purpose it was needful he should return to Poland, and to Poland the poor dupe went, taking with him the learned Dr. Dee, the invaluable Edward Kelly, and their wives and families, The spirits continued to respond to their inquiries even while at sea, , and so they landed at the Brill on the 3oth of July 1583, and traversed Holland and Friesland to the opulent free town of Lubeck.
There they lived sumptuously for a few weeks, and with recruited strength set out for Poland. On Christmas Day they arrived at Stettin, where they remained till the middle of January 1584. They gained Lasco, the Pole's principal estate, early in February. Immediately the grand work commenced for the transmutation of iron into gold, boundless wealth being obviously needful for so grand an enterprise as the regeneration of Europe.
Laski liberally supplied them with means, but the alchymist's always failed on the very threshold of success. Day by day the prince's trees melted away in the deceptive crucible; he mortgaged his estates, he sold them, but the hungry furnace continued to cry for " More ! more ! "
It soon became apparent to the philosopher's that Laski's fortune was nearly exhausted. Madinic, Uriel, and their comrades made the same discovery at the same time, and, moreover, began to doubt whether Laski, after all, was the great regenerator intended to revolutionize Europe.
The whole party lived at Cracow from March 1584 until the end of July, and made daily appeals to the spirits in reference to the Polish prince.
They grew more and more discouraging in their replies, and as Laski began slowly to awake to the conviction that he had been a monstrous dupe, in order to rid himself of the burthen, he proposed to furnish them with sufficient funds for a journey to Prague, and letters of introduction to the Emperor Rudolph.
At this very moment the spirits discovered that it was necessary Dee should bear a divine message to the Emperor, and Laski's proposal was gladly accepted. At Prague the two philosophers were well received by the Emperor. They found him very willing to believe in the existence of the famous stone, very courteous to Dee as a man of European celebrity but very suspicious of the astute and plausible Kelly.
They remained some months at Prague, living upon the funds which Laski had supplied, and cherishing hopes of being attached to the imperial service. At last the Papal Nuncio complained to the countenance afforded to heretical magicians, and the Emperor ordered them to quit his dominions within four - and - twenty hours.
They precipitately complied, and by so doing escaped a prison or the stake, to which the Nuncio had received orders from Rome to consign them (May 1586).
They now proceeded to Erfurdt, and from thence to Cassel, but meeting with a cold reception, made their way once more to Cracow. Here they earned a scanty living by telling fortunes and casting nativities; enduring the pangs of penury with an almost heroic composure, for they, the pretended possessors of the Philosopher's Stone, durst not reveal their indigence to the world, if they would not expose themselves to universal ridicule. After a while, they found a new dupe in Stephen, king of Poland, to whom Kelly's spirits predicted that the Emperor Rudolph would shortly be assassinated, and that the Germans would elect him to the Imperial throne.
But he in his turn grew weary of the ceaseless demands for pecuniary supplies. Then arose a new disciple in the person of Count Rosenberg, a nobleman of large estates at Trebona, in Bohemia. At his castle they remained for upwards of two years, eagerly pursuing their alchemical studies, but never approaching any nearer to the desired result.
Dee's enthusiasm and credulity had degraded him into the tool and slave of Kelly; but the latter was nevertheless very wroth at the superior respect which Dee, as really a man of surprising scholarship and considerable ability, enjoyed. Frequent quarrels broke out between them, aggravated by the criminal passion which Kelly had conceived for the doctor's young and handsome wife, and which he had determined to gratify. He matured at length an artful plan to obtain the fulfillment of his wishes. Knowing Dee's entire dependence upon him as a scryer, he suddenly announced his intention of resigning that honoured and honourable office, and only consented to remain on the doctor's urgent entreaties. That day (April 18, 1587) they consulted the spirits. Kelly professed to be shocked at the revelation they made, and refused to repeat it. Dee's curiosity was aroused, and he insisted upon hearing it, but was exceedingly discomposed when be found that the spirits enjoined the two philosophers to have their wives in common. Kelly expressed his own abhorrence of the doctrine, and when the spirits repeated it, with a mixture of socialistic extravagance to the effect that sin was only relative, and could not be sinful if ordered by God, protested they must be spirits of evil, not of good, once more resigned his post as skryer, - and left the Castle.
Dee now attempted to convert his son Arthur into a medium, but the lad had neither the invention, the faith, nor the deceptive powers for such an office, and the philosopher, deprived of those conferences with the other World which he had so long enjoyed, began to lament the absence of his old confederate. At this juncture Kelly suddenly returned. Again he consulted the crystal, and again was ordered to practise the socialistic rule of all things in common. Dee was too delighted at his return to oppose any longer the will of the spirits. The two Wives resisted the arrangement for some time, but finally yielded to what was represented to be the will of Heaven, and Dee notes in his Diary that " on Sunday the 3rd of May, anno 1587 (by the new account), I, John Dee, Edward Kelly, and our two wives covenanted with God, and subscribed the same for indissoluble and inviolable unities, charity, and friendship keeping, between us four, and all things between us to be common, as God by sundry means willed us to do. "
The alchymist's now resumed their pursuits with eagerness; but discord soon crept into this happy family of four. The wives, never very well content with the socialistic theory, quarrelled violently; the husbands began to be pinched for want of Zans; and Dee turned his eyes towards England as a pleasanter asylum than the castle of Trebona was likely to prove for his old age. He obtained permission from Queen Elizabeth to return, and separated finally from Kelly. The latter, who had been knighted at Prague, took with him an elixir found at Glastonbury Abbey, and ventured to proceed to the Bohemian capital. He was immediately arrested by order of the Emperor, and flung - into prison. Obtaining his release after some months' imprisonment, he wandered over Germany, telling fortunes, and angling for dupes. With the customary magical baits, but never getting a whit nearer that enjoyment of boundless resources which the possession of the Philosopher's Stone should have ensured him. Arrested a second time as a heretic and a sorcerer, and apprehending perpetual imprisonment, be endeavoured to escape, but fell from the dungeon - wall., and broke two of his ribs and both of his legs. He expired of the injuries he had received in February 1593.
Dr. Dee set out from Trebona with a splendid train, the expenses of his journey apparently being defrayed by the generous Bohemian noble. Three waggons carried his baggage; three coaches conveyed himself, his family, and servants. A guard of twenty - four soldiers escorted him; each carriage was drawn by four horses. In England he was well received by the Queen, as far as courteous phrases went, and settling himself at Mortlake, he resumed his chemical studies, and his pursuit of the Philosopher's Stone. But nothing prospered with the unfortunate enthusiast. He employed two scryers - at first a rogue, named Bartholomew, and afterwards a charlatan named Ileckman - but neither could discover anything satisfactory in the " great crystalline globe." He grew poorer and poorer; he sank into absolute indigence; he wearied the Queen with ceaseless importunities; and at length obtained a small appointment as Chancellor of St. Paul's Cathedral, which he exchanged for the wardenship of Manchester College. Be performed the duties of this position until age and a failing intellect compelled him, to resign it about 1602 or 1603.
He then retired to his old house at Mortlake, where he practised as a common fortune - teller, gaining little in return but the unenviable reputation of a wizard, " a conjuror, a caller, or invocator of devils." On the 5th of June 1604, he presented a petition to James the First, imploring his protection against such injurious calumnies, and declaring that none of all the great number of - the very strange and frivolous fables or histories reported and told of him (as to have been of his doing) were true."
Dee is an exceptionally interesting figure, and he must have been a man of rare intellectual activity. He made calculations to facilitate the adoption in' England of the Gregorian calendar; and he virtually anticipated the Historical Manuscripts Commission, addressing to the crown a petition wherein he wrote on the desirability of carefully preserving the old, unpublished records of England's past, many of which documents were at this period domiciled in the archives of monasteries. Moreover he was a voluminous writer on science, and, though lack of space makes it impossible to give a full list of his works here,
Demonology: That branch of magic which deals with malevolent spirits. In religious science it has come to indicate knowledge regarding supernatural beings who are not deities. But, it is in regard to its magical significance only that it falls to be dealt with here. The Greek term Daimon, originally indicated " genius " or " spirit, " but in England it has come to mean a being actively malevolent. Ancient Demonology will be found dealt with in the articles Egypt, Semites, Genius and Devil - Worship, and savage demonology under the heads of the various countries and races where it had its origin. According to Michael Psellus, demons are divided into six great bodies. First, the demons of fire. Second, those of the air. Third, those of the earth. The fourth inhabit the waters and rivers, and cause tempests and floods; the fifth are subterranean, who prepare earthquakes and excite volcanic eruptions. The sixth, are shadows, something of the nature of ghosts. St. Augustine comprehends all demons under the last category. This classification of Psellus is not unlike that system of the middle ages, which divided all spirits into those belonging to the four elements, fire, air, earth, and water, or salamanders, sylphs, undines, and gnomes.
Dermot of the Love - spot: The typical lover of Irish legend, and the hero of the myth of Dermot and Grania. It was in this wise that he got the love - spot. One night he and three companions entered a hut for a night's shelter, in which dwelt an old man, a young girl (Youth), a wether (the World) a cat (Death). During the night the girl put the love - spot on Dermot's forehead, and henceforth, it is said, no woman could see him without loving him. He came to be loved by Grania, the betrothed of Finn, who forced him to run away with her. They were pursued all over Ireland, but after sixteen years of outlawry, Dermot was allowed to return to his patrimony. He was killed by the Boar of Ben, Bulben, (q.v.) an enchanted animal, who had been his step - brother. His body was borne away on a gilded bier by the People of Dana, and was given a soul by Angus Og, the Irish God of Love, that he might return each day and talk with him. Dermot was of the type of solar hero; and the bier on which his body was borne away is, of course, the sunset.
Devas: In Theosophy, constitute one of the ranks or orders of spirits who compose the hierarchy which rules the universe under the Deity. Their numbers are vast and their function -, are not all known to mankind, though generally these functions may be said to be connected with the evolution of systems and of life. Of Devas there are three kinds - Bodiless Devas, Form Devas and Passion Devas. Bodiless Devas belong to the higher mental world, their bodies are composed of mental Elemental Essence, and they belong to the first Elemental kingdom. Form Devas belong to the lower mental world, and while their bodies are composed also of mental Elemental Essence, they belong to the second Elemental kingdom. Passion Devas belong to the astral world and their bodies are composed
Dickenson, Edmund: Dr. Edmund Dickenson, physician to King, Charles the Second, a professed seeker of the hermetic knowledge, produced a book entitled, De Quinta Essentia. Philosophorum; which was printed at Oxford in 1686, and a second time in 1705. A third edition of it was printed in Germany in 1721. In correspondence with a French adept, the latter explains the reasons why the Brothers of the Rosy Cross concealed themselves. As to the universal medicine, Elixir Vitae, or potable form of the preternatural menstruum, he positively asserts that it is in the hand's of the " Illuminated, " but that, by the time they discover it,they have ceased to desire its uses, being far above them: and as to life for centuries, being wishful for other things, they decline availing themselves of it. He adds that the adepts are obliged to conceal themselves for the sake of safety, because they would be abandoned in the consolations of the intercourse of this world (if they were not, indeed, exposed to worse risks), supposing that their gifts were proven to the conviction of the bystanders as more than human, when they would become simply abhorrent. Thus, there are excellent reasons for their conduct; they proceed with the utmost caution, and instead of making a display of their powers, as vain - glory is the least distinguishing characteristic of these great men, they studiously evade the idea that they have any extraordinary or separate knowledge. They live simply as mere spectators in the world, and they desire to make no disciples, converts nor confidants. They submit to the obligations of life, and to relationships - enjoying the fellowship of none, admiring none, following none, but themselves. They obey all codes, are excellent citizens, and only preserve silence in regard to their own private beliefs, giving the world the benefit of their acquirements up to a certain point; seeking only sympathy at some angles of their multiform character, but shutting out curiosity where they do not desire its inquisitive eyes.
Didot Pereeval: So - called because the only MS. of this legend discovered belonged to A. F. Didot, the famous collector. This version of the Grail Legend lays great stress on the illness of the Fisher King. It tells how the Table Round was constructed, and relates the adventures of Sir Perceval, which are much the same as those told in the Conte del Graal and include the Good Friday incident. It is said that he, with his brother - in - law, Brons, were instructed in the mystic expressions which Christ whispered to Joseph of Arimathea when on the cross.
Dithorba: Brother of Red Hugh and Kimbay of Irish medieval legend. He was killed by his niece Macha, and his five sons expelled from Ulster. They resolved to wrest the sovereignty of Ireland from Macha, but she discovers them in the forest, overpowers them by her mesmeric influence, and carries them to her palace on her back. They build the famous Irish city of Emain Macha under her supervision.
Divine Name, The: In Jewish mysticism great stress is laid upon the importance of the Divine Name. It consists of forty - twjo letters, not, as Moses Maimonides points out, comprised in one word, but in a phrase of several words, which conveyed an exact notion of the essence of God. With the priestly decadence in the last days of the Temple, a name of twelve letters was substituted for the Divine Name, and as time went on even this secondary name was not divulged to every priest, but only to a few. The longer name was sometimes said to contain forty - five or seventy - two letters. The ten Sefiroth are also supposed, in a mystical sense, to be the names of the Deity. The Divine Name jehovah is greater than " I am that I am, since the latter signifies God as He was before the creation, the Absolute, the Unknowable, the Hidden One; but the former denotes the Supreme Manifestation, the immanence of God in the Cosmos.
Djermscheed, The Cup of: A divination cup, which has been the subject of many of the poems and myths of ancient Persia. It was believed to have been found while digging the foundations of Persepolis, filled with the elixir of immortality. In this magical cup was mirrored the whole world, and everything, good and evil, - was revealed therein. The Persians had great faith in these revelations and attributed the prosperity of their empire to the possession of this famous cup.
Dual Personality: In every form of cerebral dissociation there is a disturbance of consciousness. Sometimes, and especially in the trance, there occurs what is known as split consciousness, " and the split may be so pronounced that the subject seems to have two or more distinct personalities. The secondary personality may differ from the primary in many ways, and possess entirely distinct intellectual and moral characteristics. The entranced subject may allude to his normal consciousness in the third person, may criticise its opinions and attitude, or even express direct antagonism towards it. The secondary personality sometimes alternates with the primary in such a way as to suggest that two spirits are struggling to possess the same physical organisation. Another peculiarity of this state is that whereas the normal consciousness generally knows nothing of the others, the secondary personalities have full knowledge of each other and of the normal consciousness. Dual personality is not confined to the trance state, but may arise spontaneously. R. L. Stevenson makes effective use of it in his Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Duguid, David: A Glasgow painting medium who achieved considerable success in his line. He was a cabinet - maker, who in 1866 found himself possessed of mediumistic faculties. At first an ordinary rapping medium, he speedily developed the power of painting in trance, , even in the dark. A still higher stage of mediumship was reached when direct drawings were produced in his presence. These drawings, generally copies of Dutch masters, purporting to be done by the original artists, are said not to have been without some merit, apart from the fact that they were done in complete darkness. The two principal controls were Ruysdael and Steen. In 1869 control of the medium's organism was taken by Hafed, prince of Persia t at the beginning of the Christian era, and Archmagus. Hafed related his many adventures through Duguid's mediumship in a series of sittings extending over some years. A Persian of princely birth, he had borne arms in his country's defence. After extensive travels, he was t admitted to the magi, and ultimately became Archmagus. e He was of those who bore rich gifts to Bethlehem at the birth of Christ. Finally he met his death in the arena at Rome. Hafed, Prince of Persia, was afterwards published in book form. (See Spiritualism).
Durandal: A magical sword belonging, to Roland of legendary fame.
Dzibilchaltun; a name which means 'the writing on the stone tablets.' It is the oldest of the Mayan Archaeological sites; dating back 3000 years. It is famous for its Temple of the Seven dolls, and is located on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.
Eber Don: chief of Milesian invaders of Ireland whose ships were lost in storms raised by Danaana magic
Eckartshausen, K. Von: Author of The Cloud on the Sanctuary (1800). Eckartshausen, by birth and education an intensely religious man, at first wrote several little books of devotion that had great vogue in France and Germany. He later turned his attention to larger works of a more' profound character, such as that mentioned above. According to Eckartshausen the requisite faculty of true communion with the church is the inward conception of things spiritual and with this sense present, is possible the beginning of Regeneration understood as the process of gradually eliminating original sin. His work on the Interior Church is in two parts: first, elucidation of his doctrine; second, a series of dogmas or assertions derived therefrom.
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PART 5
https://exploringrealhistory.blogspot.com/2021/01/part-5-encyclopedia-of-ancient-and.html
Ectenic Force: A supposed physical force emanating from the person of the medium, and directed by his will, by means of which objects may be moved without contact in apparent defiance of natural laws......
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