The Phantom World; or, The philosophy of spirits, apparitions, &c, &c.Calmet, Augustin
Religion
The Phantom World; or, The philosophy of spirits, apparitions, &c, &c.
Calmet, Augustin
Apparitions; Demonology; Spirits
Then, uttering horrible cries, he said he saw as it
were two he-goats of immeasurable size, which, holding up their
forefeet (standing on their hindlegs), held between their claws, each
one separately, one of the schedules or agreements. But as soon as the
exorcisms were begun, and the priests invoked the name of St.
Ignatius, the two he-goats fled away, and there came from the left arm
or hand of the young man, almost without pain, and without leaving any
scar, the compact, which fell at the feet of the exorcist.
There now wanted only the second compact, which had remained in the
power of the demon. They recommenced their exorcisms, and invoked St.
Ignatius, and promised to say a mass in honor of the saint; at the
same moment there appeared a tall stork, deformed and badly made, who
let fall the second schedule from his beak, and they found it on the
altar.
The pope, Paul V., caused information of the truth of these facts to
be taken by the commissionary-deputies, M. Adam, Suffragan of
Strasburg, and George, Abbot of Altorf, who were juridically
interrogated, and who affirmed that the deliverance of this young man
was principally due, after God, to the intercession of St. Ignatius.
The same story is related rather more at length in Bartoli's Life of
St. Ignatius Loyola.
Melancthon owns[103] that he has seen several spectres, and conversed
with them several times; and Jerome Cardan affirms that his father,
Fassius Cardanus, saw demons whenever he pleased, apparently in a
human form. Bad spirits sometimes appear also under the figure of a
lion, a dog, or a cat, or some other animal--as a bull, a horse, or a
raven; for the pretended sorcerers and sorceresses relate that at the
(witches') Sabbath he is seen under several different forms of men,
animals, and birds; whether he takes the shape of these animals, or
whether he makes use of the animals themselves as instruments to
deceive or harm, or whether he simply affects the senses and
imagination of those whom he has fascinated and who give themselves to
him; for in all the appearances of the demon we must always be on our
guard, and mistrust his stratagems and malice. St. Peter[104] tells us
that Satan is always roaming round about us, like a roaring lion,
seeking whom he may devour. And St. Paul, in more places than
one,[105] warns us to mistrust the snares of the devil, and to hold
ourselves on our guard against him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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