Whether Witches can
by some Glamour Change Men into Beasts.
Here
we declare the truth as to whether and how witches
transform men into beasts. And it is argued that this is
not possible, from the following passage of Episcopus
(XXVI, 5): Whoever believes that it is possible for any
creature to be changed for the better or for the worse,
or to be transformed into any other shape or likeness,
except by the Creator Himself, Who made all things, is
without doubt an infidel, and worse than a pagan.
And we will
quote the arguments of S. Thomas in the 2nd Book of
Sentences, VIII: Whether devils can affect the
bodily sense by the delusion of a glamour. There he
argues first that they cannot. For though that shape of
a beast which is seen must be somewhere, it cannot exist
only in the senses; for the sense perceive no shape that
is not received from actual matter, and there is no
actual beast there; and he adduces the authority of the
Canon. And again, that which seems to be, cannot really
be; as in the case of a woman who seems to be a beast,
for two substantial shapes cannot exist at one and the
same time in the same matter. Therefore, since that
shape of a beast which appears cannot exist anywhere, no
glamour or illusion can exist in the eye of the
beholder; for the sight must have some object in which
it terminates.
And if it is
argued that the shape exists in the surrounding
atmosphere, this is not possible; both because the
atmosphere is not capable of taking any shape or form,
and also because the air around that person is not
always constant, and cannot be so on account of its
fluid nature, especially when it is moved. And again
because in that case such a transformation would be
visible to everyone; but this is not so, because the
devils seem to be unable to deceive the sight of Holy
Men in the least.
Besides, the
sense of sight, or the faculty of vision, is a passive
faculty, and every passive faculty is set in motion by
the active agent that corresponds to it. Now the active
agent corresponding to sight is twofold: one is the
origin of the act, or the object; the other is the
carrier, or medium. But that apparent shape cannot be
the object of the sense, neither can it be the medium
through which it is carried. First, it cannot be the
object, since it cannot be taken hold of by anything, as
was shown in the foregoing argument, since it does not
exist in the senses received from an object, neither is
it in the actual object, nor even in the air, as in a
carrying medium, as was treated of above in the third
argument.
Besides, if
the devil moves the inner consciousness, he does so
either by projecting himself into the cognitive faculty,
or by changing it. But he does not do so by projecting
himself; for he would either have to assume a body, and
even so could not penetrate into the inner organ of
imagination; for two bodies cannot be at the same time
in the same place; or he would assume a phantasmal body;
and this again would be impossible, since no phantasm is
quite without substance.
Similarly
also he cannot do it by changing the cognition. For he
would either change it by alteration, which he does not
seem able to do, since all alteration is caused by
active qualities, in which the devils are lacking; or he
would change it by transformation or local motion; and
this does not seem feasible for two reasons. First,
because a transformation or an organ cannot be effect
without a sense of pain. Secondly, because in this case
the devil would only make things of a known shape
appear; but S. Augustine says that he creates shapes of
this sort, both known and unknown. Therefore it seems
that the devils can in no way deceive the imagination or
senses of a man.
But
against this, S. Augustine says (de Ciuitate Dei,
XVIII) that the transmutations of men into brute
animals, said to be done by the art of devils, are not
actual but only apparent. But this would not be possible
if devils were not able to transmute the human senses.
The authority of S. Augustine is again to the point in
Book LXXXIII, which has already been quoted: This evil
of the devil creeps in through all the sensual
approaches, etc.
Answer.
If the reader wishes to refer to the method of
transmutation, he will find in the Second Part of this
work, chapter VI, various methods. But proceeding for
the present in a scholastic manner, let us say in
agreement with the opinions of the three Doctors, that
the devil can deceive the human fancy so that a man
really seems to be an animal. The last of those
opinions, which is that of S. Thomas, is more subtle
than the rest. But the first is that of S. Antoninus in
the first part of his Summa, V, 5, where he
declares that the devil at times works to deceive a
man's fancy, especially by an illusion of the senses;
and he proves this by natural reasoning, by the
authority of the Canon, and by a great number of
examples.
And at first
as follows: Our bodies naturally are subject to and obey
the angelic nature as regards local motion. But the bad
angels, although the have lost grace, have not lost
their natural power, as has often been said before. And
since the faculty of fancy or imagination is corporeal,
that is, allied to a physical organ, it also is
naturally subject to devils, so that they can transmute
it, causing various phantasies, by the flow of the
thoughts and perceptions to the original image received
by them. So says S. Antoninus, and adds that it is
proved by the following Canon (Episcopus, XXVI,
5): It must not be omitted that certain wicked women,
perverted by Satan and seduced by the illusions and
phantasms of devils, believe and profess that they ride
in the night hours on certain beasts with Diana, the
heathen goddess, or with Herodias, and with a countless
number of women, and that in the untimely silence of
night they travel over great distances of land. And
later: Wherefore priests ought to preach to the people
of God that they should know this to be altogether
false, and that when such phantasms afflict the minds of
the faithful, it is not of God, but of an evil spirit.
For Satan himself transforms himself into the shape and
likeness of different persons, and in dreams deluding
the mind which he holds captive, leads it through
devious ways.
Indeed the
meaning of this Canon has been treated of in the First
Question, as to the four things which are to be
preached. But it would be to misunderstand its meaning
to maintain that witches cannot be so transported, when
they wish and God does not prevent it; for very often
men who are not witches are unwillingly transported
bodily over great distances of land.
But that
these transmutations can be effected in both ways will
be shown by the aforesaid Summa, and in the
chapter where S. Augustine relates that it is read in
the books of the Gentiles that a certain sorceress named
Circe changed the companions of Ulysses into beasts; but
that this was due to some glamour or illusion, rather
than an actual accomplishment, by altering the fancies
of men; and this is clearly proved by several examples.
For we read
in the Lives of the Fathers, that a certain girl
would not consent to a young man who was begging her to
commit a shameful act with him. And the young man, being
angry because of this, caused a certain Jew to work a
charm against her, by which she was changed into a
filly. But this metamorphosis was not an actual fact,
but an illusion of the devil, who changed the fancy and
sense of the girl herself, and of those who looked at
her, so that she seemed to be a filly, who was really a
girl. For when she was led to the Blessed Macarius, the
devil could not so work as to deceive his senses as he
had those of other people, on account of his sanctity;
for to him she seemed a true girl, not a filly. And at
length by his prayer she was set free from that
illusion, and it is said that this had happened to her
because she did not give her mind to holy things, or
attend the Sacraments as she ought; therefore the devil
had power over her, although she was in other respects
honest.
Therefore the
devil can, by moving the inner perceptions and humours,
effect changes in the actions and faculties, physical,
mental, and emotional, working by means of any physical
organ soever; and this accords with S. Thomas, I, 91.
And of this sort we may believe to have been the acts of
Simon Magus in the incantations which are narrated of
him. But the devil can do none of these things without
the permission of God, Who with His good Angels often
restrains the wickedness of him who seeks to deceive and
hurt us. Wherefore S. Augustine, speaking of witches,
says: These are they who, with the permission of God,
stir up the elements, and confuse the minds of those who
do not trust in God (XXVI, 5).
Also devils
can by witchcraft cause a man to be unable to see his
wife rightly, and the converse. And this comes from an
affectation of the fancy, so that she is represented to
him as an odious and horrible thing. The devil also
suggests representations of loathsome things to the
fancy of both the waking and the sleeping, to deceive
them and lead them to son. But because sin does not
consist in the imagination but in the will, therefore
man does not sin in these fancies suggested by the
devil, and these various transformations, unless of his
own will he consents to sin.
The second
opinion of the modern Doctors is to the same effect,
when they declare what is glamour, and how many ways the
devil can cause such illusions. Here we refer to what
has already been said concerning the arguments of S.
Antoninus, which there is no need to repeat.
The third
opinion is that of S. Thomas, and is an answer to the
argument where it is asked, Wherein lies the existence
of the shape of a beast that is seen; in the senses, or
in reality, or in the surrounding air? And his opinion
is that the apparent shape of a beast only exists in the
inner perception, which, through the force of
imagination, sees it in some way as an exterior object.
And the devil has two ways of effecting such a result.
In one way we
may say that the forms of animals which are conserved in
the treasury of the imagination pass by the operation of
the devil into the organs of inner senses; and in this
way it happens in dreams, as has been declared above.
And so, when these forms are impressed on the organs of
the outer senses, such as sight, they appear as if they
were present as outer objects, and could actually be
touched.
The other way
results from a change in the inner organs of perception,
through which the judgement is deceived; as is shown in
the case of him who has his taste corrupted, so that
everything sweet seems bitter; and this is not very
different from the first method. Moreover, even men can
accomplish this by the virtue of certain natural things,
as when in the vapour of a certain smoke the beams of a
house appear to be serpents; and many other instances of
this are found, as had been mentioned above. Solutions
of the Arguments.
As to the first argument, that text is often quoted, but
it is badly understood. For as to where it speaks of
transformation into another shape or likeness, it has
been made clear how this can be done by prestidigitatory
art. And as to where it says that no creature can be
made by the power of the devil, this is manifestly true
if Made is understood to mean Created. But if the word
Made is taken to refer to natural production, it is
certain that devils can make some imperfect creatures.
And S. Thomas shows how this may be done. For he says
that all transmutations of bodily matters which can be
effected by the forces of nature, in which the essential
thing is the semen which is found in the elements of
this world, on land or in the waters (as serpents and
frogs and such things deposit their semen), can be
effected by the work of devils who have acquired such
semen. So also it is when anything is changed into
serpents or frogs, which can be generated by
putrefaction.
But those
transmutations of bodily matters which cannot be
effected by the forces of nature can in no way be truly
effected by the work of the devils. For when the body of
a man is changed into the body of a beast, or a dead
body is brought to life, such things only seem to
happen, and are a glamour or illusion; or else the devil
appears before men in an assumed body.
These
arguments are substantiated. For Blessed Albertus in his
book On Animals, where he examines whether
devils, or let us even say witches, can really make
animals, says that they can, with God's permission, make
imperfect animals. But they cannot do so in an instant,
as God does, but by means of some motion, however
sudden, as is clear in the case of witches. And touching
the passage in Exodus vii, where Pharao called
his wise men, he says: The devils run throughout the
world and collect various germs, and by using them can
evolve various species. And the gloss thereon says: When
witches attempt to effect anything by the invocation of
devils, they run about the world and bring the semen of
those things which are in question, and by its means,
with the permission of God, they produce new species.
But this has been spoken of above.
Another
difficulty may arise, whether such devils' works are to
be deemed miraculous. The answer was made clear in the
preceding arguments, that even the devils can perform
certain miracles to which their natural powers are
adapted. And although such things are true in fact, they
are not done with a view to the knowledge of the truth;
and in this sense the works of Antichrist may be said to
be deceptions, since they are done with a view to the
seduction of men.
The answer to
the other argument, that concerning the shape, is also
clear. The shape of a beast which is seen does not exist
in the air, but only in the perception of the senses, as
has been demonstrated above from the opinion of S.
Thomas.
For the
argument that every passive is set in motion by its
corresponding active, this is granted. But when it is
inferred that the shape which is seen cannot be the
original object which sets in motion the act of sight,
since it arises from none of the sense, it is answered
that it does not arise, since it originates from some
sensible image conserved in the imagination, which the
devil can draw out and present to the imagination or
power of perception, as has been said above.
For the last
argument, it is to be said that the devil does not, as
has been shown, change the perceptive and imaginative
powers by projecting himself into them, but by
transmuting them; not indeed by altering them, except in
respect of local motion. For he cannot of himself induce
new appearances, as has been said. But he changes them
by transmutation, that is, local motion. And this again
he does, not by dividing the substance of the organ of
perception, since that would result in a sense of pain,
but by a movement of the perceptions and humours.
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