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- Foster, Alan Dean Commonwealth 01 Phylogenesis
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the Eskimo, when the tornak, or familiar spirit, visits the Angekok or sorcerer. Here, then, is harmony enough
in the psychical beliefs of all time, as when we learn that lights were flashed by the spirits who beset the late
Rev. Stainton Moses. {67b} Unluckily, while we have this cloud of witnesses to the belief in a spiritual light,
we are still uncertain as to whether the seeing of such a light is a physical symptom of hallucination. This is
the opinion of M. Lélut, as given in his Amulette de Pascal (p. 301): 'This globe of fire . . . is a common
constituent of hallucinations of sight, and may be regarded at once as their most elementary form, and their
highest degree of intensity'. M. Lélut knew the phenomenon among mystics whom he had observed in his
practice as an 'alienist'. He also quotes a story told of himself by Benvenuto Cellini. If we can admit that this
hallucination of brilliant light may be produced in the conditions of a séance, whether modern, savage, or
classical, we obtain a partial solution of the problem presented by the world-wide diffusion of this belief. Of
course, once accepted as an element in spiritualism, a little phosphorus supplies the modern medium with a
requisite of his trade. {68a}
Returning to Iamblichus, he classifies his phantasmogenetic agencies by the kind of light they show; greater or
less, more or less divided, more or less pure, steady or agitated (ii. 4). The arrival of demons is attended by
disturbances. {68b} Heroes are usually very noisy in their manifestations: a hero is a polter-geist, 'sounds
echo around' (ii. 8). There are also subjective moods diversely generated by diverse apparitions; souls of the
dead, for example, prompt to lust (ii. 9). On the whole, a great deal of experience is needed by the
thaumaturgist, if he is to distinguish between one kind of manifestation and another. Even Inquisitors have
differed in opinion.
Iamblichus next tackles the difficult question of imposition and personation by spirits. Thus a soul, or a spirit,
may give itself out for a god, and exhibit the appropriate phantasmagoria: may boast and deceive (ii. 10). This
is the result of some error or blunder in the ceremony of evocation. {69} A bad or low spirit may thus enter,
disguised as a demon or god, and may utter deceitful words. But all arts, says our guide, are liable to errors,
and the 'sacred art' must not be judged by its occasional imperfections. We know the same kind of excuses in
modern times.
Porphyry went on to ask questions about divination and clairvoyance. We often ascertain the future, he says,
in dreams, when our bodies are lying still and peaceful: when we are in no convulsive ecstasy such as diviners
ANCIENT SPIRITUALISM. 26
Cock Lane and Common-Sense
use. Many persons prophesy 'in enthusiastic and divinely seized moments, awake, in a sense, yet not in their
habitual state of consciousness'. Music of certain kinds, the water of certain holy wells, the vapours of
Branchidæ, produce such ecstatic effects. Some 'take darkness for an ally' (dark séances), some see visions in
water, others on a wall, others in sun or moon. As an example of ancient visions in water, we may take one
from the life of Isidorus, by Damascius. Isidorus, and his biographer, were acquainted with women who
beheld in pure water in a glass vessel the phantasms of future events. {70a} This form of divination is still
practised, though crystal balls are more commonly used than decanters of water. Ancient and modern
superstition as in the familiar case of Dr. Dee, attributes the phantasms to spiritual agency
Is a divine being compelled, Porphyry asks, to aid in these efforts, or is it only the soul of the seer, as some
believe, which hallucinates itself, by the aid of points de repère? {70b} Or is there a blending of the soul's
operations with the divine inspiration? Or are demons in some way evolved out of something abstracted from
living bodies? He seems to hint at some such theory of 'exuvious fumes' from the 'circle,' as more recent
inquirers have imagined. The young appear to be peculiarly sensitive to vapours, invocations, and other
magical methods, which affect the human constitution, and the young are usually engaged as seers. Hence
visions are probably subjective. Ecstasy, madness, fasts and vigils seem particularly favourable to divination.
Or are there certain mystic correspondences in the nature of things, which may be detected? Thus stones and
herbs are used in evocations; 'sacred bonds' are tied (as in the Eskimo hypnotism and in Australia); closed
doors are opened, the heavenly bodies are observed. Some suppose that there is a race of false and
counterfeiting spirits, which, indeed, Iamblichus admits. These act the parts of gods, demons, and souls of the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]