{"collection":"Paganism & Neopaganism","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/pag/mm/mm01_04a.htm","path":"pag/mm/mm01_04a.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/pag/mm/mm01_04a.htm","text":"By which Devils are the Operations of Incubus and Succubus Practised?\nIs it Catholic to affirm that the functions of Incubi and Succubi belong\nindifferently and equally to all unclean spirits? And it seems that\nit is so; for to affirm the opposite would be to maintain that there is some\ngood order among them. It is argued that just as in the computation of the\nGood there are degrees and orders (see S. Augustine in his book on\nthe nature of the Good),\nso also the computation of the Evil is based upon confusion. But as among\nthe good Angels nothing can be without order, so among the bad all is\ndisorder, and therefore they all indifferently follows these practices. See\nJob x.: A land of darkness, as darkness\nitself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light\nis as darkness.\nAgain, if they do not all indifferently follow these practices, this quality\nin them comes either from their nature, or from sin, or from punishment. But\nit does not come from their nature, since they are all without distinction\ngiven to sin, as was set out in the preceding question. For they are by\nnature impure spirits, yet not so unclean as to pejorate their good parts;\nsubtle in wickedness, eager to do harm, swollen with pride, etc. Therefore\nthese practices in them are due either to sin or to punishment. Then again,\nwhere the sin is greater, there is the punishment greater; and the higher\nangels sinned more greatly, therefore their punishment they have the more to\nfollow these filthy practices. If this is not so, another reason will be\ngiven why they do not indifferently practise these things.\nAnd again, it is argued that where there is no discipline or obedience,\nthere all work without distinction; and it is submitted that there is no\ndiscipline or obedience among devils, and no agreement.\nProverbs xiii.: Among the proud there is\nalways contention.\nAgain, just as because of sin they will all equally be case into Hell after\nthe Day of Judgement, so before that time they are detained in the lower\nmists on account of the duties assigned to them. We do not read that there\nis equality on account of emancipation, therefore neither is there equality\nin the matter of duty and temptation.\nBut against this there is the first gloss on\nI Corinthians xv: As long as the world\nendures Angels are set over Angels, men over men, and devils over devils.\nAlso in Job xl\nit speaks of the scales of Leviathan, which signify the members of the devil,\nhow one cleaves to another. Therefore there is among them diversity both of\norder and of action.\nAnother question arises, whether or not the devils can be restrained by the\ngood Angels from pursuing these foul practices. It must be said that the\nAngels to whose command the adverse Influences are subject are called\nPowers, as S. Gregory says, and S. Augustine\n(de Trinitate, 3). A rebellious and sinful\nspirit of life is subject to an obedient, pious and just spirit of life.\nAnd those Creatures which are more perfect and nearer to God have authority\nover the others: for the whole order of preference is originally and in the\nfirst place in God, and is shared by His creatures according as they approach\nmore nearly to Him. Therefore the good Angels, who are nearest to God on\naccount of their fruition in Him, which the devils lack, have preference\nover the devils, and rule over them.\nAnd when it is urged that devils work much harm without any medium, or that\nthey are not hindered because they are not subject to good Angels who might\nprevent them; or that if they are so subject, then the evil that is done by\nthe subject is due to negligence on the part of the master, and there seems\nto be some negligence among the good Angels: the answer is that the Angels\nare ministers of the Divine wisdom. It follows then that, as the Divine\nwisdom permits certain evil to be done by bad Angels or men, for the sake of\nthe good that He draws therefrom, so also the good Angels do not altogether\nprevent wicked men or devils from doing evil. Answer. It is Catholic to maintain that there is a certain order of\ninterior and exterior actions, and a degree of preference among devils.\nWhence it follows that certain abominations are committed by the lowest\norders, from which the higher orders are precluded on account of the\nnobility of their natures. And this is generally said to arise from a\nthreefold congruity, in that such things harmonize with their nature, with\nthe Divine wisdom, and with their own wickedness.\nBut more particularly as touching their nature. It is agreed that from the\nbeginning of Creation some were always by nature superior, since they differ\namong themselves as to form; and no two Angels are alike in form. This\nfollows the more general opinion, which also agrees with the words of the\nPhilosophers. Dionysus also lays it down in his tenth chapter\nOn the Celestial Hierarchy\nthat in the same order there are three separate degrees; and we must agree\nwith this, since they are both immaterial and incorporeal. See also\nS. Thomas (ii. 2).\nFor sin does not take away their nature, and the devils after the Fall did\nnot lose their natural gifts, as has been said before; and the operations\nof things follow their natural conditions. Therefore both in nature and in\noperation they are various and multiple.\nThis harmonizes also with the Divine wisdom; for that which is ordained is\nordained by God\n(Romans xiii).\nAnd since devils were deputed by God for the temptation of men and the\npunishment of the damned, therefore they work upon men from without by many\nand various means.\nIt harmonizes also with their own wickedness. For since they are at war with\nthe human race, they fight in an orderly manner; for so they think to do\ngreater harm to men, and so they do. Whence it follows that they do not\nshare in an equal manner in their most unspeakable abominations.\nAnd this is more specifically proved as follows. For since, as has been said,\nthe operation follows the nature of the thing, it follows also that those\nwhose natures are subordinate must in turn be subordinate to themselves in\noperation, just as is the case in corporeal matters. For since the lower\nbodies are by natural ordination below the celestial bodies, and their\nactions and motions are subject to the actions and motions of the celestial\nbodies; and since the devils, as has been said, differ among themselves in\nnatural order; therefore they also differ among themselves in their natural\nactions, both extrinsic and instrinsic, and especially in the performance of\nthe abominations in question.\nFrom which it is concluded that since the practice of these abominations is\nfor the most part foreign to the nobility of the angelic nature, so also in\nhuman actions the foulest and beastliest acts are to be considered by\nthemselves, and not in relation to the duty of human nature and procreation.\nFinally, since some are believed to have fallen from every order, it is not\nunsuitable to maintain that those devils who fell from the lowest choir, and\neven in that held the lowest rank, are deputed to and perform these and\nother abominations.\nAlso it must be carefully noted that, though the Scripture speaks of Incubi\nand Succubi lusting after women, yet nowhere do we read that Incubi and\nSuccubi fell into vices against nature. We do not speak only of sodomy, but\nof any other sin whereby the act is wrongfully performed outside the\nrightful channel. And the very great enormity of such as sin in this way is\nshown by the fact that all devils equally, of whatsoever order, abominate\nand think shame to commit such actions. And it seems that the gloss on\nEzekiel xix\nmeans this, where it says: I will give thee into the hands of the dwellers\nin Palestine, that is devils, who shall blush at your iniquities, meaning\nvices against nature. And the student will see what should be\nauthoritatively understood concerning devils. For no sin has God so often\npunished by the shameful death of multitudes.\nIndeed many say, and it is truly believed, that no one can unimperilled\npersevere in the practice of such vices beyond the period of the mortal life\nof Christ, which lasted for thirty-three years, unless he should be saved by\nsome special grace of the Redeemer. And this is proved by the fact that\nthere have often been ensnared by this vice octogenarians and centenarians,\nwho had up to that time ruled their lives according to the discipline of\nChrist; and, having forsaken Him, they have found the very greatest\ndifficulty in obtaining deliverance, and in abandoning themselves to such\nvices.\nMoreover, the names of the devils indicate what order there is among them,\nand what office is assigned to each. For though one and the same name, that\nof devil, is generally used in Scripture because of their various qualities,\nyet the Scriptures teach that One is set over these filthy actions, just as\ncertain other vices are subject to Another. For it is the practice of\nScripture and of speech to name every unclean spirit Diabolus, from Dia,\nthat is Two, and Bolus, that is Morsel; for he kills two thing, the body and\nthe soul. And this is in accordance with etymology, although in Greek\nDiabolus means shut in Prison, which also is apt, since he is not\npermitted to do as much harm as he wishes. Or Diabolus may mean Downflowing,\nsince he flowed down, that is, fell down, both specifically and locally. He\nis also named Demon, that is, Cunning over Blood, since he thirsts for and\nprocures sin with a threefold knowledge, being powerful in the subtlety of\nhis nature, in his age-long experience, and in the revelation of the good\nspirits. He is called also Belial, which means Without Yoke or Master; for\nhe can fight against him to whom he should be subject. He is called also\nBeelzebub, which means Lord of Flies, that is, of the souls of sinners who\nhave left the true faith of Christ. Also Satan, that is, the Adversary; see\nI S. Peter ii: For your adversary the devil\ngoeth about, etc. Also Behemoth, that is, Beast, because he makes men bestial.\nBut the very devil of Fornication, and the chief of that abomination, is\ncalled Asmodeus, which means the Creature of Judgement: for because of this\nkind of sin a terrible judgement was executed upon Sodom and the four other\ncities. Similarly the devil of Pride is called Leviathan, which means Their\nAddition; because when Lucifer tempted our first parents he promised them,\nout of his pride, the addition of Divinity. Concerning him the Lord said\nthrough Esaias: I shall visit it upon Leviathan, that old and tortuous\nserpent. And the devil of Avarice and Riches is called Mammon, whom also\nChrist mentions in the Gospel\n(S. Matthew vi): Ye cannot serve God, etc.\nTo the arguments. First, that good can be found without evil, but\nevil cannot be found without good; for it is poured upon a creature that is\ngood in itself. And therefore the devils, in so far as they have a good\nnature, were ordained in the course of nature; and for their actions see\nJob x. Secondly, it can be said that the devils deputed to work are not in\nHell, but in the lower mists. And they have here an order among themselves,\nwhich they will not have in Hell. From which it may be said that all order\nceased among them, as touching the attainment of blessedness, at that time\nwhen they fell irrecoverably from such rank. And it may be said that even in\nHell there will be among them a gradation of power, and of the affliction of\npunishments, inasmuch as some, and not others, will be deputed to torment the\nsouls. But this gradation will come rather from God than from themselves, as\nwill also their torments. Thirdly, when it is said that the higher devils, because they sinned\nthe more, are the more punished, and must therefore be the more bound to the\ncommission of these filthy acts, it is answered that sin bears relation to\npunishment, and not to the act or operation of nature; and therefore it is\nby reason of their nobility of nature that these are not given to such\nfilthiness, and it has nothing to do with their sin or punishment. And\nthough they are all impure spirits, and eager to do harm, yet one is more\nso than another, in proportion as their natures are the further thrust into\ndarkness. Fourthly, it is said that there is agreement among devils, but of\nwickedness rather than friendship, in that they hate mankind, and strive\ntheir utmost against justice. For such agreement is found among the wicked,\nthat they band themselves together, and depute those whose talents seem\nsuitable to the pursuit of particular iniquities. Fifthly, although imprisonment is equally decreed for all, now in the\nlower atmosphere and afterwards in Hell, yet not therefore are equal\npenalties and duties equally ordained for them: for the nobler they are in\nnature and the more potent in office, the heavier is the torment to which\nthey are subjected. See\nWisdom vi:\n\u201cThe powerful shall powerfully suffer torments.\u201d\nNext: Question V What is the Source of the Increase of Works of Witchcraft? Whence comes it that the Practice of Witchcraft hath so notably increased?","title":"Malleus Maleficarum Part 1 Question IV","type":"page"}