{"collection":"Paganism & Neopaganism","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/pag/mm/mm02a10a.htm","path":"pag/mm/mm02a10a.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/pag/mm/mm02a10a.htm","text":"Of the Method by which Devils through the Operations of Witches sometimes actually possess men.\nIt has been shown in the previous chapter how devils can enter the heads\nand other parts of the body of men, and can move the inner mental images\nfrom place to place. But someone may doubt whether they are able at the\ninstance of witches to obsess men entirely; or fell some uncertainty about\ntheir various methods of causing such obsession without the instance of\nwitches. And to clear up these doubts we must undertake three explanations.\nFirst, as to the various methods of possession. Secondly, how at the\ninstance of witches and with God's permission devils at time possess men\nin all those ways. Thirdly, we must substantiate our arguments with facts\nand examples.\nWith references to the first, we must make an exception of that general\nmethod by which the devil inhabits a man in any mortal sin. S. Thomas, in\nBook 3, quest. 3, speaks of this method where he considers the doubt\nwhether the devil always substantially possesses a man when he commits\nmortal sin; and the reason for the doubt is that the indwelling Holy Ghost\nalways forms a man with grace, according to I. Corinthians, iii: Ye\nare the temple of God, and the spirit of God dwelleth in you. And, since\nguilt is opposed to grace, it would seem that there were opposing forces\nin the same place.\nAnd there he proves that to possess a man can be understood in two ways:\neither with regard to the soul, or with regard to the body. And in the first\nway it is not possible for the devil to possess the soul, since God alone\ncan enter that; therefore the devil is not in this way the cause of sin,\nwhich the Holy Spirit permits the soul itself to commit; so there is no\nsimilitude between the two.\nBut as to the body, we may say that the devil can possess a man in two ways,\njust as there are two classes of men: those who are in sin, and those who\nare in grace. In the first way, we may say that, since a man is by any\nmortal sin brought into the devil's service, in so far as the devil provides\nthe outer suggestion of sin either to the senses or to the imagination, to\nthat extent he is said to inhabit the character of a man when he is moved\nby every stirring temptation, like a ship in the sea without a rudder.\nThe devil can also essentially possess a man as is clear in the case of\nfrantic men. But this rather belongs to the question of punishment than that\nof sin, as will be shown; and bodily punishments are not always the\nconsequence of sin, but are inflicted now upon sinners and now upon the\ninnocent. Therefore both those who are and those who are not in a state of\ngrace can, in the depth of the incomprehensible judgement of God, be\nessentially possessed by devils. And though this method of possession is not\nquite pertinent to our inquire, we have set it down lest it should seem\nimpossible to anyone that, with God's permission, men should at times be\nsubstantially inhabited by devils at the instance of witches.\nWe may say, therefore, that just as there are five ways in which devils by\nthemselves, without witches, can injure and possess men, so they can also do\nso in those ways at the instance of witches; since then God is the more\noffended, and greater power of molesting men is allowed to the devil through\nwitches. And the methods are briefly the following, excepting the fact that\nthey sometimes plague a man through his external possessions: sometimes they\ninjure men only in their own bodies; sometimes in their and in their\nfaculties; sometimes they only tempt them inwardly and outwardly; others\nthey at times deprive of the use of their reason; others they change into\nthe appearance of irrational beasts. We shall speak of these methods singly.\nBut first we shall rehearse five reasons why God allows men to be possessed,\nfor the sake of preserving a due order in our matter. For sometimes a man is\npossessed for his own advantage; sometimes for a slight sin of another; and\nsometimes for his own venial sin; sometimes for another's heavy sin. For all\nthese reasons let no one doubt that God allows such things to be done by\ndevils at the instance of witches; and it is better to prove each of them by\nthe Scriptures, rather than by recent examples, since new things are always\nstrengthened by old examples.\nFor an example of the first is clearly shown in the Dialogue of\nSeverus, a very dear disciple of S. Martin, where\nhe tells that a certain Father of very holy life was so gifted by grace with\nthe power of expelling devils, that they were put to flight not only by his\nwords, but even by his letters or his hair-shirt. And since the Father\nbecame very famous in the world, and felt himself tempted with vainglory,\nalthough he manfully resisted that vice, yet, that he might be the more\nhumiliated, he prayed with his whole heart to God that he might be for five\nmonths possessed by a devil; and this was done. For he was at once possessed\nand had to be put in chains, and everything had to applied to him which is\ncustomary in the case of demoniacs. But at the end of the fifth month he was\nimmediately delivered both from all vainglory and from the devil. But we\ndo not read, nor is it for the present maintained, that for this reason a\nman can be possessed by a devil through the witchcraft of another man;\nalthough, as we have said, the judgements of God are incomprehensible.\nFor the second reason, when someone is possessed because of the light sin of\nanother, S. Gregory gives an example. The Blessed Abbot Eleutherius, a most\ndevout man, was spending the night near a convent of virgins, who unknown to\nhim ordered to be put by his cell a young boy who used to be tormented all\nnight by the devil. But on that same night the boy was delivered from the\ndevil by the presence of the Father. When the Abbot learned of this, and the\nboy now being placed in the holy man's monastery, after many days he began\nto exult rather immoderately over the boy's liberation, and said to his\nbrother monks: The devil was playing his pranks with those Sisters, but he\nhad not presumed to approach this boy since he came to the servants of God.\nAnd behold! the devil at once began to torment the boy. And by the tears and\nfasting of the holy man and his brethren he was with difficulty delivered,\nbut on the same day. And indeed that an innocent person should be possessed\nfor the slight fault of another is not surprising when men are possessed by\ndevils for their own light fault, or for another's heavy sin, or for their\nown heavy sin, and some also at the instance of witches.\nCassia, in his First Collation of the Abbot Serenus, gives an\nexample of how one Moses was possessed for his own venial sin. This Moses,\nhe says, was a hermit of upright and pious life; but because on one occasion\nhe engaged in a dispute with the Abbot Macharius, and went a little too far\nin the expression of a certain opinion, he was immediately delivered up to\na terrible devil, who caused him to void his natural excrements through his\nmouth. And that this scourge was inflicted by God for the sake of purgation,\nlest any stain of his momentary fault should remain in him, is clear from\nhis miraculous cure. For by continual prayers and submission to the Abbot\nMacharius, the vile spirit was quickly driven away and departed from him.\nA similar case is that related by S. Gregory in his First Dialogue of\nthe nun who ate a lettuce without having first made the sign of the Cross,\nand was set free by the Blessed Father Equitius.\nIn the same Dialogue St. Gregory tells an example of the fourth case,\nwhere someone in possessed because of the heavy sin of another. The Blessed\nBishop Fortunatus had driven the devil from a possessed man, and the devil\nbegan to walk about the streets of the city in the guise of a pilgrim,\ncrying out: Oh, the holy man Bishop Fortunatus! See, he has cast me, a\npilgrim, out of my lodging, and I can find no rest anywhere. Then a certain\nman sitting with his wife and son invited the pilgrim to lodge with him, and\nasking why he had been turned out, was delighted with the derogatory story\nof the holy man which the pilgrim had invented. And thereupon the devil\nentered his son, and cast him upon the fire, and killed him. And then for\nthe first time did the unhappy father understand whom he had received as a\nguest.\nAnd fifthly, we read many examples of men being possessed for their own\nheavy sin, both in the Holy Scripture and in the passions of the Saints.\nFor in I. Kings xv, Saul was possessed for disobedience to God. And,\nas we have said, we have mentioned all these so that it need not seem to\nanyone impossible that men should also be possessed because of the crimes of,\nand at the instance of, witches. And we shall be able to understand the\nvarious methods of such possession by quoting actual examples.\nIn the time of Pope Pius II the following\nwas the experience of one of us two Inquisitors before he entered upon his\noffice in the Inquisition. A certain Bohemian from the town of Dachov\nbrought his only son, a secular priest, to Rome to be delivered, because he\nwas possessed. It happened that I, one of us Inquisitors, went into a\nrefectory, and that priest and his father came and sat down at the same\ntable with me. We saluted each other, and talked together, as is customary;\nand the father kept sighing and praying Almighty God that his journey might\nprove to have been successful. I felt great pity for him, and began to ask\nwhat was the reason of his journey and of his sorrow. Then he, in the\nhearing of his son who was sitting next to me at the table, answered:\n\u201cAlas! I have a son possessed by a devil, and with great trouble and\nexpense I have brought him here to be delivered.\u201d And when I asked\nwhere the son was, he showed me him sitting by my side. I was a little\nfrightened, and looked at him closely; and because he took his food with\nsuch modesty, and answered piously to all questions, I began to doubt that\nhe was not possessed, but that some infirmity had happened to him. Then the\nson himself told what had happened, showing how and for how long he had been\npossessed, and saying: \u201cA certain witch brought this evil upon me. For\nI was rebuking her on some matter concerned with the discipline of the\nChurch, upbraiding her rather strongly since she was of an obstinate\ndisposition, when she said that after a few days that would happen to me\nwhich has happened. And the devil which possesses me has told me that a\ncharm was placed by the witch under a certain tree, and that until it was\nremoved I could not be delivered; but he would not tell me which was the\ntree.\u201d But I would not in the least have believed his words if he had\nnot at once informed me of the facts of the case. For when I asked him about\nthe length of the intervals during which he had the use of his reason more\nthan is usual in the case of persons possessed, he answered: \u201cI am\nonly deprived of the use of my reason when I wish to contemplate\nholy things\nor to visit sacred places. For the devil specifically told me in his own\nwords uttered through my mouth that, because he had up to that time been\nmuch offended by my sermons to the people, we would in no way allow me to\npreach.\u201d For according to his father, he was a preacher full of grace,\nand loved by all. But I, the Inquisitor, wishing for proofs, had him taken\nfor a fortnight and more to various holy places, and especially to the\nChurch of S. Praxedes the Virgin, where there\nis part of the marble pillar to which Our Saviour was bound when He was\nscourged, and to the place where S. Peter the Apostle was crucified; and in\nall these places he uttered horrible cries while he was being exorcised,\nnow saying that he wished to come forth, and after a little maintaining the\ncontrary. And as we have said before, in all his behaviour he remained a\nsober priest without any eccentricity, except during the process of any\nexorcisms; and when these were finished, and the stole was taken from his\nneck, he showed no sign of madness or any immoderate action. But when he\npassed any church, and genuflected in honour of the Glorious Virgin, the\ndevil made him thrust his tongue far out of his mouth; and when he was\nasked whether he could not restrain himself from doing this, he answered:\n\u201cI cannot help myself at all, for so he uses all my limbs and organs,\nmy neck, my tongue, and my lungs, whenever he pleases, causing me to speak\nor to cry out; and I hear the words as if they were spoken by myself, but I\nam altogether unable to restrain them; and when I try to engage in prayer\nhe attacks me more violently, thrusting out my tongue.\u201d And there was\nin the Church of S. Peter a column brought from Solomon's Temple, by virtue\nof which many who are obsessed with devils are liberated, because Christ\nhad stood near it when He preached in the Temple; but even here he could not\nbe delivered, owing to the hidden purpose of God which reserved another\nmethod for his liberation. For though he remained shut in by the column for\na whole day and night, yet on the following day, after various exorcisms\nhad been performed upon him, with a great concourse of people standing round,\nhe was asked by which part of the column Christ had stood; and he bit the\ncolumn with his teeth, and, crying out, showed the place, saying: \u201cHere\nHe stood! Here He stood!\u201d And at last he said, \u201cI will not go\nforth.\u201d And when he was asked why, he answered in the Italian tongue\n(although the poor priest did not understand that language), They all\npractise such and such things, naming the worst vice of lustfulness. And\nafterwards the priest asked me, saying, \u201cFather, what did those Italian\nwords mean which came from my mouth?\u201d And when I told him, he\nanswered, \u201cI heard the words, but I could not understand them.\u201d\nEventually it proved that this demoniac was of that sort of which the\nSaviour spoke in the Gospel, saying: This sort goeth not out save by prayer\nand fasting. For a venerable Bishop, who had been driven from his see by the\nTurks, piously took compassion on him, and by fasting on bread and water for\nforty days, and by prayers and exorcisms, at last through the grace of God\ndelivered him and sent him back to his home rejoicing.\nNext: Chapter XI Of the Method by which they can Inflict Every Sort of Infirmity, generally Ills of the Graver Kind.","title":"Malleus Maleficarum Part 2 Chapter X","type":"page"}