dreamer is only struck by the momentary liveliness of the appearance, undisturbed by its causes or effects, so mankind knows no more of the dreams of the first period of its childhood.

But, now, magnetism gives us information about the existence and action of the life of dreams, and the power of creation, and in general about the sports and whims of fancy. It is also the best means of breaking the seal which closes the mysteries of antiquity, rich in fancy, whilst it discloses the similarity and depth of man's capacity, and shows an accordance of phenomena which formerly in magic was attributed to enchantment and to deceit, or to those supernatural wonders for which the philosopher could not account, and which an external religion and an inherited faith found not in their Catechism. In fine, Magnetism is able to give the meaning of the symbolic enigmas of ancient mysteries, which were considered quite insoluble, or which appeared matter for the most varied explanations. In the same manner, the manifold declarations of ecstatic seers and mystic philosophers, which are treasured up by persons initiated into the mysteries, will now become more intelligible by means of magnetism. The reader who is so inclined, may convince himself of this, if he will follow the author on the wide field of magic, whilst he collects and compares the testimony and monuments of all ages. If he has not succeeded in exhausting everything and completely clearing away all darkness, bridges and windows will appear to lead us to new views, which time and the constantly increasing dexterity of Magnetism will enlighten more and more, and thus, after a real search, according to the command of Olympiodorus, we shall at last attain to a knowledge of heavenly things.

There occur in the history of man great questions regarding the world of miracles, on the subject of which both philosophers and the religious have occupied themselves. What are miracles in nature and in the mind of man? How is the world governed? what was the inspiration of the prophets and oracles? Do these go on of themselves like clockwork, or are they governed by supernatural influences? does the divinity descend into the heart of man, or does the

t

latter raise itself with innate strength from the dust of natural life into the high spheres of spirits?

Men are astonished at unusual appearances and signs which they do not comprehend; but does such astonishment always imply a real miracle? Most men have the miracle in their mind, and worship it, because it is enveloped in a sacred obscurity. They only admire nature because they are of opinion that she is an inexplicable enchantment, whilst they set but small value on what they consider intelligible. On the other hand, there are even philosophers who admit of no miracle, and who pass their lives in believing nothing,—not even believing what they see, especially if they do not understand it. The most wonderful point about these is, that their own brain is not a miracle

to them!

In nature, as well as in the mind, regular phenomena occur, which are looked upon as wonders only on account of their rarity, and because it is not known how they come about. The best thing that can be said of miracles is the answer given by Christ to Nicodemus :

"That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.

"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth."

Like the Fathers in Israel, the new fathers do not willingly take cognizance of things which are not part of their faith, and which are out of their horizon, whether temporal or heavenly things be in question. A seeress expresses herself remarkably well on this point: "If anyone seeks miracles, he will find them in everything that would appear very natural to him, if he had more knowledge of himself, of nature, and of the providence of God. Another, who thinks highly of his reason, does not admit anything miraculous; he must understand and explain everything by his reason, even if it cannot be so understood and explained; and whenever he fails in this, he contradicts and denies.'

It is certainly very difficult always to decide what are natural and what are directly divine operations; and thus one can understand that most persons unacquainted with the laws of nature call everything a miracle which they cannot measure

by their own standard. On the other hand, miracles often consist of reports, magnified by lies, and propagated by superstition. Thus it happens that even by the more educated, certain uncommon phenomena are ignored, or even denied. For the knowledge of the regularity of all unusual phenomena is attained not so much by ideas as by profound tranquillity, by observation and labourious experience, which require long to strike root and to bear fruit. A certain religious sect is of opinion that one must not infringe too much on the faith in miracles, without reflecting that by Christ and the apostles we are not referred to signs and wonders, but to the research after truth, retaining what is good, and to the active spirit of love. Another sect

thinks that a prophetic illumination would decide only for the good; that man has no natural impulse to prophesy, and that where a prognostication appears, except among orthodox devotees, it is a false prophesy in league with evil spirits,—a kind of supernatural lightning called enchantment.

The reader will in this work be led into the great ill-famed land of the marvellous. He will be faithfully informed how those magical prophecies of the heathen oracles, and then how the demoniacal powers of necromancy and of Christian witchcraft, at different times and among different nations, were brought about. In these days a kind of twilight shines on those hidden performances, which philosophic poets, poetical philosophers, and enthusiastic theologists, are emulously stirring up by Imagination, Symbolism, and Mysticism. Not merely the bare facts will be here recorded, but as much as possible the natural progress of them explained, in order that the miraculous prophecies of the oracle be no longer ascribed to the gods, but the causes be found in human nature itself and in its inborn attributes. Man possesses a susceptibility dependent on natural and mental stimulus, from which arises, sometimes, from an innate disposition, a low, imperfect, or even, through divine impulse, a higher and more complete prophesying-prophetic inspiration. The pathological condition of the demoniacal enchanters and sorcerers may also be explained as natural events; they are abnormal, unusual affections of the mind, which often resemble illumination. Thus the usual mental powers of man arise from the depths of the spiritual world, over the

smooth mirror of the soul, through time and space, and the unusually excited senses palpitate like the lightning which casts its flashes and waves often on the most distant shores, sending a magic brightness, which one is more willing to consider supernatural than to ascribe to a fixed law of nature. Psychologists have had still less success hitherto in explaining the spiritual, than physiologists the natural lightning, which formerly was also ascribed to Jupiter and the symbolic gods. The intensity and vastness of the human mind are not fathomed by the most faithful observations of physiologists; and these psychological wonders are still frequently enough ascribed to the gods.

The mind of man is simple in its character, like the spirit of God and of nature, but manifold are its powers and action. And thus the spirit of prophecy pervades all history, and springs from the lawful power of humanity itself, in which the impulse alone is occasional, proceeding either from nature or directly by God's choice. One must not be enamoured of prophecy, either on account of its show or for its importance; neither must one undervalue it, for it affords always a sort of intimation of truth, and some proof of Divine Providence, which strengthens faith and awakens the hope of a future.

That such revelations and unusual action take place, even in sleep and in abnormal conditions, is even less to be wondered at; for the spirit itself has eyes before and behind, and sleep is only action checked by the heaviness of the exhausted natural body; for the spirit, freed from this weight, has no peace day or night. The unusually developed powers of the mind do not certainly admit of being so exactly defined in their source and tendency, as is the case with the elementary powers of nature, with Magnetism and Electricity; yet the strength of the mind is on that account no less certain, as is proved by the power of the Word, when one can neither weigh nor measure it.

"Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same spirit.

"And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.

"But the manifestation of the spirit is given to every man to profit withal."-I. Corinthians, xii.

Nothing is better calculated to furnish examples of the misapprehended magical state, and of its miracle-faith in supernatural agencies, than the history of witchcraft. That man was only a passive toy of demoniacal powers was universally acknowledged, and even defended by positive divinity and polemics. I have treated this subject more especially according to its historical origin and anthropological causes, and with regard to time and place; whereas up to this time it has been represented very imperfectly, and in fragments, and without regard to any scientific explanation. In order to find the origin and progress of the idea of witchcraft, I certainly had to return to remotest antiquity,in fact, to the physical and mythological foundation, and perhaps the reader will sometimes think my proceedings hazardous, as on this somewhat unstable ground deductions from similar modern phenomena are introduced.

I regret not being able any longer to make use of the excellent work of Dr. Wilh. Gott. Soldau, "History of Witchcraft Represented from its Sources;" Stuttgart and Tübingen, 1843. Soldau also shows circumstantially that the history of witchcraft is not only a national but a magical human history; "That witchcraft is a phenomenon of Christendom, which, if it is to be understood, must not be represented as belonging to a single people, nor as beginning from bat period when it appears as something already complete. The phenomena of sorcery are not isolated facts, they are not only in close connection with the general state of cultivation, but branch out into innumerable points of contact with church history, with the history of crime, of medicine, and thus of natural philosophy."

Soldau also shows from church history how enchantments and heretical abominations proceeded from religious views, and from previous accusation, how they were progressively cultivated, and led step by step to a point whence it appears but one leap, if to tales of heresy were even added the disgraceful, pernicious magic arts, as realities; so that in the 13th century these heretical vices were even included in magic.

He shows further how in the first centuries of Christianity the fathers of the church, rabbis, and heathen philosophers, lost themselves, and rivalled each other in demonological