Three Books of Occult Philosophy · 150 of 186

Book III, Ch. 16: Of Intelligences and spirits, and of the threefold kind of them, and of their diverse names, and of Infernall and subterraneall spirits

Now consequently we must discourse of Intelligences, spirits and Angels. An Intelligence is an intelligible substance, free from all gross and putrifying mass of a body, immortall, insensible, assisting all, having Influence over all; and the nature of all intelligences, spirits and Angels is the same. But I call Angels here, not those whom we usually call Devils, but spirits so called from the propriety of the word, as it were, knowing, understanding and wise. But of these according to the tradition of the Magicians, there are three kinds, the first of which they call supercelestiall, and minds altogether separated from a body, and as it were intellectuall spheres, worshipping the one only God, as it were their most firm and stable unity or center; wherefore they even call them gods, by reason of a certain particiption of the divinity; for they are always full of God, and overwhelmed with the Divine Nectar. These are only about God, and rule not the bodies of the world, neither are they fitted for the government of inferior things, but infuse the light received from God unto the inferior orders, and distribute every ones duty to all of them; The Celestial intelligences do next follow these in the second order, which they call worldly Angels viz. being appointed besides the Divine worship for the spheres of the world, and for the government of every heaven & Star, whence they are divided into so many orders, as there are heavens in the world, & as there are Stars in the Heavens, and they called those Saturnine, who rule the Heaven of Saturn & Saturn himself; others Joviall, who rule the heaven of Jupiter and Jupiter himself, and in like maner they name diverse Angels, as well for the name, as the vertue of the other Stars; and because the old Astrologers did maintain maintain fifty five motions, therefore they invented so many Intelligences or Angels; they placed also in the Starry heaven, Angels, who might rule the signs, triplicities, decans, quinaries, degrees and Stars; for although the school of the Peripateticks assigne one onely intelligence to each of the Orbs of the Stars: yet seeing every Star and small part of the heaven hath its proper and different power and influence, it is necessary that it also have his ruling intelligence, which may confer power and operate; therefore they have established twelve Princes of the Angels, which rule the twelve signs of the Zodiack, and thirty six which may rule the so many Decans, and seventy two, which may rule the so many Quinaries of heaven, and the tongues of men and the Nations, and four which may rule the triplicities and Elements, and seven governors of the whole world, according to the seven planets, and they have given to all of them names, and seals, which they call Characters, and used them in their invocations, incantations, and carvings, decribing them in the instruments of their operations, images, plates, glasses, rings, papers, wax lights and such like; and if at any time they did operate for the Sun, they did invocate by the name of the Sun, and by the names of Solare Angels, and so of the rest. Thirdly they established Angels as Ministers for the disposing of those things which are below, which Origen calleth certain invisible powers to the which those things which are on earth, are committed to be disposed of. For sometimes they being visible to none do direct our journies [journeys] and all our businesses, are oft present at battels [battles], and by secret helpes do give the desired successes to their friends, for they are said, that at their pleasures they can procure prosperity, and inflict adversity. In like manner they distribute these into more orders, so as some are fiery, some watery, some aerial, some terrestrial; which four species of Angels are computed according to the four powers of the Celestiall souls, viz. the mind, reason, imagination, and the vivifying and moving nature; Hence the fiery follow the mind of the Celestiall souls, whence they concur to the contemplation of more sublime things, but the Aeriall follow the reason, and favor the rationall faculty, and after a certain manner separate it from the sensitive and vegetative; therefore it serveth for an active life, as the fiery for a contemplative, but the watery following the imagination, serve for a voluptuous life; The earthly following nature, favour vegetable nature; moreover they distinguish also this kind of Angels into Saturnine and Joviall, according to the names of the Stars, and the Heavens; further some are Orientall, some Occidentall, some Meridional, some Septentrionall; Moreover there is no part of the world destitute of the proper assistance of these Angels, not because they are there alone, but because they reign there especially, for they are everywhere, although some especially operate and have their influence in this place, some elsewhere; neither truly are these things to be understood, as though they were subject to the influences of the Stars, but as they have correspondence with the Heaven above the world, from whence especially all things are directed, and to the which all things ought to be conformable; whence as these Angels are appointed for diverse Stars, so also for diverse places and times, not that they are limited by time or place, neither by the bodies which they are appointed to govern, but because the order of wisdom hath so decreed, therefore they favor more, and patronize those bodies, places, times, stars; so they have called some Diurnall, some Nocturnall, other Meridionall; in like manner some are called Woodmen, some Mountaineers, some Fieldmen, some Domesticks. Hence the gods of the Woods, Country gods, Satyrs, familiars, Fairies of the fountains, Fairies of the Woods, Nymphs of the Sea, the Naiades, Neriades, Dryades, Pierides, Hamadryades, Potumides, Hinnides, Agapte, Pales, Pareades, Dodonæ, Feniliæ, Lavernæ, Pareæ, Muses, Aonides, Castalides, Heliconides, Pegasides, Meonides, Phebiades, Camenæ, the Graces, the Genii, Hobgoblins, and such like; whence they call them vulgar superiors, some the demi-gods [demigods] and goddesses; some of these are so familiar and acquainted with men, that they are even affected with humane perturbations, by whose instruction Plato thinketh that men do oftentimes wonderfull things, even as by the instruction of men, some beasts which are most nigh unto us, as Apes, Dogs, Elephants, do often strange things above their species; and they who have written the Chronicles of the Danes and Norwegians, do testifie, that spirits of diverse kinds in those regions are subject to mens commands; moreover some of these to be corporeall and mortall, whose bodies are begotten and dy [die], yet to be long lived is the opinion of the Egyptians and Platonists, and especially approved by Proclus. Plutarch also and Demetrius the Philosopher, and Aemilianus the Rhetoritian affirm the same; Therefore of these spirits of the third kind, as the opinion of the Platonists is; they report that there are so many Legions, as there are Stars in the Heaven, and so many spirits in every Legion, as in heaven it self Stars, but there are (as Athanasius delivereth) who think, that the true number of the good spirits, is according to the number of men ninety nine parts, according to the parable of the hundred sheep; others think only nine parts, according to the parable of the ten groats; others suppose the number of the Angels equal with men, because it is written, He hath appointed the bounds of the people according to the number of the Angels of God; and concerning their number many have written many things, but the latter Theologians following the master of the dentences, Austin [Augustine] and Gregory easily resolve themselves, saying, that the number of the good Angels transcendeth humane capacity; to the which on the contrary, innumerable unclean spirits do correspond, there being so many in the inferior world, as pure spirits in the superior, and some Divines affirm that they have received this by revelations; under these they place a kind of spirits, subterrany or obscure, which the Platonists call Angels that failed, revengers of wickedness, and ungodliness, according to the decree of the Divine justice, and they call them evill Angels and wicked spirits, because they oft annoy and hurt even of their own accords; of these also they reckon more legions, and in like manner distinguishing them according to the names of the Stars and Elements, and parts of the world, they do place over them Kings, Princes and Rulers and the names of them; of these, four most mischievous Kings do rule over the other [others], according to the four parts of the world; under these many more Princes of Legions govern, and also many of private offices. Hence the Gorgones, Statenocte, the furies. Hence Tisiphone, Alecto, Megæra, Cerberus: They of this kind of spirits, Porphyry saith, inhabite a place nigh to the earth, yea within the earth it self; there is no mischief, which they dare not commit; they have altogether a violent and hurtfull custome, therefore they very much plot and endeavor violent and sudden mischiefs; and when they make incursions, sometimes they are wont to lie hide [hid], but sometimes to offer open violence, and are very much delighted in all things done wickedly and contentiously.