Sidonia, the Sorceress Volume Ii Part 16

And he fell into deep musing, keeping his eyes upon Jobst's jack-boots, in which he had stuck a great hunting-knife. At last he spake--"But if I seize her and burn her, will it be better with our race? I trow not; for she can leave the evil spell on us, perhaps, even if she were a hundred times burned. Her magic hath great power. Will burning her break the spell? No; we must act more cunningly with the dragon. Earth cannot help us in this. And here you see, Jobst, why I demand your daughter's help to conjure the angels of G.o.d."

"Then seek another virgin, my Prince," answered Jobst, "mine you shall never have. I have been once in the devil's claws, and I won't thrust myself into them again--much less my only darling child, whom I love a thousand times better than my life. No, no, her body and soul shall never be endangered by my consent."

"But where is the danger?" said the Duke. "It is with an angel, not a devil, your daughter is to speak; and surely no evil, then, could happen to our dear and chaste little sister?"

At last Diliana exclaimed eagerly, "Ah; can it be possible to speak with the blessed angels, as the evil women speak with the devil? In truth, I would like to see an angel."

At this the Duke looked significantly at the magister, who immediately advanced, and began to explain the _opus magic.u.m et theurgic.u.m_ to the maiden, as follows:--

"You know, fair young virgin, that our Saviour saith of the innocent children, 'Their angels always see the face of My Father which is in heaven' (Matt xviii.). _Item/_, St. Paul (Heb.

i.): 'Are not the angels ministering spirits, sent forth for the service of those who are heirs of salvation?' This is no new doctrine, but one as old as the world. For you know, further, that Adam, Noah, the holy patriarchs, the prophets, &c., talked with angels, because their faith was great. _Item_, you know that, even in the New Testament, angels were stated to have appeared and talked with men; but later still, during the papal times even, the angels of G.o.d appeared to divers persons, as was well known, and of their own free will. For they did not always appear of _free will_; and therefore, from the beginning, conjurations were employed to _compel/_ them, and fragments of these have come down to us _ex traditione_, as we magistri say, from the time of Shem, the son of Noah, who revealed them to his son Misraim; and so, from son to son, they have reached to our day, and are still powerful."

"But," spake Diliana, "is it then possible for man to compel angels?"

_Ille_.-"Yes, by three different modes; first, through the word, or the intellectual vinculum; secondly, through the heavenly bodies, or the astral vinculum; lastly, through the earthly creatures, or the elementary vinculum.

"Respecting first the _word_, you know that all things were made by it, and without it was nothing made that is made. With G.o.d the Lord, therefore, _word_ and _thing_ are one and the same; for when He speaks it is done; He commands, and it stands there. Also, with our father, Adam, was the _word_ all-powerful; for he ruled over all beasts of the field, and birds, and creeping things by the _name_ which he gave unto them, that is, by the _word_ (Gen. ii.). This power, too, the word of Noah possessed, and by it he drew the beasts into the ark (Gen. vii.); for we do not read that he _drave_ them, which would be necessary now, but they _went_ into the ark after him, two and two, _i.e._, compelled by the power of his word.

" Next follows the _astral vinculum, i.e._, the sympathy between us and those heavenly bodies or stars wherein the angels dwell or rule. We must know their divers aspects, configurations, risings, settings, and the like, also the precise time, hour, and minute in which they exercise an influence over angel, man, and lower creatures, according as the ancients, and particularly the Chaldeans have taught us; for spirit cannot influence spirit at every moment, but only at particular times and under particular circ.u.mstances.

"Lastly comes the _elementary vinculum_, or the sympathy which binds all earthly creatures together--men, animals, plants, stones, vapours and exhalations, &c., but above all, this cementing sympathy is strongest in pure virgins, as you, much-praised Diliana----"

Hereupon she spake surprised: "How can all this be? Is it not folly to suppose that the blessed angels could be compelled by influences from plants and stones?"

"It is no folly, dear maiden, but a great and profound truth, which I will demonstrate to you briefly. Everything throughout the universe is effected by two opposing forces, _attraction_ or sympathy, _repulsion_ or antipathy. All things in heaven as well as upon earth act on each other by means of these two forces."

"And as all within, above, beneath, in the heaven and on the earth, are types insensibly repeated of one grand archetype, so we find that the sun himself is a magnet, and by his different poles repels or attracts the planets, and amongst them our earth; in winter he repels her, and she moves darkly and mournfully along; in spring he begins to draw her towards him, and she comes joyfully, amidst songs of the holy angels, out of night and darkness, like a bride into the arms of her beloved. And though no ear upon earth can mark this song, yet the sympathies of each creature are attracted and excited thereby, and man, beast, bird, fish, tree, flower, gra.s.s, stones, all exhale forth their subtlest, most spiritual, sweetest life to blend with the holy singers.

"O maiden, maiden, this is no folly! Truly might we say that each thing feels, for each thing loves and hates--the animate as the inanimate, the earthly as the heavenly, the visible as the invisible. For what is love but attraction or sympathy towards some object, whereby we desire to blend with it? And what is hate but repulsion or antipathy, whereby we are forced to fly or recoil from it?

"We, silly men, tear and tatter to pieces the rude coa.r.s.e _materia_ of things, and think we know the nature of an object, because, like a child with a mirror, we break it to find the image. But the life of the thing--the inner, hidden mystic life of _sympathies_--of this we know nothing, and yet we call ourselves wise!

"But what is the signification of this widespread law of love and hate which rules the universe as far as we know? Nothing else than the dark signature of _faith_ impressed upon every creature.

For what the thing loves, that is its G.o.d; and what the thing hates, that is its devil. So when the upright and perfect soul ascends to G.o.d, the source of all attraction, G.o.d descends to it in sympathy, and blends with it, as Christ says, 'Whoso loves Me, and keeps My word, My Father will love him, and we will come and take up our abode with him.' But if the perverted soul descends to the source of all repulsion, which is the devil, G.o.d will turn away from him, and he will hate G.o.d and love the devil, as our blessed Saviour says (Matt. vi.), 'No man can serve two masters, he will _hate_ one and _love_ the other; ye cannot serve G.o.d and the devil.' Such will be the law of the universe until the desire of all creatures is fulfilled, until the living Word again descends from heaven, and says, 'Let there be light!' and the new light will fall upon the soul. Then will the old serpent be cast out of the new heaven and the new earth. Hate and repulsion will exist no longer, but as Esaias saith, 'The wolf and the lamb, the leopard and the kid, will lie down together, and the child may play fearlessly upon the den of the adder.' Hallelujah! Then will creation be free! then will it pa.s.s from the bondage of corruption into the lordly freedom of the children of G.o.d (Rom. viii.), and

Sun, Moon, stars, Earth, angels, men, Beasts, plants, stones, The living as the dead, The great as the small, The visible as the invisible, Will find at last The source of all attraction Which they have ever ardently desired-- Round which they will ever circle Day on day, night on night, Century on century, millennium on millennium, Lost in the infinite and eternal abyss Of all love-- G.o.d!"

[Footnote: Almost with the last words of this sketch, the second part of _Kosmos_, by Alexander von Humboldt, came to my hand.

Evidently the great author (who so well deserves immortality for his contributions to science) views the world also as a whole; and wherever in ancient or modern times, even a glimpse of this doctrine can be found, he quotes it and brings it to light. But yet, in a most incomprehensible manner, he has pa.s.sed over those very systems in which, above all others, this idea finds ample room; namely, the new platonism of the ancients (the Theurgic Philosophy), and the later Cabalistic, Alchymical, Mystic Philosophy (White Magic), from which system the deductions of Magister Joel are borrowed; but above all, we must name _Plotinus_, as the father of the new Platonists, to whom nature is throughout but one vast unity, one divine totality, one power united with one life. In later times, we find that Albertus Magnus, Cornelius Agrippa, and Theophrastus Paracelsus held the same view. The latter uses the above word "attraction" in the sense of sympathy. And the systems of these philosophers, which are in many places full of profound truths, are based upon this idea.]

CHAPTER XVI.

_Jobst Bork takes away his daughter by force from the Duke and Dr. Joel; also is strengthened in his unbelief by Dr.

Cramer--Item, how my gracious Prince arrives at Marienfliess, and there vehemently menaces Sidonia._

When Dr. Joel had ended his discourse, the fair young virgin's eyes overflowed with tears; and clasping her hands, she sprang up, and seizing my magister by the hand, exclaimed, "O sir, let us see the blessed angels! Let me talk with them."

But her father, who was dry and brief in speech, tore her away, saying sourly, "Have done, child; you must not dare to do it!"

Then they all prayed him to consent--the Duke, and the magister, and Diliana herself; and the magister said, that in a few days the sun would be in Libra, which would be the fitting and best time; if they delayed, then a whole year must pa.s.s over without obtaining any help, for he had already demonstrated that each spirit had its particular time of influence. And so my magister went on. But all was in vain. So Diliana stroked her father's beard with her little hands and said, "Think, dear papa, on grandmamma--her poor ghost; and that I can avenge her if I keep my virgin honour pure in thought, word, and deed! Is it not strange that my gracious Prince should just now come and demand the proof of my purity? Let me pa.s.s the trial, and then I can avenge the poor ghost, and calm the fears of his Highness all at once; for a.s.suredly he has cause to fear Sidonia." So the Duke and Magister Joel inquired eagerly what she meant by the ghost; and when they heard, they rejoiced, and said the finger of G.o.d was in it. "Would the knight still strive against G.o.d?"

"No," he answered, "but against the devil; for Luther says, 'Such ghost-work must be of the devil, since the departed soul must either be in heaven or in h.e.l.l; if in heaven, it would have rest,'

therefore he feared the ghost of his poor mother had nothing good about it, and he would take care and keep his child from the claws of the devil."

Thus the argument and strife went on, till Jobst at last cried out sharply, "Diliana, dost thou esteem the fifth commandment? If so, come with me." Whereupon the pious virgin threw herself upon his neck, exclaiming, "Father, I come!"

But my magister took her by the hand, to draw her from her father, whereat Jobst seized the hunting-knife that he had stuck in his jack-boots, and brandishing it, cried out, "Hands off, fellow, or I'll paint a red sign upon thee! My Lord Duke, in the name of the three devils, seek out another virgin; but my virgin, your Highness shall never have." Then seizing his little daughter by the waist, he rushed out of the room with her, growling like a bear with his cub, and down the stairs, and through the streets, never stopping or staying till he reached the inn, nor even once looking behind him or heeding his Grace, who screamed out after him, "Good Jobst, only one word; only one word, dear Jobst!"

And when my Jobst reached the inn, he roared for the coachman, bid him follow him with all speed to the road, paid down his reckoning to mine host, and was off, and already out of the town, just as the Duke and Dr. Joel reached the inn, to try and get him back again. So they return raging and swearing, while Jobst crouches down behind a thorn-bush with his little daughter, till the coach comes up. And they have scarcely mounted it, when Dr. Cramer, of Old Stettin, drives up; for he was on his way to induct a rector (I know not whom) into his parish, as the ecclesiastical superintendent lay sick in his bed. This meeting rejoiced the knight's heart mightily; and after he had peered out of the coach windows, to see if the Duke or the doctor were on his track, and making sure that he was not pursued, he prayed Dr. Cramer to bide a while, and discourse him on a matter that lay heavy on his conscience. The doctor having consented, they all alighted, and seated themselves in a hollow, where the coachman could not overhear their discourse. Then Jobst related all that had happened, and asked had he acted rightly?

"In all things you have done well, brave knight," answered my excellent G.o.dfather, "for though, doubtless, spirits can and do appear, yet is there always great danger to body and soul in practising these conjurations; and no one can say with security whether such apparition be angel or devil; because St. Paul says (2 Cor. xi. 14), that 'Satan often changes himself into an angel of light;' and respecting the ghost of your mother, in my opinion, it was a devil sent to tempt your dear little daughter; for it is written (Wisdom x.x.xi.), 'The just are in the hand of G.o.d, and no evil troubles them.'"

He is going on with his quotations, when Diliana calls out, "G.o.dfather, here is a coach coming as fast as it can drive; and surely two men are therein!"

"Adieu! adieu!" cried the knight, springing up, and dragging his daughter into the coach as quick as he could. Then he bid the coachman drive for life and death; and when they reached the wood, to take the first shortest cut to the left.

Meanwhile, the Duke and Dr. Joel come up with my worthy G.o.dfather, stop him, and ask what the knight, Jobst Bork, was saying to him?

for they had seen them both together, sitting in the hollow, along with Diliana.

On this, the dry sheep's cough got into my worthy G.o.dfather's throat from pure fright, for a lie had never pa.s.sed his lips in all his life; therefore he told the whole story truly and honestly.

Meanwhile, the other coach drove on rapidly through the wood; and the coachman did as he was desired, and took the first path to the left, where they soon came on a fine thick hazel grove. Here Jobst stopped to listen, and truly they could hear the other coach distinctly crushing the fallen leaves, and the voice of the Duke screaming, "Jobst, dost thou hear?--Jobst, may the devil take thee, wilt thou stop?"

"Ay, my Lord Duke," thought Jobst to himself, "I will stop as you wish, but I trust the devil will neither take me nor my daughter."

Then he lifted the fair Diliana himself out of the coach, and laid her on the green gra.s.s, under the thick nut trees, saying, "Where shall we fly to, my daughter? What thinkest thou?"

_Illa_.--"Why, to thy good castle of Saatzig, my father."

_Ille_.--"Marry, I'll take good care I won't--to fly from one danger to another; for will he not hunt us there--ay, till his spurs are red, and shouting all the way after me till his lungs burst like an old wind-bag."

_Illa_.--"Whither, then, my father?"

_Ille_.--"To Stramehl, methinks, to my cousin Bastien, where we shall remain until the time is pa.s.sed in which he can question the spirits; for, if I remember rightly, the sun will enter Libra in a few days."

_Illa_.--"But, dear father, is it not cruel thus to torment the good Prince? Oh! it must be so beautiful to talk to an angel!"

_Ille_.--"Do not anger me, my heart's daughter, do not anger me. Better be George Putkammer's good loving wife; turn thy thoughts that way, my daughter, and in a year there will be something better worth looking at in the cradle than a spirit."

_Illa_ blushes and plucks the nuts over her head.

_Ille_.--"What sayest thou? Art thou for ever to put off these marriage thoughts?"

_Illa_.--"Ah! my heart's dear father, what would my poor grandmother say in eternity? It is impossible that, without G.o.d's will, the Duke and the poor ghost should have come upon the same thoughts about me."

_Ille_.--"Anger me not, child; thou art a silly, superst.i.tious thing; without G.o.d's will, it may well be, but not without the devil's will. Thou hast heard what Luther says of ghosts, and we must believe him. Eh?"

_Illa_.--"But my Lord Duke and Dr. Joel say quite differently. Ah, father, let me see the blessed angels! Dr. Joel surely has seen them often, and yet no danger befell him."