Early modern faculty psychologists -- Burton, Edward Reynolds, Thomas
Wright, etc. -- all argue that demons can implant images directly into the
phantasy in order to inflame and distort the impulses of the will. (I
actually have in the current ELR an article on Spenser whose second
section discusses these authors and ideas in detail.) Aquinas posits that
demons can influence or even recompose a person's humoral balance. For
less inwardly-focused ideas about demonological power over human beings,
Perkins, Roberts, and Gifford might be good places to go, although they
talk about demonological power as if it were a kind of theatrical power:
they try to prove that magical language, like "hoc est enim corpus meum"
-- from where we get "hocus pocus," of course -- has no performative
efficacy in the spiritual realm, and they insist, therefore, that demons
(or devils, in their view) only *feign* to be bound by conjuration so as
to deceive people into having false faith in magic.
Bruno also talks a lot about the power of magic over people's wills, but
he imagines that power as coming right from the magician without the
mediation of spirits. Not exactly to the point, but fun to read, perhaps,
as a study in narcissistic wish fulfillment.
GG
On Fri, 16 Jun 2006, Diana Feliu wrote:
> For English sources I would start with the following demonologies: William
> Perkins' "A Discourse of the Damned Art of Witchcraft," Alexander Roberts'
> "A Treatise of Witchcraft," and George Gifford's "A Brief Discourse of the
> subtil Practices of devils" and "A Dialogue concerning Witches and
> Witchcraftes." Also, despite his lack of belief, Reginald Scot's
> "Discoverie of Witchcraft"offers helpful insights into contemporary
> thought.
>
> Another fruitful place to look is at the witch trial pamphlets. Luckily,
> many of them have been collected into a single volume by Marion Gibson. I
> hope that helps.
>
> Best,
> Diana Feliu
>
>
> > Could someone direct me to an early modern discussion of the ways demons
> > exercised their powers over human beings?
> >
> > I am pretty sure the matter has been discussed here, but I remember only
> > that demons could manipulate the emotions but not the reason.
> >
> > Jim Broaddus
>
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