Of Goetia Necromancy.

NOw the parts of Ceremonial Magick are Goetia and Theurgia; Goetia is unfortunate, by the commerces of un∣clean spirits made up of the rites of wicked curiosities, unlaw∣full charms, and deprecations, and is abandoned and execrated by all laws. Of this kinde are those which we now adayes call Necromancers, and Witches.

These therefore are they which call upon the souls of the dead, and those which the Ancients called Epodi, who enchant boys, and bring them out into the speech of the Oracle, and which carry about them familiar spirits, as we read of Socrates and such, as it is said, they fed in glasses, by which they feign themselves to prophecy. And all these proceed two waies. For some endeavour to call and compell evill spirits, adjured by a certain power, especially of divine names; for seeing eve∣ry creature fears, and reverenceth the name of him who made it, no marvel, if Goetians, Infidels, Pagans, Jews, Sara∣cens, and men of every prophane sect and society do bind Divels by invocating the divine name. Now there are some that are most impiously wicked indeed, that submit themselves to Divels, sacrifice to, and adore them, and thereby become Page  573 guilty of Idolatry, and the basest abasement: to which crimes if the former are not obnoxious, yet they expose themselves to manifest dangers. For even compelled divels alwaies de∣ceive us whithersoever we go. Now from the sect of the Goetians have proceeded all those books of darkness, which Vulpianus the Lawyer calls books disallowed to be read, and forthwith appointed them to be destroyed, of which sort the first is Zabulus reported to invent, who was given to un∣lawfull arts, then Barnabas a certain Cyprian; and now in these dayes there are carryed about books with feigned titles, under the names of Adam, Abel, Enoch, Abraham, Solomon, also Paul, Honorius, Cyprianus, Albertus, Thomas Hierome, and of a certain man of Yorke, whose toies Alphousus King of Castile, Robert an English man, Bacon, and Apponus, and many other men of a deplored wit have foolishly followed. Moreover they have not made men only and Saints, and Patri∣arkes, and the angels of God, the authors of such execrable opinions, but they boast also that those books were diliver∣ed by Raziel. and Raphael the Angels of Adam and Tobias; Which books openly betray themselves to him that looks nar∣rowly into them, to be a rule, rite, and custome of their pre∣cepts, and a kind of words, and characters, an order of ex∣truction, an empty phrase, and to contain nothing but meer toyes, and impostures, and to be made in latter times by men ignorant of all ancient Magick, and forlorn artists of perniti∣ous art, of prophane observations mixed with the ceremonies of our religion, with many unknown names, and seals intermixed, that thereby they may terrifie and astonish the simple, and ignorant. Moreover it doth not yet appear that these arts are fables: for unless there were such indeed, and by them many wonderfull and hurtful things done, there would not be such strict, divine, and humane lawes made concerning them, for the utter exterminating of them. And why do the Goetians use those evill spirits only, but be∣cause good Angels will hardly appear, expecting the com∣mand of God, and come not but to men pure in heart, and holy in life: but the evill are easily called up, favouring Page  574 him that is false, and counterfeiting holiness are alwaies ready to deceive with their craft, that they may be worshipped, and adored: and because women are most desirous of secrets, and less cautious, and prone to superstition, they are the more easily deceived, and therefore give up themselves the more readily to them, and do great prodigies. The poets sing of Circe, Medea, and others of this sort; Cicero, Pliny, Seneca, Austin, and many others as well Philosophers as Catholike Doctors, and Histo∣rians, also the Scriptues testifie the like. For in the books of the Kings we read, that a woman who lived at Endor, called up the soul of Samuel the Prophet, although many inter∣pret it not to be the soul of the Prophet, but an evil spirit, which took upon him his shape. Yet the Hebrew masters say that Austin to Simplicianus doth not deny but it might be the true spirit of Samuel, which might easily be called up from its body before a compleat year after his departure, as also the Goetians teach. Also Magician Necromancers suppose that might be done by certain natural powers and bonds, as we have said in our books of Occult Philosophy. Therefore the ancient Fathers, skilfull of spiritual things, did not without cause ordain that the bodies of the dead should be buried in a holy place, and be accompanied with lights, and sprinkled with holy water, and be perfumed with frankincense, and incense, and be expiated by prayers as long as they continued above ground. For as the Masters of the Hebrews say, All our body and carnal Animal, and whatsoever in us depends upon the matter of the flesh being ill disposed is left for meat to the Serpent, and as they called it, to Azazel, who is the Lord of the flesh and blood, and the Prince of this world, and is called in Leviticus the Prince of deserts, to whom it is said in Genesis, Thou shalt eat dust all the daies of thy life. And in Isaiah, Dust thy bread i. e. our body created of the dust of the earth, so long as it shall not be sanctified, and turned in∣to better, that it be no longer an effect of the serpent, but of God, viz. a spiritual made of carnal, according to the word of Paul, saying, that which is sowed a carnal, shall arise a spi∣tual; and els where, All indeed shall rise, but all shall not Page  575 be changed, because many shall remain for ever as meat of the Serpent. This filthy and horrid matter of the flesh and meat of the Serpent we therefore cast off by death, changing it for a better and spirituall, which shall be in the resurrection of the dead; and is already done in those, who have tasted of the first fruits of the resurrection, and many have already at∣tained to, by the vertue of the divine spirit in this life, as Enoch, Eliah, and Moses, whose bodies were changed into a spirituall nature, and have not seen corruption; neither are their carkasses left to the power of the Serpent. And this was that dispute of the devill with Michael the Archangel, concerning the body of Moses, of which Jude makes mention in his Epistle. But of Goetia, and Necromany let these suffice.