Chapter XXV Conclusion
No completely satisfactory explanation of the phenomena with which this book deals has as yet been formulated, but the elucidation of the problems of transformation, collected from many sources, should be sought primarily in the latent power innate in man which enables him to exert or project thought-forces, but little understood to-day, of which, however, hypnotism and suggestion are the most familiar forms of manifestation. Such power, acting upon the plastic mind-substance of the spiritual world, may, as far as we know, produce forms, animal or otherwise, in accordance with the desire (conscious or subconscious) and the will of the projector. To bring about his purpose and procure manifestation he has to induce a suitable state of mind, and to this end he employs ritual and accessories of various kinds.
To take a single illustrative case in point. The animal masks used in Indian theatrical shows serve as a means of suggestive illusion. In mystical shows anticipatory fear is evoked by such means. Indians are easily brought to a stage of inability to grasp the difference between the real and the suggested wild beast. But Indians and other primitive races are not the only ones to succumb to a strong will bent on producing phenomena. These things affect all kinds of people, even in the so-called higher grades of civilisation, and the effect of auto-suggestion is quite as curious as that of hypnotism. A case has recently come under notice of a woman who acquired the habit of going down on all fours and making a noise of barking, firmly believing that she has been turned into a dog. In how much is she removed from the hyæna-woman of Abyssinia? The cure is much the same, and is brought about by counter-suggestion in one form or another. In such instances, of course, it is not to be supposed that actual transformation has taken place, but spectators may nevertheless be hypnotised into believing what the victim believes. By some such means, too, Nebuchadnezzar may have been made to think himself a subject of boanthropy when “he was driven from men and did eat grass as oxen,” continuing this occupation until his body was soaked with the dews of heaven, till his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.
What difference is there between such a belief and that of the spectator who thinks he sees the devil depart from a woman possessed in the shape of a huge black slug? He also may have been influenced by concentrated thought on the subject, and the question arises how far can human credulity be worked upon by the almost limitless and as yet little-understood power of the human mind. Much depends on the nature of the individual, the environment, and the receptivity to the kind of pressure brought to bear. Love of mystery and awe of the unknown are also strong factors in establishing faith, the first principle necessary for producing creative power. Even the wildest superstition enshrines something of reality and a stratum of truth underlies most widespread beliefs.
Research on these psychical subjects should be carried on earnestly and with untiring patience, always with a view to eliminate the false and preserve the true, wherever possible transmuting apparently evil elements and bringing forth the fundamental good. Such methods should make the prospects of discovering scientific facts more and more favourable in the future.
Unfortunately a miscellaneous study of “isms” and “ogonies” is often unproductive. Byron described the state of mind induced by ill-judged efforts in this direction in “Don Juan,” Canto IX, 20:
Oh! ye immortal gods! What is Theogony?
Oh! thou, too, mortal man! What is philanthropy?
Oh! World, which was and is, what is cosmogony?
Some people have accused me of misanthropy;
And yet I know no more than the mahogany
That forms this desk, of what they mean,—Lycanthropy
I comprehend, for without transformation
Men become wolves on any slight occasion.
The seeker after the facts about animal-metamorphosis, confused by many undigested propositions, might thus also attempt to salve his conscience, for man is certainly sometimes near enough to the animal without physical change, but he would be fleeing to a subterfuge suitable only for the idle and the ignorant. To the earnest student there can be no rest until this obscure branch of occult science is cleared up, though it may be but a side issue leading to more important facts. If in the foregoing chapters a grain of truth lies hidden which will help to elucidate the problem with which they deal, they will have served their purpose in pushing a step or two through the darkness which shrouds so many secrets of Nature.
It is the mystery of the unknown
That fascinates us, we are children still,
Wayward and wistful; with one hand we cling
To the familiar things we call our own,
And with the other, resolute of will,
Grope in the dark for what the day will bring.
Footnotes
1 Leland, C. G., “Algonquin Legends of New England,” Boston 1884, p. 31.
2 Frazer, J. G., “The Golden Bough,” “The Magic Art,” 1911, Vol. I, pp. 155-6.
3 “Teutonic Mythology.”
4 This appears to be the usually adopted explanation, but on p. 67 a suggestion is made regarding the word versipelles, which may throw a different light on the derivation.
5 Vol. II, p. 58.
6 “The Historical Works of Giraldus Cambrensis,” 1863. Bohn’s Library p. 79 et seq.
7 Fiske, J., “Myths and Myth-makers,” 1873, p. 74.
8 1873, pp. 242-7.
9 Frazer, “Totemism,” Vol. II, p. 58.
10 Ibid., Vol. I, p. 5.
11 “The Uganda Protectorate,” by Sir Harry Johnston, 1902, Vol. II, p. 832.
12 “Totemism in Polynesia and Melanesia” in “Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute,” 1909, Vol. XXXIX, p. 177.
13 Frazer, “Golden Bough,” “Balder the Beautiful,” 1913, Vol. II, p. 200, etc.
14 Hastings’ “Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics,” 1908, Vol. I.
15 Frazer, J. G., “The Golden Bough,” “Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild,” 1912, Vol. II, p. 297. See also “Balder the Beautiful,” 1913, Vol. II, pp. 196-218, “The External Soul in Animals.”
16 See E. W. Nelson’s “The Eskimo about Bering Strait,” in “Eighteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology,” 1899, Part II, p. 394 et seq.
17 Brett, W. H., “The Indian Tribes of Guiana,” 1868, pp. 374-5.
18 See Fewkes, J. W., “Comparison of Sia and Tusayan Snake Ceremonials” and other tracts.
19 Bourke, J. G., “The Snake-Dance of the Moquis of Arizona,” 1884, p. 177.
20 p. 180.
21 Ruskin, “Frondes Agrestes,” 1899, pp. 146-9.
22 Moore, T. H., “The Universal Kinship,” 1906, pp. 233-4.
23 Mulford, Prentice, “The Gift of the Spirit,” 1904. “Re-embodiment Universal in Nature,” pp. 170-1.
24 The original painting is at Holland House.
25 1906, p. 17.
26 Ibid., p. 233.
27 Emerson, “Works,” 1903, Vol. IV. “Demonology,” pp. 12-13.
28 See Chapter XXI on Animal Ghosts.
29 Harsnet, Samuel, “Popish Impostures,” 1603, pp. 97, 98.
30 Surius, “Lives of the Saints.”
31 Thibault, “Life of Guillaume of Acquitaine.”
32 “De la Démonomanie des Sorciers,” 1593, Book II, pp. 195-6.
33 “Discours des Sorciers,” 1610.
34 “Histoires, Disputes et Discours des Illusions et Impostures des Diables, etc.,” 1579, p. 654.
35 “Histoire de la Magie en France,” 1818, pp. 129-31.
36 Cimber, “Archives Curieuses de Histoire de France,” 1836, Series I, Vol. VIII, pp. 9-11.
37 “Discours des Sorciers,” 1610, pp. 361-2.
38 See De Lancre, Pierre, “Tableau de L’Inconstance des Mauvais Anges et Demons,” Paris, 1613, p. 255 et seq.
39 “Mysteries of Magic,” 1897, pp. 237-8.
40 Thorpe, B., “Northern Mythology,” 1851, Vol. II, pp. 168-9.
41 Edited by W. W. Skeat, 1869.
42 “Poesies de Marie de France,” 1819, pp. 179-201.
43 “History of the Goths, Swedes, and Vandals,” 1658, pp. 193-4.
44 See Leubuscher, R., “Ueber die Wehrwölfe und Thierverwandlungen in Mittelalter,” 1850, pp. 9-11.
45 “Life and Adventures of Nathaniel Pearce,” 1831. Ed. by J. J. Halls. Vol. I, p. 288 n.
46 1868, pp. 300-1.
47 Ibid., pp. 310-12.
48 Livingstone, D. and C., “Narrative of an Expedition to the Zambesi and its Tributaries,” 1865, p. 159.
49 p. 52.
50 “Autobiography,” 1886, pp. 64-6.
51 1901, pp. 153-9.
52 “The Pao Poh-tsze,” chap, i, sect. 3.
53 “Religious System of China.”
54 The legend says that a lady of light morals lived in the remotest times and bore the name of O-tsze. She adopted the fox shape, and hence it is that such spooks often call themselves O-tsze.
55 “Wuh tsah tsu,” by Sie Chao chi.
56 Brinkley, F., “Japan,” 1902, Vol. V, p. 197.
57 Ibid., p. 198.
58 The “Huen Chung ki.”
59 1908, pp. 21-3.
60 See Visser, M. W. de, “The Fox and Badger in Japanese Folklore,” 1908.
61 The “Kwaidan toshiotoko,” 1749.
62 1742.
63 “Essays of Elia,” 1904, p. 128.
64 Webster, Dr. John, “The Displaying of Supposed Witchcraft,” 1677, pp. 347-9.
65 Glanvill, Joseph, “Sadducismus Triumphatus,” 1726, p. 326.
66 Extracted from the Wodrow MS., as printed in “An Historical Account of the Belief in Witchcraft in Scotland,” by C. K. Sharpe, 1884, pp. 180-94.
67 Sharpe, C. K., “An Historical Account of the Belief in Witchcraft in Scotland,” 1884, p. 98.
68 “Legendes de Sorcellerie,” 1898.
69 Scott, Reginald, “The Discovery of Witchcraft,” 1886, pp. 75-6.
70 “The Metamorphosis or Golden Ass of Apuleius,” 1822, pp. 7-8.
71 Gelin, H., “Legendes de Sorcellerie,” 1898.
72 “Anecdotes of the Aristocracy,” 1849, pp. 152-81.
73 The description of these imps tallies remarkably closely with that of some animal-elements seen by occulists to-day.
74 “A True and exact Relation of the several informations, examinations and confessions of the late Witches arraigned and executed in the County of Essex.” Reprinted from the original of 1645, 1837, pp. iv, 34.
75 Glanvill, Joseph, “Sadducismus Triumphatus,” 1726, p. 300.
76 “The Wonderful discovery of the Witchcrafts of Margaret and Phillip Flower, daughters of Joan Flower near Beuer Castle, executed at Lincolne, March 11, 1618.” Printed London, 1619.
77 Homer, “The Story of the Odyssey.” People’s Edition, 1902, pp. 51-2.
78 “The Tale of Malec Muhammed and Geti Afraz the Queen of the Peris,” translated from the Persian. From a MS. in the British Museum.
79 “The Metamorphosis or Golden Ass of Apuleius,” 1822, pp. 60-3.
80 Adapted from “Village Folk-tales of Ceylon,” by H. Parker, 1910, Vol. I, pp. 308-10.
81 Frere, M., “Old Deccan Days,” 1889, pp. 83-193.
82 Stokes, M. S. H., 1880, p. 41.
83 “Folk Tales of Hindustan,” p. 54 ff.
84 Swynnerton, C., 1908, p. 464.
85 Lady Burton’s edition, 1887, Vol. III, p. 417.
86 Variants of this basic legend are included in the chapter on “Bird-Women,” where they properly belong.
87 There is a Tamil proverb: “Be quiet or I shall show you my original shape.”
88 “Indian Folk Tales,” 1908, p. 90.
89 Giles, H. A., “Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio,” 1909, p. 417.
90 Bompas, “Folklore of the Santal Pagarnas,” 1909, p. 201 ff.
91 “Punjab Notes and Queries,” May, 1885, p. 134.
92 Ibid., p. 171.
93 1912, p. 237.
94 Salverte, E., “The Philosophy of Magic,” 1846, Vol. I, p. 289.
95 “Zoological Mythology,” 1872, Vol. I, p. xviii.
96 Herodotus, Book II, Chap. 123.
97 p. 430.
98 Lamb, Charles, “Essays of Elia,” 1904, pp. 133-4.
99 “The Philosophy of Magic,” 1846, Vol. I, p. 67.
100 Ibid., pp. 73-4.
101 1911, pp. 257-8.
102 Swift, J., “Gulliver’s Travels” (York Library), 1905, p. 231.
103 Thorpe, B., “Northern Mythology,” 1851, Vol. II, p. 173.
104 H. G. Wells, “The Island of Dr. Moreau,” 1913, pp. 89-90, 98-99.
105 Ibid., p. 106.
106 Ibid., pp. 115-6.
107 Annals of the Twenty-ninth Century, Vol. I (Tinsley), London, pp. 61-2.
108 Lenormant, F., “Chaldean Magic,” 1877, p. 232.
109 Deane, J. B., “The Worship of the Serpent,” 1833, pp. 344-5.
110 Burton, “Anatomy of Melancholy,” 1881, p. 495.
111 Trevelyan, Marie, “Folklore and Folk-stories of Wales,” 1909, pp. 301-2.
112 Ibid., pp. 302-3.
113 “North Indian Notes and Queries,” April, 1892, p. 12, No. 52.
114 “Punjab Notes and Queries,” March, 1885, No. 555.
115 Karajic, “Volksmärchen der Serben,” 1854, p. 77.
116 Ibid., p. 82 ff.
117 Bompas, C. H., “Folk-lore of the Santal Parganas,” 1909, p. 452.
118 Macculloch, J. A., “The Childhood of Fiction,” 1905, pp. 264-5.
119 Leipzig, 1904.
120 Macculloch, J. A., “The Childhood of Fiction,” 1905, pp. 256-8.
121 Ibid., p. 259.
122 Shaman Hwui Li, “The Life of Hiuen-Tsiang,” 1911, p. 96.
123 “The Gentlemen’s Magazine,” 1882, Vol. I, p. 60.
124 “Superstitions et Survivances,” 1896, Vol. V, p. 33.
125 “A Varied Life,” 1906, pp. 56-7.
126 Bérenger-Feraud, L. J. B., “Superstitions et Survivances,” 1896, Vol. V, pp. 21-22.
127 “The London Magazine,” January, 1911, pp. 552-63.
128 Beauquier, Ch., “Faune et Flore Populaires de la Franche Comté,” 1910, Vol. I, p. 24.
129 Ibid., p. 228.
130 Waite, A. E., “The Book of Black Magic,” 1898, p. 104.
131 Ibid., pp. 106-7.
132 See Swainson, Ch., “Folklore of British Birds,” 1886, pp. 123-7.
133 Dasent, G. W., “Popular Tales from the Norse,” 1903, pp. 213-4.
134 Quoted from other sources by Swainson, Ch., “The Folk-lore of British Birds,” 1886, pp. 20-1.
135 1845, Vol. II, pp. 124-7.
136 Tomson, Graham R., “The Bird Bride,” 1889, p. 1.
137 “Arabian Nights,” Lady Burton’s edition, Vol. III, 1887, pp. 417-50.
138 1908, pp. 464-9.
139 Andersen, H. C, “Danish Fairy Legends,” 1861, pp. 1-16.
140 See Jones’ “Credulities Past and Present.”
141 “Quarterly Review,” July, 1863, p. 245.
142 Gibson, Frank, “Superstitions about Animals,” 1904, pp. 140-2.
143 Quoted in Middleton, J. A., “Another Grey Ghost Book,” 1914, p. 249.
144 Trevelyan, M., “Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales,” 1909, pp. 294-5.
145 “True Irish Ghost Stories.”
146 1914, pp. 194-5.
147 1852, pp. 378-9.
148 “The Unseen World,” 1853, pp. 79-80.
149 “The Denham Tracts,” Ed. by James Hardy, 1895, Vol. II, pp. 193-6.
150 Dyer, T. F. Thistleton, “Strange Pages from Family Papers,” 1895, pp. 168-70.
151 Ingram, J. H., “The Haunted Homes and Family Traditions of Great Britain,” 1901, pp. 345-52.
152 “The Denham Tracts,” Vol. I, p. 324.
153 “The Archæological Review,” 1889, Vol. III, pp. 217, 315 ff.
154 Kay, C. de, “Bird Gods,” 1898, p. 92.
155 “Shropshire Folk-lore,” pp. 108-9.
156 “Shropshire Folk-lore,” p. 642.
157 “Notes and Queries,” 2nd Series, Vol. X., pp. 192-3.
158 “Notes and Queries,” December 28, 1850, p. 515.
159 Jackson, G. E., “Shropshire Folk-lore,” pp. 108-10.
160 “Shropshire Folk-lore,” pp. 106-7.
161 “Superstitions et Survivances,” 1896, Vol. V, pp. 19-20.
162 “Real Ghost Stories,” pp. 261-75.
163 Sixth Series, Vol. VII, January 6, 1883, pp. 12-13.
164 1881, pp. 377-8.
165 October 21, 1871.
166 Dan, “Le Tresor des Merveilles de Fontainebleau.”
167 1872, pp. 153 et seq.
168 “Posthumous Humanity,” 1887.
169 Ibid., pp. 74-6.
170 Op. cit., p. 80.
171 “Posthumous Humanity,” 1887, pp. 247-8.
172 1896, p. 154.
173 “The Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali.” Translated by Manilal Nabhubhai Dvivedi, 1890, p. 66.
174 Ibid., p. 56.
175 Ibid., p. 71 and pp. 73-4.
176 “The Secret Doctrine,” Vol. II, p. 247.
177 Ibid., 1897, Vol. III, pp. 524-6.
178 Ibid., 1888, Vol. II, pp. 262-3.
179 “The Sacred Books of the East,” ed. by F. Max Muller, 1880, The Institutes of Vishnu, Vol. VII, pp. 144-5.
180 “Mysteries of Magic,” 1897, pp. 233-4.
181 Ibid., pp. 237-40.
182 “De Lunaticus.”
183 Hartmann, F., “Life of Paracelsus and Substance of his Teaching,” 1896, pp. 60-2.
184 Ibid., p. 62.
185 Scott, R., “The Discoverie of Witchcraft,” 1886, p. 493.
186 1801.
187 “The Magus,” 1801, p. 120.
188 “Occult Philosophy,” 1651, Vol. I, p. 86 et seq.
189 See Lenormant, F., “Chaldean Magic,” chapters III and VII.
190 Leadbeater, C. W., “The Astral Plane: its Inhabitants and Phenomena,” 1895, pp. 37-9.
191 Ibid., pp. 51-2.
192 Street, J. C., “The Hidden Way Across the Threshold,” 1896, p. 359.