Concerning what has been said above,
a preacher asks this question: Is it a Catholic view to maintain that witches
can infect the minds of men with an inordinate love of strange women, and so
inflame their hearts that by no shame or punishment, by no words or actions
can they be forced to desist from such love; and that similarly they can stir
up such hatred between married couples that they are unable in any way to
perform the procreant functions of marriage; so that, indeed, in the untimely
silence of night, they cover great distances in search of mistresses and
irregular lovers?
As to this matter, he may, if he
wishes, find some arguments in the preceding question. Otherwise, it need only
be said that there are difficulties in those questions on account of love and
hate. For these passions invade the will, which is in its own act always free,
and not to be coerced by and creature except God, Who can govern it. From
which it is clear that neither the devil nor a witch working by his power can
force a man's will to love or to hate. Again, since the will, like the
understanding, exists subjectively in the soul, and He alone can enter into
the soul Who created it, therefore this question presents many difficulties in
the matter of unravelling the truth of it.
But notwithstanding this, we must
speak first of infatuation and hatred, and secondly about the bewitching of
the generative power. And as to the first, although the devil cannot directly
operate upon the understanding and will of man, yet, according to all the
learned Theologians in the 2nd Book of Sentences, on the subject of the
power of the devil, he can act upon the body, or upon the faculties belonging
to or allied to the body, whether they be the inner or outer perceptions. This
is authoritatively and reasonably proved in the preceding question, if one
cares to look; but if not, there is the authority of Job ii: The Lord said
unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand. That is, Job is in his power. But
this was only in regard to the body, for He would not give his soul into his
power. Wherefore He said: Only save thou his life; that is, keep it unharmed.
And that power He gave him over his body, He gave also over all the faculties
allied to the body, which are the four or five outer and inner perceptions,
namely Common Sense, Fancy or Imagination, Thought, and Memory.
If no other instance can be given,
let us take an example from pigs and sheep. For pigs know by instinct their
way home. And by natural instinct sheep distinguish a wolf from a dog, knowing
one to be the enemy and the other the friend of their nature.
Consequently, since all our
reasoned knowledge comes from the senses (for Aristotle in the 2nd book On
the Mind says that an intelligent man must take notice of phantasms),
therefore the devil can affect the inner fancy, and darken the understanding.
And this is not to act immediately upon the mind, but through the medium of
phantasms. Because, also, nothing is loved until it is known.
As many examples as are needed
could be taken from gold, which the miser loves because he knows its power,
etc. Therefore when the understanding is darkened, the will also is darkened
in its affectations. Moreover, the devil can effect this either with or
without the help of a witch; and such things can even happen through mere want
of foresight. But we shall give examples of each kind. For, as it is said in
S. James i: Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust,
and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, when it is
finished, bringeth forth death. Again, when Schechem saw Dinah going out to
see the daughters of the land, he loved her, and seized her, and lay with her,
and his soul clave unto her (Genesis xxxiv). And according to the gloss:
When the infirm mind forsakes its own business, and takes heed, like Dinah, of
that of other people, it is led astray by habit, and becomes one with the
sinners.
Secondly, that this lust can arise
apart from witchcraft, and simply through the temptation of the devil, is
shown as follows. For we read in II. Samuel xiii that Ammon desperately
loved his own sister Tamar, and yearned greatly for her, so that he grew ill
for love for her. But no one would fall into so great and foul a crime unless
he were totally corrupt, and grievously tempted by the devil. Wherefore the
gloss says: This is a warning to us, and was permitted by God that we should
always be on guard lest vice should get the mastery over us, and the prince of
sin, who promises a false peace to those who are in danger, finding us ready
should slay us unaware.
Mention is made of this sort of
passion in the Book of the Holy Fathers, where it says that, however far they
withdrew themselves from all carnal lusts, yet they were sometimes tempted by
the love of women more than could possibly be believed. Wherefore in II. Corinthians
xii the Apostle says: There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the
messenger of Satan to buffet me. On which the gloss says: It was given to me
to be tempted by lust. But he who is tempted and does not yield is no sinner,
but it is a matter for the exercise of virtue. And by temptation is understood
that of the devil, not that of the flesh, which is always venial in a little
sin. The preacher could find many examples if he pleased.
The third point, that infatuate
love proceeds from the evil works of the devil, has been discussed above; and
we speak of this temptation.
It may be asked how it is possible
to tell whether such inordinate love proceeds not from the devil but only from
a witch. And the answer is that there are many ways. First, if the man tempted
has a beautiful and honest wife, or the converse in the case of a woman, etc.
Secondly, if the judgement of the reason is so chained up that by no blows or
words or deeds, or even by shame, can he be made to desist from that lust. And
thirdly, in especial, when he cannot contain himself, but that he is at times
unexpectedly, and in spite of the roughness of the journey, forced to be
carried through great distances (as anyone can learn from the confessions of
such men), both by day and by night. For as S. John Chrysostom says on Matthew
xx concerning the ass upon which Christ rode: When the devil possesses the
will of a man with sin, he carries him at his will where he pleases. Giving
the example of a ship in the sea without a rudder, which the winds carry about
at their pleasure; and of a man firmly sitting a horse; and a King having
dominion over a tyrant. And fourthly, it is shown by the fact that they are
sometimes suddenly and unexpectedly carried away, and at times transformed, so
that nothing can prevent it. It is shown also by the hideousness of their very
appearance.
And before we proceed to the
further question of witches, touching the powers of generation, which follows,
we must first resolve the arguments.
Here Follow the Resolutions of the Arguments.
But for the answer to the
arguments: for the first, that the will of man is ruled by God, just as his
understanding is by a good Angel, the solution is clear. For the intellect is
enlightened by a good Angel only to the knowledge of the truth, from which
proceeds the love of that which is good, for the True and the Actual are the
same thing. So also the intellect can be darkened by a bad angel in the
knowledge of what appear to be true; and this through a confusion of the ideas
and images received and stored by the perceptions, from which comes an
inordinate love of the apparently good, such as bodily delectation, which such
men seek after.
As to the second argument, that the
devil cannot effect physical changes in the body; this is in part true, and in
part not, and this is with reference to three sorts of mutation. For the devil
cannot change the body in such a way that its whole shape and appearance is
altered (which is rather to be called a new production than a change) without
the help of some agent, or with the permission of God. But if we speak of a
change in quality, as in the matter of sickness and health, as has been shown
before, he can inflict upon the body various diseases, even to taking away the
reason, and so can cause inordinate hatred and love.
And a third kind of mutation can be
added, which is when a good or bad angel enters into the body, in the same way
that we say that God alone is able to enter into the soul, that is, the
essence of life. But when we speak of an angel, especially a bad angel,
entering the body, as in the case of an obsession, he does not enter beyond
the limits of the essence of the body; for in this way only God the Creator
can enter, Who gave it to be as it were the intrinsic operation of life. But
the devil is said to enter the body when he effects something about the body:
for when he works, there he is, as S. John Damascene says. And then he works
within the bounds of corporeal matter, but not within the very essence of the
body.
For this it appears that the body
has two properties, matter and spirit. And this is like the distinction
between the apparent and the real. Therefore when devils enter the body, they
enter the power belonging to the bodily organs, and can so create impressions
on those powers. And so it happens that through such operations and
impressions a phantasm is projected before the understanding, such as the
seeing of colours, as it is said in the 3rd book de Anima. And so this
impression penetrates also to the will. For the will takes its conception of
what is good from the intellect, according as the intellect accepts something
as good either in truth or in appearance.
As for the third argument: a
knowledge of the thoughts of the heart may come about in two ways, either from
seeing their efforts or by reading them actually in the intellect. In the
first way they can be known not only by an angel, but even by man, although it
will be shown that an angel has more skill in this matter. For sometimes the
thoughts are made evident, not only by some external action, but even by a
change in the countenance. And doctors also can discern some affections of the
mind through the pulse. Wherefore S. Augustine says (de Diuin. Daem.)
that sometimes it is very easy to tell a man's disposition, not only from his
words, but from his very thoughts, which are signs of the soul expressed in
the body; although in his book of Retractions he says that no definite rule
can be laid down how this is done; and I think that he is reluctant to admit
that the devil can know the inner thoughts of the heart.
From another point of view, the
thoughts of the intellect and the affectations of the will can be known only
by God. For the will of a rational creature is subject only to God, and He
alone can work in it Who is its first cause and ultimate end. Therefore that
which is in the will, or depends only on the will, is known only to God.
Moreover, it is manifest what depends only on the will, if one considers
things by their resultant actions. For when a man has the quality of knowledge,
and the understanding that comes from it, he uses it when he wills.
It is proved, then, from what has
been said, that a spirit cannot enter the soul, therefore he cannot, naturally,
see what is in the mind, especially what is in the inner depths of the soul.
Wherefore, when it is argued that the devil cannot see the thoughts of the
heart, and therefore cannot move the hearts of men to love or hatred, it is
answered that he does learn men's thoughts through their visible effects, and
is more skilful in this matter than man; and so by subtle ways he can move men
to love and hatred, by creating phantasms and darkening the intellect.
And this must be said by way of
comfort to relieve the apprehensions of the virtuous: that when the sensible
exterior and bodily change which accompanied men's thoughts is so vague and
indeterminate that the devil cannot by it arrive at any certain knowledge of
the thoughts, especially when the virtuous at times take a little leisure from
study and good works, he molests them then chiefly in dreams; as is known by
experience. But when the physical effect of thought is strong and determinate,
the devil can know by a man's appearance whether his thoughts are turned
towards envy or luxury. But we find that it must be left an open question
whether he can by this means have certain knowledge in respect of all
circumstances, as such and such; although it is true that he can know such
circumstances from their subsequent results.
And fourthly: although to enter the
soul belongs only to God, yet it is possible for a good or bad angel to enter
the body and the faculties allied to the body, in the manner which has been
shown above. And in this way hatred and love can be aroused in such a man. For
the other argument, that the powers of the spirit are greater than the
physical powers, which themselves cannot be changed by the devil, in so far as
they can be hastened or retarded in the flesh and bone. But he does this, not
for the sake of impeding or stimulating the inner or outer perceptions, but
for his own gain; since he derives his chief benefit by the deception of the
senses and the delusion of the intellect.