inetur in loco corporeum
est; At spiritus continetur in loco, ergo. [1128]Si spiritus sunt quanti,
erunt corporei: At sunt quanti, ergo. sunt finiti, ergo. quanti_, &c.
Bodine [1129]goes farther yet, and will have these, _Animae separatae
genii_, spirits, angels, devils, and so likewise souls of men departed, if
corporeal (which he most eagerly contends) to be of some shape, and that
absolutely round, like Sun and Moon, because that is the most perfect form,
_quae nihil habet asperitatis, nihil angulis incisum, nihil anfractibus
involutem, nihil eminens, sed inter corpora perfecta est perfectissimum_;
[1130]therefore all spirits are corporeal he concludes, and in their proper
shapes round. That they can assume other aerial bodies, all manner of
shapes at their pleasures, appear in what likeness they will themselves,
that they are most swift in motion, can pass many miles in an instant, and
so likewise [1131]transform bodies of others into what shape they please,
and with admirable celerity remove them from place to place; (as the Angel
did Habakkuk to Daniel, and as Philip the deacon was carried away by the
Spirit, when he had baptised the eunuch; so did Pythagoras and Apollonius
remove themselves and others, with many such feats) that they can represent
castles in the air, palaces, armies, spectrums, prodigies, and such strange
objects to mortal men's eyes, [1132]cause smells, savours, &c., deceive all
the senses; most writers of this subject credibly believe; and that they
can foretell future events, and do many strange miracles. Juno's image
spake to Camillus, and Fortune's statue to the Roman matrons, with many
such. Zanchius, Bodine, Spondanus, and others, are of opinion that they
cause a true metamorphosis, as Nebuchadnezzar was really translated into a
beast, Lot's wife into a pillar of salt; Ulysses' companions into hogs and
dogs, by Circe's charms; turn themselves and others, as they do witches
into cats, dogs, hares, crows, &c. Strozzius Cicogna hath many examples,
_lib. iii. omnif. mag. cap. 4 and 5_, which he there confutes, as Austin
likewise doth, _de civ. Dei lib. xviii_. That they can be seen when and in
what shape, and to whom they will, saith Psellus, _Tametsi nil tale
viderim, nec optem videre_, though he himself never saw them nor desired
it; and use sometimes carnal copulation (as elsewhere I shall [1133]prove
more at large) with women and men. Many will not believe they can be seen,
and if any man sha