Art of the Devil. Arturo Graf
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contrary to the opinion of others, who make of them three distinct devils not possessing equal powers.
Orders of devils are spoken of in the so-called Book of Enoch, which antedates Christianity; and they are spoken of, later, in the New Testament. Saint Thomas makes express mention of higher and of lower devils, and of systematically established ranks among them; without, however, entering into details on the subject. But such reserve, though it might well become theologians in general, did not at all suit those who were especially classed as demonographers or those who gave attention to the study and practice of magic. For all these, it was of the utmost importance to become thoroughly acquainted with the diabolic hierarchy and, at the same time, with the condition and the activities of each rank included therein – nay, as far as might be possible, with those of each individual demon. Furthermore, the principles of their organisation were not understood in the same way by all; and while some of the Fathers thought that their rank was determined according to the various kinds of sins that the demons fostered, others believed that this was done according to their degree of power and method of action.
Dante calls Lucifer the “Emperor of the Doleful Realm”;[31] for him, the universe is symmetrically divided into three great monarchies: the celestial, above; the infernal, below; and the human, midway between the two. But this conception of a Satanic kingdom is not peculiar to Dante, or even to the Middle Ages, though in the Middle Ages it attains its greatest degree of fullness and precision. This idea is already found in the Gospels and in the writings of certain Fathers; hence, the custom of attributing to Lucifer, as symbols of his power, the sceptre, the crown and the sword. In more than one ascetic legend, Satan appears seated on a throne, surrounded with royal pomp and accompanied by a great throng of ministers and satellites. And some even went so far in this fantasy as to imagine a Satanic court, similar in all respects to the courts of the great princes of the earth. In the magic book of Johannes Faustus, that Faust whose fearful history furnished the theme for Goethe’s masterpiece, we read that the king of Hell is Lucifer, that Belial is viceroy, that Satan, Beelzebub, Ashtoreth and Pluto are governors, that Mephistopheles and six others are princes, and that in Lucifer’s court are found five ministers, a secretary and twelve familiar spirits. In other books on magic and demonology, note is made of infernal dukes, marquises and counts; and in connection with each one, we are told very definitely how many legions of devils he has under his orders.
Legions and chiefs constitute an army. The demons were, by their very nature, militant spirits; and their military organisation is opposed to the military organisation of Heaven. What wonder, then, that such an organisation should be imagined as in every respect like to the military organisations of earth? In the legend of the blessed Mary of Antioch, we see, at dead of night, the king of the demons pass by in his chariot, surrounded and followed by a countless host of horsemen. Peter the Venerable (died in 1156) tells of an immense throng of diabolic warriors, armed at all points, that passed one night through a certain forest. And how many times have the armed legions been seen flying, like storm clouds, across the sky?
William Blake, Plate 5, from Europe: A Prophecy, 1793. Relief etching, colour wash. The British Museum, London, United Kingdom.
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Vrubel, Flying Demon, c. 1899. Oil on canvas, 158.5 × 430.5 cm. Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.
Anonymous, Man with Seven Devils,extract from the Book of the Seven Deadly Sins, 15th century. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, France.
If Hell was a kingdom and if Satan, as king, had his court, it will not appear strange that in such a court councils should be held, measures discussed, and judgments and sentences pronounced; or that, from time to time, Satan, desirous of relaxation, should depart with a portion of his followers for some mad chase through the forests of the earth, uprooting in his course the age-old trees, and scattering about him terror and death. With less fury, but not always with less damage, was the chase followed in those days by princes of flesh and blood. As king, Satan claimed the homage of all who acknowledged him.
Concerning the knowledge of the demons, the theologians are not always in agreement; however, it is admitted by all that after the fall their intellects were darkened, so that, even though they greatly surpass the human intellect, they are far inferior to those of the angels. The demons know things past and present, even the most hidden ones; but present things God can always conceal from them, if he so desires. Some of the Fathers declared that Satan was ignorant of many things concerning Christ and the mystery of his incarnation; or, in a word, that he did not recognise in Christ the God become man. Such ignorance cost him dear; for, by furthering the unjust death of Christ, he opened the way for the work of redemption, and thus brought about his own ruin. In fact, in the Gospel of Matthew, Satan says to Christ: “If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread”[32] – words which show that he has no clear understanding of him whom he is tempting.
The demons are acquainted with all the secrets of nature; but are they equally well acquainted with those of the human mind? Can they penetrate the inmost recesses of our consciousness and spy upon our thoughts and our affections? On this point, also, opinions are divided. It has seemed to some that if such a faculty had been granted to the demons, man would be altogether at their mercy, and without any possible defence against suggestions and temptations. And in truth, granted that I have full and sure knowledge of a man’s mind, then, if my wit aid me a little, I can govern him at my pleasure. Many, therefore, affirmed that the demons cannot see the human mind, but conjecture, from outward signs, what is going on within it; thus doing, though with greater accuracy, what a mere human being can do. Others, in their turn, thought that the demons could read in our minds as in an open book; and of this opinion is that prince of theologians, Saint Thomas Aquinas. Still others adopted a middle course.
Thus, Honorius Augustodunensis (died after 1130) declares that the demons know men’s evil thoughts but not their good ones. It is a fact that more than one unfortunate exorcist, while putting forth every effort to drive the devil out of the body of a possessed person, suffered the mortification of hearing the fiend recite coram populo the entire list of his own most secret sins, including those of thought.
Do the devils know the future? Another puzzling question! The majority of theologians denied this, and rightly; for if they know the future, as they know the present and the past, in what way does their knowledge differ at all from that of God? And how can God suffer the devils to know beforehand all that He is to do throughout the ages of eternity? Such knowledge as this they could not have possessed, even before their banishment from Heaven; for had they possessed it, knowing what was bound to be the outcome of their rebellion, they would never have rebelled. Indeed, it is said that not even the good angels have direct knowledge of the future, but know it only in so far as they read it in the mind of God, and in so far as God permits them to read it. However, even on this point, there is a way to conciliate conflicting opinions. Origen would have it that the demons conjectured the future from the aspects and movements of the heavenly bodies; an opinion, to my mind, not altogether consistent with that of Lactantius (about 300), who made astrology itself an invention of the demons. Saint Augustine believed that the devils did not know the future through direct vision, but that by virtue of a faculty that they possess of moving from place to place with lightning speed, and because of the acuteness of their senses and their intellect, they were able to surmise it, imagine it or divine it. Saint Bonaventure (1221–1274) affirmed that they did not know those future things that are contingent, but that they did know those that follow fixed laws; for the demons had a very complete knowledge of the course of nature.
The devils, then, knew by heart all the sciences: and it is probably for this reason that, whenever a man of science has revealed some great truth to his fellows, the Church has never failed to cry: “To the Devil with him!” and to burn him alive if it could. Dante denies that the devils can philosophise; “for love, in them, is altogether extinguished; and to philosophise, love is necessary”.[33] This does not prevent Dante, however,
Matthew iv, 3.