On this page

• Text (2)

  Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

  • 

    Septembeb 23, 1854.] THE LEADER. 905

  • 

    ENNEMOSER'S HISTORY OF MA.GIC. The Bisto...

• Transcript

  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

    Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

    A New Traveller In" Africa. Life And Lan...

    Central African secret ? The fact that stronger , braver , and bolder pen had failed , was © ne lure the more , Happily for me , perhaps , rny object on commencing the voyage had been rest and recreation , not exploration . Had I been provided with the necessary means and scientific appliances for making such an attempt useful , it would have been impossible to turnback at that point . " I climbed to the masthead and . looked to the south , where the forest archipelago , divided by glittering reaches of water , wove its labyrinth in the distance . I thought I saw—but it may have been fancy—beyond the leafy crown of the farthest isles , the faint blue horizon of that sea of water and grass , where tlie palm again appears and the lotus fringes the shores . A few hours of the strong north wind , now blowing in our faces , would have taken me there , but I gave myself up to / ate and a pipe , which latter immediately suggested to me that though I was leaving the gorgeous heart of Africa , I was going back to civilisation , and home . " Por Mr . Taylors adventures on his homeward journey we must refer our readers to his volume . We have quoted largely from its but have not exhausted a tenth part of the Tarious attractions which its pages offer to the '' stay-at-home traveller . " The book—especially towards the latter part of it—is full of fresh and genuine interest . Need we say more in its favour during such a dull publishing- season as this ?

    Septembeb 23, 1854.] The Leader. 905

    Septembeb 23 , 1854 . ] THE LEADER . 905

    Ennemoser's History Of Ma.Gic. The Bisto...

    ENNEMOSER'S HISTORY OF MA . GIC . The Bistorij of Magic . By Joseph . Ennemoser . Translated from the German by William Howitt . Bohn . The title and subject of this book , when it was first announced , at once attracted us . We opened it eagerly , and very soon found that of all the expectations we hrd formed from it hardly one was to be fulfilled . So far as the English public are concerned , the History of Magic remains to be written . No exceptions can be taken to the learning and industry of Ennemoser , or to Jiis earnest desire to pursue his subject to its utmost limits . He does his best in his first volume , for example , to teach us about Magic in general a . nd Magic in particular among alt the ancient nations . The Mythos , the Gabbalah , Tuinah , Primal Truth , the Prevalent Divine Idea , the Infected Imaginations of the Xapps , the Yoluspa , the Kypbi , the

    Magnetic ; Nature of Aristides , and the Divine Dream of the Soul— -are a few of the occult matters with which Ennemoser would appear to be perfectly familiar ; but his misfortune is , that he cannot instruct his readers as successfully as he lias instructed himself . The one fatal objection that we have to make to tins book is ^ that it is for the most part simply incomprehensible . Ennemoser seems to us to be too much of a philosopher and mystic , and too little of a poet and man of the -world for his subject . He will dive and speculate profoundly , in many places , where he would be much more useful if he kept on the surface , and narrated picturesquely . Whether the translator is to blame or not we cannot say ; but the present History _ of Magic presents the curious anomaly of a mystic subject so mystically written about , that instead of instructing the general reader , it is calculated , in innumerable instances , to render itself absolutely and literally incomprehensible to him .

    In proof of this assertion , let us , before we go any farther , select an example or two , from the first volume , of the " unknown tongue , " in -which the historian of IVIagic speaks for the benefit of the English public . Will the ladies oblige us by paying particular attention , to the teaching of the Cabbalah ( or book of patriarchal traditions ) on -the subject of women , as expounded by Molitor , quoted by Ennemoser , and translated by Howitt ?—" Woman is man reversed , his mirrored image : while lie is a self-acting principle , productively striving outwards , and ever seeking the universal , the infinite , the lvomtui is the negative principle , acting from without inwards , from the circumference to the centre , receptive , ready from man ' s expansive energy to reduce concrete forms . "

    If Mr . Mohtor who wrote that sentence , Mr . Ennemoser who copied it , Mr . Howitt who translated it , Mrs . Howitt who edited it , and Mr , Bohn who published it , all laid their heads together , and tried to explain what it really meant , would they succeed in the effort ? We venture to thiulc not . Here is a sentence of Ennemoser's own , on " Spiritual Appearances , " which begins a paragraph , and the meaning of which , to our limited capacity , lies a little too much concealed under an atmosphere of metaphysical fog : " If the supernatural aud suner-rruiteriul may be reflected upon the ensouled vital powers from an unmeasured distance ( ltnagiwUio passiva ) , and therefore influences may take place between the mind and body , of which , however , the soul Ims no distinct consciousness , then is the direct mental influence and activity undeniable ; for that which is spiritual is not separatoly spiritual , and all the wonders of the world of spirits axe in the end resolved into ¦ wonders « f our own minds . " Here , again , are some remarks about magic and sorcery , which will appear assuredly , to nine readers out often , to be mere jargon of the most unintelligible kind : —

    " As light precedes the shadow , magic precedes sorcery ; tho abuse proceeds from the use —error marches side by side with truth . Without tho curlier magic of instinctive clairvoyanco , and the acting : vitality of tho mind , sorcery would not have boon discovered . Tho symbols -which ecstatic clairvoyance liad imparted in tho mythology were not explicable to all , and their significntion may be investigated from various directions . If through tho clairvoyance , as wo see in miignotiain , which was methodically pmoticed in tho wuculnr temples , tho powers of nature were discovered and known in their various activity , therefore tlie suppoMJtion is not without foundation that tho secrets of tho temple consisted in magical knowledge , and in tli « practice of those powers of nature , which , being intimately connected with the religious customs , must also have bean comprehended by mythology . "

    Wo might quote pages and pages of such metaphysical slip-slop as this from every part of tho first volume alone . But proof enough has been produced to support our * assertion that the book is written in such a clumsy , involved , ana unintelligible style , that it will ropol the general reador , weary tho student , and irritate the critic . We ourselves have in many places been so bewildered by the obscurities of tho author ' s own style , and by tho yet denser darkness oC tho quotations which ovurahudow his pages in all directions , that wo are really quite unable to say what his opinions are in relation to numy of tho most , important topics which ho discusses ( and mystifies ) in these volumes . " What can Ennomoscr possibly bo driving at ? " has boon almost tho only mental quoation we have proposed to ourselves while labouring , ia tho rcadea- 'a Bcrvieo , through the History of Magic . _ Although thcauthor linn thus failed as to tho first great ruc | uisito of expressing himself clearly and satisfactorily , although he k either too profoundly learned , or too naturally prosaic in temperament to soissc on the poetical aspects oi his subject , and io present them picturesquely and iinpveHsively to the minds

    The usual means of plants and their j uices , of stones , & c ., might be used for particular cases ; but , to eradicate deeply-rooted diseases , a young and fresh life was necessary . Especially , pure virgins and young children were supposed able to free persons from diseases by their breath , and « ven by their blood . The patient was to be breathed upon by them and sprinkled with their blood : to have bathed in the blood would have been better , could it have been possible . History supplies us with many remarkable instances of restoration to health , either by living with healthy persons , or by being breathed upon by them . One of the most remarkable is recorded in the Bible , of King David ( I . Kings , i . 1-4)— " Now King David was old and stricken in years , and they covered him with domes , but he got no heat . Wherefore his servants said unto him , * Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin , and let her stand before the king , and let her cherish him , and let her lie in thy bosom , that my lard the king may get heat . '"

    of others , his book has nevertheless its readable and interesting pages here and there—for those who will be careful and patient enough to * search ' them out . Many a quaint scrap of antiquarian information , many a curious and striking relic of the superstition of past times , may be discovered—by Ion <* looking certainly—among the dreary pages of these volumes . These ane <> dotes , for instance , of an absurd and cruel medical superstition , which was current in the time of King David , and seems to have lasted till the time of Boerhaave , are very curious : — In ancient times there was a universally accepted belief , that living together and breathing upon any person produced bad as well as good effects , and restored an undermined constitution , practised by a healthy person .

    " So they sought for a damsel throughout all the coasts of Israel , and found Abishag , a Sbunatnmite , and brought her to the king . " Bacon makes the remark in his work " De vitse et mortis historia , " that the girl probably rubbed the king with myrrh , and other balsamic substances , according to the custom of the Persian maidens . Pliny recommends breathing on the forehead as a remedy ( Hist , nat ., p . 28 , c . 6 ) . Galen reckons among the most certain outward remedies for bodily weakness , young persons , who were laid on . the bed so as to cover the body of the sufferer ( Method , med . lib . vii . ) Hyginus ( De sanitate tuenda ) is also of tlie same opinion ; and Virgil says : — " Et dedit amplexuss atque oscula dulcia fixit , Occultilm inspirans ignem . " JEneid . lib . I .

    Remhart , in his " Bibelkrankheiten des alten Testaments , " calls living with the young tho restoration of the old . Partholin ( De nttorbis bibliis , c . ix . ) says the same ^ a nd tnat it is a preventive to the chilliness of old age , and by the breath restores much of the expired physical powers . Rudolph of Hapsburg is said , according to Serar ' s account , when very old and decrepit , to have been accustomed to kiss , in the presence of their relations , the daughters and ;\ viyes of princely , ducal , and noble personages , and to have derived strength and renovation from their breath . The Emperor Frederick Barbarossa , near the end of his life , was advised , by a Jewish physician , to have young and healthy boys laid across his stomach , instead of using fomentations . Johannes Daniasc « nus , or Babbi Moses ( Aphor ism . 30 ) , relates , that for lameness and gout nptLing better could be applied than a young-girl laid across the affected part . Eeinhart says , " Young dogs are also of great service , which we physicians lay , in certain cases , upon tlie abdomen of the patient . " Pomponatius ( Do natnnilium effectum admirand ., & e ., p . 41 ) says , " The presence and the breath of young people is a good physic . " Amplexus ado 3 escentium boni anhelitfis est medicina temperata . The story of Luc . Clddius Hermippus is well known , who reached a very great age by being continually breathed upon by young girls . Kohausen records an inscription which was discovered at Rome by an antiquary , by name Gornar . It was cut in marble , and runs as follows : —

    "To iEsculapius and Health this is erected by L . Clodius Henriippus , who by the bieath of young girls lived 115 years aud 5 days , at which plvysicians were no little surprised . Successive generations , lead such a life !" ( In Hermippo redivivo , sive Exereit . physic , med . curiosa de methodo rara ad cxv . amnos prorogandas senectutjs : per anhelitum puollarum . —Francof . 1742 . ) Borelli and Hoffman caused their patients to sleep with animals , to relieve violent pain

    or obstinate disease . 1 ho great Boertutave ordered an Amsterdam burgomaster to sleep between two boys , and declared that tlie patient visibly increased in cheerfulness and physical power . Hufclaiid says , in his " Art of Lengthening Human Life , " " And certainly , when we consider how efficacious for lameness are freshly opened animals , or the laying of n , living animal upon any painful affection , we must feel convinced that these methods are not to be thrown iwide . " Among tlie Greeks and Romans much virtue was ascribed to tho breath . ; and the old French poets praise the pure breath of virgins as very beneficial . What became of the wretched boys , girls , and dogs who were used as so much physic by these atrocious old people ? Did the miserable youngsters survive or not ? What was the condition of Abishag after she had done keeping King David warm ?

    Ennemosor is more intelligible than usual m writing on the testimony offered by the language of the Bible to the existence of magnetic ( or mesmeric ) power , and to the knowledge of tho secrets of magnetic practice , among the ancient Egyptians and the Jews . Our orthodox readers , who believe in " verbal inspiration , " ought to bo particularly interested in the following passage : — Tho Jews who lived so long among the Egyptians , or at loust in Egypt , are hero the most reliable historians ; and Mosea , 5 ii sacred writ , is descr ibed as a mtin "learned in all tho wisdom of tho Egyptians . " We find in tho Biblo expressions and accounts , which indicate the hand as tho mugjeal organ , not only metaphorically , but in a direct manner , and moreover -with tho same views which have , been deduced irom magnetism . ITor by the hnnd magnetic power is imparted , and somnambulism artificially produced , cither by immediate contact wtth tho hands , or by tho approximation of the hands and the lingers , or only one finger . Wo find passages in tho Bible which give tho same destination tho same effect , oven tho same direction to the hand—namely , th « t by tho touch of the hand visions m » d tho

    power of prophecy are produced , when God desired to inspire a prophet , what expression do wo lind made uao of?—This , "The hand of the Lord camo upon him , and ho oaiv and prophesied . " 'When EHslm was asked by tho Kings of Israel and Judith concerning the war with tho Monbites . ho culled a minstrel , " And it came to puss , when tho minstrel played , thut tho hnml of the Lord cut no upon him . And ho said , Thus saith tho Lord , " & c . We find similar expressions in tho Psnnns ., in Ezokiol , & c .: " The . word of tho Lord oiune exprcsHly unto Kxekiel , tho prietit , tho avn of liuzi , in tho hind of tho ChuldivanH by lha rivor Ohobwr ; and tho hand of the Lord wub there upon him . " Ezekiol i . i ) . —" Now tho hand of the Lord was upon me 5 n tho evening , aforo no that was escaped came ; ami hat ! opened my mouth , until ho enmo to mo in the mowing j and my mouth was opouuil and I vrus no nioro dumb . " ( Eaekicl xxxiii . 22 . )— " In the ii'vo und twentieth your of our cuptivity , in tho boginniug of the year , & c , tho hand of tho Lord was upon mo and brought »> o tluthor j iu tho visions « f God brought ho me into tlio lund of Iurnul , mid not mo on a vary higU mountain . " CEaoUiol xl . 1 . ) Wherefore montion horo tho hitnd of tlio Lord ? Uo < l Ims not human hnudul Tho UUile , thordoro , cvulojitly indicates iho diyino not by tlio niOrtns common among mon when any ono wtis to bo thrown into ooaUisy iiiui hIioum propnesy . There arc many other riinllur piwwigoa in lito Ulblo aonoormirg tlw unportunoo of tho liundn in producing visioim and Awtuay , mh well «» Uw '"" K ^' nifluonco oi the hmid Generally . Tlio laying mi of hands w «« * oiwtonmrv on judiiy ocohbioiib , and the « by the « oininu » icntlo » of a certain power wu » Hitfi . illwl , although » uoh power wiw not tiu . Wo or visible . It b mill cuatoumry in roligiou * cowimwiiw , «» d was uaod in bestowing a bono-

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 23, 1854, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_23091854/page/17/