What superstition is

Sins may be committed against the virtue of religion by excess or by defect in the same way as against other moral virtues. Sins against religion by excess come under the general term of superstition, of which there are several species. For the sin of superstition may be committed by worshipping the true God in the wrong way or by worshipping false gods. We will first briefly treat of the wrong ways of worshipping the true God, and afterwards of worship paid to false gods.

Superstition.—Superstition is false religion, or a vice that offers improper worship to the true God or divine worship to a false god. Improper worship of the true God is either false or superfluous.

(a) False worship is opposed to the truth of religion (e.g., Old Testament rites which signify that Christ is still to come), or of rites (e.g., Mass by a layman, Mass according to a form disapproved by the Church), or of facts (e.g., fictitious revelations, ecstasies, mysticism, miracles, relies), or of morals (e.g., human sacrifice, praises of God to the accompaniment of lascivious words or music, etc.).

(b) Superfluous worship is offered when an external observance in no way serves the purposes of religion (viz., the glory of God, the elevation of the soul to Him, the repression of the passions), or is opposed to law or common custom. The purposes of religion are not served by actions foolish in themselves (e.g., the repeated mumbling of meaningless sounds) or in their intent (e.g., undue emphasis given to minor details of a religious act, such as color of the candles on the altar, the stature of the celebrant, the hour or condition of the weather, etc., as if weighty consequences depended on them). The chain prayer is another example of a superstition that places all the virtue of an act of worship in some small external circumstance. The law and custom are not followed in such superstitions as additional crosses, alleluias, credos, etc., made in violation of Mass rubrics, or a devotion consisting of fasts on Sundays, or new forms of piety that lack ecclesiastical approval. There is no superstition, however, in modes of worship approved by the Church (such as novenas, tridua, Gregorian Masses, and the like), for the Church recognizes no devotion or ceremony unless it is true and useful as an expression of religion.

The Sinfulness of Improper Worship of God.—(a) False worship is from its nature a grave sin; it is seriously insulting to God because it offers Him dishonor as honor, and it is also seriously harmful to man because it casts discredit by its falsity on the name of religion. (b) Superfluous worship is from its nature a venial sin, since it contains no notable irreverence towards God and, being outlawed, does not reflect on religion. Accidentally, however, it may be a mortal sin, as when it is performed in such a way as to cause great scandal.

Worship of False Deity.—Worship of a false deity is performed by offering a creature an act of homage due to God alone. Hence, there are three species of this superstition: (a) a creature is recognized as God, when it is offered a service (such as sacrifice) that testifies to supreme and infinite excellence (idolatry); (b) a creature is given the credit of divine knowledge, when instruction about hidden matters which only God could bestow is asked from it (divination), (c) a creature is treated as the supreme ruler, when assistance which only God can grant is sought from it (vain observance).

General notion. Superstition is false religion, i.e., a vicious worship of the true God, or worship rendered to a false Deity or to a creature to whom it could not be exhibited. Hence it is of a twofold genus. Superstition of the former genus sins in the mode, the other in the term to be honored.

501. Notion. Superstition⁷³⁸ is "a vice rendering divine worship either to one to whom it ought not, or in a manner in which it ought not." Thus St. Thomas.⁷³⁹ This definition indeed becomes clearer if one attends to the diverse species of superstition.

There are two species of superstition, which, however, again admit several subdivisions.

1. The first species of superstition is the undue worship of the true Divinity, or God. In this superstition, therefore, the true God is indeed worshiped, but with a worship and in a manner unsuitable and contrary to the custom and law of the Church. This species of superstition is carried out in two ways, namely, a) through false or pernicious worship; b) through superfluous worship.

a) False worship of the true God can be carried out in diverse ways, for example, if someone wishes to worship God with Jewish ceremonies which signify Christ as still to come, such as by eating the paschal lamb, circumcision, etc.; if someone who is not a priest presumes to celebrate Mass or absolve from sins; if someone proposes false miracles or false revelations to confirm the faith; if someone exhibits false relics for the veneration of the faithful. This superstition of false worship is from its genus a grave sin, because it inflicts a grave injury and irreverence upon God, the First Truth; but it admits slightness of matter. Thus, for example, a preacher who knowingly narrates certain exaggerations in a miraculous story, or even one who invents an entire story in order to move the people more strongly toward a good work, sins only venially, both because this does not greatly prejudice true religion, at least if the falsity is not discovered, and because the falsity itself is not employed immediately for worshiping God.⁷⁴⁰ Nevertheless, such narratives (which are sometimes called pious lies) are to be avoided altogether, since it is utterly unbecoming that a preacher of truth should lie even in a small matter.

b) Superfluous worship of the true God is that which is not suited to the end of religion. Now the end of religion is that man give glory to God, to whom he subjects himself in mind and body. Hence, "if there is something which, so far as it is in itself, does not pertain to the glory of God, nor to this, that the mind of man be borne toward God, or that the concupiscence of the flesh be moderately restrained; or even if it is outside the institution of God and the Church, or contrary to common custom, ... all this is to be accounted superfluous and superstitious, because, consisting only in externals, it does not pertain to the interior worship of God."⁷⁴¹ Such superfluous worship is, for example, to wish to pray with a fixed number, arrangement, or color of candles; to wish to hear the Mass of a certain priest who is named Peter; and six hundred other modes of vain worship.⁷⁴² The superstition of superfluous worship is from its genus a venial sin, because the matter is light and the action is not evil in itself. The good faith and simplicity of the agent sometimes excuse altogether from every sin; on the contrary, because of scandal, contempt of the Church, or the agent's evil intention, this superstition can become a mortal sin. Those modes of worshiping God which are approved by the Church, however, such as novena devotions, tridua, Gregorian Masses, etc., are free from every stain of superstition.

2. The second species of superstition is the worship of a false divinity, or divine worship rendered to some creature and especially to the devil. It is subdivided into three species, namely, idolatry, divination, and vain observance, to which magic and malefice are reduced. Each of these must now be treated individually.

⁷³⁸ Aberglaube, δεισιδαιμονία. Authors do not agree concerning the etymology of the word superstition. Some derive this name from superstare, because superstition stands above or outside true worship; others think that this name is taken from the word superstes, because superstition is a surviving part of paganism. Cf. Wirthmüller, Die moralische Tugend der Religion § 87.

⁷³⁹ S. theol. 2, 2, q. 92, a. 1.

⁷⁴⁰ Thus Noldin, De praeceptis n. 149.

⁷⁴¹ S. theol. 2, 2, q. 93, a. 2.

⁷⁴² Cf. Council of Trent, sess. 22, De observandis et evitandis in celebratione Missae; cf. also the constitution Officiorum ac munerum of Leo XIII, n. 13.

S. Th. II-II, q. 92.

770. Superstition (bijgeloovigheid) is said from that which stands over, and therefore etymologically signifies every excess; but chiefly in the most excellent matter, namely, religion. Whence it is religion observed beyond measure. It is opposed to religion by excess, not indeed according to quantity, as if it exhibited more in divine worship than true religion, or as if God could be worshiped sufficiently or too much, or with greater honor than He is worthy of, for however much man worships, it is less than is owed to Him; but according to the object of worship or the mode of worshiping, and therefore it is defined: a vice exhibiting divine worship either to one to whom it ought not, or in a mode in which it ought not (a. 1).

This consequently contains two species: for divine worship can be exhibited 1. to Him to whom it is to be exhibited, namely, the true God, but in an undue mode, and this is undue worship of the true God; or 2. it can be exhibited to him to whom it ought not, namely, to a creature, and then it is worship of an undue thing. This in turn is threefold in species: for divine worship is directly ordered a) to exhibiting reverence to God (by sacrifice, vow, oblation), and therefore the first species of worship of a false deity is idolatry, which exhibits divine reverence to a creature; it is directly ordered b) to this, that man be instructed by God (by prayer, meditation, reading), and therefore the second species is divination, which seeks instruction from a demon; it is directly ordered c) to the direction of human acts (by sacraments, blessings, feasts) according to the institutions of God, and therefore the third species is vain observance, which seeks direction and assistance from a demon for obtaining certain effects, to which magic is reduced, by which someone seeks marvelous things (a. 2).

I. Superstition is described by St. Thomas (II-II, q. 92, art. 1) in these words: "Superstition is a vice opposed to religion by way of excess — not because it renders more than true religion does, but because it renders divine worship either to one to whom it is not owed, or in a manner in which it is not owed." All this is clear enough.

II. The Angelic Doctor first divides superstition into two species (loc. cit., art. 2). One is named from the undue manner of worshipping God; the other from the object which is worshipped. The first offers to God the worship owed him, but in an undue manner; the second offers to a creature the worship owed to God. The species of superstition are therefore differentiated, first by manner, and second by object. "For divine worship can be offered either to him to whom it should be offered — namely, the true God — but in an undue manner (and this is the first species of superstition); or to one to whom it should not be offered at all — namely, any creature whatsoever (and this is another kind of superstition, which is divided into many species according to the different ends of the divine cult)." The Angelic Doctor further divides this first kind — superstition of undue manner — into further subspecies (q. 93, art. 1): the first of these is false, or pernicious, in that a false and pernicious worship is rendered to God on account of the thing signified — as if someone were to worship God now with the ceremonies proper to false gods, or intended to confirm the Catholic faith by false miracles, or offered shameful sacrifices in divine rites; and it is pernicious also by reason of the worshipper's intention — as if someone were to pretend to be a priest of the Church, to whom a false worship would then be attributed. This can occur not only in public, but in private as well. Cajetan, in his commentary on this article, gives examples drawn from fasting and prayer: as if someone fasted on a Sunday contrary to the Church's practice, or prayed in such a purely private a manner as to have no regard at all to the Church — since the precept of praying in the person of the Church has been laid down by the Lord himself: "You shall pray: Our Father... Give us this day our bread... Forgive us..." Whoever, then, offered this prayer to God for himself alone would worship God with a false worship. This, however, is to be understood only in the sense that one positively intended to exclude the rest of the faithful from a share in that prayer; or intended to fast on a Sunday with no regard whatsoever for ecclesiastical discipline, but simply to institute a private rite of his own. No one, however, would be guilty of any superstition who, moved by a spirit of penance, fasted on Sundays — not to introduce some private discipline, but to bring the flesh more firmly into subjection to the spirit, and to pay the penalties owed for his sins; likewise one who offered the Lord's Prayer to God for himself, without any intention of excluding his other brethren.

III. The other species of superstition, arising from an undue manner of worshipping God, occurs when a superfluous worship is rendered to God, as the same Angelic Doctor adds: "But if there be something which, considered in itself, contributes nothing to God's glory, nor helps the mind of man to be directed toward God, nor serves to restrain the disordered concupiscence of the flesh; or again, if it falls outside what God and the Church have instituted, or is contrary to the common custom which, according to Augustine, is to be held as law — all this is to be reckoned superfluous and superstitious; for, consisting only in externals, it does not pertain to the interior worship of God. Whence Augustine, in his book On True Religion, cites the text of Luke 17, 'The kingdom of God is within you,' against the superstitious — that is, against those who devote their principal care to externals" (II-II, q. 93, art. 1). Thus one who devised for himself, at his own whim, certain particular ways of praying — wishing, say, to pray only after sunrise, or to hear Mass only from a priest named Anthony and no other, or with just so many candles, no more and no fewer, or of one color and no other; or who, setting aside the ceremonies established by the Church, invented others for himself — would be guilty of superstition; nor would it help him to plead that his intention in arranging all this was directed to his own spiritual profit, since an external worship contrary to the Church's ordinances is vicious in itself, and therefore cannot be cleared of the fault of superstition by any intention whatsoever. Ignorance, however — especially in lighter matters, when joined to a good intention — can, in my own opinion, serve as an excuse from fault.

IV. The second species of superstition, arising on the side of the object worshipped, occurs, says St. Thomas (II-II, q. 92, art. 2), when worship is rendered "to one to whom it should not be rendered — namely, to any creature whatsoever: this is another kind of superstition, which is divided into many species according to the different ends of divine worship." If a worship instituted for divine reverence is offered to a creature, it is called idolatry. In another way, divine worship is instituted so that man may be instructed by the God he worships; and if, spurning God, he consults demons instead, having entered into some tacit or explicit pact with them, this constitutes a second species of superstition regarding the object worshipped, which is called divination. A third species of the same superstition, again regarding the object worshipped, occurs when the divine worship that is meant to guide human acts according to the ordinances of the God who is worshipped is instead offered to a demon, from whom aid is sought — and this is called vain observance. These three, says the Angelic Doctor, are touched upon by Augustine (Bk. II, On Christian Doctrine), where he says that superstitious is whatever has been instituted by men pertaining to the making and worshipping of idols — which pertains to the first; and afterward he adds: "or to consultations and pacts concerning meaning agreed upon and struck with demons" — which pertains to the second; and a little further on he adds: "To this class belong all amulets and remedies of this kind" — which pertains to the third.

V. Question I. As is clear from what has been said, there are two genera of superstition: one regarding the manner of worshipping God, the other regarding the object worshipped. It is the first genus of superstition that concerns us here. And first we say that to render to God a false worship — whether by reason of the thing signified, or by reason of the worshipper — is by its nature a mortal sin; since a pernicious falsehood in a grave matter is a mortal sin. Now superstition is a pernicious falsehood in a grave matter — namely, in the matter of religion — to which it does grave injury. It is therefore, by its very kind, a grave sin. So hold Cajetan (on II-II, q. 93, art. 1), Suárez (Vol. I, On Religion, tract. 3, Bk. 3, ch. 11), the theologians of Salamanca (tract. 21, ch. 11, punct. 1), and Leander (tract. 9, disp. 1, q. 4). Hence those would sin mortally who sacrificed a calf to God, kept the Sabbath, or circumcised themselves according to the rite of the Mosaic law.

VI. Question II. Is it a grave sin to mix profane and shameful things into divine offices? Response: All affirm that this is a sin of undue worship — a superstition — which is false with respect to the worshipper, and altogether contrary to the end of divine worship. For divine worship aims at raising and moving hearts toward heavenly things; whereas shameful and profane things incite toward carnal ones. It should be noted, however, that if the things mixed in carry no shameful character, but are merely vain and not sacred, they are not therefore immediately to be condemned as a mortal fault — though they are never free of venial fault. I would add, moreover, that those are not in slight danger who recite the divine praises, or even the most sacred Passion itself, with a musical and profane style of chant, in churches, during the very sacred week of the Lord's Passion, declaiming from the pulpit and courting and stirring up the applause of a frenzied crowd. What a sacrilegious practice! Has the state of our religion come to this — that our most sacred mysteries should be celebrated with a profane rite, merely to soothe the ears and tickle the senses of the common rabble, together with play-actors? What, indeed, has the Church to do with theaters, and with actors? But of this, elsewhere.

VII. Question III. Does one who proposes false relics for adoration, or preaches fabricated miracles, sin mortally? Response: All affirm that this is a most grave crime of superstition, since it does grave injury to the faith and to religion; nor does a pious intention of increasing devotion remove the guilt of this crime. For the worship of religion is diminished, not increased, by needing to be propped up by such fabrications — whether feigned miracles or false relics.

VIII. Question IV. Is it a mortal sin to abstain from meat, and to fast, on a Sunday? Response: [Some] condemn as superstitious those who abstain [from meat on Sundays, provided they attach] no [further superstition to the practice, and] defend such a fasting-custom; Leander (tract. 9, disp. 1, q. 9) commends this view, along with other supporters of it, and teaches that fasting on a Sunday is no sin at all. The former, absolute view, however, [that it is always sinful] is [rejected] — as is proved by the experience of several sacred Orders, which abstain from meat perpetually. Far from condemning this practice as superstitious, the Church rather approves and commends it as a form of penance. It is the intention of those who fast that must be examined. The fasting of the Manichees, appointed for Sundays, was tainted with superstition, because it was instituted in contempt of the Lord's Resurrection. But those who fast in order to restrain the flesh and unbridled desires do not show contempt for, but rather honor, the Church's discipline. Hence one who spent Sundays in fasting with this intention of mortifying the flesh would sin neither mortally nor venially — especially since the Manichaean heresy is now extinct, and so there is no occasion for scandal. It is, nevertheless, more advisable to conform oneself to the Church's own practice, and to abstain from fasting on these days, unless some particular reason presses otherwise — as it does press upon those bound by vow or by law to abstain from meat even on these very days. From this you may gather that the superstition of a superfluous worship can be either mortal or venial, according to the gravity of the matter and the intention of the one performing it. For when a superfluous worship is offered to the true God with a pious mind, no grave injury is done to religious worship, scandal being absent. The magnitude of the fault, therefore, is to be gathered from these circumstances.

SUPERSTITION is defined by D. Bonaventure in 4. d. 13. dub. 4. and D. Thomas 2. 2. quaest. 92. art. 1. A false religion, or a vicious cult, and a superfluous institution of the cult of a true or false deity, and thus also Lessius lib. 2. de Iustitia, cap. 43. d. 1. Sanchez Tom. 1. Decal. lib. 2. cap. 37. Fagundez on the first precept of the Decal. lib. 1. cap. 34. Tanner d. 5. de Religione, quaest. 7. d. 1.

OF THIS there are three species: Idolatry, divinatory Superstition, and Superstition of vain observances.

OF Idolatry I have treated sufficiently on faith, disput. 2. quaest. 1. et seqq.

AS TO divination, it is a superstitious foretelling of things to come, or an investigation, or manifestation of hidden things through means adverse to Religion. Thus define it D. Bonaventure p. p. Centil. sect. 29. et in 2. d. 7. part. 2. quaest. 3. in resolutione, D. Thomas hic art. 1. Sanchez in Tom. 1. Decal. lib. 2. cap. 38. Lessius Tom. 1. lib. 2. cap. 53. dub. 5. num. 23. who defines it in other words with D. Bonaventure in 2. loc. cit.: it is a foretelling which someone makes, by the help or the discipline of the Demon, concerning some hidden thing which he cannot know in a human way.

It is moreover a grave sin, gravely reprehended Isa. 8. et 47. et Levit. 28.: those who consult these magi are condemned to the punishment of death, as the holy Doctor warns in 2. d. 7. part. 2. art. 2. quaest. 3.

It is committed in TWO WAYS, by an express or a tacit invocation of the Demon.

One sins gravely indeed who has an express pact with the Demon, as D. Bonaventure teaches above in Centil., because he renders to the enemy, against the prohibition, the homage owed to God, asking of him what is proper to God, namely to announce future contingents. Similarly one who has an implicit pact, for the same reason. These St. Augustine pursues lib. 2. de Doctrina Christiana, cap. 22. et 23. and D. Thomas hic art. 2. et 3. Sanchez Tom. 1. Decal. lib. 2. cap. 38. num. 3. Fagundez in primum praeceptum Decal. lib. 1. cap. 35. where he remarks with D. Bonaventure in 2. loc. cit. ex D. Augustino de divinat. daemonum, cap. 5. et 6. et lib. 2. de Genes. ad litt. cap. 17. et si the Demons cannot certainly foreknow those things that depend most upon causes contingent through free will, yet they can conjecture. For first they know natural causes excellently: then, since they mingle themselves with them, exciting tempests, etc. They also know the temperaments, inclinations, and affections of men. They also see causes moved from afar, e. g. ships loosed from India. Besides, they can receive some things from the Angels of God, God willing, etc. Thus also Less. Tom. 1. lib. 2. cap. 43. d. 5. num. 23. These things the Demons, when invoked, predict and disclose.

The Demon is invoked expressly, however, either by actions, in which the Demon is known to intervene, or by words. Tacitly, on the other hand, one invokes him when someone procures an effect reserved to God alone through means in themselves powerless and improper. Thus commonly the Doctors.

Less. Tom. 1. lib. 2. cap. 43. d. 5. num. 28. Tolet. lib. 4. summa, cap. 16. Sanchez Tom. 1. Decal. lib. 2. cap. 38. num. 26. Suarez Tom. 1. de Relig. lib. 2. de superstit. cap. 8. a num. 22. Fagundez cap. 35. citato remark, with D. Bonaventure in Centil. loc. cit., that every invocation of the Demon is a malediction, because there either the cult due to God is rendered to the devil, or that which is God's is demanded, and it is often joined with heresy and apostasy from the faith, as the holy Doctor again warns in 4. d. 13. dub. 4. Therefore confessors are admonished by the holy Doctor sermone 2. in Decal. et in confessionali, cap. 2. particula 9. et cap. 5. particula 37. et 38. and by the cited Doctors to attend to what pact he made and under what formula; whether adoration from the heart intervened, or only extrinsic: whether he used sacred things, or the Sacrament; likewise the harm they inflict upon persons, beasts, fields, etc.

SIMILARLY in the implicit pact, by which that knowledge is pretended which is proper to God alone, and hence it is always mortal. Thus Valentia d. 6. quaest. 12. puncto 4. Delrius lib. 4. disq. mag. cap. 2. quaest. 4. Sanchez tom. 1. decal. lib. 2. cap. 38. num. 18. Ignorance, however, can excuse. Thus Caietanus quaest. 5. art. 2. Valentia, and Delrius loc. cit. Sanchez num. 10; et alii apud hos.

The SIGNS of an implicit pact with the Demon will be, if some vain condition is added in words to deeds, as that the Gospel be written on a lamina. Second, when falsehoods are mingled with the words, or unknown characters are employed, when the effects are vain or transcendent, as Tannerus notes dubio 2. et alii.

• If, however, these things are done in jest, e.g. with the astrolabe, etc., not in order to know the future, there will be no superstition; if indeed they are done seriously to investigate hidden things, as theft; grave penance is imposed by Alexander III. extra. de furtis. and the Priest is deprived of his ministry by right, and the Bishop shall proceed against him 26. quaest. 5. cap. Non oportet, si quis Episcopus, as the holy Doctor transmits in confessionali, cap. 3. particula 38. Bassaeus adds V. Magia, that no parvity of matter is granted in this genus of sin.

THERE are indeed certain prayers that circulate as rendering one safe from death inflicted by sword, iron, etc.; they may be carried, if they contain nothing superstitious; nor let the secure promise be held. Thus Sanchez Tom. 1. lib. 2. cap. 40. num. 20. et alii apud Fagundez num. 16.

He notes also num. 17. with Ciruelo, that those prayers are vain in whose titles a number of days is decreed during which they are to be recited to obtain grace; for no term can be set to God.

Superstition indeed arises from an inordinate desire of obtaining some good, or of avoiding some evil; and this is more connatural to women. Thus the holy Doctor LL. CC. et cum eo Fagund. num. 4.

Now Divination, in which there is an express invocation of the Demon, has five species, according to D. Bonaventure in Centil. loc. cit.: Mantia, Sortilegium, Augury, Maleficium, and Prestige.

AS TO practice, however, they hold only three species to be distinctly expounded in confession, Valentia d. 6. quaest. 12. puncto 2. in calce, Tannerus d. 5. quaest. 7. dub. 1. Azorius lib. 9. cap. 13. quaestio 3. The first is that which has an express pact with the Demon. The second is that by which knowledge is sought from the disposition that bodies have, which can be called by a bodily name Augury. The third is that by which knowledge is sought from certain things deliberately done, and in both there is an implicit invocation of the Demon.

MANTIA is named from Mantis, a distinguished Diviner among the Athenians, and this has other species: The first is Necromancy, divining through appearing images of the dead, from Necron, which is dead, and Mantia, which signifies divination. Second, Geomancy through signs appearing in earthly bodies, from Gea, which is earth, as in a circle. Third is Hydromancy through signs appearing in water, from Hydros, water. Fourth is Aeromancy, through signs in the air. Fifth, Pyromancy from Pyros, fire, through signs in fire.

Other less principal species of divination are enumerated by the holy Doctor loc. cit. Centil. et aliis locis. The first is Divination, which predicts from fates and constellations; and it is called Mathesis, and Astronomantia. The second, through inspection of the air, keeping days and hours in one's actions, and it is called Auruspicium. The third, which inspects the entrails or intestines of beasts, and is called Extipex. The fourth, which receives responses from Demons on the altars of Idols; it is called Ariolus, a diviner on altars. The fifth, which observes dreams, and is called Onyrocritica; but the observer of dreams is called Coniector. The sixth, from the words or accidental deeds of men, and is called Omen; the seventh is Phytonia, speaking through a malignant spirit, and this one is called Phyto, or Phytius, from Phytius, that is, so named from Apollo, or a ventriloquist. The eighth is Genethliacs, observing the moments of births, and this superstition is called Constellatio. So also Horoscopy, which observes the Hours of birth, agrees with the preceding. The ninth is Saltatio, whence Saliator, who, whatever part of the members shall leap, divines what is prosperous or fatal. The tenth Physiognomy, which augurs from the signs of the human body. The eleventh Spatulamantia, which conjectures from the signs in the shoulder-blade of some animal. The twelfth Motescopia, which from the forehead. The thirteenth is from the signs of the hands, and is called Chiromantia.

The species of maleficium which is called Magia is subordinate, and is subdivided into others; for divination is made either from the entrails and fat of infants, or from the blood of abortives, or by the killing of some man or woman, by means of laminas, etc.

Sortilegium by lots cast, whether in water, or on papers, or in books, is manifold.

Augurium from the chattering of birds and the various voices of animals is various; to which is also reduced Auspicium, taken from the flight of birds and the movement of other animals.

Similarly Prestige is wrought through the various apparitions of the devil himself, whether true or phantastic, and it happens in many ways, as may be seen in Valentia quaest. 12. puncto 2. For first the Demon is wont to present true bodies, translated from elsewhere, or quickly made by himself through the application of actives to passives. In which way are said to be true serpents those which the magi of Pharaoh Exodi 7. fashioned, as St. Augustine holds lib. 3. de Trinitate, cap. 7. et 8. et lib. 83. qq. quaestione 79. D. Thomas quaest. 7. de potentia, art. 5. ad 8. and D. Bonaventure in 2. d. 7. part. 2. art. 2. quaest. 2. Second, the Demon is wont to present apparent bodies. In this way Augustine says 18. de ciuit. cap. 18. is to be understood what is narrated of the companions of Ulysses changed into beasts; And what is told of the Arcadians, that when they crossed a pool they were turned into Wolves. Thus the same St. Augustine lib. 2. ad simpl. quaest. 3. says it is better understood what is said 1. Reg. 28. of Samuel, who is said to have appeared to Saul.

Third the Demon mocks by altering the senses, confusing the species, disturbing the organ, so that, like phrenetics, they seem to see marvels.

Fourth, in mockery, the internal senses being disturbed and the phantasy confounded, so that some seem to have visions. See Valentia with D. Bonaventure locis adductis, Tract. de Angelis, disp. 11. ubi de potentia Angelorum.