CHAP. IX.
For where Grief and Sorrow is rooted and settled in the Heart, it speaketh with low motional Voices in the Mind; that is, the thought of Fear in the Mind, both of temporal Losses and the Loss of eternal Peace. The Fear moves to and fro in that Mind, as if it were a Speech out of the Ground; for the Thoughts of the Heart are low Voices which cannot be heard by any but themselves.
So is it with those that have a Familiar Spirit, their Voices and Speech they hear from Spirits without them, as if Spirits did speak to them out of the Ground: Which Speech they say they hear, is nothing else but the Thoughts that pass to and fro in their own Minds, a low motional Voice in themselves, as if Spirits did speak to them with a low Voice out of the Ground, or out of the Dust. For their Faith is strong, and above all those that come to enquire of a Witch, they do all believe that Spirits may be raised withoutBodies out of the Ground, as the Witch doth; so they both do believe, that the Spirit came out of the Ground that spake those low Voices to the Witch, and she tells it to the other that enquire of her, and they believe her as KingSauldid.
So they are wholly departed from the Lord, and believe a Lye, to think that Spirits can be raised out of the Ground without Bodies after Men have been dead; it is a Thing God never did; we never read in Scripture, that God or his Prophets did ever raise any Spirits out of the Ground without Bodies after they were dead; but we read in Scripture, that God and his Prophets have raised some from the dead with Bodies, as that ofLazarusbeing raised out of the Ground by Christ, and the Child that was raised from Death by the ProphetElijah, and another Child raised from Death to Life by the ProphetElisha, and several others come forth out of the Ground at the rising again of Christ from Death, as those Saints that did arise out of the Graves, and appeared to many that were alive; these all did arise out of the Graves with Bodies after they were dead, andLazaruscame forth out of the Ground after he was dead, but his Spirit came not out of the Ground without his Body, but Body and Soul came out of the Ground together.
For it was always God's Practice to raise Soul and Body together; and because the Imagination of Reason in those that have a Familiar Spirit cannot do so, nor those that enquire of them, therefore they do imagine that Spirit may be raised out of the Ground without Bodies, or assume a Shape and appear like a Body, yet it shall be of no Substance, a Shape that can neither be felt nor handled by the Hand of Man.
Now mind, all those God doth raise out of the Ground after they were dead, they may be handled and felt, though they be Spiritual Bodies, yet they may be felt and handled, as Christ said toThomas,Feel me and handle me, after he was risen from the dead, andThomas laid his Fingers in the Print of the Nails, and on his Side. Yet Christ was at that time a Spiritual Body that was risen from the Dead, that might be felt and handled, and not a Spirit without a Body, as most People do vainly imagine that Spirits may be raised without Bodies.
And as for thatLazarusand others, that were raised by the Power of God out of the Ground after they had been dead, they had Bodies as well as Spirits that might be seen with natural Eyes, and handled and felt with natural Hands. So that God's Power in raising the Dead, it is no Cheat; the Creature is not cheated nor deceived, but is fully satisfied in his Mind.
But for a Familiar Spirit to say or tell People, they do or can raiseSpirits out of the Ground in such a Shape without a Body or bodily Substance; or shall say, they hear Voices from this Spirit so raised, is a mere Cheat to the Ignorant and Unbelieving, and leads them into the Pit of Darkness, and makes them fear where no Fear is, and are afraid of their own Shadows; for it is the Nature of Reason the Devil to imagine, that this way of raising of Spirits without Bodies, to be of a more high Nature then to raise Spirit and Body together, as God doth; and the Imagination doth conceive it a more greater Power, to raise Spirits without Bodies out of the Dust of the Ground, than it is to raise Spirit and Body together, as Christ did; for Christ always raised Spirit and Body together, as the Scriptures do testify.
For the Reason in Man doth send forth the Imagination of the Heart, the unclean Spirit in Man walking through dry Places, seeking rest but can find none; the ignorant dark Thoughts of the Imagination goeth out of a Man, to enquire of one that hath a Familiar Spirit, seeking rest but can find none, as KingSauldid: For the Imagination of the Heart being continually Evil, it always walketh through dry Places, where no matter of Life is to be had, to quench the Thirst of Sin or a defiled Conscience; neither can the Thoughts of Imagination be satisfied with what a Witch or a Familiar saith; therefore called dry Places: They may be called dry, because the Heart is never satisfied with what a Witch saith, for she always saith a Lie.
To tell a Man or Woman, that she doth or can raise Spirits out of the Ground without Bodies, as the Witch ofEndordid to King Saul, or that she did hear any low Voice or Speech ofSamuelout of the Ground, as she told the King; I say, she did but cheat the King, and made him believe she had raisedSamuel, and had heard him speak to her with a low Speech out of the Ground, which had revealed unto her what sad Things would befal the King: so he believing her Words, his Spirit fainted, so that no Strength was in him; when as in Deed and in Truth, thatSamuelshe said she saw arise out of the Earth, he did arise out of her own Heart; and that low Speech she saidSamuelspake, it was all in her self by the Motions of the Familiar Spirit begotten in her. And KingSaulbelieving her, being Partaker of her Faith,Samuelspake a low motional Voice or Speech in him also, he believing it wasSamuelspake out of the Earth, but it was nothing else but the Voice of his own guilty Conscience within himself, as it was the Voice her Familiar Spirit in her self that spake as aforesaid.
So that the Meaning of the ProphetIsaiah, Chap. xxix. 4. concerning the Destruction ofJerusalem, thatGrief and Sorrow of Heart should speak in themselves; as if the Speech came put of the Ground, because they saw in themselves nothing but Death and Destruction did approach, and was like to follow upon them all, fearing they should all be destroyed by their Enemies, and slain and fall to the Ground: So that Fear of Heart of Destruction, it spake a low Speech in every Man's Heart, even as if it spake out of the Ground, or as one that hath a Familiar Spirit; for it is the Nature of a Familiar Spirit to speak as if the Speech did proceed from the Earth, and the Speech doth seem to the Witch, and those that enquire of her, to whisper out of the Dust: When as the Speech cometh not out of the Ground, neither doth it whisper out of the Dust, as is imagined by most People, because Ignorance and Darkness hath overspread the Minds of most People in the World. But that low Speech the Familiar Spirit speaks or whispers, it is out of her own Heart, even that Wisdom begotten by the Imagination in her own Thoughts, that speaks as aforesaid, and no Spirit without her, as hath vainly been imagined.
So likewise the People of theJews, the Fear, Grief, and Sorrow of Heart, being begotten in them for such like Sins, as that of Witchcraft, Idolatry, dealing with Familiar Spirits, causing their Sons and Daughters to pass through the Fire as burnt Offerings and Sacrifices unto Devils, which they supposed to be Gods; these Things caused their Hearts to fail and faint, and their Thoughts were troubled within themselves, which causeth their Speech to grow weak and low within them, even as if some Familiar did speak out of the Ground, or whisper out of the Dust, Fear, Grief, and Sorrow of Heart: But all come out of their own grieved Hearts, who were punished for their Sins; and not out of the natural Ground or natural Dust, as People do vainly imagine. This is the true Meaning of the Prophet's Words, and how Familiar Spirits may be said to speak out of the Ground, and whisper out of the Dust.