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474 TESTIMONY OF CONTEMPORARIES. [Doc. 256.
this day rarely granted, because it is dangerous : for the spirits
then know that they are present with man which they otherwise
know not; and evil spirits are of such a nature, that they regard
man with deadly hatred, and desire nothing more than to destroy
him both soul and body. This effect is actually experienced
by those who have indulged much in fantasies, going to the
extreme of banishing the enjoyments suited to the natural man.
Persons, also, who pass their life in solitude, sometimes hear
spirits speaking to them, without its being attended with danger:
but the spirits that are present with them are at intervals
removed by the Lord, lest they should know that they are
present with a man: for most spirits do not know that there
is any other world than the one inhabited by them, nor, con
sequently, that there are men elsewhere; wherefore it is not
allowable for the man to speak to them in return, for if he
did, they would know this.] Persons who think much on
religious subjects, and dwell upon them so incessantly as at
length to see them inwardly, as it were, in themselves, also
begin to hear spirits speaking to them: for religions subjects
of whatever kind, when a man , of his own accord, dwells upon
them incessantly, and does not occasionally vary his meditations
by attending to things which are of use in the world, penetrate
to the interior, and there fix themselves, taking possession of
the whole of man’s spirit; when they enter into the spiritual
world, and act upon the spirits who are there. These, however,
are visionaries and enthusiasts, who believe any spirit whom
they hear speaking to be the Holy Spirit, although he is only
an enthusiastic spirit. Those spirits who are of this description
see falsities as truths, and because they see them, they persuade
themselves and also others with whom they communicate by
influx. As these spirits also began to persuade men to evils,
and led them to commit them, they were gradually removed.
Enthusiastic spirits are distinguished from others by this
peculiarity, that they believe themselves to be the Holy Spirit,
and what they say to be Divine oracles. These spirits do not
offer injury to a man, if he pays them Divine worship and honour.
I, also, have sometimes conversed with these spirits, and then
their nefarious practices were discovered.’
"So excellently you judge of visionaries, enthusiasts, and
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