ABSTRACT
IN what I have said so far I have cited much patent evidence from sacred and profane writings on how demons become visible and are of service to human beings and, by playing tricks upon them in a thousand different ways, lead them by innumerable, inexplicable methods into various fallacies and perils; nevertheless I shall have to recapitulate in part the material I introduced in Bk II, Ch. 2, and other, recent chapters in this third book, namely, that in the regions under the Seven Stars, in other words the North (where in a quite literal sense the abode of Satan lies 1 ), demons, with unspeakable derision and in diverse shapes, express their encouragement to people who live in those parts; and indeed they also do them injury, that is, by overturning their houses, killing their cattle, destroying their fields, and ruining their castles and watercourses in every way. It is superfluous to demonstrate to the learned and wise all these examples of demonic hoaxes, whether they are deeply concealed or more openly displayed, just as it is utterly useless to discover their full details to the inquisitive and empty-headed, who are satisfied by no reasons or authorities. None the less it has been authenticated, as was indicated by the passage I quoted in Ch. 3 of the preceding book, that spirits or ghosts appear to their friends, give them their right hands, and make known with groans and sighs where they are bound for. 2 Until now it has been believed, and duly regarded as one of the greater marvels, that demons pay visits in the semblance of men who have been recently drowned in the waters of Iceland, or that the spirits of the dead come themselves.
Demons inflict injuries
