Iynx
A Chaldean symbol of universal being, the name of power of transmission." It was reprowhich signifies J 66 duced as a living sphere or winged globe. The first example was perhaps put forth by mind on the plane of reality, to be followed by three others called paternal and ineffable, and latterly by hosts of Iynxs of a subordinate character, described as "free intelligences." The Iynx is described by Eliphas Levi as "corresponding to the Hebrew Yod or to that unique letter from which all other letters were formed."
Y to explain all mysteries. The one was black and the other white, and they represented the powers of good and evil. It is said that they symbolise the need of "two" in the world: Human equilibrium requires two feet; the worlds gravitate by means of two forces; generation needs two sexes.
James IV. of Scotland : It was almost inevitable that the romantic nature of James IV. of Scotland should have encouraged the study of alchemy and the occult sciences in the manner he did. Dunbar in his Remonstrance, speaks of the patronage which he bestowed upon alchemists and charlatans, and in the Treasurer's accounts, there are numerous payments for the "Quinta Essentia," including wages to the persons employed, utensils of various kinds and so forth. In a letter to one Master James Inglis, James says:- .... "James, etc. to dear Master James Inglis greeting.
We graciously accept your kindness, by which in a letter brought to us you signify that you have beside you certain books learned in the philosophy of the true Alchemy, and that although most worthy men have sought them from you, you have nevertheless with difficulty kept them for our use, because you had heard of our enthusiasm for the art. We give you thanks; and we have sent our familiar, Master James Merchenistoun, to you, that he may see to the transfer hither of those books which you wish us to have; whom receive in good faith in our name.
Farewell. From our Palace at Edinburgh."
James VI. 27 Sept.
From the Treasurer's Accounts. " Item, for a pan in Stirling for the quinta essencia, and potingary there. vi. S. 29 Sept. For aqua vitae for the quinta essencia... 18 Oct. Gallons aqua vitae for quinta essencia. iii. 1. iiij. s. xlv. s.
XXV. S. 10 Nov.-For four cauldrons to quinta essencia 24 Dec.-V cakes glass for quinta essentia. 31 Dec.-Paid to William Foular apothecary (potingair for potingary to the King and Queen, distillation of waters, aqua vitae, and potingary books in English, from the 17 day of December, 1506. (See Scotland.) James VI.: (See Daemonologie.) Japan All that the word magic defines is to be found amongst the Japanese, in their religious beliefs and rites in their conception of Nature and in the national customs. To them all forms and objects animate or inanimate possess, equally with man, a sour with good or evil tendencies, and these entities, either of their own volition or by evocation, come into close touch with man either to his advantage or detriment. Their folklore and traditions are wrought of the marvellous and the Japanese thought of to-day is still permeated with a belief in the supernatural.
The predominant feature of the Japanese religion, Shintoism, is the worship of ancestors, allied to that of Nature. There are twelve recognised sects of Shintoismall with ancestor-worship as their cardinal principle. The belief of the Japanese is that the disembodied spirits, acquire the powers of deities and possess supernatural attributes. They become potential for good or evil and they exercise their potentialities in the same mundane sphere upon which their interests and affections centred during life. They thus become guardian divinities, and as such the object of ceremonies in their honour is to show gratitude for their services whilst upon earth and to solicit a continuance of these services beyond the grave. On this point Lafcadio Hearn wrote:-" An intimate sense of relation between the visible and invisible worlds is the special religious characteristic of Japan among all civilised countries. To Japanese thought the dead are not less real than the living. They take part in the daily life of the people, sharing the humblest sorrows and the humblest joys. They attend the family repasts, watch over the well-being of the household, assist and rejoice in the prosperity of their descendants. They are present at the public pageants, at all the sacred festivals of Shinto, at the military games, and at all the entertainments especially provided for them. And they are universally thought of as finding pleasure in the offerings made to them or the honours conferred upon them." Every morning, before the family shrine, to be found in all Japanese homes, flowers are set and food-emblems placed as offerings of pious affection, while ancient prayers are repeated, for on the shrine, beside the symbols of the Sun-goddess and the tutelary god of the family are put the memorial tablets containing names, ages and dates of death of members of the household. There are stories of the souls of ancestors taking material form and remaining visible through centuries. In the month of July three days are set apart for the celebration of the Festival of the Dead. At this time it is thought that the disembodied souls return from the dismal region of the Shades to gaze for a while upon the beauty of their country and to visit their people. On the first morning new mats are placed upon all altars and on every household shrine, while in all the homes tiny meals are prepared in readiness for the ghostly guests. The streets at night are brilliant with many torches; in front of every house gaily-coloured lanterns are lit in welcome. Japan Those who have recently lost some relative go to the cemeteries to pray and burn incense and leave offerings of water and flowers set in bamboo vases. On the third day the souls of those who are undergoing penance are fed, also those who have no friends among the living to care for them. The evening of this day is the time of the ghosts' departure, and for this thousands of little boats are fashioned and laden with food-offerings and tender messages of farewell. When the night falls, tiny lanterns are lit and hung at the miniature prows and the ghosts are supposed to step aboard. Then the craft are set free upon river, lake and sea, the water gleaming with glow of thousands of lights. On this day no saiior dreams of putting out to sea-for this one night it belongs to the dead. It is believed that if a ship fails to come to port before the sailing of the ghostfleet the dead arise from the deep and the sailors can hear their mournful whispering, while the white breakers are their hands clutching the shores, vainly trying to return. In the Shinto pantheon there are deities representing well nigh everything in heaven and earth; from the mountain of Fiyiyama to the household kitchen, from Wisdom to Scarecrows, from Caligraphy to Poverty, Laughter to Small pox. When babes are a week old they are taken to the temple and placed under the protection of some god chosen by the parents, but in later years he may choose his patron god for himself beside the tutelary one.
In remote parts of Japan may still be found traces of an older form of Shinto in which phallic symbols had their place as representing life-giving power and therefore used as a magical exorcism of evil influences, especially that of disease. In this connection appears a dwarf-god who is said to have first taught mankind the art of magic and medicine In Shinto there are no idols, their place being taken by shintia, god-bodies, concrete objects in which the divine spirit is supposed to dwell, such as the mirror, jewel and sword of the Sun-goddess, worshipped at the famous Ise shrine. Pilgrims from all parts of Japan make their way to this shrine, acquiring merit and purification thereby. These pilgrims receive from the priests objects of talismanic properties called harai, these also serving as evidence of having been at the holy place. In former days they were recognised as passports. The term harai signifies to "drive out," to sweep away," and has reference to the purification of the individual from his sins. These objects are in the form of small envelopes or paper boxes each containing shavings of the wands used by the Ise priests at the half-yearly festivals held to purify the nation in general from the consequences of the sins of the preceding six months. The list includes witchcraft, also wounding and homicide, these latter being regarded more as uncleanness than as a moral stigma. On the pilgrims return home the harai are placed upon the "god's-shelf." 66
On fête-days are still practised the ancient ordeals. These are three in number, the Kugadachi, in which priests, wrought to ecstatic frenzy by participation in a rhythmic dance, pour upon their bodies boiling water without receiving harm from the process; the Hiwatari consisting of walking barefoot over a bed of live coals, priests and people alike participating, and Tsurugi-watari, the climbing of a ladder of sword-blades. These are regarded as tests of purity of character, this being thought to confer an immunity from hurt in these ordeals. The attendant rites consist of exorcism of evil spirits by the waving of wands and magical finger-knots, and invocation of the gods who are then believed to be actually present.
Possession by Divinities. - In connection with some of the Shinto sects occult rites are practised to bring about possession of a selected person by the actual spirits of the gods. Priests and laymen alike develop and practice this art, undergoing a period of purification by means of various austerities. Prophecy, divination and the cure of disease are the objects of these rites. The ceremony may take place in a temple or ordinary house where the gods' shelf" makes the shrine. In the rites gohei, the Shinto symbols of consecration are used, the pendant form for purification and exorcism of evil influences, and an upright gohei affixed to a wand signifying the shintai, or god-body, is the central object. The medium, called nak aza takes his seat in the midst. Next him in importance is the functionary, the maeza who presides over the ceremony. It is he who builds the magical pyre in a brass bowl and burns in the flames strips of paper inscribed with characters, effigies of disease and trouble. There is a clapping of hands to call the attention of the gods and chants are intoned, accompanied by the shaking of metal-ringed crosiers and the tinkle of pilgrim bells. After the fire is burnt out, the bowl is removed and sheets of paper placed in symbolic form, upon which is then put the upright gohei wand. There is further chanting, the medium closes his eyes and clasps his hands into which the maeza now thrusts the wand. All then await the advent of the god which is indicated by the violent shaking of the wand and convulsive throes on the part of the medium, who is now considered to have become the god. The maeza reverently prostrates himself before the entranced nakaza, and asks the name of the god who has deigned to come. This done and answered, he next offers his petitions, to which the god replies. The ceremony is concluded by a prayer and the medium is awakened by beating upon his back and the massaging of his limbs out of their cataleptic contraction. These possession-rites are also conducted by the pilgrims who ascend the mountain of Ontaké.
Buddhism, which shares with Shinto the devotions of Japan, enjoins meditation as a means of attaining to supernatural knowledge and occult power. It is said that to those who in truth and constancy put in force the doctrines of Buddha the following ten powers will be granted. (I). They know the thoughts of others. (2). Their sight, piercing as that of the celestials, beholds without mist all that happens in the earth. (3). They know the past and present. (4). They perceive the uninterrupted succession of the ages of the world. (5). Their hearing is so fine that they perceive and can interpret all the harmonies of the three worlds and the ten divisions of the universe. (6). They are not subject to bodily conditions and can assume any appearance at will. (7). They distinguish the shadowing of lucky or unlucky words, whether they are near or far away. (8). They possess the knowledge of all forms, and knowing that form is void, they can assume every sort of form; and knowing that vacancy is form, they can annihilate and render nought all forms. (9). They possess a knowledge of all laws. (10). They possess the perfect science of contemplation. It is said that methods are thus known by which it is possible to so radically change the psychological condition of the individual that he is enabled to recognise the character of the opposition between subjective and objective. These two extremes are reconciled in a higher condition of consciousness, a higher form of life, a more profound and complete activity which concerns the inmost depths of the self. To the "Zen" monasteries, belonging to a Buddhist sect of that name, anyone who is so inclined may retire for temporary meditation and for the development of these special faculties, which are mainly produced by entering upon a calm mental state, not exactly passive, but in which the attention is not devoted to any one thing, but is evenly distributed in all directions, producing a sort of void and "waiting." The spirit thus obtains entire repose and a satisfaction of the thirst for the ideal. This mystical retirement is sought by statesmen and generals, by scientific Japan professional and business-men, and it is said that the force which accumulates within them by practising the "Zen" methods is of effective service to them in practical life. Many of the customs of the Japanese have a magical significance. At the Festival of the New Year extending over three days it is considered of the first importance to insure good luck and happiness for the coming year by means of many traditional observances. Houses are thoroughly cleansed materially and spiritually, this last is getting rid of the evil spirits by throwing out beans and peas from the open slides of the houses. The gateways are decorated with straw ropes made to represent the lucky, Chinese numbers of three, five and seven. Mirror cakes, associated with the sun-goddess are eaten, also lobsters, longevity being symbolised by their bent and ancient, appearance, the pine-tree branches used for decoration at this time also signifying long life. دو
Divination is performed by various methods: by divining rods, by the reading of lines and cracks in the shoulderblade of a deer, and by the classical form taken from the Confucian "Yih-king or Book of Changes, this involving the use of eight trigrams and sixty-four diagrams. One method of " raising spirits" used by the Japanese, especially by girls who have lost their lovers by death, is to put into a paper lantern a hundred rushlights and repeat an incantation of a hundred lines. One of these rushlights is taken out at the end of each line and the would-be ghost-seer then goes out in the dark with one light still burning and blows it out when the ghost ought to appear.
Charms are everywhere, fashioned of all substances and in all forms, such as strips of paper bearing magical inscriptions to avert evil, fragments of temples, carven ricegrains representing the gods of Luck, sutras to frighten the demons, copies of Buddha's footprint, and paper tickets bearing the name of a god are often affixed outside the doors of houses to combat the god of Poverty.
Nature and her manifestations are the result of indwelling soul-life and the Japanese mind, imbued with this belief has peopled nature with multiform shapes. There are dragons with lairs in ocean and river which yet can fly abroad in the air while from their panting breath come the clouds of rain and tempests of lightning. In the mountains and forests are bird-like gnomes who often beset way-faring men and women and steal away their wits. There are also mountain men, huge hairy monkeys, who help the woodcutters in return for food, and mountain-women, ogres with bodies grown over with long white hair, who flit like evil moths in search of human flesh. Then legend tells of the Senrim, hermits of the mountains, who knew all the secrets of magic, wizards who were attended by wise toads and flying tortoises, who could conjure magical animals out of gourds, who could project their souls into space. To animals were also ascribed supernatural powers. The fox is believed to possess such gifts to an almost limitless extent, for he has miraculous vision and hearing, he can read the inmost thoughts of man, he can transform himself and assume any shape at will. He loves to delude mankind and work destruction thereby to this end often taking the form of a beautiful and seductive woman whose embrace means madness and death. To the agency of this animal is attributed demoniacal possession, this occurring mostly among ignorant and superstitious women of the lower classes. The cat is not regarded with any kindly feeling by the Japanese, this being ascribed to the fact that this animal, together with the serpent, were the only creatures who did not weep at Buddha's death. This animal has also the power of bewitchment and possesses vampire proclivities. Among sailors, however, the cat is held in estimation, for it is thought to possess the power of warding off the evil spirits which haunt the sea. The images of compiled a chronicle of Melusine from popular stories which he collected.
Jeanne D'Arc animals are thought to be also endowed with life. There Jean d'Arras: A French writer of the fourteenth century, who are tales of bronze horses and deer, of huge carven dragons and stone tortoises wandering abroad at night, terrorising the people and only laid to rest by summary decapitation. Butterflies are thought to be the wandering souls of the living who may be dreaming or sunk in reverie; white butterflies are the souls of the dead. Fireflies keep afar evil spirits, and an ointment compounded of their delicate bodies defies any poison.
Trees occupy a foremost place in the tradition and legends of Japan. The people regard them with great affection, and there are stories of men who, seeing a tree they loved withering and dying, committed hara-kiri before it praying the gods that their life so given might pass into the tree and give it renewed vigour. The willow is one of the most eerie of trees, the willow-spirit often becoming a beautiful maiden and wedding a human lover. The pine tree brings good fortune, especially in the matter of happy marriages. It is also a token of longevity. Tree spirits can sometimes be inimical to man and it is recorded of one that to stay its disturbing wanderings it was necessary to cut it down, when from the stump flowed a stream of blood.
The element of Fire figures largely in the Japanese world of marvels. It is worshipped in connection with the rites of the Sun-goddess and even the kitchen-furnace becomes the object of a sort of cult. There is the lamp of Buddha, while messages from Hades come to this world in the shape of fire-wheels, Phantom-fires flicker about and flames burn in the cemeteries; there are demon-lights, fox-flames and dragon-torches. From the eyes and mouths of certain birds, such as the blue heron, fire darts forth in white flames. Globes of fire, enshrining human faces and forms, sometimes hang like fruit in the branches of the trees. The dolls of Japanese children are believed to be endowed with life, deriving a soul from the love expended upon them by their human possessors. Some of these dolls were credited with supernatural powers, they could confer maternity upon a childless woman, and they could bring misfortune upon any who ill-treated them. When old and faded, these dolls are dedicated to Kojin the many-armed, who dwells in the enokie tree, and there are reverently laid upon his shrine, bodies which once held a tiny soul. (See Lafcadio Hearn's Kokoro, Percival Lowell's Occult Japan, F. Hadland Davis' Myths and Legends of Japan.) K.Ν.