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  THE MAGIC OF THE MIDDLE AGES


  BY VIKTOR RYDBERG


  _Translated from the Swedish_
  BY AUGUST HJALMAR EDGREN


  NEW YORK
  HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY
  1879




  Copyright 1879,
  BY HENRY HOLT & CO




CONTENTS.


                                                 PAGE.

    I. THE COSMIC PHILOSOPHY OF THE MIDDLE AGES,
       AND ITS HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT                1

   II. THE MAGIC OF THE CHURCH                      56

  III. THE MAGIC OF THE LEARNED                     95

   IV. THE MAGIC OF THE PEOPLE AND THE STRUGGLE
       OF THE CHURCH AGAINST IT                    158




I.

THE COSMIC PHILOSOPHY OF THE MIDDLE AGES, AND ITS HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT.


INTRODUCTORY.

It was the belief of Europe during the Middle Ages, that our globe was the
centre of the universe.

The earth, itself fixed and immovable, was encompassed by ten heavens
successively encircling one another, and all of these except the highest
in constant rotation about their centre.

This highest and immovable heaven, enveloping all the others and
constituting the boundary between created things and the void, infinite
space beyond, is the Empyrean, the heaven of fire, named also by the
Platonizing philosophers the world of archetypes. Here "in a light which
no one can enter," God in triune majesty is sitting on his throne, while
the tones of harmony from the nine revolving heavens beneath ascend to
him, like a hymn of glory from the universe to its Creator.

Next in order below the Empyrean is the heaven of crystal, or the sphere
of the _first movable_ (_primum mobile_). Beneath this revolves the heaven
of fixed stars, which, formed from the most subtile elements in the
universe, are devoid of weight. If now an angel were imagined to descend
from this heaven straight to earth,--the centre, where the coarsest
particles of creation are collected,--he would still sink through seven
vaulted spaces, which form the planetary world. In the first of these
remaining heavens is found the planet Saturn, in the second Jupiter, in
the third Mars; to the fourth and middle heaven belongs the Sun, queen of
the planets, while in the remaining three are the paths of Venus, Mercury,
and finally the moon, measuring time with its waning and increasing disk.
Beneath this heaven of the moon is the enveloping atmosphere of the earth,
and earth itself with its lands and seas.

There are four prime elements in the structure of the universe: fire, air,
water and earth. Every thing existing in the material world is a peculiar
compound of these elements, and possesses as such an energy of its own;
but matter in itself is devoid of quality and force. All power is
spiritual, and flows from a spiritual source,--from God, and is
communicated to the earth and the heavens above the earth and all things
in them, by spiritual agents, personal but bodiless. These beings fill the
universe. Even the prime elements derive their energy from them. They are
called intelligences or angels; and the _primum mobile_ as well as the
heaven of fixed stars is held in motion by them. The planets are guided in
their orbits by angels. "All the energies of plants, metals, stones and
all other objects, are derived from those intelligences whom God has
ordained to be the guardians and leaders of his works."[1] "God, as the
source and end of all power, lends the seal of ideas to his ministering
spirits, who, faithfully executing his divine will, stamp with a vital
energy all things committed to their care."[2]

No inevitable causation is admitted. Every thing is produced by the will
of God, and upheld by it. The laws of nature are nothing but the precepts
in accordance with which the angels execute their charge. They obey from
love and fear; but should they in a refractory spirit transgress the given
commandments, or cease their activity, which they have the power to do,
then the order of nature would be changed, and the great mechanism of the
universe fall asunder, unless God saw fit to interpose. "Sometimes God
suspends their agency, and is himself the immediate actor everywhere; or
he gives unusual commandments to his angels, and then their operations are
called miracles."[3]

A knowledge of the nature of things is consequently in the main a
knowledge of the angels. Their innumerable hosts form nine choirs or
orders, divided into three hierarchies, corresponding to the three worlds:
the empyreal, that of the revolving heavens, and the terrestrial. The
orders of Seraphim, Cherubim and Thrones which constitute the first
hierarchy, are nearest God. They surround his throne like a train of
attendants, rejoice in the light of his countenance, feel the abundant
inspiration of his wisdom, love and power, and chant eternal praises to
his glory. The order of the Thrones, which is the lowest in this empyreal
hierarchy, proclaims God's will to the middle hierarchy, to which is given
the rule of the movable heavens. It is the order of Dominion which thus
receives the commands of God; that of Power, which guides the stars and
planets in their orbits, and brings to pass all other celestial phenomena,
carries them into execution, while a third of Empire wards off every thing
which could interfere with their accomplishment. The third and lowest
hierarchy, embracing the orders of Principalities, Archangels and Angels,
holds supremacy over terrestrial things. Principalities, as the name
implies, are the guardian spirits of nations and kingdoms; Archangels
protect religion, and bear the prayers of saints on high to the throne of
God; Angels, finally, have the care of every mortal, and impart to beasts,
plants, stones and metals their peculiar nature. Together these
hierarchies and orders form a continuous chain of intermingling
activities, and thus the structure of the universe resembles a Jacob's
ladder, upon which

  "Celestial powers, mounting and descending,
  Their golden buckets ceaseless interchange."

All terrestrial things are images of the celestial; and all celestial have
their archetypes in the Empyrean. Things on earth are composed of the
coarsest of all matter; things in the surrounding heavens of a finer
substance, accessible to the influence of intelligences. Archetypes are
immaterial; and as such may be filled without resistance with spiritual
forces, and give of their plenitude to their corresponding effigies in
the worlds of stars and planets. These again through their rays send forth
of the abundance of their power to those objects on earth by which they
are represented. Every thing on earth is consequently not only under the
guidance of its own angel, but also under the influence of stars, planets,
and archetypes. The universe is a vast lyre whose strings, struck no
matter where, are sure to vibrate throughout their length.

It was for man that God called forth the four elements from nothing by his
fiat, and it was for man that he fashioned this wonderful earth from those
elements in six days. Man is the crown of creation, its master-piece, and
within the narrow limits of his nature an epitome of all things
existing,--a microcosm, and the image of the supreme God himself.

But since man, as a microcosm, must partake also of the coarsest matter,
his dwelling-place could not be within the Empyrean, but must be fixed on
earth. In order that it might be worthy to receive him, it was adorned
with all the beauty of a paradise, and angels gazed from heaven with
delight upon its vales and mountains, its lakes and groves, which in
changing lights and shadows shone now with the purple of morning, now with
the gold of the sun, and again with the silver of the moon. And this place
of habitation explains symbolically by its very position the destiny of
man and his place in the kingdom of God; for wherever he wanders, the
zenith still lingers over his head, and all the revolving heavens have his
habitation for their centre. The dance of the stars is but a fete in honor
of him, the sun and moon exist but to shine upon his pathway and fill his
heart with gladness.

The first human beings lived in this their paradise in a state of highest
happiness. Their will was undepraved; their understanding filled with the
immediate light of intuition. Often when the angel of the sun sank with
his gleaming orb towards the horizon and "day was growing cool," God
himself descended from his Empyrean to wander under the lovely trees of
paradise, in the company of his favored ones.

The world was an unbroken harmony. There was, to be sure, a contrast
between spirit and matter, but as yet none between good and evil. It was
not long to remain thus.

Lucifer, that is the Light-bringer, or Morning Star, was the highest of
all angels, the prince of seraphim, the favorite of the Creator, and in
purity, majesty and power inferior only to the Holy Trinity. Pride and
envy took possession, it is not known how, of this mighty spirit. He
conceived the plan of overthrowing the power of God, and seating himself
upon the throne of Omnipotence. Angels of all orders were won over to his
treason. At the first beck of the reckless spirit numberless intelligences
from the lower heavens and from earth assailed the Empyrean and joined
themselves to the rebellious seraphim, cherubim and thrones who had
flocked to the standard of revolt. In heaven raged a mighty contest, the
vicissitudes of which are covered by the veil of mystery. St. John,
however, in his Book of Revelation, lifts a single fold of it, and shows
us Michael at the head of the legions of God battling against Lucifer. The
contest ended with the overthrow of the rebel and his followers. The
beautiful Morning Star fell from heaven.[4] Christ beheld the once
faithful seraph hurled from its ramparts like a thunder-bolt from the
clouds.[5]

The conquered was not annihilated. Calm in the consciousness of
omnipotence, God inscrutably determined that Lucifer, changed by his
rebellion into a spirit wholly evil, should enjoy liberty of action within
certain limits. The activity of the fallen spirit consists in desperate
and incessant warfare against God; and he gains in the beginning a victory
of immeasurable consequence. He tempts man, and brings him under his
dominion. Humanity, as well as the beautiful earth which is its abode, is
under the curse of God.

The world is no longer an unbroken harmony, a moral unity. It is divided
forever into two antagonistic kingdoms, those of Good and Evil. That God
so wills, and permits the inevitable consequences, is confirmed by an
immediate change in the structure of the universe. Death is sent forth
commissioned to destroy all life. Hell opens its jaws in the once peaceful
realms of earth's bosom, and is filled with a fire which burns every
thing, but consumes nothing.

The battle-field is the whole creation except the spaces of the Empyrean;
for into its pure domain nothing corrupt can enter. Lucifer still adheres
to his claims upon its throne, and in every thing seeks to imitate God.
The fallen seraphim, cherubim and thrones constitute his princely retinue
and his council of war. The rebel intelligences of the middle hierarchy,
now transformed into demons, still love to rove among the same stars and
planets which were once confided to their care, and war against the good
angels who now guide the movements of the heavens. Other demons float upon
the atmosphere, causing storm and thunder, hail and snow, drouth and awful
omens (whence it is said the devil is a prince who controls the weather).
Others again fill the earth; its seas, lakes, fountains and rivers; its
woods, groves, meadows and mountains. They pervade the elements; they are
everywhere.

Man, the chief occasion of the strife, is in a sad condition. The bodily
pains and sufferings which the earth since its curse heaps upon the path
that successive generations, all partakers of Adam's sin, must tread, are
as nothing compared with the perils which on all sides assail and threaten
their immortal souls. And how can these dangers be averted? Each mortal is
indeed followed from his birth by a guardian angel; but how can his
promptings be distinguished from those that issue from the thousand hidden
agents of the Evil. Lucifer can transform himself into an angel of light,
his demons can entice with a voice which counterfeits that of God and
conscience. Man's will has no power to resist these temptations; it is
depraved by the fall. Reason gives no guidance; darkened on account of
man's apostasy, it degenerates, if left to itself, into a Satanic
instrument of heresy and error. Feeling is in subjection to matter, which,
already from the beginning opposed to spirit, shares the curse. Is it then
to be wondered at that the career of man, beginning with conception in a
sinful womb, has for its end, behind the portals of death, the eternal
torments of a hell? All these myriads of souls created by God and clothed
in garments of clay,--all these microcosms, each of which is a
master-piece, the glory of creation, a being of infinite value, form, link
by link, a chain extending from that nothingness out of which God has
created them, to that abyss in which, after a brief life on earth, they
must be tormented through countless ages, despairing and cursing their
Creator.

Lucifer triumphs. His kingdom increases; but the poor mortal has no right
to complain. The vessel must not blame the potter. When man looks into his
own heart he discovers a sinfulness and depravity as infinite as are his
punishments. However severe the law of the universe appears, it still
bears the impress of divine justice.

It is, therefore, but an act of pure grace, when God determines the
salvation of mankind. The Church, prepared for by the election of the
Jewish people, and founded by Jesus Christ the Son of God, who offered
himself for crucifixion to atone for the sins of men, has grown up and
disseminated its influences throughout regions where once demons, the gods
of the heathen, possessed temples, idols and altars. The Church is the
magic circle within which alone is salvation possible (_Extra ecclesiam
nullus salus_). Within her walls the Son of God offers himself daily as a
sacrifice for the transgressions of humanity; the Communion wine is by a
miracle changed into his blood, and the bread into his flesh, which,
eaten by the members of the Church, promote their growth in holiness and
their power of resistance to the Tempter. The Church is one body, animated
by the Holy Spirit of God; and thus one member compensated by surplus of
virtue for the deficiencies of another. Holy men, resigning all sensual
delights, and devoting their lives to the practice of penance and
severities, the contemplation of spiritual things, and doing good,
accumulate thereby a wealth of supererogatory works, which, deposited in
the treasury of the Church, enables her to compound for the sins of less
self-denying members. With liberal hand she grants remission of sins not
to the living merely, but also to the dead. Thus the race of men may
breathe more freely, and the multitude attach themselves again to the
transient joys and pleasures of a wretched life on earth; and when a
mortal plucks the flowers of pleasure which bloom in this vale of sorrows,
he need not fear so much its hidden poison, for the remedy is near at
hand. The knight in the castle yonder on the summit of the crag, or the
burgher beneath him in the valley, may without scruple take a wife, rear
children and live in conviviality according to his means; the happy
student may sing and realize his "_Gaudeamus igitur_"; the undaunted
soldier may seek a recompense for the hardships of his campaign by a merry
life in taverns and in women's company; even the followers of Mary
Magdalene, sinning in expectation of grace, may obtain at the feet of the
Church the same absolution which was given to their model at the feet of
Jesus, provided only that, grateful for the mercy of Christ, who has made
them members of his Church, they venerate it as their mother, partake of
its sacraments, and seek its aid. The continually increasing number of
cloisters, the homes of rigorous self-denial, uninterrupted penance, and
mysterious contemplation, is a guarantee of the inexhaustibleness of those
works of supererogation which the Church possesses.