at they "appear with a body
sanguine and cholerick, of a middle stature, with a horrible fearful
motion; but with a milde countenance, a gentle speech, and of the colour
of Iron. The motion of them is flashings of Lightning and Thunder; their
signe is, there will appear men about the circle, who shall seem to be
devoured of Lions," their particular forms being--

"A King with a Sword drawn, riding on a Stag.
A Man wearing a Mitre in long rayment.
A Maid with a Laurel-Crown adorned with Flowers.
A Bull.
A Stag.
A Peacock.
An azure Garment.
A Sword.
A Box-tree."

As to the Martian spirits, we learn that "they appear in a tall body,
cholerick, a filthy countenance, of colour brown, swarthy or red, having
horns like Harts horns, and Griphins claws, bellowing like wilde Bulls.
Their Motion is like fire burning; their signe Thunder and Lightning
about the Circle. Their particular shapes are,--

A King armed riding upon a Wolf.
A Man armed.
A Woman holding a buckler on her thigh.
A Hee-goat.
A Horse.
A Stag.
A red Garment.
Wool.
A Cheeslip."(1)

(1) _Op. cit_., pp. 43-45.

The rest are described in equally fantastic terms.

I do not think I shall be accused of being unduly sceptical if I say
that such beings as these could not have been evoked by any magical
rites, because such beings do not and did not exist, save in the
magician's own imagination. The proviso, however, is important, for,
inasmuch as these fantastic beings did exist in the imagination of the
credulous, therein they may, indeed, have been evoked. The whole of
magic ritual was well devised to produce hallucination. A firm faith
in the ritual employed, and a strong effort of will to bring about the
desired result, were usually insisted upon as essential to the success
of the operation.(2) A period of fasting prior to the experiment was
also frequently prescribed as necessary, which, by weakening the body,
must have been conducive to hallucination. Furthermore, abstention
from the gratification of the sexual appetite was stipulated in certain
cases, and this, no doubt, had a similar effect, especially as concerns
magical evocations directed to the satisfaction of the sexual impulse.
Add to these factors the details of the ritual itself, the nocturnal
conditions under which it was carried out, and particularly the
suffumigations employed, which, most freque