n a sense, yet not in their
habitual state of consciousness'. Music of certain kinds, the water
of certain holy wells, the vapours of Branchidae, produce such
ecstatic effects. Some 'take darkness for an ally' (dark seances),
some see visions in water, others on a wall, others in sun or moon.
As an example of ancient visions in water, we may take one from the
life of Isidorus, by Damascius. Isidorus, and his biographer, were
acquainted with women who beheld in pure water in a glass vessel the
phantasms of future events. {70a} This form of divination is still
practised, though crystal balls are more commonly used than
decanters of water. Ancient and modern superstition as in the
familiar case of Dr. Dee, attributes the phantasms to spiritual
agency

Is a divine being _compelled_, Porphyry asks, to aid in these
efforts, or is it only the soul of the seer, as some believe, which
hallucinates itself, by the aid of points de repere? {70b} Or is
there a blending of the soul's operations with the divine
inspiration? Or are demons in some way evolved out of something
abstracted from living bodies? He seems to hint at some such theory
of 'exuvious fumes' from the 'circle,' as more recent inquirers have
imagined. The young appear to be peculiarly sensitive to vapours,
invocations, and other magical methods, which affect the human
constitution, and the young are usually engaged as seers. Hence
visions are probably subjective. Ecstasy, madness, fasts and vigils
seem particularly favourable to divination. Or are there certain
mystic correspondences in the nature of things, which may be
detected? Thus stones and herbs are used in evocations; 'sacred
bonds' are tied (as in the Eskimo hypnotism and in Australia);
closed doors are opened, the heavenly bodies are observed. Some
suppose that there is a race of false and counterfeiting spirits,
which, indeed, Iamblichus admits. These act the parts of gods,
demons, and souls of the dead. Again, the conjurer plays on our
expectant attention. Omitting some remarks no longer appropriate,
Porphyry asks what use there is in chanting barbarous and
meaningless words. He is inclined to think that the demon, or
guardian spirit of each man is only part of his soul,--in fact his
'subliminal self'. And generally, he suspects that the whole affair
is 'a mere imaginative deceit, played off on itself by the soul'.

Replying as to divination, Iamblichus says that the right kind of
dr