e
fourth century, with directions for divination by aid of a boy
looking into a bowl, says the editor (p. 64). There is a long
invocation full of 'barbarous words,' like the mediaeval nonsense
rhymes used in magic. There is a dubious reading, [Grrek] or
[Greek]; it is suggested that the boy is put into a pit, as it seems
was occasionally done. {74} It is clear that a spirit is supposed
to show the boy his visions. A spell follows for summoning a
visible deity. Then we have a recipe for making a ring which will
enable the owner to know the thoughts of men. The god is threatened
if he does not serve the magicians. All manner of fumigations,
plants, and stones are used in these idiotic ceremonies, and to
these Porphyry refers. The papyri do not illustrate the phenomena
described by Iamblichus, such as the 'light,' levitation, music of
unknown origin, the resistance of the medium to fire and sword
points, and all the rest of his list of prodigies. Iamblichus
probably looked down on the believers in these spells written on
papyri with extreme disdain. They are only interesting as folklore,
like the rhymes of incantation preserved in Reginald Scot's
Discovery of Witchcraft.

There were other analogies between modern, ancient, and savage
spiritualism. The medium was swathed, or tied up, like the
Davenport Brothers, like Eskimo and Australian conjurers, like the
Highland seer in the bull's hide. {75a} The medium was understood
to be a mere instrument like a flute, through which the 'control,'
the god or spirit, spoke. {75b} This is still the spiritualistic
explanation of automatic speech. Eusebius goes so far as to believe
that 'earthbound spirits' do speak through the medium, but a much
simpler theory is obvious. {75c} Indeed where automatic
performances of any sort--by writing, by the kind of 'Ouija' or
table pointing to letters, as described by Ammianus Marcellinus
(xxix. 29)--or by speaking, are concerned, we have the aid of
psychology, and the theory of 'unconscious cerebration' to help us.
But when we are told the old tales of whirring noises, of
'bilocation,' of 'levitation,' of a mystic light, we are in contact
with more difficult questions.

In brief, the problem of spiritualism in general presents itself to
us thus: in ancient, modern, and savage thaumaturgy there are
certain automatic phenomena. The conjurer, priest, or medium acts,
or pretends to act, in various ways beyond his normal consciousn