# An Examen of Witches/Chapter 10

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Chapter X.
Of the Voice of Demons.
The matters we have discussed in the last two chapters lead me to speak of the manner of speech used by demons. For since they are purely spiritual, it would seem that they are incapable of speech, which is formed by the lungs, the palate, the tongue and the teeth, which are lacking in a spirit. Yet it is certain that demons do in some manner speak; for we see every day now they answer through the mouths of demoniacs. When Rollande du Vernois was possessed, her two devils so exactly imitated her own utterance at times, that we thought it was she who was speaking and answering us. But it has been observed that generally the Devil cannot control his voice so well as to imitate the human voice in such a way that it cannot be distinguished; for his voice is either harsh, or thin and penetrating, or like that of a man speaking in a tub. de Dæmon.Psellus explains that the Devil speaks in this ​manner so that, by not being clearly heard, he can the better disguise his subtleties and lies. Another reason is that it is impossible for art to imitate nature so closely but that there is always some difference between the two. And here it may be mentioned that, when George Gandillon was asked whether Satan spoke distinctly when he tempted him to give himself to the Devil, he answered that he did not, and that he could with difficulty understand what he said.
Now it is easy for the Devil to speak by the mouth of a demoniac, for then he uses the teeth, tongue and lungs of the possessed, just as he uses his other members in whatever manner he wishes; for he grimaces with the mouth, and uses the hands to push away the Cross and Holy Water, as I have seen in the case of Rollande du Vernois and several others who were possessed. This leads me to believe that, when the Devil enters into the body of a dog or a goat or a bird or any other animal, he can counterfeit the voice of a man, as he has several times done according to the statement of many witches. The first time he spoke to Rollande du Vernois, and to Pierre and George Gandillon, he was in the shape of a black ram; and it is known that he usually assumes this shape at the Sabbat when he speaks to his people, inciting them to evil either by soft words or by threats. This will not seem strange to any who have read the story of Balaam’s ass, or who have seen jays and parrots counterfeit human speech so well that it seemed as if a man was speaking. The parrot given to Augustus, which he valued so greatly, is an example. I pass over the lamb which in human speech foretold good fortune to Egypt in the reign of Bochorus, ​and the ox which said to him who goaded it in ploughing that mankind would fail sooner than the crops; neither shall I pause over the dog and the serpent which spoke when Tarquinius Superbus was driven from Rome; and the rook which, some time before the death of the Emperor Domitian, prophesied in Greek great good to the Roman Republic; and the two oxen and the cock who spoke in the consulship of Quintus Fabius Maximus and Marcus Lepidus. Fulgos. lib. 1. c. 4.All of these are mentioned by Fulgosus.
But it is far more difficult to believe that Satan can speak through the shameful parts of a woman, or when the person’s mouth is shut, or when the tongue is thrust six inches out of the mouth; or that he can speak when he has no body at all, or one formed only of air. Yet this is known to happen; for we read that she who gave answer in the Delphic Oracle spoke through the lower and shameful parts, as did also a woman in Rhodige, an Italian town mentioned by Cœlius Rhodiginus in his disquisitions.
However, this thing is caused in a natural manner, just as if the voice were formed by an agitation and vibration of air; and it follows that Satan can in this way create a voice, seeing that he is well able to form a body out of air. The echo gives us an example of this, when we see valleys and hollow places reply articulately to the human voice so exactly that it seems as if those places were imitating our speech; and from this it is easy to understand that the human voice may be quite well counterfeited without the use of lungs, tongue or teeth.
Lib. 2. de Incant. c. 12.Therefore Vair is right when he says that demons can counterfeit sounds like the human ​voice, and therewith express their meaning, and that although they have neither teeth nor tongue nor lungs, which are the instruments by which the voice is formed, they can yet present an artificial appearance of these organs, and by this means and by certain sounds they counterfeit some semblance of a voice which they cause to reach the ears of their hearers. So says Vair.