# An Examen of Witches/Chapter 36

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Chapter XXXVI.
That for the Cure of these Maladies Satan and his Demons must on no Account be Appealed to, but God Only.
It is obvious from what we have said in the last chapter that the methods used by witches in their cures are by no means certain, nor the cure itself when it is accomplished. And from this I would conclude that it is best for us not to consult them when we are sick, even if it is they who have cast the sickness upon us. Navarr. in Manua. c. 11. num. 29. Deut. 18. Levit. 20. C. 2. de sortileg. C. admoneant 26 q. 7. 1. cæteræ famil. Ercis. 1. item apud Labeonem si quis astrologus de injur. 1. nullus aruspex 1. nemo de malefic. C. 1. eorum de malefic. C.Moreover, it is not lawful for us to do so, seeing that we are strictly forbidden by Holy Scripture to have recourse to Satan or his demons, whatever advice or help they may promise us. The Canon Law excommunicates us in such case; and the civil Law has made similar provision by the penalties which it imposes on those who have recourse to such people, thus righteously amending the constitution of the Emperor Constantine, which permitted the use of magic for a good purpose, such as to heal the sick or to still tempests. And yet this Emperor was in some sort to be excused, for when he drew up his constitution he was still plunged in paganism and did not know that, according to St. Paul,Rom. 3. we must never do evil that good may come of it.
Experience has proved also that they who have consulted the Devil and his demons have never prospered. Ochozias, King of Israel, being sick ​from a fall, had recourse to Beelzebub, for which Elias foretold his death: “What,” said the prophet, “is there no God in Israel? And because thou hast nevertheless taken counsel with Beelzebub, thou shalt therefore die.” And so it happened to him immediately afterwards. The Emperor Heliogabalus, while consulting a necromancer, was cruelly murdered and dragged through the sewers with his mother. Pompey wished to enlist the support of certain witches against Cæsar, and lost both the victory and his life. The same happened to Ariovistus: and within living memory one of the great Kings of Christendom lost his reason through having suited a necromancer in order to know the issue of his fortunes. Bodin, Demonom. II. 3.Similarly Sanchez d’Avila, being wounded by a horse’s kick, neglected the chirurgeon’s art and relied upon the treatment of a soldier who practised certain benedictions; Lib. 10.and, according to the history of Portugal, died for his superstition. When Adrian VI held the Papal See, a Greek named Demetrio Spartiano allayed a very severe plague which ravaged the city of Rome by unlawful and superstitious means; for having cut off half the right horn of a wild bull which the people had given up to him, and after placing certain charms in its right ear, he at once made it so tame that, after throwing a thread over its whole horn, he led it about wherever he liked, till he brought it to the Coliseum, where he immolated it; and at once the plague began to abate. But soon afterwards the Bourbon army sacked Rome, which was justly permitted by God because, as Florimond de Raemond says,Antichrist, c. 26. num. 6. the Romans in seeking a remedy for the plague which afflicted them rather put their faith in ​Satan and one of his witches, against the wish of the Pope, who in no way desired to allow this magician and conjurer to exercise his art.
But how can it be that the wrath of God is not kindled against those who have recourse to witches, since it is His will that they should not be left to live on the earth?Exod. 22. “Thou shall not permit a witch to live,” He says in Exodus; and elsewhere certain men are expressly commanded to stone the Pythoness woman. Even the Persians, who were superstitious enough, used to crush their witches’ heads between two stones. Homil. 8. sup Epist. ad Coloss.It was therefore well said by St. John Chrysostom that it is better to die than to seek the help of the Devil or witches to be cured: “It is better for a Christian man to die than to redeem his life by means of witchcraft and sorcery.” S. Jerome, in vita Hilario.It was for this reason that St. Hilarion would not permit anyone to remove a strip of leather which a young man had, at the suggestion of Satan, placed under the house door of a girl whom he loved; although Satan had entered into the girl’s body and said that he would not leave it until the strip was removed: nevertheless the girl did not fail to be delivered by the prayers of St. Hilarion. The case of Rollande du Vernois was similar: she was possessed of two demons which Groz-Jacques had sent into her body, and asked that Groz-Jacques should be sent for, making signs that the demons would then depart from her; but I was in no mind to send for this man, but called in the Priest who conjured her diligently and pursued his exorcisms; and this was done in such a manner that the demons left Rollande. I hold that it was not she who asked for Groz-Jacques, but the demon, who wished ​one spell of witchcraft to be driven away by means of another. In this matter we may learn a lesson from the Roman Senate; for in the time of Marius it refused to use the services of a witch named Martha, although she promised victory, as we read in Dio Cassius.
In such cases, then, we must have recourse to God alone, following the advice which Elias gave to King Ochozias, whether we wish to prevent a misfortune or to be delivered from one. “He who is helped by the Almighty,” says David, “shall ever abide in the protection of God, etc.” And Satan reproached God because He kept Job in His protection, so that he could not harm him: “Doth Job fear God for nought?” he said. Job 1.“Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side?”
But words there are with power to ease, And our chief sufferings appease.
It is the prayers which we offer to God that are our protection from the Evil Spirit and his snares. Matth. 15.Jesus Christ drove the Devil from the Canaanite woman’s daughter at the prayer of her mother: Luke 9.He delivered the lunatic from the devil which tormented him at the prayer of the demoniac’s father: Mark 2.He healed Miriam the sister of Moses of the leprosy at her brother’s prayer. Therefore it is God alone, as He Himself says in Isaiah, who sends life and death, health and sickness, and there is no salvation save in Him.