The occult sciences : sketches of the traditions and superstitions of past times, and the marvels of the present day / by Edward Smedley ; W. Cooke Taylor ; Henry Thompson ; and Elihu Rich.
- Edward Smedley
- Date:
- 1855
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The occult sciences : sketches of the traditions and superstitions of past times, and the marvels of the present day / by Edward Smedley ; W. Cooke Taylor ; Henry Thompson ; and Elihu Rich. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.
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![those ages—the model of which lies broken like a potsherd at the spring. The vail of the temple was once rent, and the poorest among us, dipping it in their golden bowls, may drink freely of the water of life. The fruits of ancient secrecy, in matters of philosophy and religion, have been tasted, and, like the fabulous apples of Sodom, they have turned to ashes in the mouth of the eater. The following pages contain abundant proof of this in many strange superstitions and opinions, easy to be recognized as the relics of a once prevalent faith. The legends of fairies, elves, familiars, and all the varied forms, poetical or otherwise, of demoniacal life, are but the lingering traces of a better knowledge concerning the spirit world, and the nature and occupations of departed souls. The sagacious Wesley was not far wrong when he said, As well give up the Bible at once as our belief in apparitions ; for certainly, around that faith has grown up the sacred literature of all nations, and around this latter again— like many a rich city beneath the walls of the old baronial castle— all that is valuable in history, poetry, and philosophy. The genuine books which form the heart of all literature are few in number, yet rich in principles, and one of the first marks by which they are characterised is that of a noble faith in eternity and its objects. Such are the Sagas of the north, the Yedes and Shastras of the Hindoo?, the Kings of China, the Iliad of the Greeks, and lastly, the Bible of the Hebrews, which we name in this connection without forgetfulness of its absolutely distinct character. The driest philosophy will inform us that our most vivid dreams occur when the eyes are just opening, and so this high wisdom was given to us in the infancy of the human intellect, not to be scorned in riper years, but to sink deep in the heart, and so from time to time, like the remembrance of a mother's love, make its still small voice to be heard. Meantime the necessary con- finement of these truths to the ancient priesthood, or to the academic groves, left the mass of people to feed upon uncertain rumour, and to shape their faith in many a grotesque fancy. The initiation of the ancient world, was not like Christian baptism, open to all comers, and it is to this exclusiveness, not to any intrinsic puerility in the things themselves, that we owe the mass of trivial superstition and ignorance with which they are associated. There is reason to hope that all this is changing for the better. In our days wisdom has acquired wings strong enough to bear her round the globe and raise her to the stars. The initiation into greater secrets than those of antiquity is thrown open to all without distinction of race or faith, and the promised light is already spreading from the west to the east with the art of G-ttttenbu'egh. [E. R.]](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21078130_0037.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
