The Hammer of Witches

...through intermediaries, it might be possible to inflict harm upon the body of the person being looked at. This is a difficult point, especially since according to the more common opinion This refers to the "intromission" theory of vision favored by Aristotle, where the eye receives light, rather than the "extramission" theory where the eye sends out rays, we see by receiving things into ourselves rather than sending anything out. It is also not possible for a human being, through the natural power of their soul and by their own will, to create a transformation by imagining things in their eyes which, through the transformation of the intermediate air, could change the body of the person they are looking at into some quality that pleases them. Because a person cannot fascinate fascinate original: "fascinare." In this context, it refers to the "Evil Eye," or the ability to cast a spell or cause harm through a look another in either of these two ways, since no such power can exist in any human through the natural power of their soul. Therefore, to wish to prove that "maleficial" maleficial acts of harmful sorcery effects can arise from some natural power—in order to undermine the fact that the works of sorcerers are done by the power of demons—is very far from the truth. This is because fascination is rejected in these two ways, just as the two previous arguments were.

However, how it is possible, although touched upon above, is more clearly deduced in this way: It can happen that a man or woman, by looking at the body of a child, may move that child by means of sight and imagination or some sensible passion sensible passion a physical emotion or feeling that affects the body's state. And because a sensible passion involves a certain bodily change, and the eyes are very delicate and thus highly receptive to impressions, it sometimes happens that through some internal passion, the eyes are transformed into a bad quality. This is especially true when imagination cooperates, the impression of which quickly overflows into the eyes because of their delicacy and because the root of the particular senses is so close to the organ of imagination. When the eyes have been transformed into a harmful quality, it can happen that they transform the air touching them into a bad quality, and that part of the air affects the next, and so on, until the air touching the eyes of the child who is being
to react original: "rihuagere," likely a corruption of "reagere" looked at is affected. That contiguous air can then transform the eyes of the child into another bad quality, and through the child’s eyes, it affects certain internal parts. Consequently, the child will be unable to digest food,

nor will they be able to grow or be strengthened in their limbs. Practical experience provides a guide to this matter. For we see that a person with suffering eyes sometimes harms the eyes of those looking at them. This happens because the eyes, infected with a bad quality, infect the intermediate air; and the infected air infects the eyes directed toward the sick eyes. This is because that infection is derived in a straight line directly to the eyes of the beholders, with the imagination of the one who looks at the sick eyes and imagines themselves being harmed cooperating greatly in this. Many more guiding examples could be brought forward, but they are omitted for the sake of brevity.

A certain gloss gloss a scholarly or theological commentary written in the margins or between lines of a text on the Psalm "Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice" Psalm 119:74 agrees with this. It says: There is great power in the eyes, as appears in natural things. For instance, an animal aids those with jaundice jaundice original: "ytericis." Medieval lore claimed that looking at a specific bird, the charadrius, could pull the yellow sickness out of a human and into the bird with its gaze; a wolf, if it sees a man first, takes away his voice. Or consider the basilisk basilisk a mythical king of serpents said to kill with its gaze: if it sees a person first, it kills them; if it is seen first, it is killed. And the reason why the basilisk kills men by looking is nothing other than that, from its gaze and imagination, a poisonous matter is excited in its body. By this, the eyes are first infected, and finally the contiguous air, and so on, part by part, until the air touching the human is reached. When the human draws in that air by breathing, he is poisoned and dies. But a man can see first if he intends to kill the basilisk by surrounding himself with mirrors; when the basilisk looks into them, the air is infected by the reflection, and thus the infection reaches the basilisk and it is killed.

But a doubt remains: why does the man who kills the beast not die? Here it is necessary to suppose some hidden cause. These things are not said without prejudice or as a rash assertion; rather, adhering to the sayings of the saints, let us conclude the Catholic truth: that for the "maleficial" effects of which we are currently speaking, sorcerers malefici always concur with demons, and the one can achieve nothing without the other. To the arguments concerning fascination, the answer to the first is clear. To the second, it is said—following Vincent in his Natural Mirror original: "vincen. in specu. natu." Referring to Vincent of Beauvais's 13th-century encyclopedia, Speculum Naturale, chapter 13—that a wound infected by the spirits of the killer, through a strong imagination, draws in that infected air passing from the killer...