PREFACE.

...enigmatic. In this way, that diabolical apparition was a liar which appeared to Brutus Referring to the "evil spirit" that reportedly appeared to Marcus Junius Brutus before the Battle of Philippi in 42 BCE, famously recounted by Plutarch., inciting him to battle with false persuasions and promising victory; by obeying its warnings, he was ultimately killed on the battlefield. Likewise, that uncertain and enigmatic spirit directed the pagan oracle of Apollo and governed the tongue of the raving Pythia The Pythia was the High Priestess of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, who delivered oracles in a state of trance or frenzy.. This malignant spirit will sometimes mix truth with falsehood—namely, by occasionally announcing the truth to people so that he may later more easily deceive those who place their trust in him with his absurd and monstrous lies, leading them to inevitable ruin.

Very often he also schemes the sudden destruction of men, which he brings about either in his own person—through thunder, lightning, earthquakes, the churning of waters, the toppling of buildings, the blast of violent winds, and similar means—or accomplishes through his ministers, such as Poisoners Venefici (sorcerers or "poisoners" who used magical drugs, potions, and baleful charms), Black Magicians Cacomagi (practitioners of "low" or "evil" magic, often contrasted with the "natural magic" or "theurgy" claimed by the Rosicrucians), Necromancers Necromantici (diviners who call upon the spirits of the dead for forbidden knowledge), and others of this sort. Therefore, when these things are rightly and soberly considered, we find all the operations of the Devil original: "Diaboli" to be malignant and ruinous, so much so that they have produced no true knowledge and nothing of benefit for the world; on the contrary, they have brought forth a multitude of immense inconveniences, terrors, constant dangers, and wretched disturbances. The reason for this is clear: for he is the avenger of the living God and a monstrous devastator of those things abandoned by God.