On the Illusions of Demons

TO THE READER.

The occasion for the work.

...so that very many have remained ignorant of where they should turn themselves in safety, as if they were groping about in the very darkness. This, however, is that labyrinth of incantations: so that, having found a thread of whatever kind, I might point out a much different way of explaining it than has been permitted to be observed until now, I have established this Work. But lest the continuity of the discourse generate obscurity, I have distributed it into six books: so that its order, like a rightly established economy of things (oeconomia): Here referring to a systematic and well-ordered arrangement, might consistently cohere in its respective parts.

ARGUMENT of the First Book.

Furthermore, since this entire business is entangled with the delusions (praestigiae): Deceptive tricks or illusions produced by demons to cheat the senses and deceit of demons, so that a path might be paved toward the understanding of those things which will be said in the remaining books, in the First Book is described: what the devil is, what his origin is, what his first deceitful attempts and ruinous progress were—from Eve in the beginnings of things up to these times—and likewise what his power is, and also what he absolutely cannot do: because those limits are fixed by God, beyond which he cannot be carried.

Of the SECOND. Infamous mages.

From here, about to show what he performs through his followers: I proceed to the infamous mages, who by the work of demons deliberately present all kinds of delusions to our eyes in many ways, deluding others with various masks of divinations, and foully polluting the original: "medicinae sacra" — the sacred rites or mysteries of medicine healing arts with their satanic impostures.

Of the THIRD. Witches.

In the Third Book, I distinguish these mages from the Witches (Lamiae): In this context, the author refers to women accused of witchcraft, whom he views as victims of delusion rather than powerful sorcerers; for these women—being inconsistent in their sex, slippery in faith, and not sufficiently in control of their minds due to their age—are more subject to the mockeries of the devil. He, insinuating himself into their imaginative power whether they are awake or asleep, induces all kinds of forms in them with such dexterity...