isis unveiled: chapter x (outside the walls…)

"Says Proclus:   "Many other of the ancients have collected a history of those that have apparently died, and afterward revived. Among these is the natural philosopher Demokritus. In his writings concerning Hades, he affirms that [in a certain case under discussion] death was not, as it seemed, an entire desertion of the whole life of [...]

isis unveiled: chapter x (outside the walls…)

"First in rank for wonders comes Proclus. His list of facts, most of which he supports by the citation of witnesses - sometimes well-known philosophers - is staggering. He records many instances in his time of dead persons who were found to have changed their recumbent positions in the sepulchre, for one of either sitting [...]

isis unveiled: chapter x (outside the walls…)

"One of the most learned scholars of his century, Bodin, the Demonologian, held the same opinion, that both the human and cosmical elementaries "were sorely afraid of swords and daggers." It is also the opinion of Porphyry, Iamblichus, and Plato. Plutarch mentions it several times. The practicing theurgists knew it well and acted accordingly; and [...]

isis unveiled: chapter x (outside the walls…)

"We will not ask which of the ancient writers mention facts of seemingly-supernatural nature; but rather which of them does not? In Homer, we find Ulysses evoking the spirit of his friend, the soothsayer Tiresias. Preparing for the ceremony of the "festival of blood", Ulysses draws his sword, and thus frightens away the thousands of [...]