PNEUMATOLOGY 125 



and they as well as the Gnomes have a language like 

 man; but the spirits of the woods are more rough 

 and speak nothing, although they are able to speak and 

 are clever. The Nymphs appear in human form and 

 clothing ; but the spirits of fire are of a fiery shape. 

 They are usually not to be found in the company of 

 men ; but they come to cohabit with old women, such 

 as are witches, and they are sometimes obsessed by 

 the devil. If any man has a Nymph for a wife, let 

 him take care not to offend her while she is near the 

 water, as in such a case she might return to her own 

 element ; ^ and if any one has a Gnome for a servant, 

 let him be faithful to him, for each has to be dutiful 

 to the other; if you do your duty to him, he will do 

 his duty to you. All this is in the divine order of 

 things and will become manifest in due time ; so that 

 we will then be able to see that which seems now almost 

 incredible " {Lib. Philos.j ii.). 



In the legends of the saints the Elemental spirits of 

 Nature are often alluded to as "devils," a name which 

 they do not deserve, because there are good as well 

 as bad Elementals ; but, although some may be very 

 selfish, they have not developed any love for absolute 

 evil, because they have only mortal souls, but no 

 spiritual essence to make them immortal. 



Besides the astral spirits in man and the Elemental 

 spirits of Nature, there are many other spirits born 

 within the soul (the will and imagination of Nature) ; 

 and as the mind of man may create monsters, and man 

 paint their images on canvas, or sculpture them in 

 stone or wood, so the universal power of Nature's mind 

 creates monsters in the astral light, and they will 

 throw their shadows forth in the physical world of 

 appearances, by becoming objective in corporeal bodies 



^ "If any one marries a water-njrmph, and she deserts him, he ought 

 not to take another wife, for the marriage has not been dissolved. If he 

 marries another woman be will shortly die " {Be Nymph.), 



