Chapter XXV · CONCLUSION

No completely satisfactory explanation of the phenomena with which this book deals has as yet been formulated, but the elucidation of the problems of transformation, collected from many sources, should be sought primarily in the latent power innate in man which enables him to exert or project thought-forces, but little understood to-day, of which, however, hypnotism and suggestion are the most familiar forms of manifestation. Such power, acting upon the plastic mind-substance of the spiritual world, may, as far as we know, produce forms, animal or otherwise, in accordance with the desire (conscious or subconscious) and the will of the projector. To bring about his purpose and procure manifestation he has to induce a suitable state of mind, and to this end he employs ritual and accessories of various kinds.

To take a single illustrative case in point. The animal masks used in Indian theatrical shows serve as a means of suggestive illusion. In mystical shows anticipatory fear is evoked by such means. Indians are easily brought to a stage of inability to grasp the difference between the real and the suggested wild beast. But Indians and other primitive races are not the only ones to succumb to a strong will bent on producing phenomena. These things affect all kinds of people, even in the so-called higher grades of civilisation, and the effect of auto-suggestion is quite as curious as that of hypnotism. A case has recently come under notice of a woman who acquired the habit of going down on all fours and making a noise of barking, firmly believing that she has been turned into a dog. In how much is she removed from the hyæna-woman of Abyssinia? The cure is much the same, and is brought about by counter-suggestion in one form or another. In such instances, of course, it is not to be supposed that actual transformation has taken place, but spectators may nevertheless be hypnotised into believing what the victim believes. By some such means, too, Nebuchadnezzar may have been made to think himself a subject of boanthropy when "he was driven from men and did eat grass as oxen," continuing this occupation until his body was soaked with the dews of heaven, till his hair had grown like eagles' feathers and his nails like birds' claws.

What difference is there between such a belief and that of the spectator who thinks he sees the devil depart from a woman possessed in the shape of a huge black slug? He also may have been influenced by concentrated thought on the subject, and the question arises how far can human credulity be worked upon by the almost limitless and as yet little-understood power of the human mind. Much depends on the nature of the individual, the environment, and the receptivity to the kind of pressure brought to bear. Love of mystery and awe of the unknown are also strong factors in establishing faith, the first principle necessary for producing creative power. Even the wildest superstition enshrines something of reality and a stratum of truth underlies most widespread beliefs.

Research on these psychical subjects should be carried on earnestly and with untiring patience, always with a view to eliminate the false and preserve the true, wherever possible transmuting apparently evil elements and bringing forth the fundamental good. Such methods should make the prospects of discovering scientific facts more and more favourable in the future.

Unfortunately a miscellaneous study of "isms" and "ogonies" is often unproductive. Byron described the state of mind induced by ill-judged efforts in this direction in "Don Juan," Canto IX, 20:

The seeker after the facts about animal-metamorphosis, confused by many undigested propositions, might thus also attempt to salve his conscience, for man is certainly sometimes near enough to the animal without physical change, but he would be fleeing to a subterfuge suitable only for the idle and the ignorant. To the earnest student there can be no rest until this obscure branch of occult science is cleared up, though it may be but a side issue leading to more important facts. If in the foregoing chapters a grain of truth lies hidden which will help to elucidate the problem with which they deal, they will have served their purpose in pushing a step or two through the darkness which shrouds so many secrets of Nature.

INDEX

Abyssinia, 79, 80 Accadians, 288 Agrippa, Cornelius, 285, 286 Ainus, 182, 188 Alexander the Great, 174 Alligator, 23 Andersen, Hans C, 156, 166, 212 Animal Elementals, stories of, 271-2 Animal trials, 200 Antheus, 66 Ants, 26 Arabian Nights, 145, 211 Arawaks, 24-5, 27, 141 Arcadia, 66 Arundels of Wardour, legend of, 224 Ass, 80-1, 113-14, 131, 135-6, 140-1, 149, 155 Assier, Adolphe d', on animal ghosts, 261, 262, 263, 264, 267 Assyrians, 288 Auvergne, Gentleman of, 69 Bakongs, 19 Barrett's "Magus," 284, 285 Basilisk, 171, 186 Bat, 26 Bear, 17, 147 Berserkers, 147 Beswick, Miss, legend of, 229-31 Bisclaveret, 72-7 Bison, 23, 30 Black dog of Hergest, 241 Blacksmith, suspicions concerning, 79, 80, 84, 85 Black Vaughan, 241 Blackwood, Algernon, 161, 195 Blanche Biche, 115-17 Blavatsky, Mme., 273-5 Blue milk, story of, 268-9 Boanthropy, 76, 294 Bodin, 103 Boguet, 58, 103 Bouda, 32, 79, 80, 81, 82, 84, 85, 92 Bourgot, Pierre, 54-6 Brer Rabbit, 158 Butterfly, 26, 120 Cadmus, 173 Cagliostro, Count, 197 Cakchiquel Indians, 184 Callaly Castle, 232-3 Calmuc stories, 148, 167 Cambrensis, Giraldus, 13, 170-8 Cariden, Joan, witch, 125 Caridwen, 141 Cat, 3, 7, 25, 106-9, 128, 189-98 Cate, Anne, 124 Centaurs, 160, 161 Chaldeans, 287 Châlons, tailor of, 60, 64 Chanticleer, 200 Cherokee Indians, 3 Choctaw, 18 Circe, 131, 132, 278, 279 Clark, Helen, witch, 123 Clarke, Elizabeth, witch, 121, 122, 123 Clifton family, legend of, 224 Closeburn Castle, 220-2 Cock, 45, 198-200 Cockatrice, 172 Conaire the Great, 235 Coneely clan, 233 Corcini, Andrew, 50 Cox, Julian, witch, 105-6 Coyote, 30 Creeks, 23, 30 Crishna, 174-5 Crocodile, 17, 24 Cuchullaine, 235 Dodge, Richard, 258 Dog, stories of, 52, 53, 104, 109-10, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 138, 171, 219, 225-6, 238, 239, 240, 241-2, 243, 250, 266 Dog-ribs, 26 Donkey (see Ass) Dove, 135 — -maiden, 211-12 Dragon, 171 — St. George and the, 186, 226 Drake, Sir Francis, ghost of, 259 Du Chaillu, 84 Duke, alias Manning, Alice, witch, 126 Dweller on the Threshold, 273 Elementals, 281-2 Elizabeth, Queen, 118 Eskimo, 19, 29, 31, 32 n. — legend, 210 Ferrers family, legend of, 215-6 Flower, family of witches, 129 — Joan, 127-8 — Margaret, 127-8 — Phillip, 127-8 Fotis, 139-41 Galipote, 54 Gandillon, George, 59 — Perrenette, 59 — Pierre, 59 Garnier, Gilles, 57 Geti Afraz, 133-8 Glanvill, Joseph, 103, 111, 249, 250 Gnomes, 281, 282 Goat, 45 Gooding, Elizabeth, witch, 123 Gordon, Sir Thomas Edward, 191-2 Gorgons, 159, 163 Gormanston, Viscounts, legend of, 223-4 Grand Veneur, 259-60 Grant, Margaret, witch, 11 Grenier, Jean, 61-64 Grierson, Isabel, witch, 108 Hallybread, Rose, witch, 124 Hapton Tower, 228-9 Hare, phantom, legends of, 105, 253-5 Harmonia, 173 Harpies, 159, 162 Hercules, 42 Herod, 42 Hiuen-Tsiang, 179, 187 Holt Castle, ghost at, 257 Hoopoe, 213, 214 Hopi, 33-5 Hopkins, Matthew, 121-3 Horse, 111-13, 163 Horseshoes, 112 Hott, Jane, witch, 125 Hound's Pool, 241 Howard, Lady, 228 Hyæna, 26, 79, 80 Iroquois, 18 James I, 64, 103 Kaju wizards, 130 Kalitas, 27 Kalmucks, 43 Kanaima tiger, 87 Kingfisher, 214 Kirkpatrick family, legend of, 220-2 Kobenas, 37 Kynanthropy, 76 "Lady of the Lake," 222 La Fontaine, J. de, 156-7 Lamb, Charles, 159 Lamboyo, 4 Lambton family, legend of, 227 Lamia, 175 Lapwing, 214 Le Brun, Charles, 42 Leopard, 33 — Society, 66, 86-7 Levi, Eliphas, 67-9, 278-9 Lilith, 172, 275 Livingstone, 82, 82 n. Ljeschi, 164 Lohengrin, 146 Lorelei, 147 Loup-garou, 12 Lowther, Jemmy, 227 Lucius, 139-40 Lycanthropy, 2, 7, 8, 76, 84, 266, 295 — faithless men consigned to prison for, 53 Lycaon, 66 Magnus, Olaus, 74 Magpie, 209 Malec Muhammed, 133-8 Mamor, Pierre, 51 Manx dog, 240-1 Mara, 147-8 Marie de France, 72, 74 n. Melanesians, 21-2 Mermaids, 164-7 Meroc, sorceress, 114 Metamorphosis, or Golden Ass of Apuleius, 114, 139, 201 Minerva, 173 Minotaur, 167-8 Monkey, 27 Moquis, 33-7 Moth, 26 Mouse-maiden, 143-5 Muscipula, 42 Naga, 174, 178, 187 Nagual, 19, 22 Navajos, 25 Nereides, 164 Nightingale, 208, 214 Nin-Gilbert, Margaret, witch, 106-8 Obrick's Colt, 245 Ojibways, 17 Omaha, 30 Osages, 17 O-tsze, 88, 90 Owl-women, 202-4, 206, 207 Ox, 137, 153 Oxenham family, legend of, 216-8 Pamphile, 139, 201 Paracelsus, 51, 267, 268, 279-82 Peele Castle, ghost at, 240 Petronius, 66 Pig, 44 Poiret, Margaret, 60-2 Pondoro, 82, 83 Powis family, legend of, 234 Puck, 155 Radcliffe family, legend of, 226 Raqhosh, 151-2 Repercussion stories, 109, 193-97 Reresby, Sir John, 257 Reynard, 157 Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 42 Roaring Bull of Bagbury, 237 Robin, 213 Rollet, Jacques, 59-60, 64 Ross, Lord, 127-8 Rutland, Earl of, 127-8 St. Benedict, 48 St. Catherine of Sweden, 49 St. Francis of Assisi, 47 St. Francis of Paula, 46 St. Macarius, 113 St. Pascal Baylon, 50 St. Peter, 49 St. Regulus, 46 St. Ronan, 47 St. Stanislaus Kostka, 49 St. Vincent Ferrer, 48 St. William of Acquitaine, 51 Salamanders, 281 Samyama, 270-1 Satyrs, 159, 164 Scott, Reginald, 64, 103, 113, 114 n., 283, 284 Scott, Sir Walter, 103, 222 Sea-gull, 210 Seal, legend of, 233-4 Sebek, 24 Sekhet, 189 Senkepeng, story of, 183 Serpent (see Snake), 173-88 "Seven Whistlers," the, 256 Siderial body, 68 Sirens, 281, 282 Skin-dress in transformation, 142, 143 Snake (see Serpent), 18, 33-7 Sparrow, Susan, witch, 124 Sphinx, 162 Style, Elizabeth, witch, 126 Swan-maidens, 145, 201 Swifte, Edmund, 238 Swine, 46 Sybil (Lady), of Bernshaw Tower, 228-9 Sylvestres, 281, 282 Tamaniu, 21, 22 Tanoana, 4 Tanuki, 97, 98 Tedworth, Drummer of, 249 Thessala, sorceress, 154-5 Tiger, 11 Tigritiya, 32 Tinkhlet Indian, 19 Toradjas, 4 Tower ghost, 238 Townley family, legend of, 228-9 Transformation, methods of, 5-7, 111, 143, 149-50, 151-3 Transmigration, Egyptian belief in, 153-4 — Indian view of, 276-7 "Trash," story of, 243 Tregeagle, 242 Trials of Bourgot, 54-6 — Gandillon family, 59, 64 — Garnier, 57 — Grenier, 61-3 — Rollet, 59 Tumbukas, 77 Ulysses, 131, 132 Undines, 281, 282 Valkyries, 146, 201 Vampire, 4, 47, 53, 290 Venner, Elsie, 177-8 Versipelles, 67 Vouivre, 186 Webster, Dr., 103 Wells, H. G., 167, 168-70 Wer-foxes, 88-102, 149 Wer-lion, 82 Wer-tiger, 77, 87 Wer-wolf, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, 51, 54-77, 290-1 Wesley, Rev. Samuel, 250 West, Anne, witch, 122, 123, 124, 125 West, Rebecca, witch, 123 White bird, legends of (see also Oxenham), 255-6 White doe of Rylstone, 117-19 Wierius, Johannus, 54 William of Palermo, 70-2 Willimott, Joan, witch, 129 Willington Mill, ghosts at, 251-3 Witches of Chelmsford, 121 — Pendle, 103-5 — Strasburg, 109 — Vernon, 109 Witch of Niort, 109-10 Wolf-worship, 65 Woodpecker, 208 Wyecoller Hall, ghost at, 258-9 York Castle, ghost at, 257 Zeus, 65 Zulus, 188 Zuni, 29, 30, 185

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Transcriber's Notes:

Obvious punctuation and spelling errors have been fixed throughout.

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