Note 23 — Chapter IX · PSYCHO-PHYSICAL AND TEMPERAMENTAL QUESTIONS

Vita, pp. 158a; 160a. Cf. St. Teresa, op. cit. p. 41: “We saw something like a great toad crawling towards us.… The impression it made on me was such, that I think it must have had a meaning.” Contrast, with this naïvely sensible sight and the absence of all interior assurance, such a spiritual vision as “Christ stood before me, stern and grave. I saw Him with the eyes of the soul. The impression remained with me that the vision was from God, and not an imagination” (pp. 40, 41). Another quasi-sensible sight, with no interior assurance, or question as to its provenance and value, is given on pp. 248, 249: “Once Satan, in an abominable shape, appeared on my left hand. I looked at his mouth in particular, because he spoke, and it was horrible. A huge flame seemed to issue out of his body, perfectly bright without any shadow.” Another such impression is recorded on p. 252: “I thought the evil spirits would have suffocated me one night.… I saw a great troop of them rush away as if tumbling over a precipice.”