Little Question Two of Question Three
Whether good or evil spirits can send dreams to the living
It is doubted whether good and evil spirits can appear to the living and send dreams to them.
To this it is answered affirmatively; and let us speak first about good spirits.
First, then, clear dreams concerning certain things pertaining to the good of the living themselves or of others are sometimes introduced into the living by the kindness of good spirits.
Thus a clear dream was sent to Albert the Great about a boy’s fall from a mill onto the riverbank at night, so that, because Albert was a bishop, he might thereby be moved with greater piety and compassion toward the boy’s mother, who was to come to him in the morning lamenting the drowning of her son.
So also a dream was sent to Galen concerning the cure of a certain sick man suffering from a disease of the spleen. As Galen himself relates, when he had long been solicitous concerning that man’s cure and had diligently sought remedies, he dreamed one night that he should draw blood from the vein which is between the little and ring fingers. He did this, and the man was healed.
If, then, divine goodness through good spirits thus directs human beings who do what lies within them toward those things which pertain to the health of bodies, far more surely will it through good spirits direct human beings duly solicitous about acquiring moral and spiritual goods for themselves or for others, and especially those who preside over others.
Thus King Solomon was specially directed through a dream concerning the good government of the people committed to him, as is contained in 3 Kings 3.
For this there is also the fact that Caiaphas, when he was the high priest of that year, prophesied, saying: “It is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, lest the whole nation perish.”
So also many things have frequently been shown through dreams even to unbelieving kings, as the future famine was shown to King Pharaoh in Genesis 41, and the future disposition of kingdoms, concerning which he was solicitous, to King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2.
And deservedly do angels direct and incline kings and princes through dreams toward the welfare of those whose care they bear. For certain angels—as will be said below in the Second Decade—preside over provinces and regions as governors, and consequently over the kings and princes of regions, by influencing them toward this or that, according as they know it to be expedient for the welfare of those committed to them.
From these things it appears that, among the dreams of others, the dreams of those who preside ought more especially to be noted as having a presage of future things. And therefore one of the philosophers said that credence ought to be given to a royal dream. For he knew that the welfare of peoples consists in their heads, that is, in those who preside over them.
Second, dreams are sometimes introduced into the living by evil spirits: either for deception, so that someone who is a prophet of the devil may be believed to be a prophet of God; or for confirmation of some error or superstition; or to impel and incite some vice, namely pride or lust; or so that through such clear visions and dreams they may exalt themselves as prophets or as persons familiar with God. For revelations easily cause exaltation.
The Apostle experienced this when he said: “There was given to me a thorn of the flesh, an angel of Satan, lest the greatness of the revelations should exalt me.”
So also a dream was sent to Socrates by a certain demon familiar to him, so that he could interpret the dream concerning Plato, who was still a boy, which he had about a swan that the Athenians sacrifice to the goddess Venus whom they worship.
For on the preceding night, before Plato had been brought to Socrates by his father for the sake of instruction, Socrates saw in a dream sent by a familiar spirit a swan—namely, one which among the Athenians is dedicated to Venus—singing most sweetly and, while singing, flying upward from the earth as far as the heavens. After Plato had then been brought to him, Socrates said, “This is that swan which I saw singing so very sweetly in my sleep last night.”
So also dreams concerning certain effects were sent to some philosophers by demons attending them, so that afterward they might infer discursively from these effects that there were certain spirits more capable and subtler than themselves, and thus might be induced into superstition or error, or sometimes even into the truth, as is evident concerning the Platonists and Cicero, who adhered to the Catholic truth in certain matters.
These things are from Henry of Hesse.