Question Two of Chapter Eight of the Third Decade
How demons can be expelled from possessed bodies
It is asked whether demons can be expelled from possessed bodies by the power of melody, stones, or herbs.
To this it first appears that one must respond affirmatively. For it is said in 1 Kings 16 that, when David took up the psaltery and played before Saul, the devil ceased from vexing him.
Likewise, it is said in Guido’s Music that there are certain demons which cannot endure melody.
Likewise, Josephus says in The Jewish War that, when Titus was besieging Jerusalem, there was a certain man in his army who expelled demons from possessed bodies by means of the stone of a ring.
Likewise, in Tobit 6 the angel Raphael said concerning the liver of the fish placed upon coals that its smoke drives away every genus of demons, whether from a man or from a woman.
And Solomon is said to have made exorcisms from herbs for expelling demons.
In response to this question, three conclusions are set down according to the determinations of Master Nicholas de Lyra upon 1 Kings 16.
The first conclusion is this. Neither melody, nor herbs, nor the power of any stone, nor the substance of a sensible thing can by natural power act upon a demon in a way by which he can be compelled to anything, and consequently cannot expel him from possessed bodies or exclude him from his vexation.
This conclusion is proved thus. No separated spirit can naturally suffer from a body. This is evident because the agent is more excellent than the patient, as Augustine and the Philosopher say in On the Soul. But a demon is a separated spirit. It follows, therefore, that no sensible thing or corporeal power can act directly or indirectly upon demons, and therefore cannot compel them to anything.
Master Henry of Ghent, the Servite, also sets down this conclusion in the Quodlibets, speaking thus: “There is no power in stones or herbs which can compel a demon or put him to flight in any way, although a demon may be able to pretend that he is compelled through herbs, stones, or incantations. None of these things could do this unless God supernaturally implanted in them a power of this kind, just as he implanted it in the sacraments and sacramentals.”
The second conclusion is this. Divine power can act upon demons immediately or mediately—for example, through good angels, saints, or good human beings—and compel them to perform something.
The conclusion is evident. Since divine power is superior to them, and every other power is subject to it, it can act upon them immediately or through good angels, saints, or good human beings.
Hence the seventy-two disciples returned with joy to Christ, saying: “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name,” Luke 10.
The third conclusion is this. Melody or some sensible thing can mitigate the vexation, so that those afflicted by demons may bear it more lightly through those sensible things. It does this, however, not by acting upon the demon, but upon the person vexed by the demon.
This is proved because every cause of limited power can produce a more intense or less intense effect in matter which is more or less disposed, for “actions occur in a disposed patient,” Book II On the Soul.
A demon, however, possesses limited power. He therefore produces a more intense or less intense vexation in a human being according to the diversity of those disposed toward that vexation, or toward that which the demon intends to induce by vexing them.
For example, if a person is disposed toward a melancholic passion, the demon can induce it more easily in that human being than in one who possesses a contrary disposition.
This is because demons cannot transmute corporeal matter according to their will; rather, they do this by means of corporeal active and passive things. In their actions, therefore, when demons afflict human beings, they sometimes take account of the disposition of the corporeal matter.
Hence certain persons are called lunatics, Matthew 4 and 16, who according to the varying disposition of the moon are afflicted by demons with divine permission.
The moon, however, has dominion over the moist and consequently over the brain, which is more apt to receive the action of a demon at one time than at another according to the varying motion of the moon.
Thus herbs, melodies, or other sensible things can greatly alter the disposition of bodies and consequently the motions of the sensitive part.
This is evident concerning herbs, some of which incline human beings toward sadness and some toward joy.
It is also evident concerning harmony in Book IV of the Politics, where the Philosopher maintains that diverse harmonies provoke diverse passions in a human being.
And Boethius says in On Music that music has power to cure or alleviate certain illnesses.
Thus it is evident that herbs or harmonies can sometimes cause in a human being a disposition contrary to the vexation with which a demon strives to vex him. Consequently, it is evident that through such sensible things a disposition can be caused in the human body through which it is less subjected to the action of demons, and thus the affliction caused by him is diminished and alleviated.
Likewise, that which diminishes the perception of an affliction also diminishes and alleviates the affliction. Melody diminishes the perception of an affliction because it draws the attention of the mind to itself, and thus it can alleviate an affliction caused in a human being by a demon.
It cannot, however, expel the demon who inflicts the affliction, as has been said.
To the first argument it is said that through the natural power of melody Saul could bear the vexation of the devil more lightly. But through it the demon did not withdraw; rather, he withdrew through divine power immediately, or through holy angels, because of the merit of David, who played divine praises upon the lyre and sang for Saul’s salvation.
Something similar is related concerning Elisha in 4 Kings 3.
To the second it is said that demons withdraw at melody either because of the holiness of the one playing, as was said concerning David, or because of his wickedness—for example, if it is done so that through it reverence due to God may be attributed to demons. Demons covet such reverence, and thus they withdraw not under compulsion but voluntarily, so that they may hold such human beings in error and in their servitude, which they desire above all.
To the third it is likewise said that the man in Titus’s army expelled demons by magical art—that is, through tacit or express pacts entered into with demons. They pretend to be expelled through these so that they may hold human beings in error.
The smoke of the fish’s liver likewise did not expel the demon. Rather, the merit of Tobias’s prayer, which was signified through the odor of the smoke, and the power of the holy angel Raphael did so.
And if Solomon made exorcisms during the time when he possessed the Spirit of God, demons were thus repelled by divine power. If, however, he made them during the time of his idolatry, the demons were repelled by magical art, as has been said.
These things are from Johannes de Turrecremata, On Penance, distinction 1, chapter Voluissent, section Denique ut perspicue.