The use of exorcism against caterpillars and
grasshoppers was also common. In the thirteenth century a Bishop
of Lausanne, finding that the eels in Lake Leman troubled the
fishermen, attempted to remove the difficulty by exorcism, and
two centuries later one of his successors excommunicated all the
May-bugs in the diocese. As late as 1731 there appears an entry
on the Municipal Register of Thonon as follows: "_Resolved_, That
this town join with other parishes of this province in obtaining
from Rome an excommunication against the insects, and that it
will contribute _pro rata_ to the expenses of the same."
Did any one venture to deny that animals could be possessed
by Satan, he was at once silenced by reference to the entrance of
Satan into the serpent in the Garden of Eden, and to the casting
of devils into swine by the Founder of Christianity himself.[[113]]
One part of this superstition most tenaciously held was the
belief that a human being could be transformed into one of the
lower animals.
Pages:
905
906
907
908
909
910
911
912
913
914
915
916
917
918
919
920
921
922
923
924
925
926
927
928
929