had already been accomplished, to a large extent, by the Neo-Platonists
and whoever were responsible for the Kabala. It is true that these
main sources of magical or animistic philosophy remained hidden during
the greater part of the Middle Ages; but at about their close the
youthful and enthusiastic CORNELIUS AGRIPPA (1486-1535)[1] slaked his
thirst thereat and produced his own attempt at the systematisation of
magical belief in the famous _Three Books of Occult Philosophy_. But
the waters of magical philosophy reached the mediaeval mind through
various devious channels, traditional on the one hand and literary on
the other. And of the latter, the works of pseudo-DIONYSIUS,[2] whose
immense influence upon mediaeval thought has sometimes been neglected,
must certainly be noted.


[1] The story of his life has been admirably told by HENRY MORLEY
(2 vols., 1856).

[2] These writings were first heard of in the early part of
the sixth century, and were probably the work of a Syrian monk
of that date, who fathered them on to DIONYSIUS the Areopagite
as a pious fraud. See Dean INGE'S _Christian Mysticism_
(1899), pp. 104--122, and VAUGHAN'S _Hours with the Mystics_
(7th ed., 1895), vol. i. pp. 111-124. The books have been
translated into English by the Rev. JOHN PARKER (2 vols.1897-1899),
who believes in the genuineness of their alleged authorship.


The most obvious example of a mediaeval animistic belief is
that in "elementals"--the spirits which personify the primordial
forces of Nature, and are symbolised by the four elements,