WITCH. A medium or a human being whose body becomes at times the tool
of some finite, disembodied, intelligent being, or whose mind senses
knowledge in spirit land.
WITCHCRAFT. The manifestation of supernal knowledge, force, and
purposes through a borrowed or usurped mortal form; or the giving
utterance to knowledge sensed in through one's spiritual organs of
sense.
Our purpose is to adduce strong evidences from the primitive records of
American marvels, that lesser beings than the devil of Mather and Calef,
and more powerful ones than the operators designated by Hutchinson and
Upham, were actual performers of the principal manifestations that have
been known as witchcrafts. Those whom we shall present were earth-born, on
either this planet or some other, had previously passed out from
encasements of flesh, but obtained control of and actuated physical forms
belonging to embodied children, women, and men. Such beings, graduates
from earths, are as varied in character and purposes as the survivors on
their native planets, as varied as mortals are to-day. They may have
ranged in character from dark devils up to bright angels, and have come,
and gone, and operated by natural, though occult, forces and processes;
they being as free to use such as we are the forces and implements of
external nature. Many of our positions will be based upon psychological
powers and susceptibilities which are far from being generally known to
pertain to man; and we may fail to keep always within the bounds of things
credible to-day, but yet shall never consciously go further than observed
or credited facts will sustain us. If successful, we shall show that
benighted man formerly, in good conscience, made certain events fearful
curses, which, when rightly understood and used, may become gladdening and
rich boons to mortals.