Robert Wagman

CHAPTER XXII

They say that the stoicheion which we are discussing likes to play inside cisterns, particularly the large kind which are divided internally into cellars and room-like compartments. It appears on top of the cistern, in the form of a little African man who sits and does not trouble anyone or say anything, but gestures young women to approach him. If they come, he welcomes them kindly, and they say that he reards them with many gifts from his own possessions. If they do not approach, he does not mind, nor he is mean to them. Often, if he is offended by the rejection, he jumps back down into the well. He is known for falling in love with young maidens of beautiful and noble looks, and he always tries to seduce them with entreaties and promises. What is even more amazing, there is no lack of those who say that many girls, won over by his gifts, do bond with the little man. When that is the case, he takes them down into the cistern as if they were close friends and sets them up in beautiful chambers, lavishly decorated and furnished with every sort of luxury, and after a long time, having replenished them with food and drink, brings them back outside into the world. From that time on, as long as the lad’s desire for them does not fade, they can always go back to his chambers if they wish to. A place well-renowned for being haunted by this sort of thing is a large cistern in the farm of the Cavaci, from which very few dare to draw water, because of its size and because they are also inhibited, perhaps, by a certain superstitious fear. Another cistern with a similar reputation is in Chios. You can see it on the way to Tristratum from the food market, a little past the church of St. Eustratius. It is built in the walls of the Mazangi residence, although it projects far enough into the road to prevent it from keeping a straight course. It is not too deep and has a narrow opening, but it is supported by arches and vaults everywhere. Every night at midnight, a man comes out of it riding a wild horse. He races up and down the road with great noise; then jumps back into the same well, horse and all. People call this man ‘Venia’. So strong and widespread is this credence, that if one were to question it, his neighbors would deem him mad. And when they want to ridicule somebody for being slow-witted, they ask him if he drank from Venia’s well, ‘Did you drink from Venias’ well?’—as if drinking that water could turn you into an idiot. In the Suda there is also a place, between the town and the fort, where they say that a spirit of this kind has been sighted many times disguised as a sow with her piglets. Nor is it at all strange that forces like these should be seen so often near wells, springs, or other watery and muddy places. For, as Tertullian attests in his book On Baptism,

Unclean spirits dwell in water—as well know those shadowy springs and faraway streams, bathhouse pools, domestic water ducts, cisterns, and wells, in which are people are said to disappear, obviously through the power of a malevolent spirit. This is why people call ‘lymphatics’ and ‘hydrophobes’ those who are drowned or struck with madness by water.

As to the reason why these forces seek wetness and linger around bathhouses, Psellus offers an ample explanation in his book On Demons. Eunapius, also, makes reference to bathhouse demons in his Life of Porphyry,

He also says that, in addition, he chased away a demon from some bathhouse—Causathan, as the locals called him.

See what the same author has to relate about Eros and Anteros in ‘Iamblichus.’ We hear of another demon chased out of a bathhouse from Gregory of Nyssa, in his Life of Gregory the Miracle Worker. But why do I go on recounting such nonsense? For if I wanted to cite all the things that people throw at you, even when you do not want to hear them, as if they were positive evidence, this letter would grow into a book. Therefore, I will conclude this discussion by relating an event which happened in my own home. People said that a spirit like the ones we have been talking about could often be seen in that house in the form of a snake. One time, when I was going back to Chios, fifteen days before my arrival my mother went looking for something in a cupboard which is in the house. When she opened it she found inside a coiled snake resting in the middle. She closed the door and went to tell the neighbors about it. A little old woman, one of those who gush forth prophetic wisdom, replied that the master of the house was to arrive within a few days. Yet, neither my mother nor the little old woman nor anyone else could have been informed about my trip, since I had undertaken it on the spur of the moment and, even if I had wanted to alert someone of my departure, I couldn’t have. Now, within the exact number of days predicted by the old woman, I arrived home. Eight months later, I woke up in the middle of the night as I heard something snore under the very pillow where I reclined my head. And when I stretched out my hand, I thought I touched a snake which immediately ran away at the contact. The following morning I told the neighbors what I had touched during the night. The same old woman turned to me and said, smiling, ‘Very soon you will need to leave and travel to another place.’ And surely at that time this seemed like a prophecy, since neither had I in my mind any intention to leave, nor was there any reason for planning a trip. Twenty days did not go by before the matter of my leaving came up again and I was on my way to Rome. There are others as well, who can make many predictions from this sort of thing. But I think I have given enough evidence on popular belief through one or two examples.

NOTES

Forthcoming