I have laboured to gain some acquaintance with this affair, and have for that end consulted the man mentioned in my journal of May 9, who, since his conversion to Christianity, has endeavoured to give me the best intelligence he could of this matter. But it seems to be such a _mystery of iniquity_, that I cannot well understand it; and, so far as I can learn, he himself has not any clear notions of the thing, now his spirit of divination is gone from him. However the manner in which he says he obtained this spirit was, *he was admitted into the presence of a great man, who informed him, that he loved, pitied, and desired to do him good. It was not in this world that he saw the great man, but in a world above at a vast distance from this. The great man, he says, was cloathed with the day; yea, with the brightest day he ever saw; a day of many years, yea, of everlasting ♦continuance! This whole world, he says, was drawn upon him, so that in him, the earth, and all things in it, might be seen. I asked him, if rocks, mountains, and seas was drawn upon, or appeared in him? He replied, that every thing that was beautiful and lovely in the earth was upon him, and might be seen by looking on him, as well as if one was on the earth to take a view of them there. By the side of the great man, he says, stood his shadow or spirit. This shadow, he says, was as lovely as the man himself, and filled all places, and was most agreeable as well as wonderful to him.――Here he says, he tarried some time, and was unspeakably delighted with a view of the great man, of his shadow or spirit, and of all things in him. And what is most of all astonishing, he imagines all this to have passed before he was born. He never had been, he says, in this world at that time. And what confirms him in the belief of this, is, that the great man told him, that he must come down to earth, be born of _such_ a woman, meet with _such_ and _such_ things, and in particular, that he should once in his life be guilty of _murder_. At this he was displeased, and told the great man, he would never murder. But the great man replied, “I have said it, and it shall be so.” Which has accordingly happened. At this time, he says, the great man asked him what he would chuse in life. He replied, first to be a _hunter_, and afterwards to be a _powwow_ or _diviner_. Whereupon the great man told him, he should have what he desired, and that his _shadow_ should go along with him down to earth, and be with him for ever. There was, he says, all this time no words spoken between them. The conference was not carried on by any _human_ language, but they had a kind of mental intelligence of each other’s thoughts. After this, he says, he saw the great man no more; but supposes he came down to earth to be born, but the spirit or shadow of the great man still attended him, and ever after continued to appear to him in dreams and other ways, until he felt the power of God’s word upon his heart; since which it has entirely left him.
♦ “countenance” replaced with “continuance” per Errata
*This spirit, he says, used to direct him in dreams to go to such a place and hunt, assuring him he should meet with success, which accordingly proved so. And when he had been there some time, the spirit would order him to another place. So that he had success in hunting, according to the great man’s promise.
*There were some times when this spirit came upon him in a _special_ manner, and he was full of what he saw in the great man. And then, he says, he was _all light_, and not only _light_ himself, but it was light all _around him_, so that he could see through men, and knew the thoughts of their hearts. These _depths of Satan_ I leave to others to fathom, and cannot guess what conceptions of things these creatures have at the times when they call themselves _all light_. But my interpreter tells me, that he heard one of them tell a certain Indian the secret thoughts of his heart. The case was this; the Indian was bitten with a snake, and was in extreme pain. Whereupon the _diviner_ (who was applied to) told him, that at _such a time_ he had promised, the next deer he killed he would sacrifice it to some _great power_, but had broken his promise. And now, said he, that great power has ordered this snake to bite you for your neglect. The Indian confessed it was so, but said he had never told any body of it. But as _Satan_, no doubt, excited the Indian to make that promise, it was no wonder he should be able to communicate the matter to the conjurer.