Note XI.

Sometimes the Spirits appropriate mythological names, such as those of Jupiter, Saturn, Flora, Zephyr, Boreas, Bacchus, the god Mars, so that we would be singularly mistaken were we to take these names seriously. The same occurs with the names of Beelzebub, Satan, the angel Gabriel. These are emblematic qualifications that specify their nature or their inclinations; such, also, are the following names: Truth, Discord, Prudence, Folly, Tempest, Bright Sun, Zoricoco, etc. Certain names say sufficiently with whom we are dealing, and what attention the communications of those who bear them deserve. Nevertheless, under the most grotesque names, and alongside a jest, they not infrequently say things of great significance and profound truth. When they hurl their satirical sallies against someone, they sting to the quick and almost always reach the vulnerable point; small defects, known or hidden, as well as whatever a person may have that is ridiculous, are seized upon with finesse, and whoever provokes their verve does not always laugh last. They are, in short, the lampoons of the spirit world. The higher Spirits make use of them sometimes, according to the circumstances.