ASPR Journal, V14 - Iapsop.com

568 Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research.
But one difference is seen. He is hopeless of the power of incantations,
or perhaps feels a possession and impulsion coming
too swiftly upon him. Turning not in the direction of the invisible
Israelites, but around toward the desert, he sees the very
duplicate picture of the encampment projected against the rocks
and sands, and then, as deeper trance overtakes him and he
sinks crouching on the ground, the desert scenery utterly fades
away, and the tents of the Hebrews change to their future
dwellings in Canaan, and finally to a nation in arms, deadly in
battle.
This is the oracle of Balaam Bar-Beor,
Rune of the man whose eyes are now closing.
Utterance of him who lists to God's sentence,
And looks on the vision sent by the Almighty,
Falling, and having the inner sight opened :
How fair are thy tents, 0 Jacob!
How lovely thy dwellings, 0 Israel I
They are like unto far-stretching valleys,
Like gardens that grow by the river,
Like cedars which Jahveh has planted,
Like poplars refreshed by the waters.
At his might let the peoples tremble,
And his arm be upon many nations;
Let his king be higher than Agag,
And his realm be exalted in splendor.
His God let him loose out of Egypt,
Like a rampant wild-ox of the desert;
Let him eat up the tribes that oppose him,
Break their bones, and pierce them with arrows.
!'\ow is he crouched, lain down like a lion
And like a lioness, who dares to uprouse him?
Whoso shall bless you, 0 People, is blessed,
Whoso shall curse you, himself is accursed.
At this point Balaam is roused from his trance by the clamor
of the king, who storms wildly at the man who, called to curse
the enemy, has blessed him thrice. With bitter sarcasm, Balak
intimates that the Hebrew deity, the Lord, whom Balaam persists
in naming, if he threatens Moab, at least by the same token
prevents his prophet from• getting the honors which had been
planned for him. Balaam defends himself as before, and relapses
into his trance and automatic speech:
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