The Encyclopedia Of Demons And Demonology

240 Solas
water produced no reaction, but the holy water increased
his convulsions.
Bonnoir was finally expelled after he challenged the
priests to administer a holy wafer to the boy, saying it
would leave if Boissonet took it. The boy went into such
convulsions that the the exorcist, Jean Canart, could
not insert it into his mouth. Finally, he put the two sacred
fingers—the index and middle—into Boissonet’s
mouth, causing it to open. He inserted a wafer and
then clamped the jaws together and put his fi ngers over
the boy’s nostrils. There followed an internal struggle
in the boy between JESUS and Bonnoir, with sounds
like a shrieking pig being stifled or “a little dog being
flayed.”
Three times, Canart called out to the demon to give
glory to God, honor Jesus and his body, and finally yield
to God, Christ, and “His Catholic and Roman Church.”
The demon replied in anger, “You’re stifling me—how
on Earth do you think I can get out?”
Canart released his hold on the boy’s nostrils, and immediately
a puff of wind and smoke emerged. Boissonet
fell to his knees, crying, “Praise be to God; now I am
healed.”
Boissonet was possessed a second time by another demon
named Bolo, who said he was on good terms with the
saints and took his direction from St. James. Alternately,
he said his superior was Ergon but explained that Ergon
and St. James were one and the same. Bolo said he was
not really a demon: “You can expel devils all right, but
not us.” This assertion concerned the exorcists, but they
succeeded in making Bolo admit that he was evil and depart
the boy.
Another of the demoniacs was Marguerite Obry (no
mention is made in accounts whether or not she was related
to Nicole Obry, associated with the Miracle of Laon).
As Nicole, Marguerite was possessed by BEELZEBUB. The
Franciscans tested her for fraud as well, giving her ordinary
wafers and holy wafers. They secretly put holy water
into her wine, and she refused to drink it.
The other notable demoniac in the case was a 50-yearold
married man, Nicolas Facquier, an artisan. Facquier
was possessed twice, first, by a demon named Cramoisy
and, second, by an unnamed demon. Cramoisy claimed
to be the same kind of spirit as Bolo: an order that lived in
the limbo of unbaptized infants. He said he visited paradise
three times a year.
Cramoisy announced that he was possessing Facquier
in order to persuade three of his Huguenot cousins to
return to Catholicism. Two of the cousins quickly converted.
The third did so only after a long session with the
demon, a bishop, and Charles Blendec, a monk who performed
some of the exorcisms. After the third converted,
Cramoisy departed Facquier.
All of the demoniacs were successfully exorcised, but
they had no real impact on other cases or on public opinion.
A year later, in 1583, the church’s national synod at
Reims warned against performing exorcisms before making
certain the victims were not in need of a medical doctor
instead of an exorcist.
FURTHER READING:
Walker, D. P. Unclean Spirits: Possession and Exorcism in
France and England in the Late Sixteenth and Early Seventeenth
Centuries. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania
Press, 1981.
Solas (Stolas) FALLEN ANGEL and 36th of the 72 SPIRITS
OF SOLOMON. Solas is a powerful prince who appears first
as a raven or an owl and then as a man. He teaches
astronomy and the virtues of herbs, including prophecy
through plants and the uses of precious stones. He governs
26 LEGIONs of DEMONs.
Soleviel DEMON and wandering duke of the air. Soleviel
commands 200 dukes and 200 companions, who also
have many servants and who wander from place to place.
The 12 chief dukes have 1,840 servants who are obedient
and good-natured. The 12 dukes are Inachiel, Praxeel,
Moracha, Almodar, Nadrusiel, Cobusiel, Amriel, Axosiel,
Charoel, Prasiel, Mursiel, and Penador.
Solomon (10th century B.C.E.) Legendary king of the
Israelites, son of David, builder of the Temple of Jerusalem,
and commander of an army of DEMONs or DJINN.
The actual existence of Solomon and his father, David,
remains unproved, but they are among the most important
figures of the Old Testament. Solomon is granted
great wisdom and understanding by God, far surpassing
the wisdom of any other man. He knows the lore of plants,
animals, and everything in the natural world. Men from
far away seek him out for his counsel. In legend, his wisdom
expands to include formidable magical knowledge,
and his name (including Son of David) is used to control
both good and bad spirits.
In 1 Kings, Solomon takes the throne upon his father,
David’s, death. The Lord goes to him in a dream and says,
“Ask what I shall give you” (3:5). Solomon replies that he
wishes to be given an understanding mind for governing
and for discernment between good and evil. Pleased that
he has not asked for riches, God says, “Behold, I give you
a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has
been before you and none like you shall arise after you”
(3:12). God also grants him incomparable riches. Thus
does Solomon become famed for his wisdom.
In the fourth year of his reign, Solomon builds his
famed Temple of Jerusalem, and his palace and administrative
complex. In the temple, he places two gilded
olivewood cherubim in the innermost part of the sanctuary.
He positions them so that a wing of one touches one
wall and the wing of the other touches the other wall, and
their other wings touch each other in the middle of the
house. When the temple is dedicated, priests place the
ark of the covenant, containing the two stone tablets of