ARTEMIDORUS OF EPHESUS,
SOMNABULIST, OR DREAMER.
ARTEMIDORUS (who wrote so largely upon Dreams) was a native of Ephesus. He lived under Antonius Pius, as he informs us himself, where he says, he knew an Athlete, who having dreamt that he had lost his sight, obtained the prize in the games which that Emperor ordered to be celebrated. No author has ever taken more pains upon so useful a subject than Artemidorus has done. He bought up all that had been written upon the subject of dreams, which amounted to several volumes, but he spent many years in travelling to collect them, as well as the different opinions of all the learned who were then living. He kept a continual correspondence with those in the towns and assemblies of Greece, in Italy, and in the most populous islands; and he collected every where all the dreams he could hear of, and the events they had. He despised the censure of those grave and supercilious persons, who treat all pretenders to predictions as sharpers, or impostors, and without regarding the censures of these Catos, he frequented those diviners many years. In a word, he devoted all his time and thoughts to the science of dreams. He
thought that his great labour in making so many collections, &c. had enabled him to warrant his interpretations by reason and experience, but unfortunately he ever fixed upon the most trifling and frivolous subjects, such as almost every one is dreaming of: there is no dream which Artemidorus has explained, but will bear a quite different interpretation, with the same probability and with at least as natural resemblances, as those on which that interpreter proceeds. I say nothing of the injury done to intelligences, to whose direction we must necessarily impute our dreams if we expect to find in them any presage of futurity 1. Artemidorus took great pains to instruct his son in the same science, as appears by the two books which he dedicated to him. So eager a pursuit after these studies is the less to be wondered at, when we consider that he believed himself under the inspiration of Apollo. He dedicated his three first
books to one Cassius Maximus, and the other two to his son.--They were printed in Greek at Venice in the year 1518. In the year 1603 Rigaultius published them at Paris in Greek and Latin, with notes. The Latin translation he made use of was that published by John Cornarius at Bazil, in the year 1539. Artemidorus wrote a treatise of augury, and another upon chiromancy; but we have no remains of them. Tertullian has not taken notice of him in that passage, where he quotes several onirocritic authors; but Lucian does not forget him, though he names but two writers of this class.
167:1 We find in Artemidorus some of the most trifling incidents in dreams noted by him to presage very extraordinary things; such, as if any one dreams of his nose, or his teeth, or such like trifling subjects, such particular events they must denote.--Now, as we cannot attribute a true and significant dream to any other cause than the celestial intelligences, or an evil dæmon, or else to the soul itself (which possesses an inherent prophetic virtue, as we have fully treated of in our Second Book of Magic, where we have spoken of prophetic dreams),--I say, from which of these causes a dream proceeds, we must ascribe but a very deficient portion of knowledge to either of them, if we do not allow them capable of giving better and plainer information respecting any calamity or change of fortune or circumstances, than by dreaming of one's nose itching, or a tooth falling out, and a hundred other toys like these--I say, such modes of dictating to us a fore-knowledge of events to happen, cannot but be unworthy of their Wisdom, subtilty, or power, and if they cannot instruct us by better signs, how great is their ignorance, and if they will not, how great is their malice? therefore, all such trifling dreams are to be altogether rejected as vain and insignificant, for we must remember that "a dream comes through the multitude of business," and often otherwise; but such dreams as we are to notice, and draw predictions of future accidents and events, are those where the dream is altogether consistent, not depending upon any prior discourse, accidents, or other like circumstances; likewise that the person who would wish to dream true dreams, should so dispose himself as to become a fit recipient of the heavenly powers, but this is only to be done by a temperate and frugal diet, a mind bent on sublime contemplation, a religious desire of being informed of any misfortune, accident, or event, which might introduce misery, poverty, or distraction of mind; so as when we know it, to deprecate the same by prayer to the divine wisdom, that he would be pleased to divert the evil impending, or to enable us to meet the same with fortitude, and endure it with patience till the will of the Deity is accomplished. These are the things which we ought to be desirous to receive information of by dream, vision, or the like, and of which many are often truly forewarned, and thereby foretell things to come, also presage of the death of certain friends; all which I know by experience to be true and probable.