541- During battle, are there spirits who assist in it and who aid each of the forces in the fight?
“Yes, and who stimulate their courage.”
Thus, the ancients represented the gods as taking the side of this or that people. Such gods were nothing more than spirits represented by allegorical figures.
542- In war, justice is always on one side only. How can spirits support the one that is in the wrong?
“You know perfectly well that there are spirits who seek only discord and destruction. For them war is war. The justness of the cause means little to them.”
543- Can certain spirits influence generals in the conception of their plans for a particular campaign?
“Absolutely. Spirits can influence them in this as in all conceptions.”
544- Can evil spirits suggest faulty plans to them in order to lead them to defeat?
“Yes, but don’t they have free will? If their judgment does not enable them to distinguish a good idea from a bad one, they will suffer the consequences and would do better at obeying than commanding.”
545- Can generals sometimes be guided by a type of second sight, an intuitive perception that shows them the result of their strategies beforehand?
“That is frequently what happens with geniuses. It is what they call inspiration and it enables them to act with a type of certainty. This inspiration comes to them from the spirits who guide them, and who use the faculties with which such individuals have been endowed.”
546- In the heat of combat, what happens to the spirits of those who die?Are they still interested in the battle after death?
“Some continue to be interested; others withdraw.”
The same thing happens in combat as occurs in all cases of violent death. At first, such spirits are surprised and bewildered. They do not believe they are dead and they think they are still taking part in the action. It is only little by little that reality imposes itself on them.
547- After death, do the spirits of those who had fought each other while alive still regard one another as enemies and continue to be hostile toward each other?
“In such moments, spirits are never calm. At first, they may still hate their enemy and even pursue them, but when they regain their composure, they see that their animosity no longer has any motive. Nevertheless, they may retain greater or lesser traces of it, depending on their character.”
– Do they still hear the din of the battle?
“Yes, perfectly.”
548- Do spirits who calmly watch a battle as spectators witness the separation of soul from body? How does this phenomenon appear to them?
“Very few deaths are truly instantaneous. Most of the time, a spirit whose body has been mortally wounded is not aware of it at the time. Only when consciousness begins to return can the spirit be seen moving beside its corpse. This appears so natural that the sight of the dead body lying there does not produce any disagreeable effect. All life having been transferred into the spirit, only the spirit attracts attention, and it is the spirit with whom spectators converse, or to whom they give orders.”
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