QUOTE : Having a naturally resilent mind and being armed with a deep-rooted scepticism, I managed to shake my spirit free of these dark imaginings and, after reading certain occult works, I persuaded myself that I was being persecuted by elemental and elementary spirits, incubi, lamias, who were trying with all their might to prevent me from finishing my great work on alchemy. In accordance with the instructions of the initiated, I obtained a Dalmatian dagger and felt myself well armed against evil spirits.