Zabulon : A demon who possessed a lay sister of Loudon.

Zachaire, Denis : Alchemist. This French alchemist is chiefly remembered by his book, Opuscule de la Philosophie de Metaux, traitant de l'Augmentation et Perfection de ceux, and in the preface thereto he gives some account of his life, yet fails to state the precise date at which he was born. However, the event is commonly supposed to have taken place about 1510; while it is known that Denis was a native of La Guyenne, and that his parents were comfortably off, if not actually rich. As a young man he studied at Bordeaux, and subsequently at Toulouse, intending to become a lawyer; yet he soon became more interested in alchemy than in legal affairs, and in 1535, on his father's death putting him in possession of some money, he decided to try and multiply it by artificial means. Associating himself with an abbe who was reckoned a great adept in gold-making, Denis had soon disposed of the bulk of his patrimony; hut the charlatan's futile experiments, far from disillusioning him, served rather to nerve him to further endeavours, and in 1539 he went to Paris, where he made the acquaintance of many renowned alchemists. From one of them, so he declares, he imbibed the precious Secret ; and thereupon he hastened to the court of the King of Navarre, Antoine d'Albert, grandfather of Henri IV., offering to make gold if the requisite materials were supplied. His majesty was deeply interested, and promised a reward of no less than four thousand crowns in the event of the researches proving fruitful ; but Zackaire's vaunted skill failed him in the hour of need, and he retired discomfited to Toulouse. Here he became friendly with a certain priest, who advised him strongly to renounce his quest, and study natural science instead; so Denis went off to Paris once more, intending to act in accordance with his counsel. Ere a little while, nevertheless, he was deep in alchemy again, making actual experiments, and studying closely the writings of Raymond Lully and Arnold di Villanova; while, according to his own account of his career, on Easter day in the year 1550 he succeeded in converting a large quantity of quick-silver into gold. Then, some time after this alleged triumph, he left France to travel in Switzerland, and lived for a while at Lausanne; while later on he wandered to Germany, and there he died. It is probable that his closing years were spent in dire poverty, but this is not recorded definitely, nor has the exact date of the alchemist's demise ever been ascertained.

As regards the book by Zachaire cited above, it was published originally at Antwerp in 1567, it was repeatedly reprinted thereafter, and even won the honour of being translated into Latin; while to this day, indeed, it is sought keenly by French philosphers with a taste for the curious.

Zacornu : A tree in the Mohamedan hell, which has for fruit the heads of devils.

Zadkiel : One of the angels in the Jewish rabbinical legend of the celestial hierarchies. He is the ruler of Jupiter, and through him pass grace, goodness, mercy, piety, and munificence, and he bestows clemency, benevolence and justice on all.

Zaebos : Grand count of the infernal regions. He appears in the shape of a handsome soldier mounted on a crocodile. His head is adorned with a ducal coronet. He is of a gentle disposition.

Zagam : Grand king and president of the infernal regions. He appears under the form of a bull with the wings of a griffin. He changes water into wine, blood into oil, the fool into a wise man, lead into silver, and copper into gold. Thirty legions obey him.

Zahuris or Zahories : French people who had travelled in Spain frequently had curious tales to tell concerning the Zahuris; people who were so keen-sighted that they could see streams of water and veins of metal hidden in the earth, and could indicate the 'whereabouts of buried treasure and the bodies of murdered persons. Explanations have been offered on natural lines. It was said that these men knew' where water was to be found by the vapours arising at such spots; and that they were able to trace mines of gold and silver and copper by the particular herbs growing in their neighbourhood. But to the Spaniard such explanations are unsatisfactory; they persist in believing that the Zahuris are gifted with supernatural faculties, that they are en rapport 'with the demons, and that, if they wished, they could, without any physical aid, read thoughts and discover secrets which were as a sealed book to the grosser senses of ordinary mortals. For the rest, the Zahuris have red eyes; and in order that one should become a Zahuri it is necessary that he should have been born on Good Friday.

Zanoni, by Bulwer Lytton: (See Fiction, Occult.)

Zapan : According to Wierius, one of the Kings of Hell.

Zedekias : Notwithstanding the credulity of the French people in the reign of Pepin the Short, they refused to believe in the existence of elementary spirits. The Kabalist Zedekias, being minded to convince the world, thereupon commanded the sylphs to become visible to all men. According to the Abbe de Villars, the admirable creatures responded magnificently. They were beheld in human form, sometimes ranged in battle, whether marching in good order, or under arms, or camping in superb pavilions and, again, in aerial navies of marvellous structure, whose flying flotillas sailed through the air, at the will of the Zephyrs. But the ignorant generation to which they appeared failed entirely to understand the significance of the strange spectacle. They believed at first that the creatures were sorcerers who had betaken themselves to aerial regions for the purpose of exciting storms and sending down hail on the harvests. The sages and juris-consuls were of the popular opinion. The emperors shared the same idea, which became so widespread that even the wise Charlemagne, and after him Louis the Debonnair, imposed heavy penalties on these supposed aerial tyrants.

(See Elementary Spirits and France.)

Zeernebooch : A dark god, monarch of the empire of the dead among the ancient Germans.

Zepar : Grand duke of the infernal empire, who may be identical with Vepar, or Separ. Nevertheless, under the name of Zepar he has the form of a warrior. He casts men into the evil passions. Twenty-eight legions obey him.

Ziazaa : A black and white stone; it renders its possessor litigious, and causes terrible visions.

Ziito : One of the most remarkable magicians of whom history has left any record. He was a sorcerer at the court of King Wenceslaus of Bohemia (afterwards Emperor of Germany) towards the end of the fourteenth century, and among his more famous exploits is one chronicled by Dulsavius, bishop of Olmutz, in his History of Bohemia. On the occasion of the marriage of Wenceslaus with Sophia, daughter of the elector Palatine of Bavaria, the elector, knowing his son-in-law's liking for juggling and magical exhibitions, brought in his train a number of morris-dancers, jugglers and such entertainers. When they came forward to give their exhibition Ziito remained unobtrusively among the spectators. He was not entirely unnoticed, however, for his remarkable appearance drew the attention of those about him. His oddest feature was his mouth, which actually stretched from ear to ear. After watching the magicians for some time in silence, Ziito appeared to become exasperated at the halting way in which the tricks were carried through, and going up to the principal magician he taunted him with incompetency. The rival professor hotly defended his performance, and a discussion ensued which was ended at last by Ziito swallowing his opponent, just as he stood, leaving only his shoes, which he said were dirty and unfit for consumption. After this extraordinary feat, he retired for a little while to a closet, from which he shortly emerged, leading the rival magician by the hand. He then gave a performance of his own which put the former exhibition entirely in the shade. He changed himself into many divers shapes, taking the form of first one person and then another, none of whom bore any resemblance either to himself or to each other. In a car drawn by barn-door fowls he kept pace with the King's carriage. When the guests were assembled at dinner, he played a multitude of elfish tricks on them, to their amusement or annoyance, as the case might be. Indeed, he was at all times an exceedingly mischievous creature as is shown by another story told of him. Feigning to be in want of money, and apparently casting about anxiously for the means of obtaining some, he at length took a handful of corn, and made it look like thirty fat hogs. These he took to Michael, a rich but very mean dealer. The latter purchased them after some haggling, but 'was warned not to let them drink at the river. But the warning was disregarded, and the hogs turned into grains of corn. The enraged dealer went in search of Ziito, whom he found at last in a vintner's shop. In vain Michael shouted and stamped, the magician took no notice, but seemed to be in a fit of abstraction. The dealer, beside himself, seized Ziito's foot and pulled it as hard as he could. To his dismay, the foot and leg came right off, while Ziito screamed lustily, and hauled Michael before the judge, where the two presented their complaints. What the decision was, history does not relate, but it is unlikely that the ingenious Ziito came off worse.

Zizis : The name which the modern Jews give to their phylacteries.

Zlokobinca : (Evil-meter.) Slavonic name for a witch. (See Slavs.)

Zoaphite : According to the Journal des Voyage's of Jean Struys, a species of Cucumber which feeds on neighbouring plants. Its fruit has the form of a lamb, with the head, feet, and tail of that animal distinctly apparent, whence it is called, in the language of the country, Canaret, or Conarer, signifying a lamb. Its skin is covered with a white down as delicate as silk. The Tartars think a great deal of it and most of them keep it carefully in their houses, where the author of the Journal des Voyages saw it several times. It grows on a stalk about three feet in height, to which it is attached by a sort of tendril. On this tendril it can move about, and turn and bend towards the herbs on which it feeds, and without which it soon drys up and withers. Wolves love it, and devour it with avidity, because it tastes like the flesh of lamb. The author adds that he has been assured that it has bones, flesh, and blood, whence it is also known in its native country as Zoaphite, or animal plant.

Zodiac, Signs of the : (See Astrology.)

Zohar : (See Kabala.)

Zoist : Journal of Magnetism : (See Spiritualism.)

Zoroaster : (See Persia.)

Zracne Vile : (See Slavs.)

Zschocke: (See Germany.)

Zulu Witch-finders : (See Africa.)