DiotimosReading Desk

Spirits celestial influences and signs

Caballi

Ghosts or astral presences associated with untimely death.

From the book

A Chymical Dictionary

Gerhard Dorn and John French · Diotimos Editions · 2026

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Orientation

At a Glance

  • The wordGhosts or astral presences associated with untimely death.
  • A place to readThe historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 12; facsimile PDF page 340.

Historical definition

Caballi, or Cabales, are ghosts and astral stars of people who died before their time.

Meaning

The definition ties the beings to deceased people and specifically to death before its expected time. The astral-star description belongs to the author’s account of their form or condition. It should not be turned into an ordinary astronomical identification without considering the ghost clause.

The spelling resemblance to Cabela is a potential trap. That entry concerns a secret science and its transmission, whereas Caballi names beings related to the dead. Preserve both alternative forms here, but keep their distinct definition visible. A shared sequence of letters is not sufficient evidence of a shared technical sense.

Places to read

  1. CaballiRead the complete historical definition and its commentary.
  2. CabelaA polemical account of a secret inspired wisdom and its alleged corruption.
  3. EvestrumA prophetic agency associated with signs preceding events.
  4. LemuresAerial spirits with a reported identification as the human dead.

Source note

Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 12; facsimile PDF page 340 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Caballi ; compare Cabela, Evestrum, Lemures