Miscellanies Upon Various Subjects

In Short

This collection acts as a seventeenth-century cabinet of curiosities, documenting the inexplicable and the uncanny. Through a series of brief, anecdotal chapters, the author compiles reports of "day-fatality" (the idea that certain dates hold inescapable misfortune), visions, omens, and the second sight. It is not a scholarly treatise in the modern sense but a personal archive of folklore, family legends, and private observations. Its enduring appeal lies in its preservation of a worldview where the boundaries between the physical realm and the spiritual, or the prophetic, remain porous and hauntingly immediate.

The Story

The narrative arc of this work is not a linear progression, but rather a thematic descent into the hidden mechanics of destiny. It begins with the heavy weight of time, specifically the concept of "day-fatality," where the author illustrates that history is not merely a series of random events but a tapestry governed by recurring dates. He cites the tragic parallels of Roman history alongside the personal misfortunes of kings and families, establishing a pattern where the calendar itself acts as a silent arbiter of human success and ruin.

As the reader moves deeper into the text, the scope shifts from macro-historical cycles to the intimate, interior life of the individual. The author details the world of omens, dreams, and knockings—small, local cracks in the facade of reality where the future leaks through. He recounts tales of apparitions that serve as spectral messengers, often appearing to settle unfulfilled debts or to deliver warnings that the living are too blind to heed. From the appearance of phantom lights—"corps-candles" in Wales—to the sudden, inexplicable behavior of inanimate objects, the narrative builds a case for a world perpetually haunted by its own future.

The middle section shifts toward the phenomenon of the "second-sighted," particularly as observed in Scotland. Here, the narrative suggests that certain individuals possess a piercing clarity, able to see the literal shadows of coming death cast upon the living. These accounts feel increasingly clinical, presented as "informations taken upon oath," bridging the gap between superstitious anecdote and reported fact. The author does not shy away from the darker implications of this sight; he describes the inevitability of the tragedy that follows such visions, from the stabbing of the Duke of Buckingham to the grim premonitions of civil war.

The work culminates in a series of practical, if bizarre, applications of this hidden knowledge. The author lists various remedies for ailments—curing the thrush with a living frog, or the toothache by drawing blood with a new nail and driving it into an oak—treating these folk practices with the same seriousness as his historical inquiries. Finally, in the appendix, the tone shifts toward the antiquarian, reflecting on the lost history of his native Wiltshire. This closing section acts as a poignant mirror to the rest of the book: just as the author seeks to document ghosts and omens to prevent them from vanishing, he seeks to record the physical monuments of the past before they are lost to time, negligence, and the indifference of the modern age.

How It Unfolds

The ticking clock of fate The author establishes that specific days are intrinsically linked to fortune or disaster. He meticulously catalogs dates that have proved repeatedly auspicious or lethal for monarchs and noble houses throughout the ages.

The intrusion of the spectral The text moves into the realm of visions and apparitions, where the dead break their silence to address unfinished business. These reports, often sourced from acquaintances, describe ghostly figures appearing in private chambers to deliver urgent instructions.

The architecture of dreams The author explores the prophetic power of the dream state, providing examples where warnings or revelations arrive to the sleeper. These dreams are treated as reliable intelligence, often leading to the discovery of hidden objects or the avoidance of catastrophe.

The gift of second sight The narrative focuses on the specific, inherited ability of individuals to perceive future events before they manifest. These accounts shift from the personal to the political, detailing how seers foresaw the bloody ends of powerful figures.

The preservation of local mystery The final section grounds these esoteric concerns in the physical landscape of Wiltshire. The author laments the decay of historical records, treating the preservation of local lore as a moral imperative akin to his study of the occult.

The People

John Aubrey serves as the primary lens through which this entire world is viewed. He is a man caught between two eras: deeply curious about the scientific and historical record, yet fundamentally committed to the validity of the supernatural. He wants to synthesize the scattered reports of his time into a coherent understanding of a hidden reality, constantly fearing that the "merciless" hands of time will destroy these fragile truths.

Alongside him appear a host of informants, from the "sexton's wife" in Wales—whose observations of phantom candles consistently predict a death in the village—to the "second-sighted men" of the Highlands, whose cold, detached clarity acts as the ultimate witness. These figures are not characters in a novel, but rather witnesses in a legal inquiry. They are defined by their burden of knowing; they often want nothing more than to live quietly, yet they are compelled by the "oestrum"—the stinging fly of inspiration—to speak of things they have seen. By the end, they remain as they were: outsiders to the mainstream of their society, tasked with preserving the spectral warnings that the rest of the world ignores.

In Its Own Voice

"None happy call, Before their death, and final funeral."

The author introduces the concept of precarious fortune, suggesting that human happiness is a fragile state that cannot be judged until the very end.

"I have seen an old Romish MSS. prayer-book, (and shewed the same to that general scholar, and great astrologer, Elias Ashmole, Esq.;) at the beginning whereof was a Calendar wherein were inserted the unlucky days of each month, set out in verse."

The author describes his process of sourcing ancient, occult knowledge from historical manuscripts, grounding his claims in physical evidence.

What It's Really About

At its heart, this book is an inquiry into the nature of human contingency. It asks whether our lives are the result of random chance or if they follow a pre-written, albeit hidden, script. The author is preoccupied with the idea that the universe is interconnected in ways that human reason cannot fully grasp, where the flight of a bird, the date of a birth, or the appearance of a ghost are all fragments of a larger, coherent pattern. It is an argument for the validity of subjective experience as a form of historical record, insisting that the "invisible power" that shapes human life is just as worthy of documentation as the political decrees of kings.

Why Read It Today

Readers who enjoy the atmosphere of dark folklore, the history of ideas, or the raw, unfiltered curiosity of the early modern mind will find this a fascinating document. It does not read like a modern book; it is a collection of fragments, sometimes repetitive, often disjointed, and occasionally dense with archaic references. The author’s voice is that of a man obsessed, and his frustration with the "merciless women" and "scornful" contemporaries who allow history to be destroyed lends the text an unexpected, human poignancy.

Reading it feels like opening a dusty, forgotten trunk in an attic. You are met with a collision of the profound and the absurd—where a profound meditation on the Apocalypse sits right next to a recipe for curing a bullock’s lameness with thorns. The challenges are real; the prose requires patience, and the author’s period attitudes toward omens and magic are far removed from the rationalist tradition that followed him. However, for those willing to lean into the author's sincerity, the book offers a rare, immersive look at a world where the veil between the material and the mystical was thin, and where every coincidence was a potential signal from the divine. It stays with you not for its logic, but for its strange, persistent sense of wonder.