Psellus on Demons 
A translation of Michael Psellus' oft-cited Dialogue of the Operation of Demons has not been made available on the web, although innumerable other classic texts on the subject have. As I happened to have a xerox copy (courtsey of my old friend Stephen Skinner) of the rare 1843 Collison translation of the Dialogue into English, I though it might be useful to transcribe this interesting text for other readers.
Unfortunately, my copy is a copy of a copy, and in certain places, unintelligible. I have transcribed what I could, and the main text, if not all of Mr. Collison's rather unhelpful notes, is pretty much complete, although I cannot guarantee the Latin or Greek. In addition, there are two passages in Latin that Mr. Collison dared not render into English. My wife, who was a classics major years ago, has made a stab at what these say, but if anyone could improve upon these notes and send us the translation, we would be very grateful. The original pagination is indicated by slashes and page numbers.
PSELLUS’ DIALOGUE
ON THE
OPERATION OF DAEMONS
Notes on the Latin segment on page 25:
"Vespri enim luminibus accensis, quo tempore salutarem domini celebramus passionem, in domum praescriptum delucctis, quas sacrilegi sacris suis initiaverunt, puellis ne lucem exercrandi quod designant, flagitii testem habeant, cum puellis, libidinose voluntantur in quamcumque tandem, seu sororem, seu propriam filiam, seu matrem gratam fascere arbitrantur, si leges divinas transgressi fuerint, in quilas cautum est, ne nuptiae cum sanguine cognato contrahantur."
"Truly, when the lights of evening have arisen, at which time we should be celebrating the passion of the Lord in a wholesome fashion, in a house specially set aside, those initiated into these sacreligious rites ... rolling around both indiscriminately and lustfully—not caring if sister or own daughter or mother—depending on how the lot falls against divine laws and where marriage is forbidden ..."
Notes on the Latin Segment on page 30:
"Quemadmodum et sperma nonulli corum emittunt et vermes quosdam spermate procreant. At incredible est, inquam excrementi quicquam daemonibus inesse, vasave spermatica et vitalia vasa quidem eis, inquit ille, hujesmodi nulla insunt, superflui autem seu excrementi nesiou quid emittunt hoc mihi asserenti creditio."
"In what manner some of them send out sperm and they germinate worms {?} with that sperm. And moreover, it is incredible ..."