Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Cicero De Natura Deorum


Cicero De Natura Deorum

7 There are however other philosophers, and those of eminence and note, who believe that the whole world is ruled and governed by divine
intelligence and reason; and not this only, but also that the gods' providence watches over the life of men

Sunt autem alii philosophi, et ii quidem magni atque nobiles, qui deorum mente atque ratione omnem mundum administrari et regi censeant, neque vero id solum, sed etiam ab isdem hominum vitae consuli et provideri

49 For the divine form we have hints of nature supplemented by the teachings of reason.
Ac de forma quidem partim natura nos admonet, partim ratio docet.

[You Stoics...] are wont to portray the skill of the divine creator by enlarging on the beauty as well as the utility of design displayed in all parts of the human figure. But if the human figure surpasses the form of all other living beings, and god is a living being, god must possess the shape which is most beautiful of all
cum artificium effingitis fabricamque divinam, quam sint omnia hominis figura non modo ad usum verum etiam ad venustatem apta describere.

75 [Why we should think the gods resemble man]
These notions moreover have been fostered by poets, painters and artificers, who found it difficult to represent
living and active deities in the likeness of any other shape than that of man. Perhaps also man's belief in his own
superior beauty, to which you referred, may have contributed to the result. But surely you as a natural philosopher are aware of what an insinuating go-between
and pander of her charms nature is!

Auxerunt autem haec eadem poetae, pictores, opifices; erat enim non facile agentis aliquid et molientis deos in aliarum formarum imitatione servare. Accessit etiam ista opinio fortasse quod homini homine pulchrius nihil videbatur. Sed tu hoc, physice, non vides, quam blanda conciliatrix et quasi sui sit lena natura?

79 Furthermore, Velleuis, what if your assumption, that when we think of god the only form that presents itself to us is that of a man, be entirely untrue? will you nevertheless continue to maintain your absurdities?
Quid si etiam, Vellei, falsum illud omnino est, nullam aliam nobis de deo cogitantibus speciem nisi hominis occurrere? tamenne ista tam absurda defendes?
...They were not so known to the Egyptians or Syrians
At non Aegyptii nec Syri nec fere cuncta barabaria

103 such mental pictures are called by all other philosophers mere empty imaginations, but you say they are the arrival and entrance into our minds of certain images.
omnem enim talem conformationem animi ceteri philosophi motum inanem vocant, vos autem adventum in animos et introitum imaginum dicitis.

105 only the presentation of a certain form -- surely not also a reason for supposing...
Suppose that there are such images constantly impinging on our minds: but that is only the presentation of a certain form, surely not also of a reason for supposing that this form is happy and eternal?
Fac imagines esse quibus pulsentur inimi: species dumtaxat obicitur quaedam--num etiam cur ea beata sit cur aeterna?

Aristotle tells us that the poet Orpheus never existed, had the Pythagoreans say that the Orphic poem which we possess was the work of a certain Cercops, yet Orpheus, that is, according to you, often comes into my mind what of the fact that different images of the same person may enter my mind and yours? or that images come to us of things that never existed at all and never can have existed--for instance, Scylla, and the Chimaera?

Orpheum poetam docet Aristoteles numquam fuisse, et hoc Orphicum carmen Pyhtagorei ferunt cuiusdam fuisse Cercopis; aut Orpheus, id est imago eius ut vos vultis, in animum meum saepe incurrit. Quid quod eiusdem hominis in meum aliae, aliae in tuum? quid quod earum rerum quae numquam omnino fuerunt neque esse potuerunt, ut Scyllae, ut Chimaerae?

111 [Epicurus wrote books about holiness... fatal to religion]
Why, what reason have you for maintaining that men owe worship to the gods, if the gods not only pay no respect to men, but care for nothing and do nothing at all?
Quid est enim, cur deos ab hominibus colendos dicas, cum dei non modo homines non colant sed omnino nihil curent nihil agant?

123 a philosopher should not possess a shifting and unsettled conception of the immortal gods, like the Academics, but a firm and definite one like our school.
Est enim philosophi de dis immortalibus habere non errantem et vagam ut Academici sed ut nostri stabilem certamque sententiam.

125 stoic theology
For when we gaze upward to the sky and contemplate the heavenly bodies, what can be so obvious and so manifest as that there must exist some power possessing transcendent intelligence by whom these things are ruled?
Quid enim potest esse tam apertum tamque perspicuum, cum caelum suspeximus caelestiaque contemplati sumus, quam esse aliquod numen praestantissimae mentis quo haec regantur?

Friday, May 13, 2011

Saint Augustine on Hermes Trismegistus in City of God

Book VIII of De Civitate Dei

Chapter 23.-What Hermes Trismegistus Thought Concerning Idolatry, and from What Source He Knew that the Superstitions of Egypt Were to Be Abolished.

The Egyptian Hermes, whom they call Trismegistus, had a different opinion concerning those demons. Apuleius, indeed, denies that they are gods; but when he says that they hold a middle place between the gods and men, so that they seem to be necessary for men as mediators between them and the gods, he does not distinguish between the worship due to them and the religious homage due to the supernal gods. This Egyptian, however, says that there are some gods made by the supreme God, and some made by men. Any one who hears this, as I have stated it, no doubt supposes that it has reference to images, because they are the works of the hands of men; but he asserts that visible and tangible images are, as it were, only the bodies of the gods, and that there dwell in them certain spirits, which have been invited to come into them, and which have power to inflict harm, or to fulfil the desires of those by whom divine honors and services are rendered to them. To unite, therefore, by a certain art, those invisible spirits to visible and material things, so as to make, as it were, animated bodies, dedicated and given up to those spirits who inhabit them,-this, he says, is to make gods, adding that men have received this great and wonderful power. I will give the words of this Egyptian as they have been translated into our tongue: "And, since we have undertaken to discourse concerning the relationship and fellowship between men and the gods, know, O Aesculapius, the power and strength of man. As the Lord and Father, or that which is highest, even God, is the maker of the celestial gods, so man is the maker of the gods who are in the temples, content to dwell near to men."25 And a little after he says, "Thus humanity, always mindful of its nature and origin, perseveres in the imitation of divinity; and as the Lord and Father made eternal gods, that they should be like Himself, so humanity fashioned its own gods according to the likeness of its own countenance." When this Aesculapius, to whom especially he was speaking, had answered him, and had said, "Dost thou mean the statues, O Trismegistus? "-" Yes, the statues," replied he, "however unbelieving thou art, O Aesculapius,-the statues, animated and full of sensation and spirit, and who do such great and wonderful things,-the statues prescient of future things, and foretelling them by lot, by prophet, by dreams, and many other things, who bring diseases on men and cure them again, giving them joy or sorrow according to their merits. Dost thou not know, O Aesculapius, that Egypt is an image of heaven, or, more truly, a translation and descent of all things which are ordered and transacted there, that it is, in truth, if we may say so, to be the temple of the whole world? And yet, as it becomes the prudent man to know all things beforehand, ye ought not to be ignorant of this, that there is a time coming when it shall appear that the Egyptians have all in vain, with pious mind, and with most scrupulous diligence, waited on the divinity, and when all their holy worship shall come to nought, and be found to be in vain."

Hermes then follows out at great length the statements of this passage, in which he seems to predict the present time, in which the Christian religion is overthrowing all lying figments with a vehemence and liberty proportioned to its superior truth and holiness, in order that the grace of the true Saviour may deliver men from those gods which man has made, and subject them to that God by whom man was made. But when Hermes predicts these things, he speaks as one who is a friend to these same mockeries of demons, and does not clearly express the name of Christ. On the contrary, he deplores, as if it had already taken place, the future abolition of those things by the observance of which there was maintained in Egypt a resemblance of heaven,-he bears witness to Christianity by a kind of mournful prophecy. Now it was with reference to such that the apostle said, that "knowing God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened; professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of the image of corruptible man,"26 and so on, for the whole passage is too long to quote. For Hermes makes many such statements agreeable to the truth concerning the one true God who fashioned this world. And I know not how he has become so bewildered by that "darkening of the heart" as to stumble into the expression of a desire that men should always continue in subjection to those gods which he confesses to be made by men, and to bewail their future removal; as if there could be anything more wretched than mankind tyrannized over by the work of his own hands, since man, by worshipping the works of his own hands, may more easily cease to be man, than the works of his hands can, through his worship of them, become gods. For it can sooner happen that man, who has received an honorable position, may, through lack of understanding, become comparable to the beasts, than that the works of man may become preferable to the work of God, made in His own image, that is, to man himself. Wherefore deservedly is man left to fall away from Him who made Him, when he prefers to himself that which he himself has made.

For these vain, deceitful, pernicious, sacrilegious things did the Egyptian Hermes sorrow, because he knew that the time was coming when they should be removed. But his sorrow was as impudently expressed as his knowledge was imprudently obtained; for it was not the Holy Spirit who revealed these things to him, as He had done to the holy prophets, who, foreseeing these things, said with exultation, "If a man shall make gods, lo, they are no gods;27 and in another place, "And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered."28 But the holy Isaiah prophesies expressly concerning Egypt in reference to this matter, saying, "And the idols of Egypt shall be moved at His presence, and their heart shall be overcome in them,"29 and other things to the same effect. And with the prophet are to be classed those who rejoiced that that which they knew was to come had actually come,-as Simeon, or Anna, who immediately recognized Jesus when He was born, or Elisabeth, who in the Spirit recognized Him when He was conceived, or Peter, who said by the revelation of the Father, "Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God."30 But to this Egyptian those spirits indicated the time of their own destruction, who also, when the Lord was present in the flesh, said with trembling, "Art Thou come hither to destroy us before the time?"31 meaning by destruction before the time, either that very destruction which they expected to come, but which they did not think would come so suddenly as it appeared to have done, or only that destruction which consisted in their being brought into contempt by being made known. And, indeed, this was a destruction before the time, that is, before the time of judgment, when they are to be punished with eternal damnation, together with all men who are implicated in their wickedness, as the true religion declares, which neither errs nor leads into error; for it is not like him who, blown hither and thither by every wind of doctrine,and mixing true things with things which are false, bewails as about to perish a religion, which he afterwards confesses to be error.

Chapter 24.-How Hermes Openly Confessed the Error of His Forefathers, the Coming Destruction of Which He Nevertheless Bewailed.

After a long interval, Hermes again comes back to the subject of the gods which men have made, saying as follows: "But enough on this subject. Let us return to man and to reason, that divine gift on account of which man has been called a rational animal. For the things which have been said concerning man, wonderful though they are, are less wonderful than those which have been said concerning reason. For man to discover the divine nature, and to make it, surpasses the wonder of all other wonderful things. Because, therefore, our forefathers erred very far with respect to the knowledge of the gods, through incredulity and through want of attention to their worship and service, they invented this art of making gods; and this art once invented, they associated with it a suitable virtue borrowed from universal nature, and being incapable of making souls, they evoked those of demons or of angels, and united them with these holy images and divine mysteries, in order that through these souls the images might have power to do good or harm to men." I know not whether the demons themselves could have been made, even by adjuration, to confess as he has confessed in these words: "Because our forefathers erred very far with respect to the knowledge of the gods, through incredulity and through want of attention to their worship and service, they invented the art of making gods." Does he say that it was a moderate degree of error which resulted in their discovery of the art of making gods, or was he content to say "they erred?" No; he must needs add "very far," and say, "They erred very far." It was this great error and incredulity, then, of their forefathers who did not attend to the worship and service of the gods, which was the origin of the art of making gods. And yet this wise man grieves over the ruin of this art at some future time, as if it were a divine religion. Is he not verily compelled by divine influence, on the one hand, to reveal the past error of his forefathers, and by a diabolical influence, on the other hand, to bewail the future punishment of demons? For if their forefathers, by erring very far with respect to the knowledge of the gods, through incredulity and aversion of mind from their worship and service, invented the art of making gods, what wonder is it that all that is done by this detestable art, which is opposed to the divine religion, should be taken away by that religion, when truth corrects error, faith refutes incredulity, and conversion rectifies aversion?

For if he had only said, without mentioning the cause, that his forefathers had discovered the art Of making gods, it would have been our duty, if we paid any regard to what is right and pious, to consider and to see that they could never have attained to this art if they had not erred from the truth, if they had believed those things which are worthy of God, if they had attended to divine worship and service. However, if we alone should say that the causes of this art were to be found in the great error and incredulity of men, and aversion of the mind erring from and unfaithful to divine religion, the impudence of those who resist the truth were in some way to be borne with; but when he who admires in man, above all other things, this power which it has been granted him to practise, and sorrows because a time is coming when all those figments of gods invented by men shall even be commanded by the laws to be taken away,-when even this man confesses nevertheless, and explains the causes which led to the discovery of this art, saying that their ancestors, through great error and incredulity, and through not attending to the worship and service of the gods, invented this art of making gods,-what ought we to say, or rather to do, but to give to the Lord our God all the thanks we are able, because He has taken away those things by causes the contrary of those which led to their institution? For that which the prevalence of error instituted, the way of truth took away; that which incredulity instituted, faith took away; that which aversion from divine worship and service instituted, conversion to the one true and holy God took away. Nor was this the case only in Egypt, for which country alone the spirit of the demons lamented in Hermes, but in all the earth, which sings to the Lord a new song,32 as the truly holy and truly prophetic Scriptures have predicted, in which it is written, "Sing unto the Lord a new song; sing unto the Lord, all the earth." For the title of this psalm is, "When the house was built after the captivity." For a house is being built to the Lord in all the earth, even the city of God, which is the holy Church, after that captivity in which demons held captive those men who, through faith in God, became living stones in the house. For although man made gods, it did not follow that he who made them was not held captive by them, when, by worshipping them, he was drawn into fellowship with them,-into the fellowship not of stolid idols, but of cunning demons; for what are idols but what they are represented to be in the same scriptures, "They have eyes, but they do not see,"33 and, though artistically fashioned, are still without life and sensation? But unclean spirits, associated through that wicked art with these same idols, have miserably taken captive the souls of their worshippers, by bringing them down into fellowship with themselves. Whence the apostle says, "We know that an idol is nothing, but those things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons, and not to God; and I would not ye should have fellowship with demons."34 After this captivity, therefore, in which men were held by malign demons, the house of God is being built in all the earth; whence the title of that psalm in which it is said, "Sing unto the Lord a new song; sing unto the Lord, all the earth. Sing unto the Lord, bless His name; declare well His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, among all people His wonderful things. For great is the Lord, and much to be praised: He is terrible above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are demons: but the Lord made the heavens."35

Wherefore he who sorrowed because a time was coming when the worship of idols should be abolished, and the domination of the demons over those who worshipped them, wished, under the influence of a demon, that that captivity should always continue, at the cessation of which that psalm celebrates the building of the house of the Lord in all the earth. Hermes foretold these things with grief, the prophet with joyfulness; and because the Spirit is victorious who sang these things through the ancient prophets, even Hermes himself was compelled in a wonderful manner to confess, that those very things which he wished not to be removed, and at the prospect of whose removal he was sorrowful, had been instituted, not by prudent, faithful, and religious, but by erring and unbelieving men, averse to the worship and service of the gods. And although he calls them gods, nevertheless, when he says that they were made by such men as we certainly ought not to be, he shows, whether he will or not, that they are not to be worshipped by those who do not resemble these image-makers, that is, by prudent, faithful, and religious men, at the same time also makingit manifest that the very men who made them involved themselves in the worship of those as gods who were not gods. For true is the saying of the prophet, "If a man make gods, lo, they are no gods."36 Such gods, therefore, acknowledged by such worshippers and made by such men, did Hermes call "gods made by men," that is to say, demons, through some art of I know not what description, bound by the chains of their own lusts to images. But, nevertheless, he did not agree with that opinion of the Platonic Apuleius, of which we have already shown the incongruity and absurdity, namely, that they were interpreters and intercessors between the gods whom God made, and men whom the same God made, bringing to God the prayers of men, and from God the gifts given in answer to these prayers. For it is exceedingly stupid to believe that gods whom men have made have more influence with gods whom God has made than men themselves have, whom the very same God has made. And consider, too, that it is a demon which, bound by a man to an image by means of an impious art, has been made a god, but a god to such a man only, not to every man. What kind of god, therefore, is that which no man would make but one erring, incredulous, and averse to the true God? Moreover, if the demons which are worshipped in the temples, being introduced by some kind of strange art into images, that is, into visible representations of themselves, by those men who by this art made gods when they were straying away from, and were averse to the worship and service of the gods,-if, I say, those demons are neither mediators nor interpreters between men and the gods, both on account of their own most wicked and base manners, and because men, though erring, incredulous, and averse from the worship and service of the gods, are nevertheless beyond doubt better than the demons whom they themselves have evoked, then it remains to be affirmed that what power they possess they possess as demons, doing harm by bestowing pretended benefits,-harm all the greater for the deception,-or else openly and undisguisedly doing evil to men. They cannot, however, do anything of this kind unless where they are permitted by the deep and secret providence of God, and then only so far as they are permitted. When, however, they are permitted, it is not because they, being midway between men and the gods, have through the friendship of the gods great power over men; for these demons cannot possibly be friends to the good gods who dwell in the holy and heavenly habitation, by whom we mean holy angels and rational creatures, whether thrones, or dominations, or principalities, or powers, from whom they are as far separated in disposition and character as vice is distant from virtue, wickedness from goodness.

Chapter 25.-Concerning Those Things Which May Be Common to the Holy Angels and to Men.

Wherefore we must by no means seek, through the supposed mediation of demons, to avail ourselves of the benevolence or beneficence of the gods, or rather of the good angels, but through resembling them in the possession of a good will, through which we are with them, and live with them, and worship with them the same God, although we cannot see them with the eyes of our flesh. But it is not in locality we are distant from them, but in merit of life, caused by our miserable unlikeness to them in will, and by the weakness of our character; for the mere fact of our dwelling on earth under the conditions of life in the flesh does not prevent our fellowship with them. It is only prevented when we, in the impurity of our hearts, mind earthly things. But in this present time, while we are being healed that we may eventually be as they are, we are brought near to them by faith, if by their assistance we believe that He who is their blessedness is also ours.

Chapter 26.-That All the Religion of the Pagans Has Reference to Dead Men.

It is certainly a remarkable thing how this Egyptian, when expressing his grief that a time was coming when those things would be taken away from Egypt, which he confesses to have been invented by men erring, incredulous, and averse to the service of divine religion, says, among other things, "Then shall that land, the most holy place of shrines and temples, be full of sepulchres and dead men," as if, in sooth, if these things were not taken away, men would not die! as if dead bodies could be buried elsewhere than in the ground! as if, as time advanced, the number of sepulchres must not necessarily increase in proportion to the increase of the number of the dead! But they who are of a perverse mind, and opposed to us, suppose that what he grieves for is that the memorials of our martyrs were to succeed to their temples and shrines, in order, forsooth, that they may have grounds for thinking that gods were worshipped by the pagans in temples, but that dead men are worshipped by us in sepulchres. For with such blindness do impious men, as it were, stumble over mountains, and will not see the things which strike their own eyes, that they do not attend to the fact that in all the literature of the pagans there are not found any, or scarcely any gods, who have not been men, to whom, when dead, divine honors have been paid. I will not enlarge on the fact that Varro says that all dead men are thought by them to be gods-Manes and proves it by those sacred rites which are performed in honor of almost all the dead, among which he mentions funeral games, considering this the very highest proof of divinity, because games are only wont to be celebrated in honor of divinities. Hermes himself, of whom we are now treating, in that same book in which, as if foretelling future things, he says with sorrow "Then shall that land, the most holy place of shrines and temples, be full of sepulchres and dead men," testifies that the gods of Egypt were dead men. For, having said that their forefathers, erring very far with respect to the knowledge of the gods, incredulous and inattentive to the divine worship and service, invented the art of making gods, with which art, when invented, they associated the appropriate virtue which is inherent in universal nature, and by mixing up that virtue with this art, they called forth the souls of demons or of angels (for they could not make souls), and caused them to take possession of, or associate themselves with holy images and divine mysteries, in order that through these souls the images might have power to do good or harm to men;-having said this, he goes on, as it were, to prove it by illustrations, saying, "Thy grandsire, O Aesculapius, the first discoverer of medicine, to whom a temple was consecrated in a mountain of Libya, near to the shore of the crocodiles, in which temple lies his earthly man, that is, his body,-for the better part of him, or rather the whole of him, if the whole man is in the intelligent life, went back to heaven,-affords even now by his divinity all those helps to infirm men which formerly he was wont to afford to them by the art of medicine." He says, therefore that a dead man was worshipped as a god in that place where he had his sepulchre. He deceives men by a falsehood, for the man "went back to heaven." Then he adds "Does not Hermes, who was my grandsire, and whose name I bear, abiding in the country which is called by his name, help and preserve all mortals who come to him from every quarter?" For this eider Hermes, that is, Mercury, who, he says, was his grandsire, is said to be buried in Hermopolis, that is, in the city called by his name; so here are two gods Whom he affirms to have been men, Aesculapius and Mercury. Now concerning Aesculapius, both the Greeks and the Latins think the same thing; but as to Mercury, there are many who do not think that he was formerly a mortal, though Hermes testifies that he was his grandsire. But are these two different individuals who were called by the same name? I will not dispute much whether they are different individuals or not. It is sufficient to know that this Mercury of whom Hermes speaks is, as well as Aesculapius, a god who once was a man, according, to the testimony of this same Trismegistus, esteemed so great by his countrymen, and also the grandson of Mercury himself.

Hermes goes on to say, "But do we know how many good things Isis, the wife of Osiris, bestows when she is propitious, and what great opposition she can offer when enraged?" Then, in order to show that there were gods made by men through this art, he goes on to say, "For it is easy for earthly and mundane gods to be angry, being made and composed by men out of either nature;" thus giving us to understand that he believed that demons were formerly the souls of dead men, which, as he says, by means of a certain art invented by men very far in error, incredulous, and irreligious, were caused to take possession of images, because they who made such gods were not able to make souls. When, therefore, he says "either nature," he means soul and body,-the demon being the soul, and the image the body. What, then, becomes of that mournful complaint, that the land of Egypt, the most holy place of shrines and temples, was to be full of sepulchres and dead men? Verily, the fallacious spirit, by whose inspiration Hermes spoke these things, was compelled to confess through him that even already that land was full of sepulchres and of dead men, whom they were worshipping as gods. But it was the grief of the demons which was expressing itself through his. mouth, who were sorrowing on account of the punishments which were about to fall upon them at the tombs of the martyrs. For in many such places they are tortured and compelled to confess, and are cast out of the bodies of men, of which they had taken possession.



[XXIII] Nam diuersa de illis Hermes Aegyptius, quem Trismegiston uocant, sensit et scripsit. Apuleius enim deos quidem illos negat; sed cum dicit ita inter deos et homines quadam medietate uersari, ut hominibus apud ipsos deos necessarii uideantur, cultum eorum a supernorum deorum religione non separat. Ille autem Aegyptius alios deos esse dicit a summo Deo factos, alios ab hominibus. Hoc qui audit, sicut a me positum est, putat dici de simulacris, quia opera sunt manuum hominum; at ille uisibilia et contrectabilia simulacra uelut corpora deorum esse asserit; inesse autem his quosdam spiritus inuitatos, qui ualeant aliquid siue ad nocendum siue ad desideria nonnulla complenda eorum, a quibus eis diuini honores et cultus obsequia deferuntur. Hos ergo spiritus inuisibiles per artem quandam uisibilibus rebus corporalis materiae copulare, ut sint quasi animata corpora illis spiritibus dicata et subdita simulacra, hoc esse dicit deos facere eamque magnam et mirabilem deos faciendi accepisse homines potestatem. Huius Aegyptii uerba, sicut in nostram linguam interpretata sunt, ponam. "Et quoniam de cognatione, inquit, et consortio hominum deorumque nobis indicitur sermo, potestatem hominis, o Asclepi, uimque cognosce. Dominus, inquit, et Pater uel quod est summum Deus ut effector est deorum caelestium, ita homo fictor est deorum, qui in templis sunt humana proximitate contenti." Et paulo post: "Ita humanitas, inquit, semper memor naturae et originis suae in illa diuinitatis imitatione perseuerat, ut, sicuti Pater ac Dominus, ut sui similes essent, deos fecit aernos, ita humanitas deos suos ex sui uultus similitudine figuraret." Hic cum Asclepius, ad quem maxime loquebatur, ei respondisset atque dixisset: "Statuas dicis, o Trismegiste?" tum ille: "Statuas, inquit, o Asclepi, uides quatenus tu ipse diffidas; statuas animatas sensu et spiritu plenas tantaque facientes et talia, statuas futurorum praescias eaque sorte uate somniis multisque aliis rebus praedicentes, inbecillitates hominibus facientes easque curantes, tristitiam laetitiamque pro meritis. An ignoras, o Asclepi, quod Aegyptus imago s it caeli, aut, quod est uerius, translatio aut descensio omnium quae gubernantur atque exercentur in caelo. Ac si dicendum est uerius, terra nostra mundi totius est templum. Et tamen quoniam praescire cuncta prudentem decet, istud uos ignorare fas non est: Futurum tempus est, cum appareat Aegyptios incassum pia mente diuinitatem sedula religione seruasse."

Deinde multis uerbis Hermes hunc locum exequitur, in quo uidetur hoc tempus praedicere, quo Christiana religio, quanto est ueracior atque sanctior, tanto uehementius et liberius cuncta fallacia figmenta subuertit, ut gratia uerissimi Saluatoris liberet hominem ab eis diis, quos facit homo, et ei Deo subdat, a quo factus est homo. Sed Hermes cum ista praedicit, uelut amicus eisdem ludificationibus daemonum loquitur, nec Christianum nomen euidenter exprimit, sed tamquam ea tollerentur atque delerentur, quorum obseruatione caelestis similitudo custodiretur in Aegypto, ita haec futura deplorans luctuosa quodam modo praedicatione testatur. Erat enim de his, de quibus dicit apostolus, quod cognoscentes Deum non sicut Deum glorificauerunt aut gratias egerunt, sed euanuerunt in cogitationibus suis, et obscuratum est insipiens cor eorum; dicentes enim se esse sapientes stulti facti sunt et inmutauerunt gloriam incorrupti Dei in similitudinem imaginis corruptibilis hominis et cetera, quae commemorare longum est. Multa quippe talia dicit de uno uero Deo fabricatore mundi, qualia ueritas habet; et nescio quo modo illa obscuratione cordis ad ista delabitur, ut diis, quos confitetur ab hominibus fieri, semper uelit homines subdi et haec futuro tempore plangat auferri quasi quicquam sit infelicius homine, cui sua figmenta dominantur; cum sit facilius, ut tamquam deos colendo, quos fecit, nec ipse sit homo, quam ut per eius cultum dii possint esse, quos fecit homo. Citius enim fit, ut homo in honore positus pecoribus non intellegens comparetur, quam ut operi Dei ad eius imaginem facto, id est ipsi homini, opus hominis praeferatur. Quapropter merito homo deficit ab illo qui eum fecit, cum sibi praeficit ipse quod fecit.

Haec uana deceptoria, perniciosa sacrilega Hermes Aegyptius, quia tempus, quo auferrentur, uenturum sciebat, dolebat; sed tam inpudenter dolebat, quam inprudenter sciebat. Non enim haec ei reuelauerat sanctus Spiritus, sicut prophetis sanctis, qui haec praeuidentes cum exultatione dicebant: Si faciet homo deos, et ecce ipsi non sunt dii ( et alio loco: Erit in illo die, dicit Dominus, exterminabo nomina simulacrorum a terra, et non iam erit eorum memoria, proprie uero de Aegypto, quod ad hanc rem adtinet, ita sanctus Esaias prophetat: Et mouebuntur manufacta Aegypti a facie eius, et cor eorum uincetur in eis, et cetera huius modi. Ex quo genere et illi erant, qui uenturum quod sciebant uenisse gaudebant; qualis Symeon, qualis Anna, qui mox natum Iesum; qualis Elisabeth, quae etiam conceptum in Spiritu agnouit; qualis Petrus reuelante Patre dicens: Tu es Christus, filius Dei uiui. Huic autem Aegyptio illi spiritus indicauerant futura tempora perditionis suae, qui etiam praesenti in carne Domino trementes dixerunt: Quid uenisti ante tempus perdere nos? siue quia subitum illis fuit, quod futurum quidem, sed tardius opinabantur, siue quia perditionem suam hanc ipsam dicebant, qua fiebat, ut cogniti spernerentur, et hoc erat ante tempus, id est ante tempus iudicii, quo aeterna damnatione puniendi sunt cum omnibus etiam hominibus, qui eorum societate detinentur, sicut religio loquitur, quae nec fallit nec fallitur, non sicut iste quasi omni uento doctrinae hinc atque inde perflatus et falsis uera permiscens dolet quasi perituram religionem, quem postea confitetur errorem.

[XXIV] Post multa enim ad hoc ipsum redit, ut iterum dicat de diis, quos homines fecerunt, ita loquens: "Sed iam de talibus sint satis dicta talia. Iterum, inquit, ad hominem rationemque redeamus, ex quo diuino dono homo animal dictum est rationale. Minus enim miranda etsi miranda sunt, quae de homine dicta sunt. Omnium enim mirabilium uicit admirationem, quod homo diuinam potuit inuenire naturam eamque efficere. Quoniam ergo proaui nostri multum errabant circa deorum rationem increduli et non animaduertentes ad cultum religionemque diuinam, inuenerunt artem, qua efficerent deos. Cui inuentae adiunxerunt uirtutem de mundi natura conuenientem, eamque miscentes, quoniam animas facere non poterant, euocantes animas daemonum uel angelorum eas indiderunt imaginibus sanctis diuinisque mysteriis, per quas idola et bene faciendi et male uires habere potuissent. w Nescio utrum sic confiterentur ipsi daemones adiurati, quo modo iste confessus est. "Quoniam, inquit, proaui nostri multum errabant circa deorum rationem increduli et non animaduertentes ad cultum religionemque diuinam, inuenerunt artem qua efficerent deos." Numquidnam saltem mediocriter eos dixit errasse, ut hanc artem inuenirent faciendi deos, aut contentus fuit dicere: Errabant, nisi adderet et diceret: Multum errabant? Iste ergo multus error et incredulitas non animaduertentium ad cultum religionemque diuinam inuenit artem, qua efficeret deos. Et tamen quod multus error et incredulitas et a cultu ac religione diuina auersio animi inuenit, ut homo arte faceret deos, hoc dolet uir sapiens tamquam religionem diuinam uenturo certo tempore auferri. Vide si non et ui diuina maiorum suorum errorem praeteritum prodere, et ui diabolica poenam daemonum futuram dolere compellitur. Si enim proaui eorum multum errando circa deorum rationem incredulitate et auersione animi a cultu ac religione diuina inuenerunt artem, qua efficerent deos: quid mirum, si, haec ars detestanda quidquid fecit auersa a religione diuina, aufertur religione diuina, cum ueritas emendat errorem, fides redarguit incredulitatem, conuersio corrigit auersionem?

Si enim tacitis causis dixisset proauos suos inuenisse artem, qua facerent deos: nostrum fuit utique, si quid rectum piumque saperemus, adtendere et uidere nequaquam illos ad hanc artem peruenturos fuisse, qua homo deos facit, si a ueritate non aberrarent, si ea, quae Deo digna sunt, crederent, si animum aduerterent ad cultum religionemque diuinam; et tamen si causas artis huius nos diceremus multum errorem hominum et incredulitatem et animi errantis atque infidelis a diuina religione auersionem, utcumque ferenda esset inpudentia resistentium ueritati. Cum uero idem ipse, qui potestatem huius artis super omnia cetera miratur in homine, qua illi deos facere concessum est, et dolet uenturum esse tempus, quo haec omnia deorum figmenta ab hominibus instituta etiam legibus iubeantur auferri, confitetur tamen atque exprimit causas, quare ad ista peruentum sit, dicens proauos suos multo errore et incredulitate et animum non aduertendo ad cultum religionemque diuinam inuenisse hanc artem, qua facerent deos: nos quid oportet dicere, uel potius quid agere nisi quantas possumus gratias Domino Deo nostro, qui haec contrariis causis, quam instituta sunt, abstulit? Nam quod instituit multitudo erroris, abstulit uia ueritatis; quod instituit incredulitas, abstulit fides; quod instituit a cultu diuinae religionis auersio, abstulit ad unum uerum Deum sanctumque conuersio; nec in sola Aegypto, quam solam in isto plangit daemonum spiritus, sed in omni terra, quae cantat Domino canticum nouum, sicut uere sacrae et uere propheticae litterae praenuntiarunt, ubi scriptum est: Cantate Domino canticum nouum, cantate Domino omnis terra. Titulus quippe psalmi huius est: Quando domus aedificabatur post captiuitatem. Aedificatur enim domus Domino ciuitas Dei, quae est sancta ecclesia, in omni terra post eam captiuitatem, qua illos homines, de quibus credentibus in Deum tamquam lapidibus uiuis domus aedificatur, captos daemonia possidebant. Neque enim, quia deos homo faciebat, ideo non ab eis possidebatur ipse qui fecerat, quando in eorum societatem colendo traducebatur; societatem dico, non idolorum stolidorum, sed uersutorum daemoniorum. Nam quid sunt idola, nisi quod eadem scriptura dicit: Oculos habent, et non uidebunt, et quidquid tale de materiis licet affabre effigiatis, tamen uita sensuque carentibus dicendum fuit? Sed inmundi spiritus eisdem simulacris arte illa nefaria conligati cultorum suorum animas in suam societatem redigendo miserabiliter captiuauerant. Vnde dicit apostolus: Scimus quia nihil est idolum; sed quae immolant gentes, daemoniis immolant, et non Deo ; nolo uos socios fieri daemoniorum. Post hanc ergo captiuitatem, qua homines a malignis daemonibus tenebantur, Dei domus aedificatur in omni terra; unde titulum ille psalmus accepit, ubi dicitur: Cantate Domino canticum nouum, cantate Domino omnis terra. Cantate Domino, benedicite nomen eius, bene nuntiate diem ex die salutare eius. Adnuntiate in gentibus gloriam eius, in omnibus populis mirabilia eius; quoniam magnus Dominus et laudabilis nimis, terribilis est super omnes deos. Quia omnes dii gentium daemonia, dominus autem caecos fecit.

Qui ergo doluit uenturum fuisse tempus, quo auferretur cultus idolorum et in eos, qui colerent, dominatio daemoniorum, malo spiritu instigatus semper uolebat istam captiuitatem manere, qua transacta psalmus canit aedificari domum in omni terra. Praenuntiabat illa Hermes dolendo; praenuntiabat haec propheta gaudendo. Et quia Spiritus uictor est, qui haec per sanctos prophetas canebat, etiam Hermes ipse ea, quae nolebat et dolebat auferri, non a prudentibus et fidelibus et religiosis, sed ab errantibus et incredulis et a cultu diuinae religionis auersis esse instituta miris modis coactus est confiteri. Qui quamuis eos appellet deos, tamen cum dicit a talibus hominibus factos, quales esse utique non debemus, uelit nolit, ostendit colendos non esse ab eis, qui tales non sunt, quales fuerunt a quibus facti sunt, hoc est a prudentibus, fidelibus, religiosis; simul etiam demonstrans ipsos homines, qui eos fecerunt, sibimet inportasse, ut eos haberent deos, qui non erant dii. Verum est quippe illud propheticum: Si faciet homo deos, et ecce ipsi non sunt dii. Deos ergo tales, talium deos, arte factos a talibus, [cum appellasset Hermes,] id est idolis daemones per artem nescio quam cupiditatum suarum uinculis inligatos cum appellaret factos ab hominibus deos, non tamen eis dedit, quod Platonicus Apuleius (unde iam satis diximus et quam sit inconueniens absurdumque monstrauimus), ut ipsi essent interpretes et intercessores inter deos, quos fecit Deus, et homines, quos idem fecit Deus; hinc adferentes uota, inde munera referentes. Nimis enim stultum est credere deos, quos fecerunt homines, plus ualere apud deos, quos fecit Deus, quam ualent ipsi homines, quos idem ipse fecit Deus. Daemon quippe simulacro arte impia conligatus ab homine factus est deus, sed tali homini, non omni homini. Qualis est ergo iste deus, quem non faceret homo nisi errans et incredulus et auersus a uero Deo? Porro si daemones, qui coluntur in templis, per artem nescio quam imaginibus inditi, hoc est uisibilibus simulacris, ab eis hominibus, qui hac arte fecerunt deos, cum aberrarent auersique essent a cultu et religione diuina, non sunt internuntii nec interpretes inter homines et deos, et propter suos pessimos ac turpissimos mores, et quod homines, quamuis errantes et increduli et auersi a cultu ac religione diuina, tamen eis sine dubio meliores sunt, quos deos ipsi arte fecerunt: restat, ut, quod possunt, tamquam daemones possint, uel quasi beneficia praestando magis nocentes, quia magis decipientes, uel aperte malefaciendo (nec tamen quodlibet horum, nisi quando permittuntur alta et secreta Dei prouidentia), non autem tamquam medii inter homines et deos per amicitiam deorum multum apud homines ualeant. Hi enim diis bonis, quos sanctos angelos nos uocamus rationalesque creaturas sanctae caelestis habitationis siue sedes siue dominationes siue principatus siue potestates, amici esse omnino non possunt, a quibus tam longe absunt animi affectione, quam longe absunt a uirtutibus uitia et a bonitate malitia.

[XXV] Nullo modo igitur per daemonum quasi medietatem ambiendum est ad beneuolentiam seu beneficentiam deorum uel potius angelorum bonorum, sed per bonae uoluntatis similitudinem, qua cum illis sumus et cum illis uiuimus et cum illis Deum quem colunt colimus, etsi eos carnalibus oculis uidere non possumus; in quantum autem dissimilitudine uoluntatis et fragilitate infirmitatis miseri sumus, in tantum ab eis longe sumus uitae merito, non corporis loco. Non enim quia in terra condicione carnis habitamus, sed si inmunditia cordis terrena sapimus, non eis iungimur. Cum uero sanamur, ut quales ipsi sunt simus: fide illis interim propinquamus, si ab illo nos fieri beatos, a quo et ipsi facti sunt, etiam ipsis fauentibus credimus.

[XXVI] Sane aduertendum est, quo modo iste Aegyptius, cum doleret tempus esse uenturum, quo illa auferrentur ex Aegypto, quae fatetur a multum errantibus et incredulis et a cultu diuinae religionis auersis esse instituta, ait inter cetera: m Tunc terra ista, sanctissima sedes delubrorum atque templorum, sepulcrorum erit mortuorumque plenissima"; quasi uero, si illa non auferrentur, non essent homines morituri, aut alibi essent mortui ponendi quam in terra; et utique, quanto plus uolueretur temporis et dierum, tanto maior esset numerus sepulcrorum propter maiorem numerum mortuorum. Sed hoc uidetur dolere, quod memoriae martyrum nostrorum templis eorum delubrisque succederent, ut uidelicet, qui haec legunt animo a nobis auerso atque peruerso, putent a paganis cultos fuisse deos in templis, a nobis autem coli mortuos in sepulcris. Tanta enim homines impii caecitate in montes quodam modo offendunt resque oculos suos ferientes nolunt uidere, ut non adtendant in omnibus litteris paganorum aut non inueniri aut uix inueniri deos, qui non homines fuerint mortuisque diuini honores delati sint. Omitto, quod Varro dicit omnes ab eis mortuos existimari manes deos et probat per ea sacra, quae omnibus fere mortuis exhibentur, ubi et ludos commemorat funebres, tamquam hoc sit maximum diuinitatis indicium, quod non soleant ludi nisi numinibus celebrari.

Hermes ipse, de quo nunc agitur, in eodem ipso libro, ubi quasi futura praenuntiando deplorans ait: "Tunc terra ista, sanctissima sedes delubrorum atque templorum, sepulcrorum erit mortuorumque plenissima", deos Aegypti homines mortuos esse testatur. Cum enim dixisset proauos suos multum errantes circa deorum rationem, incredulos et non animaduertentes ad cultum religionemque diuinam, inuenisse artem, qua efficerent deos: "Cui inuentae, inquit, adiunxerunt uirtutem de mundi natura conuenientem eamque miscentes, quoniam animas facere non poterant, euocantes animas daemonum uel angelorum eas indiderunt imaginibus sanctis diuinisque mysteriis, per quas idola et bene faciendi et male uires habere potuissent." Deinde sequitur tamquam hoc exemplis probaturus et dicit: "Auus enim tuus, o Asclepi, medicinae primus Inuentor, cui templum consecratum est in monte Libyae circa litus crocodilorum, in quo eius iacet mundanus homo, id est corpus; reliquus enim, uel potius totus, si est homo totus in sensu uitae, melior remeauit in caelum, omnia etiam nunc hominibus adiumenta praestans infirmis numine nunc suo, quae solebat medicinae arte praebere." Ecce dixit mortuum coli pro deo in eo loco, ubi habebat sepulcrum, falsus ac fallens, quod remeauit in caelum. Adiungens deinde aliud: "Hermes, inquit, cuius auitum mihi nomen est, nonne in sibi cognomine patria consistens omnes morales undique uenientes adiuuat atque conseruat?" Hic enim Hermes maior, id est Mercurius, quem dicit auum suum fuisse, in Hermopoli, hoc est in sui nominis ciuitate, esse perhibetur. Ecce duos deos dicit homines fuisse, Aesculapium et Mercurium. Sed de Aesculapio et Graeci et Latini hoc idem sentiunt; Mercurium autem multi non putant fuisse mortalem, quem tamen iste auum suum fuisse testatur. At enim alius est ille, alius iste, quamuis eodem nomine nuncupentur. Non multum pugno, alius ille sit, alius iste; uerum et iste, sicut Aesculapius, ex homine deus secundum testimonium tanti apud suos uiri, huius Trismegisti, nepotis sui.

Adhuc addit et dicit: "lsin uero Osiris quam multa bona praestare propitiam, quantis obesse scimus iratam!" Deinde ut ostenderet ex hoc genere esse deos, quos illa arte homines faciunt (unde dat intellegi daemones se opinari ex hominum mortuorum animis extitisse, quos per artem, quam inuenerunt homines multum errantes, increduli et inreligiosi, ait inditos simulacris, quia hi, qui tales deos faciebant, animas facere non utique poterant), cum de Iside dixisset, quod commemoraui, "quantis obesse scimus iratam", secutus adiunxit: "Terrenis etenim diis atque mundanis facile est irasci, utpote qui sint ab hominibus ex utraque natura facti atque compositi." "Ex utraque natura" dicit ex anima et corpore, ut pro anima sit daemon, pro corpore simulacrum. "Vnde contigit, inquit, ab Aegyptiis haec sancta animalia nuncupari colique per singulas ciuitates eorum animas, quorum sunt consecratae uiuentes, ita ut eorum legibus incolantur et eorum nominibus nuncupentur." Vbi est illa uelut querela luctuosa, quod terra Aegypti, sanctissima sedes delubrorum atque templorum, sepulcrorum futura esset mortuorumque plenissima? Nempe spiritus fallax, cuius instinctu Hermes ista dicebat, per eum ipsum coactus est confiteri iam tunc illam terram sepulcrorum et mortuorum, quos pro diis colebant, fuisse plenissimam. Sed dolor daemonum per eum loquebatur, qui suas futuras poenas apud sanctorum martyrum memorias inminere maerebant. In multis enim talibus locis torquentur et confitentur et de possessis hominum corporibus eiciuntur.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Reuchlin on Kabbalah techniques/names

Reuchlin KBL

305
So you see the three names of essences in the Tetragrammaton. The ineffable
name denotes the first essence. Eheih denotes essence in things. Yah denotes
essence in merit. They are predicated in the word "what," called in Hebrew
Mah. The Tetragrammaton, written out to give the full names of the Hebrew
letters, signifies Mah through numerical equivalence, since both add up to 45.

Tria igitur noi_a essentiam in rebus, & Iah essentiam in meritis, & p_dicant
in eo quod quid est, Idque appellatur [Mah] .i. quid. Nam Tetragrammaton ____
per aequalitate_ numeri significat [Mah] utrunque em_ continet xlv.

In Kabbalah another method frequently used is reversed order.
Est au_t in Cabala freque_s ordinis conversi usus.

309
Next is the ministering spirit of Sadai, Metattron, so called because of the
numerical equivalence of the two words. He is said to be a leader and guide
on the way.

Est praeterea ipsius Sadai ministratori spiritus Metattron per aequalitatem
numeri sic nominatus, qui dux & mo_strator viarum.

There follows another name Sabaoth, in Hebrew SBAVTh, which refers to military
hosts. The first is the host of completely separate intelligences and angels,
the second is the host of orbs that cause motion and the powers that assist by
them, and the third is the host of souls that give form to bodies. The word is
only found after the Name of God.

Accedit alium nomen Sabaoth quod hebraice sic legitur ____ & ita dicitur
exercitus, quorum primus est intelligentiarum omnino separatum & angelorum.
Secundus motorum orbium & assistentium virtutum. Tertius animarum corpora
informantium, & non invenitur nisi post nomen dei.

Now you have heard the rules by which the first part of Kabbalah is regulated.
It consists totally in the changing round of sacred words, and, since any word
may be changed in two ways, we have to admit that there are two separate methods
in this part, one of which is the transposition of syllables or words while the
other is numerical equality.

Omnis igitur primae partis Cabalae status qua procedat institutio_e au divistis.
Nam cum totus in sacrorum verborum commutatione consistat & quaelibet verba
bifariam alter entur, necessario fatebimur ei parti duas subesse species,
alteram quae sit syllabarum aut dictionum transpositio, alteram numerorum
aequalitas.

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Kristeller on Allegory in Psellos

In the eleventh century Michael Psellos ... combining with it the Chaldaic Or­acles, attributed to Zoroaster, and the Corpus Hermeticum. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries Gemistus Pletho attempted another revival of Plato’s philosophy based on Proclus and ... gave, after the model of Proclus, an allegorical explanation of the Greek divinities...convinced that Plato ...representatives of a very old pagan theology...Hermes Trismegistus and Zoroaster, Orpheus and Pythagoras, and which parallels both in age and content the revelation of the Hebrew and Christian Scripture.
Renaissance Platonism

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Albertus Magnus on Magic, Alchemy, Hermes, Math, Imagination, Dreams, etc.


Lifted from an excellent paper by Jason Van Boom, "Albertus Magnus on Nature and Magic."

“De transmutatione autem horum corporum et mutatione unius in aliud non est physici determinare, sed artis quae vocetur alchimia.” De mineralibus, III.i.1, p. 60.

“In quibusdam enim alchimicis libris qui Platoni inscribuntur, numerus vel proportio numeri vocatur forma metallica, quam proportionem in virtutibus posuit constituentium elementorum….Ad hunc autem modum etiam alia dicit formari: propter quod etiam septem genera metallorum septem planetarum noDe mineralibus,ibus vocaverunt….Hermes autem hujusmodi auctor videtur esse sententiae….Hanc opinionem pater Hermes Trismegistus approbare videtur, qui dicit terram esse matrem metallorum, et coelum patrem, et impraegnari terram ad hoc in montibus campestribus et planis et in aquis et caeteris omnibus locis.” De mineralibus, III.i.6, p. 66.

“Hermes autem hujusmodi auctor videtur esse sententiae, licet Plato postea fuerit hunc in opinione imitatus. Hoc autem ab his alchimici videntur accepisse, asserentes lapides pretiosos stellarum et imaginum habere virtutem: septem autem genera metallorum formas habere secundum septem planetas inferiorum orbium: et sic virtutes coelorum primo in terra resultare, et quasi stellas secundas facere….” De mineralibus, III.i.6, pp. 66-7.

“Et hoc modum verum est quod dicunt Platonici: hoc enim modo prima causa fecit sementem formarum et specierum omnium, et traddit eam stellis fixis et planetis exsequendam, ut dicitur in Timaeo.” De mineralibus, III.i.6, p. 67.

“Praeterea alchimicum vix aut nunquam invenimus, sicut dictum est, in toto operantem, sed potius citrino elixir colorat in argenti similtudinem….” De mineralibus, III.i.8, p. 70.

“Hi etiam in transmutatione metallorum et lapidum operantur, quos alchimistas vocvamus, temproribus incrementi lunae: et confortante et ascendente ea a circulo hemiosphaerii, puriora producunt metalla, et puriores perficiunt lapides, et magis figuntur spiritus et certius operantur, et praecipue quando sunt bene periti non praecipitantes opera sua, sed exspectantes opportuna tempora, quando opus adjuvatur virtute caelesti.” De causis et proprietatibus elementorum, I.ii.7, p. 615.

“Alchimia autem per hunc modum procedit, scilicet corrumpens unum a specie sua removendo: et cum juvamine eorum quae in materia sunt, alterius speciem inducendo….” De mineralibus, III.i.9, p. 71.

“Sed tunc oportet nos dicere, quod alchimicorum periti operantur sicut periti medicorum: medici enim periti per medicinas purgativas purgant materias corruptas et facile corruptibiles et impedimentes sanitatem quae est finis intentus a medico, et postea per confortantia naturam juvant virtutem naturalem, ut digerendo sanitatem naturalem inducant. Ita enim procul dubio sanitas effectus erit naturae effective, et artis organice et instrumentaliter. Per omnem autem eumdem modum dicemus operari alchimicorum peritos in transmutatione metallorum.” De mineralibus, III.i.9, p. 71.

“Dicuntque magi, quod lacerto sinistro alligatus, valet contra hostes et insaniam et indomitas bestias et feros homines et contra jurgia et rixas et contra venena et incursus phantasmatum et incuborum.” De mineralibus, II.ii.1, p. 31.

“…dicitur autem in tantum phantasmata excitare, quod magi maxime hoc utuntur, tamen applicatus defuncto in tantum vires amittit, quod mortem horrere prohibeatur. Horem autem ratio quae potest haberi, ex libris magorum Hermetis, et Ptolemaei, Thebith, Bencherath habetur, de quibus non est praesens intentio.” De mineralibus, II.ii.4, p. 34.

“In magicis autem traditur quod phantasias mirabiliter commovet, prinipaliter seu praecipue si consecratus obsecratione et charactere sit, sicut docetur in magicis.” De mineralibus, II.ii.11, p. 40.

“Sed imaginum ars ideo mala est, quia inclinans est ad idolatriam per numen quod creditur esse in stellis: et quia non sunt inventae imagines nisi ad vana, vel mala, sicut ad mulieres seducendas, vel as seras aperiendas, vel naves immobilitandas, vel terrores inducendos, vel hujusmodi….” In secundum sententiarum, VII.F.9., p. 158.

“Ergo videtur, quod nulla mirabilia fiunt per angelos malos: et sic in vanum est quod dicit Augustinus, quod virgae magorum per malos angelos in dracones conversae sunt.” Summa theologiae, II.viii.30, art. II, p. 324;

“Quod enim deludant oculos aliquando intuentium, expresse dicit Strabus in Glossa super illud Exodi, vii, 11: Vocavit Pharao sapientes, sic: ‘Sciendum, quod malefici diabolicis figmentis spectantium oculos deludebant, ut res in sua natura manentes non viderentur.’ Ergo videtur, quod magi per daemoniacas operationes oculos possint illudere intuentium, ut aliud videantur res quam sint.” Summa theologiae, II.viii.30, mem. II, p. 326;

“Dicendum, quod revera huiusmodi illusiones fiunt a daemonibus, et a maleficis arte daemonum: hoc enim expresse dicunt sancti: et communis est omnium opinio, et docetur in necromantia in parte illa quae dicitur de imaginibus et annulis et speculis Veneris et sigillis daemonum Achot Graeco, et Grema Babylonico, et Hermete Egyptio: et invocationes ad hoc ordinatae describuntur in libro Hermogenis et Phileti necromanticorum, et in libro qui dicitur Almandel Salomonis.” Summa theologiae, II.viii.30, mem. II, p. 327;

“Daemon enim talia sensibilia objiciens, objectum facit judicari quod non est, secundum corporalem visionem. Et hoc docetur in parte necromantiae quae dicitur de praestigiis ab Hermogene et Phileto necromanticis: et ponuntur ibi carmina et invocationes daemonum ad hoc ordinata.” Summa theologiae, II.viii.30, mem. II, p. 327.

“Qui autem incantationi student, dicunt ipsam fugare fulmen tonitrui: et ideo in tectis plantatur.” De vegetabilis et plantis VI.ii.3.

“Mathematicus autem dupelx est. Mathesis enim idem est quod scientia de separatis, et abstractis: quae licet secundum esse suum naturale sint in rebus motui subiectis, tamen diffinitione abstracta considerantur: sicut est tota quadrivii scientia. Et hoc est non reprehensibile, sed laudabile. Aliter dicitur Mathesis producta media syllaba, idem quod divinatio per cursus siderum. Et haec aliquando est bona, et aliquando mala: sicut et ipsi dicunt qui scientiam noverunt. Si quis enim prognasticatur per stellas de his quae non subjacent nisi ordini causarum naturalium, et sua pronosticatio est de eis secundum quod ordini illi subjacent, et non extendit se ad illa eadem, nisi ea tenus, quo inclinat ad ea primus ordo naturae qui est in situ stellarum et circulo, non male facit: sed potius utiliter a multis cavet nocumentis, et promovet utilitates. Qui autem non consideratis omnibus, praenuntiat et de his quae futura sunt, aliter quam dictum est, trufator est et tyrannus, et abjiciendus.” Super Mattheum II, 1, pp. 61-2.

“AD ID quod quaeritur de operibus mathematicorum, hic dicitur communiter secundum verba Augustini, quod cavenda sunt praecipue in imaginibus et annulis et speculis et characteribus, ne inducatur usus idoloatriae, ut supra determinatum est.” In secundum sententiarum, VII.L.12., p. 164.

“Et ideo dixit Hermes, ‘Deus deorum non propie percipi nomine proprio, sed vix mente attingitur ab his qui a corpore per longum studium separantur.’” De intellectu et intelligibili, II.i.9, p.517a. Asclepius I. 3c-4,

“Fuerunt autem aliqui qui etiam virtutes speciales lapidibus dabant, et hoc ab anima lapidum esse dicebant, et sunt quidam Pythagoricoum. Hi enim dicunt solius anima esse hoc, et non in una materia tantum, sed ab una extendi in aliam per operationes animales: sicut homo ad intelligibilia extendit intellectum, etiam imaginationem ad imaginabilia. Et hoc modo dicunt animam unius hoDe mineralibus,is vel alterius animalis egredi et ingredi in alterum, et fascinare ipsum, et impedire operationes ipsius: propter quod praecipiunt in operationibus cavere et declinare oculum fascinantem.” De mineralibus, II.i.1, p. 24.

“Similiter autem est de Socrate, qui fidem magnam ponebat in somniorum divinatione, et hanc dixit esse unam de principalibus scientiis, ut videlicet scientia haberetur de somniorum conjecturatione. Plato autem cum Socrate concordare videtur, sicut magister cum discipulo: sicut enim narrat Apuleius Modenensis in libro de Dogmate Platonis, etiam Socrates per somnium instructus Platonem puerum in discipulum assumpsit.” De somno et vigilia, III.i.1, p. 178.

“…quoniam licet sine magicis et astronomicis non possit ars interpretandi somnia adipisci, tamen solis physicis sufficienter scitur ex quibus et qualibus simulacris consistit somnium de quo debet esse divinatio: et hoc neque ab Aristotele, neque a Philosophis quidquam determinatum est.” De somno et vigilia III.i.1, p. 178a.

“…et ista sunt somnia quae sapientes interpretatntur, et ad quae inventa est ars interpretandi in scientiis magicis.” De somno et vigilia III.i.10, p. 191b.

“Sicut quando somno sensus ligantur, refluunt phantasmata ad organa sensus, et aliquando fiunt vera somnia proprie sicut res se habent et fiunt intelligentiae clarae, ita fit aliquando aversis sensibus et per revocationum sensuum ad interiora ligamentum sensuum in vigilia: et tunc aut per simulacrum, aut per propria sicut res est, aut per illustrationem intelligentiae apparitiones fiunt verae et falsae, quae visiones a physicis appellantur, quibus maximus usus est in magicis: illi enim student in talibus apparitionibus praecipue, et in quibusdam quae sumpta sensus claudant et stupefaciunt, et ad apparitiones quae tunc fiunt, conjiciunt futura.” De somno et vigilia, III.i.3, p. 181a.