For the outflow of a
specific
power can weaken another power, or actuate and sharpen certain other powers.
Bruno-Cause-Principle-and-Unity
I declare that if the voice operates outside the body which produces it, and enters as a whole into innumerable ears on all sides, then why cannot the whole substance, which produces the voice which is tied to certain organs of the body, be located in different places and parts?
Furthermore, it must be noted that occult intelligence is not heard or understood in all languages. For the voices spoken by humans are not heard in the same way as the voices of nature. As a result, poetry, especially of the tragic type (as Plotinus says), has a very great effect on the wavering thoughts of the soul.
Likewise, not all writings have the same impact as those markings which signify things by the particular way in which they are drawn and config- ured. Thus, when certain symbols are arranged in different ways, they rep- resent different things: in a circle, the attraction of love; when opposed, the descent into hate and separation; when brief, defective and broken, they point to destruction; when knotted, to bondage; when strung out, to dis- solution. Furthermore, these symbols do not have a fixed and definite form. Rather, each person, by the dictate of his own inspiration or by the impulse of his own spirit, determines his own reactions of desiring or rejecting something. And thus, he characterizes for himself each symbol according to his own impulse, and as the divine spirit personally exerts cer- tain powers which are not expressed in any explicit language, speech, or writing.
Such were the figures, so well designed by the Egyptians, which are called hieroglyphics or sacred symbols. These were specific images selected from natural objects and their parts to designate individual things. The Egyptians used these symbols and sounds to converse with the gods to accomplish extraordinary results. Later, when Theuth,7 or someone else, invented the letters of the type we use today for other purposes, this
6 This sentence is an explicit rejection of Aristotle's definition of the soul in De anima, ? ? , ? (? ? ? . a. ? ? -? ? ).
7 See Plato, Phaedrus, ? ? ? c-e, for an account of this legend about the origins of written language.
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On magic
? resulted in a tremendous loss, first of memory, and then of divine science and magic.
Like those Egyptians, magicians today formulate images, written sym- bols and ceremonies, which consist of certain actions and cults, and through which they express and make known their wishes with certain sig- nals. This is the language of the gods which, unlike all other languages which change a thousand times every day, remains always the same, just as natural species remain always the same.
For the same reasons, the spirits speak to us through visions and dreams, but we claim that these are enigmas, because of our unfamiliarity and igno- rance and weak capacities, even though they are the very same sounds and very same expressions used for representable things. Just as these sounds elude our grasp, likewise our Latin, Greek and Italian sounds sometimes fail to be heard and understood by the higher and eternal spirits, which differ from us in species. Thus, it is no easier for us to be able to commu- nicate with the spirits than it is for an eagle to converse with a human. Just as there can be conversation and agreement only by means of gestures between two groups of humans who do not share a common language, like- wise, there can be communication between us and certain types of spirits only by the use of certain signs, signals, figures, symbols, gestures and other ceremonies. The magician, especially when using the kind of magic which is called 'theurgy', can hardly accomplish anything without such sounds and symbols.
On the communion and interaction of things
From the above, one can understand and explain how interaction occurs not only between things which, to the senses, are near each other, but also between things which are far apart. For, as was said above, things are united by a universal spirit which is present as a whole in the whole world and in each of its parts. As a result, just as different lights come together in the same space, likewise, the souls of the universe, whether they be finite or infinite in number, interact in their powers and activities. However, this does not happen to bodies, because they are limited and circumscribed by their surfaces and surroundings, and because they are composed of innu- merably different parts in different bodies and places (if we can speak of place rather than space. ) Therefore, no body can act on another body, and no matter on other matter, nor can the material parts of one body act on the
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? parts of another body, but rather, all action comes from quality and form and ultimately from soul. The soul first changes the dispositions, and then the dispositions change bodies. Thus, bodies act on distant bodies, on nearby ones and on their own parts, by means of a certain harmony, joining and union which comes from form. For, since every body is governed by a soul or a spirit which connects its parts, and since one soul acts on another nearby soul in any direction and wherever it is, it follows necessarily that a soul moves that body, wherever it is, because it is controlled by, and subor- dinate to, that soul. Whoever is aware of this indissoluble continuity of the soul and its necessary connection to a body will possess an important principle both to control natural things and to understand them better.
From this follows clearly the reason why a void, i. e. , a space empty of any body, does not exist. For no body can leave one place without being replaced by another. During life, the soul does leave its own body, but it cannot leave the universal body, nor can it be abandoned by the universal body, if you prefer to state it that way. For, when it leaves one simple or complex body, it moves into another simple or complex body, or from one body left behind, it goes to and enters into another. Thus, it has an indis- soluble connection with universal matter. And since its own nature is to be a continuous whole everywhere, we realize that it exists together with a material body everywhere. From this, we conclude that the void does not exist in the sense of a space with no matter in it, but rather a void is a space in which different bodies move and succeed each other. It also follows that the motion of the parts of one body towards the parts of another body is continuous. Motion occurs through a continuous space which is not inter- rupted by any void located between full spaces, unless we wish to say that a space in which there is no sensible body is a void.
A continuous body is an unobservable body, that is, an airy or ethereal spirit. It is very active and very powerful and very similar to the soul, and it is quite different from the dense sluggishness found in observable, com- posite substances. The above mentioned powers of unobservable spiritual bodies are the source of all the powers in observable bodies themselves. Indications of this are the airy spirit which agitates and embroils all the seas, and the invincible force of the winds which, even when they are rather calm and quiet, disturb the earth, break trees and destroy houses. Lucretius put it well when he said that it is this spiritual body which performs all actions in observable things. 8 Many philosophers have thought that this
8 Lucretius, De rerum natura, ? , ? ? ? ff. ? ? ?
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? spiritual body is the same thing as the soul, and the poet has said that this air 'has the power of fire and the soul'. 9
Furthermore, fire, which does not consist of dense matter like coal, which is rather an ignited body, is to be understood as different from air only accidentally. For true fire is, indeed, a spirit, which is sluggish when it is located in an ignited body, but it is lively when it is outside of an ignited body, and it is a form of motion in a flame or in some intermediate state.
This spirit, acting in different ways, forms different bodies and animals. And although not all composite bodies are animals, it must be noted that all animals have a soul which is of the same type in all the members of one genus. However, that soul is not actuated in one and the same way because of differences in the dispositions of matter and in objective ideals. From this, it follows that, since there are different and contrary forms, there are also differences and reasons why some animals congregate with each other, being attracted and impelled to various places, while others flee from or pursue each other. All of this is due to the way they are structured.
All things desire to preserve their own existence, and thus they forcibly and unwillingly resist separation from the place where they exist and per- severe. This force is so strong that the sun or fire attracts water to itself through airy space only after it has first made the water like air, that is, by converting it into a vapour. After that has happened, then the substance which was water is attracted willingly, and by means of the same impulse of attraction, it tries to adapt itself so that it slowly becomes more and more like fire, and finally, it becomes fire itself. On the other hand, that most sub- tle body which is contained in the spirit in the form of fire changes back into water by the opposite sequence as it congeals and thickens.
Therefore, the same substance and matter changes from water to vapour, from vapour to air, and from air to the thinnest and most penetrating ethe- real body. The latter has been called a 'spirit' by the Egyptians, Moses and Dionysius of Apollonia, although they differ because Moses did not distinguish spirit from soul (according to his words; I do not judge his meaning), which the others did. The other substance [earth] is dry and composed of atoms, which are very solid and indissoluble bodies. In them- selves, they are neither continuous nor divisible and, thus, cannot be changed into any other body. And the substance of water or spirit or air, which is the same, never changes into the substance of atoms or dry earth, nor vice versa.
9 Virgil, Aeneid, ? ? ? ? , ? ? ? . ? ? ?
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? This philosophy is supreme, divine and true, since it is quite in agree- ment with nature by positing the following principles of reality: first, water or the abyss or the Styx; second, dryness or atoms or earth (I am not speak- ing of the terrestrial globe); third, spirit or air or soul; fourth, light. These are so different from each other that one cannot be transformed into the nature of another, although they do come together and associate, sometimes more or less, sometimes all or some of them.
On the double motion of things and on attraction
There are two kinds of motion, natural and preternatural. Natural motion comes from an intrinsic principle, while preternatural motion is from an extrinsic principle; natural motion is in harmony with the nature, struc- ture and generation of things, preternatural motion is not. The latter is twofold: violent, which is against nature, and ordered or structured, which is not contrary to nature. What is commonly called natural motion is found in all genera or in all the categories, leaving out the distinction between motion and mutation. 10
For now, we omit all the other classes of motion and their species and consider only natural motion in place. One type of this is possessed by nat- ural things and does not move a thing away from it own proper place; this is circular motion, or a version thereof. The other type is straight line motion, which is not naturally possessed by natural things. For example, air moves in a straight line to fill a void. A stone moves through air, and a body which is heavier than water moves through water, in a straight line in order to occupy the place in which it either is at rest or moves naturally. And as much as it can, a contrary flees from its contrary in a straight line, for example, fumes, vapour and water from fire (for it goes faster to a greater distance through a straight line). Likewise, similar and agreeable things tend towards each other in a straight line, for example, straw to amber, and iron to a magnet, so that they can rest together or move better and more easily.
There is also a third type of local motion, which is an inflow and an outflow found in all natural things when any of their parts are ejected in various ways and in every direction. For now, we will call this 'spher- ical' motion. For it does not occur either in a straight line, or to or from
? 10 This is an Aristotelian distinction in which 'motion' refers to changes in quality, quantity and place, while 'mutation' refers to changes in substance or essence.
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On magic
? or around a centre. Rather, it occurs along an infinity of lines from the same centre, for while some parts of the body are ejected and emitted outward from the body's convex surface and perimeter, others are recipro- cally received and absorbed. Bodies grow and are invigorated when the inflow of beneficial things is greater than their outflow, and they age and weaken and become sluggish when the inflow of extraneous things is greater than the outflow of natural things. This is the reason why cor- ruption and change occur in things, including all changes or alterations and disintegrations . . . 11
There is no controversy over the evidence for the first two types of motion, and, as a result, the understanding and classifications of them are well known. But a more careful consideration of the third type will be found to be not only needed and helpful, but also necessary. The situation is especially clear in things which have very strong sensible qualities. For instance, fire warms in every direction and not just on one side or another. For, as soon as it is lighted, it sends out its light and flames in every direc- tion. Likewise, a sound and a voice penetrate equally in all directions, if they occur in a medium which is open on all sides. In the same way, it is quite clear that the sense of smell is activated by the continuous emission of small parts from an odoriferous body. This could not happen unless that body's substance were to flow out and emit its parts in all directions. The same thing happens in the case of reflections and other such observable occurrences. Innumerable other accidental things are caused by certain parts flowing out, and sometimes these parts travel an enormous distance from a very small observable source, as is clear when a small amount of something emits a smell for many years.
In addition to these observable qualities or powers which are emitted from bodies spherically, there are other, more spiritual and less heavy ones which act not only on the body and on the senses, but also on the interior spirit. The more powerful ones touch the powers of the soul and cause various effects and passions, as is commonly thought to be true of many stones, herbs and minerals. This is also clear in fantasies and in cases where the eye has actively or passively been hit. An example is the basilisk12 who, by looking at a man a long way off, can kill him with the sharpness of its vision.
? 11 There is a break in Bruno's text at this point.
12 The basilisk, also called a cockatrice, was a legendary monster resembling a lizard which was said to
have been hatched by a snake from a cock's egg. Its breath and glance were supposedly fatal.
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On magic
? How a magnet attracts iron, coral attracts blood, etc.
What was said above explains why magnets naturally attract things. There are two kinds of attraction. The first occurs by agreement, as when parts move to their proper place and are oriented to that place, and when simi- lar and harmonious things attract each other. The second type occurs with- out agreement, as when contraries come together because the one which cannot escape is overwhelmed, as when moisture is attracted by fire. This is clear in the case of a burning object being held above a bowl containing water, where the water is sucked up by the heat and rises rapidly. The same thing happens when waterspouts and hurricanes occur at sea, with the result that sometimes even ships are thrown a great distance upwards by the waves.
Attraction occurs in three ways. The cause of the first type is clear to the senses, as is shown in the cases mentioned above. This also happens when the attraction and absorption of air attract objects contained in the air. This is, likewise, evident in pipes through which water is sucked, and thus rises to any level. This happens for the reason given. For if the air in the tube is attracted, and if there is no other air to take its place, then water or earth or something else will fill that space. If nothing can replace it, then the air would be held back and retained by the power of the vacuum, as is clear when an opening is obstructed by objects being sucked in and swallowed. Another example occurs when the tongue and lips are held together and their opening is very tightly compressed around the mediating air, and vice versa, when one sucks so that there is elicited from the mouth's pores a spirit which restores and re-establishes what had been removed from its proper place or space.
There is another type of attraction which is not perceived by the senses. This is the case of a magnet attracting iron. The cause of this cannot be attributed to a vacuum or to any such thing, but only to the outflow of atoms or parts, which occurs in all bodies. For when atoms of one type move towards and mutually encounter other atoms of a similar type or of a congenial and compatible nature, the bodies develop such an attraction and impulse for each other that the overpowered body moves towards the whole of the stronger body. For since all the parts experience this attraction, then so must the whole body also be attracted.
This is illustrated for the senses in the case of two burning lamps. When the lower one is extinguished, fumes and spirits flow up from it (these are
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? well disposed to become flames or to be nourishment for fire), and the upper flame then rapidly descends to re-ignite the lower lamp. This is also found in the small flames of torches. To avoid being extinguished by mois- ture absorbed from the environment, they clearly are attracted to flamma- ble materials located nearby, and they clearly are attracted to a larger flame either in a straight line or indirectly by jumping or leaping across.
And thus it happens that the overpowered parts of iron are attracted by some type of power or quality (although not all activities in such natural, composite things are due to active and passive qualities); even though this happens sometimes by necessity, that is not the rule. The fact that this attraction is caused by the outflow of parts from such bodies also indicates that when a magnet or amber is rubbed, it attracts iron or straw much more strongly. For the heat causes more parts to be emitted, since it opens the pores and rarefies the body.
From this, it is clear that a similar explanation is to be given of how rhubarb attracts choleric humours from the extremities and surface parts of animals to their intestines, when it has sufficient power, that is, when it is not so strong as to be expelled by nature before it acts, nor so weak as only to move the humours and not attract them.
In magnets and similar things, the attractive force and power is not due to an active or passive quality, in the commonly-used sense of a kind of action or passion, as is found in the four elements. A sign of this is that when a piece of iron touches a magnet, it acquires the same power of attracting other pieces of iron. This could not happen if this were due to an elemen- tary quality. For when heat and coldness are accidentally present in a sub- ject, they quickly disappear when the source of heat is removed. Therefore, one must explain this in terms of the emission of parts or of a spiritual sub- stance which flows from the magnet into the iron. It is difficult to imagine any other or even a similar cause of these effects. Also from this perspec- tive, which is fully self-consistent, it is easy to evaluate the various fantasies and dreams which others have mentioned as the causes of this attraction.
This same explanation and cause accounts for the fact that diamonds are said to block such an attraction, and similar types of explanation account for various other things.
For the outflow of a specific power can weaken another power, or actuate and sharpen certain other powers. Thus, it is said that diamonds confer magnanimity on those who wear them.
It is not easy to explain why magnetic attraction occurs at the pole of the earth, especially if what some say is not true, namely, that in that region
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On magic
? there are many large magnetic mountains. This is very hard to believe, but let us assume it anyhow. Then we ask why this attraction occurs at all dis- tances from that place. We are not speaking here of active but of passive magnetic attraction. I have not yet experienced whether a magnet attracts another magnet. If there are such mountains, and if they exert their power at such great distances, then since they attract a compass needle at the equator and in the tropics, in our region of the earth they would attract men wearing armour. But this is completely ridiculous. If we grant that a mag- net attracts iron when there is nothing except air between them, and if the attraction occurs in a straight line from our region of the earth to those places across the northern sea where the magnetic mountains and cliffs are located, then a large arc of the earth lies in between. Therefore, the magnet would attract iron (or another magnet, if that could happen for a similar reason), if our magnet is located at A and the mountains are at D. The
attraction must then occur at B or C, and thus, it crosses either through the large straight line distance AB or AC as indicated, or through the large arc of the earth AB and AC as indicated.
It is clear that this common and well-known argument falls apart for many reasons. To these objections we add that these magnetic mountains do not have the power to attract a magnet because they are similar to each other; if that were the case, we would see a very small magnet attracted by a very large one. Thus, we cannot appeal to attraction as the cause of this effect, because, as was said, it is iron which is attracted, while the magnet
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? rather moves away, for this mineral and iron, which are derived from the earth and are cold like the earth, are contraries by nature. What happens to them is the opposite of what happens to almost all flowers which turn towards the sun and follow the path of the sun, as can be seen, for the sake of this argument, not only in heliotropes, but also in the narcissus, the crocus and in innumerable other flowers. Therefore, we can safely say that these things, which are hostile to the sun and to heat, turn towards and hurry towards those places which are the most removed from the sun and heat.
Epilogue on the motions which occur in things
Thus, we find that local motion occurs in many ways. First is the motion which constitutes and preserves life (i. e. , the circular motion of things in their own place due to the soul, or native spirit, as was said above); second is the fleeing of a contrary; third is the acquisition of something helpful or good; fourth is the expulsion and rejection by a contrary impulse; fifth is the violent attraction by a contrary which needs or seeks some material to convert into itself; sixth is an animal choice in accordance with the ten- dency of a natural power; the last is a violent motion, which either impedes or stops natural powers by some device or desire, or which is due to nature itself which, while it is strong enough to move something in one direction, blocks or impedes another motion of a lesser power, as happens almost everywhere. For example, a natural flow of water in one direction is stopped by another flow of water, as occurs when rivers flowing into the ocean are resisted by the flow of the sea and are turned back for many miles towards their sources.
On the bonding of spirits
As was said above, some spirits reside in more subtle matter, others in more dense matter; some reside in composite bodies, others in more simple bod- ies; some in observable bodies, others in unobservable bodies. As a result, the operations of the soul are sometimes easier, sometimes more difficult, sometimes weaker, sometimes well adapted, sometimes impossible. Some spirits operate within one genus, others act more efficaciously in another genus. Thus, humans possess certain operations and actions and desires not found in demons, and vice versa.
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On magic
? It is easy for demons to penetrate through bodies and to initiate thoughts in us. The reason for the latter is that they convey certain impressions directly to our internal senses, just as we ourselves sometimes seem to think of something suggested by the internal senses. This knowledge seems to occur according to the following comparison and analogy. If one wishes to generate a thought in someone standing at a distance, one must shout so that the thought is produced in their internal sense through their hearing it. But if the person is closer, a shout is not needed, only a quieter voice. And if the person is immediately nearby, a whisper in the ear suffices. But demons have no need of ears or voices or whispers because they penetrate into the internal sense directly, as was said. Thus, they send not only dreams and voices and visions to be heard and seen, but also certain thoughts which are hardly noticed by some. They communicate truths sometimes through enigmas, and sometimes through sense impressions. Sometimes they may even deceive. Not all things are granted to everyone, although they always happen in a definite sequence and order.
Not all spirits or demons have the same level of existence, power and knowledge. Indeed, we know that there are many more species of them than there are of sensible things. Thus, some of them are brute animals and cause injury without any reason. Although these are far inferior to humans in knowledge, they still can do as much harm as dangerous animals or poi- sons. Mark called these spirits 'deaf and dumb',13 i. e. , they are without rea- son, since they recognize no commands, and they do not hear or perceive any threats or prayers. As a result, it has been declared that it is impossible to banish them, although it has also been said that they can be controlled and conquered by fasting or abstinence, and by prayer or lofty meditation, and by the power of the senses. This latter is a medical issue, for spirits of this crass type, like food and pleasure, are located in our dense humours and earthy melancholies, which a doctor controls either by thinning them out through fasting or by expelling them with a proper dose of laxative.
There is another type of demon which is fearful, suspicious and credu- lous. These hear and understand voices but do not distinguish the possible from the impossible, or the appropriate from the inappropriate. They are like humans who are dreaming and disturbed by fantasies. This type of demon is usually expelled by threats of death, prison, fire and other such things.
There are other, wiser demons which reside in pure air, which is a sim- ple substance. They are affected by no cult, no religious practice and no
13 Mark, ? :? ? . ? ? ?
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? prayers. Rather, they freely distort all these things and play with humans by counterfeiting illusions of fear, anger, religion and such things. They understand languages and the sciences, but never make any firm assertions. And so these hateful demons introduce confusion and doubt into the human mind and senses.
There are also ethereal spirits which are pure and luminous. All agree that they are hostile to no one and are completely good and friendly to virtuous men. But the airy spirits are friendly to some, and hostile and hateful to others.
The aqueous and terrestrial spirits are hostile, or at least are not friendly, since they are less rational and more fearful. In accordance with the saying, 'They hate what they fear,'14 they deliberately cause injury.
But the spirits of fire, which are more properly called heroes and gods, are said to be the ministers of God. The cabalists call them Fissim, Seraphim and Cherubim, and the prophet of the Psalms said, 'He made the winds to be his angels, and the flames of fire his ministers. '15 Hence, Basil and Origen rightly argue that the angels are not completely incorpo- real, but are spiritual substances; that is, they are animals with very subtle bodies, which divine revelation has said are fire and flames of fire.
In every group of spirits there are sovereigns and rulers, ministers, lead- ers, governors and ranks, by which the wiser and more powerful dominate and direct the more ignorant and more uncultured. These roles do not endure forever, but they are also not as briefly constituted as they are among humans. For in many ways, the lives of spirits are not comparable to ours, since the soul's union with a simple body is much more easily main- tained than it is with bodies like ours, which are composed of contraries. Their bodies very easily ward off change. Thus, air and water undergo less change than do composite bodies. Furthermore, they are easily restored. For example, when air is divided, it is reunited very easily, and portions of water reunite after they have been separated. Thus, Virgil did not use a ridiculous poetic figure of speech when he said that Aeneas frightened the shades when he cut through their abode with his drawn sword. 16
These various spirits occupy the bodies of humans, animals, stones and minerals. There is no body which is completely devoid of spirit and intel- ligence. Furthermore, no spirit possesses a permanent location for itself. Rather, spirits fluctuate from one matter to another, and matter fluctuates from one spirit to another, and from one nature or composition to another.
14 Cicero, De officiis, ? ? , ? , ? . 15 Psalm, ? ? ? :? . 16 Virgil, Aeneid, ? ? , ? ? ? , ? ? ? , ? ? ? . ? ? ?
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? This is what alteration, mutation, passion and even corruption are: namely, the separation of certain parts from others, and their recombination with still others. For death is nothing more than such a disintegration. No spirit and no body ever perishes; rather, there is only a continual change of combinations and actualizations.
Parallel to the various actualizations, which arise from the various com- positions of things, there are various loves and hates. As was said, everything desires to remain in its present state of existence and does not comprehend, or even think about, any other new state of being. Therefore, there is, in general, a bonding of reciprocal love of a soul for its own body, and of that body (in its own way) for its soul. Thus, the diversity of natures and drives gives rise to a variety of bonds which affect both spirits and bodies. We will discuss these bonds immediately after we have first defined the analogy between spirits and composites.
On the analogy of spirits
Porphyry, Plotinus and the other Platonists assign bodies to spirits as fol- lows. The best and purest spirits, which are also called 'gods', have bodies of fire, which is the purest and simplest substance. The spirits which have denser elementary bodies exist only by sharing in a more subtle element. Thus, airy spirits have bodies mixed with air and fire; aqueous spirits have bodies mixed with air and fire; terrestrial spirits have bodies mixed with water, air and fire. These substances are invisible because of their thinness. Furthermore, terrestrial and aqueous spirits sometimes choose to make themselves visible by means of dense and concrete vapours, and they appear in the purer regions, where the air is more calm and quiet.
I, myself, have seen them at Mount Libero and at Mount Lauro. And they have appeared not just to me, but frequently to the local inhabitants to whom they are sometimes hostile (but only moderately so), by stealing and hiding the local animals, which they later return in a few days to their stables.
It is well-known and widely accepted as true that these spirits have also frequently appeared to workers in gold mines and in other under- ground places, for example, in the mountains of Gebenna. These spirits sometimes harmed them, sometimes helped them and sometimes pre- dicted events. This same type of spirit is found near Nola in a desolate place near the temple of Portus, and under a certain cliff at the foot of Mount
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? Cicada,17 which was once used as a cemetery for plague victims. I myself, as well as many others, have personally experienced them while walking through that place at night. I was bombarded with many stones which vio- lently exploded at a very short distance from my head and other parts of my body, and this continued in a threatening manner for some time. Nevertheless, these stones did not inflict any bodily injuries on me or on any of the others who reported the same experience. These incidents are reported by Psellus in his book De daemonibus (On Demons), where he describes them as refugees from light and as throwers of stones, although their projectiles are harmless.
The existence of subterranean demons is established not only by the senses, experience and reason, but also by divine authority in the very wise Book of Job, which contains a great deal of the most profound philosophy. When Job curses the day he was born with the words, 'May the day of my birth perish', he adds after a few sentences, 'Why was light given to one in misery, and why was life given to those who are bitter of heart? ' 'Why did I not perish as soon as I left the womb? ' 'Why was I not hidden and replaced after having been aborted? ' 'For now I would be silently asleep and would rest in my dreams together with the rulers and princes of the earth, who have built isolated houses for themselves and have filled them with their sil- ver. ' The point at hand could not have been more clearly stated than in these words from the mouth of Job himself. 18
As was said above, different spirits reside in different bodies, and their ranks are distinguished by a definite order and justice. Origen, Pythagoras and the Platonists list humans among the demons, including those who are not good but who could become good or evil as they live out their lives in a better or worse way. This is why both Christian theologians and the better philosophers say that life is like a road and a transition, a journey and a fight. The same judgement applies to other types of beings. Furthermore, we know that the best things into which a soul or spirit enters are the things which persevere the longest. That is what we said at the beginning: namely, all spiritual substances reduce to one, all material substances to three, there is one soul, one God, one first mind above all things and one soul of the universe.
Also, it is very probable that all illnesses are due to evil demons, which
? 17 Mount Cicada (or Cicale or Cicala) is adjacent to Bruno's native town of Nola, immediately east of Naples. Its foreboding appearance made a deep and lasting impression on him during his childhood.
18 See Job, ? : ? -? ? .
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? are expelled and replaced by their opposites with chants, prayers, med- itations and ecstacies of the soul. And it cannot be denied that, in some people, there are dominating spirits who have the power to dispel certain types of illnesses. They say that Cyrus and other Persian kings could cure diseases of the spleen with the touch of their thumb. And it is well-known and clearly established that the same is true of the Kings of France, who cured disorders of the lymph glands with the touch of a thumb. It is also said that someone who is the seventh son of the same father, and who was born without the help of a woman, can do the same thing with his saliva.
One can prove that demons are material, and that they are of several different kinds, by the fact that they have emotions, desires, angers, jeal- ousies and similar feelings found in humans, and in animals composed of observable and more dense matter. That is why the slaughtering and sac- rifice of animals were instituted, for these demons are pleased a very great deal by such ceremonies and their fumes. It must be that these demons are constituted very much like us, because they also express their affections for some peoples and nations, while they detest and hate all others.
Some of these demons have names and are famous and more powerful, while others are more ordinary. The Romans called the latter 'gods of the dishes',19 i. e. , there were no specific offerings and sacrifices made to them. It is credible that such offerings were not necessary, but rather were pleas- ing to them (for they could provide for themselves whatever they needed). Nevertheless, these offerings were established for them as luxuries, which they would not have had without human contributions. For although they are able to know much more than we can, they cannot do and change as many things as we can, because of their spiritual and more noble and more reasonable characters. They are delighted by sweet scents and were adequately paid homage at one time by incense, saffron, moss, amber and fragrant flowers.
The more noble and more eminent spirits are said to be pleased by hymns, chants and musical instruments.
Above all, these are the gods who, by nature, 'have no need of us, and are neither favourably influenced by our merits, nor touched by our anger'. 20 Being affected by our good or evil actions pertains only to those spirits who can ask and receive from us some arrangement whereby they can have a better and happier life. This does not seem to be at all appropriate for those spirits who already enjoy a most happy state.
19 'petallares dei'. See Plautus, Cistellaria, ? ? , ? , ? ?
Furthermore, it must be noted that occult intelligence is not heard or understood in all languages. For the voices spoken by humans are not heard in the same way as the voices of nature. As a result, poetry, especially of the tragic type (as Plotinus says), has a very great effect on the wavering thoughts of the soul.
Likewise, not all writings have the same impact as those markings which signify things by the particular way in which they are drawn and config- ured. Thus, when certain symbols are arranged in different ways, they rep- resent different things: in a circle, the attraction of love; when opposed, the descent into hate and separation; when brief, defective and broken, they point to destruction; when knotted, to bondage; when strung out, to dis- solution. Furthermore, these symbols do not have a fixed and definite form. Rather, each person, by the dictate of his own inspiration or by the impulse of his own spirit, determines his own reactions of desiring or rejecting something. And thus, he characterizes for himself each symbol according to his own impulse, and as the divine spirit personally exerts cer- tain powers which are not expressed in any explicit language, speech, or writing.
Such were the figures, so well designed by the Egyptians, which are called hieroglyphics or sacred symbols. These were specific images selected from natural objects and their parts to designate individual things. The Egyptians used these symbols and sounds to converse with the gods to accomplish extraordinary results. Later, when Theuth,7 or someone else, invented the letters of the type we use today for other purposes, this
6 This sentence is an explicit rejection of Aristotle's definition of the soul in De anima, ? ? , ? (? ? ? . a. ? ? -? ? ).
7 See Plato, Phaedrus, ? ? ? c-e, for an account of this legend about the origins of written language.
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On magic
? resulted in a tremendous loss, first of memory, and then of divine science and magic.
Like those Egyptians, magicians today formulate images, written sym- bols and ceremonies, which consist of certain actions and cults, and through which they express and make known their wishes with certain sig- nals. This is the language of the gods which, unlike all other languages which change a thousand times every day, remains always the same, just as natural species remain always the same.
For the same reasons, the spirits speak to us through visions and dreams, but we claim that these are enigmas, because of our unfamiliarity and igno- rance and weak capacities, even though they are the very same sounds and very same expressions used for representable things. Just as these sounds elude our grasp, likewise our Latin, Greek and Italian sounds sometimes fail to be heard and understood by the higher and eternal spirits, which differ from us in species. Thus, it is no easier for us to be able to commu- nicate with the spirits than it is for an eagle to converse with a human. Just as there can be conversation and agreement only by means of gestures between two groups of humans who do not share a common language, like- wise, there can be communication between us and certain types of spirits only by the use of certain signs, signals, figures, symbols, gestures and other ceremonies. The magician, especially when using the kind of magic which is called 'theurgy', can hardly accomplish anything without such sounds and symbols.
On the communion and interaction of things
From the above, one can understand and explain how interaction occurs not only between things which, to the senses, are near each other, but also between things which are far apart. For, as was said above, things are united by a universal spirit which is present as a whole in the whole world and in each of its parts. As a result, just as different lights come together in the same space, likewise, the souls of the universe, whether they be finite or infinite in number, interact in their powers and activities. However, this does not happen to bodies, because they are limited and circumscribed by their surfaces and surroundings, and because they are composed of innu- merably different parts in different bodies and places (if we can speak of place rather than space. ) Therefore, no body can act on another body, and no matter on other matter, nor can the material parts of one body act on the
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? parts of another body, but rather, all action comes from quality and form and ultimately from soul. The soul first changes the dispositions, and then the dispositions change bodies. Thus, bodies act on distant bodies, on nearby ones and on their own parts, by means of a certain harmony, joining and union which comes from form. For, since every body is governed by a soul or a spirit which connects its parts, and since one soul acts on another nearby soul in any direction and wherever it is, it follows necessarily that a soul moves that body, wherever it is, because it is controlled by, and subor- dinate to, that soul. Whoever is aware of this indissoluble continuity of the soul and its necessary connection to a body will possess an important principle both to control natural things and to understand them better.
From this follows clearly the reason why a void, i. e. , a space empty of any body, does not exist. For no body can leave one place without being replaced by another. During life, the soul does leave its own body, but it cannot leave the universal body, nor can it be abandoned by the universal body, if you prefer to state it that way. For, when it leaves one simple or complex body, it moves into another simple or complex body, or from one body left behind, it goes to and enters into another. Thus, it has an indis- soluble connection with universal matter. And since its own nature is to be a continuous whole everywhere, we realize that it exists together with a material body everywhere. From this, we conclude that the void does not exist in the sense of a space with no matter in it, but rather a void is a space in which different bodies move and succeed each other. It also follows that the motion of the parts of one body towards the parts of another body is continuous. Motion occurs through a continuous space which is not inter- rupted by any void located between full spaces, unless we wish to say that a space in which there is no sensible body is a void.
A continuous body is an unobservable body, that is, an airy or ethereal spirit. It is very active and very powerful and very similar to the soul, and it is quite different from the dense sluggishness found in observable, com- posite substances. The above mentioned powers of unobservable spiritual bodies are the source of all the powers in observable bodies themselves. Indications of this are the airy spirit which agitates and embroils all the seas, and the invincible force of the winds which, even when they are rather calm and quiet, disturb the earth, break trees and destroy houses. Lucretius put it well when he said that it is this spiritual body which performs all actions in observable things. 8 Many philosophers have thought that this
8 Lucretius, De rerum natura, ? , ? ? ? ff. ? ? ?
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? spiritual body is the same thing as the soul, and the poet has said that this air 'has the power of fire and the soul'. 9
Furthermore, fire, which does not consist of dense matter like coal, which is rather an ignited body, is to be understood as different from air only accidentally. For true fire is, indeed, a spirit, which is sluggish when it is located in an ignited body, but it is lively when it is outside of an ignited body, and it is a form of motion in a flame or in some intermediate state.
This spirit, acting in different ways, forms different bodies and animals. And although not all composite bodies are animals, it must be noted that all animals have a soul which is of the same type in all the members of one genus. However, that soul is not actuated in one and the same way because of differences in the dispositions of matter and in objective ideals. From this, it follows that, since there are different and contrary forms, there are also differences and reasons why some animals congregate with each other, being attracted and impelled to various places, while others flee from or pursue each other. All of this is due to the way they are structured.
All things desire to preserve their own existence, and thus they forcibly and unwillingly resist separation from the place where they exist and per- severe. This force is so strong that the sun or fire attracts water to itself through airy space only after it has first made the water like air, that is, by converting it into a vapour. After that has happened, then the substance which was water is attracted willingly, and by means of the same impulse of attraction, it tries to adapt itself so that it slowly becomes more and more like fire, and finally, it becomes fire itself. On the other hand, that most sub- tle body which is contained in the spirit in the form of fire changes back into water by the opposite sequence as it congeals and thickens.
Therefore, the same substance and matter changes from water to vapour, from vapour to air, and from air to the thinnest and most penetrating ethe- real body. The latter has been called a 'spirit' by the Egyptians, Moses and Dionysius of Apollonia, although they differ because Moses did not distinguish spirit from soul (according to his words; I do not judge his meaning), which the others did. The other substance [earth] is dry and composed of atoms, which are very solid and indissoluble bodies. In them- selves, they are neither continuous nor divisible and, thus, cannot be changed into any other body. And the substance of water or spirit or air, which is the same, never changes into the substance of atoms or dry earth, nor vice versa.
9 Virgil, Aeneid, ? ? ? ? , ? ? ? . ? ? ?
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? This philosophy is supreme, divine and true, since it is quite in agree- ment with nature by positing the following principles of reality: first, water or the abyss or the Styx; second, dryness or atoms or earth (I am not speak- ing of the terrestrial globe); third, spirit or air or soul; fourth, light. These are so different from each other that one cannot be transformed into the nature of another, although they do come together and associate, sometimes more or less, sometimes all or some of them.
On the double motion of things and on attraction
There are two kinds of motion, natural and preternatural. Natural motion comes from an intrinsic principle, while preternatural motion is from an extrinsic principle; natural motion is in harmony with the nature, struc- ture and generation of things, preternatural motion is not. The latter is twofold: violent, which is against nature, and ordered or structured, which is not contrary to nature. What is commonly called natural motion is found in all genera or in all the categories, leaving out the distinction between motion and mutation. 10
For now, we omit all the other classes of motion and their species and consider only natural motion in place. One type of this is possessed by nat- ural things and does not move a thing away from it own proper place; this is circular motion, or a version thereof. The other type is straight line motion, which is not naturally possessed by natural things. For example, air moves in a straight line to fill a void. A stone moves through air, and a body which is heavier than water moves through water, in a straight line in order to occupy the place in which it either is at rest or moves naturally. And as much as it can, a contrary flees from its contrary in a straight line, for example, fumes, vapour and water from fire (for it goes faster to a greater distance through a straight line). Likewise, similar and agreeable things tend towards each other in a straight line, for example, straw to amber, and iron to a magnet, so that they can rest together or move better and more easily.
There is also a third type of local motion, which is an inflow and an outflow found in all natural things when any of their parts are ejected in various ways and in every direction. For now, we will call this 'spher- ical' motion. For it does not occur either in a straight line, or to or from
? 10 This is an Aristotelian distinction in which 'motion' refers to changes in quality, quantity and place, while 'mutation' refers to changes in substance or essence.
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? or around a centre. Rather, it occurs along an infinity of lines from the same centre, for while some parts of the body are ejected and emitted outward from the body's convex surface and perimeter, others are recipro- cally received and absorbed. Bodies grow and are invigorated when the inflow of beneficial things is greater than their outflow, and they age and weaken and become sluggish when the inflow of extraneous things is greater than the outflow of natural things. This is the reason why cor- ruption and change occur in things, including all changes or alterations and disintegrations . . . 11
There is no controversy over the evidence for the first two types of motion, and, as a result, the understanding and classifications of them are well known. But a more careful consideration of the third type will be found to be not only needed and helpful, but also necessary. The situation is especially clear in things which have very strong sensible qualities. For instance, fire warms in every direction and not just on one side or another. For, as soon as it is lighted, it sends out its light and flames in every direc- tion. Likewise, a sound and a voice penetrate equally in all directions, if they occur in a medium which is open on all sides. In the same way, it is quite clear that the sense of smell is activated by the continuous emission of small parts from an odoriferous body. This could not happen unless that body's substance were to flow out and emit its parts in all directions. The same thing happens in the case of reflections and other such observable occurrences. Innumerable other accidental things are caused by certain parts flowing out, and sometimes these parts travel an enormous distance from a very small observable source, as is clear when a small amount of something emits a smell for many years.
In addition to these observable qualities or powers which are emitted from bodies spherically, there are other, more spiritual and less heavy ones which act not only on the body and on the senses, but also on the interior spirit. The more powerful ones touch the powers of the soul and cause various effects and passions, as is commonly thought to be true of many stones, herbs and minerals. This is also clear in fantasies and in cases where the eye has actively or passively been hit. An example is the basilisk12 who, by looking at a man a long way off, can kill him with the sharpness of its vision.
? 11 There is a break in Bruno's text at this point.
12 The basilisk, also called a cockatrice, was a legendary monster resembling a lizard which was said to
have been hatched by a snake from a cock's egg. Its breath and glance were supposedly fatal.
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? How a magnet attracts iron, coral attracts blood, etc.
What was said above explains why magnets naturally attract things. There are two kinds of attraction. The first occurs by agreement, as when parts move to their proper place and are oriented to that place, and when simi- lar and harmonious things attract each other. The second type occurs with- out agreement, as when contraries come together because the one which cannot escape is overwhelmed, as when moisture is attracted by fire. This is clear in the case of a burning object being held above a bowl containing water, where the water is sucked up by the heat and rises rapidly. The same thing happens when waterspouts and hurricanes occur at sea, with the result that sometimes even ships are thrown a great distance upwards by the waves.
Attraction occurs in three ways. The cause of the first type is clear to the senses, as is shown in the cases mentioned above. This also happens when the attraction and absorption of air attract objects contained in the air. This is, likewise, evident in pipes through which water is sucked, and thus rises to any level. This happens for the reason given. For if the air in the tube is attracted, and if there is no other air to take its place, then water or earth or something else will fill that space. If nothing can replace it, then the air would be held back and retained by the power of the vacuum, as is clear when an opening is obstructed by objects being sucked in and swallowed. Another example occurs when the tongue and lips are held together and their opening is very tightly compressed around the mediating air, and vice versa, when one sucks so that there is elicited from the mouth's pores a spirit which restores and re-establishes what had been removed from its proper place or space.
There is another type of attraction which is not perceived by the senses. This is the case of a magnet attracting iron. The cause of this cannot be attributed to a vacuum or to any such thing, but only to the outflow of atoms or parts, which occurs in all bodies. For when atoms of one type move towards and mutually encounter other atoms of a similar type or of a congenial and compatible nature, the bodies develop such an attraction and impulse for each other that the overpowered body moves towards the whole of the stronger body. For since all the parts experience this attraction, then so must the whole body also be attracted.
This is illustrated for the senses in the case of two burning lamps. When the lower one is extinguished, fumes and spirits flow up from it (these are
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? well disposed to become flames or to be nourishment for fire), and the upper flame then rapidly descends to re-ignite the lower lamp. This is also found in the small flames of torches. To avoid being extinguished by mois- ture absorbed from the environment, they clearly are attracted to flamma- ble materials located nearby, and they clearly are attracted to a larger flame either in a straight line or indirectly by jumping or leaping across.
And thus it happens that the overpowered parts of iron are attracted by some type of power or quality (although not all activities in such natural, composite things are due to active and passive qualities); even though this happens sometimes by necessity, that is not the rule. The fact that this attraction is caused by the outflow of parts from such bodies also indicates that when a magnet or amber is rubbed, it attracts iron or straw much more strongly. For the heat causes more parts to be emitted, since it opens the pores and rarefies the body.
From this, it is clear that a similar explanation is to be given of how rhubarb attracts choleric humours from the extremities and surface parts of animals to their intestines, when it has sufficient power, that is, when it is not so strong as to be expelled by nature before it acts, nor so weak as only to move the humours and not attract them.
In magnets and similar things, the attractive force and power is not due to an active or passive quality, in the commonly-used sense of a kind of action or passion, as is found in the four elements. A sign of this is that when a piece of iron touches a magnet, it acquires the same power of attracting other pieces of iron. This could not happen if this were due to an elemen- tary quality. For when heat and coldness are accidentally present in a sub- ject, they quickly disappear when the source of heat is removed. Therefore, one must explain this in terms of the emission of parts or of a spiritual sub- stance which flows from the magnet into the iron. It is difficult to imagine any other or even a similar cause of these effects. Also from this perspec- tive, which is fully self-consistent, it is easy to evaluate the various fantasies and dreams which others have mentioned as the causes of this attraction.
This same explanation and cause accounts for the fact that diamonds are said to block such an attraction, and similar types of explanation account for various other things.
For the outflow of a specific power can weaken another power, or actuate and sharpen certain other powers. Thus, it is said that diamonds confer magnanimity on those who wear them.
It is not easy to explain why magnetic attraction occurs at the pole of the earth, especially if what some say is not true, namely, that in that region
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? there are many large magnetic mountains. This is very hard to believe, but let us assume it anyhow. Then we ask why this attraction occurs at all dis- tances from that place. We are not speaking here of active but of passive magnetic attraction. I have not yet experienced whether a magnet attracts another magnet. If there are such mountains, and if they exert their power at such great distances, then since they attract a compass needle at the equator and in the tropics, in our region of the earth they would attract men wearing armour. But this is completely ridiculous. If we grant that a mag- net attracts iron when there is nothing except air between them, and if the attraction occurs in a straight line from our region of the earth to those places across the northern sea where the magnetic mountains and cliffs are located, then a large arc of the earth lies in between. Therefore, the magnet would attract iron (or another magnet, if that could happen for a similar reason), if our magnet is located at A and the mountains are at D. The
attraction must then occur at B or C, and thus, it crosses either through the large straight line distance AB or AC as indicated, or through the large arc of the earth AB and AC as indicated.
It is clear that this common and well-known argument falls apart for many reasons. To these objections we add that these magnetic mountains do not have the power to attract a magnet because they are similar to each other; if that were the case, we would see a very small magnet attracted by a very large one. Thus, we cannot appeal to attraction as the cause of this effect, because, as was said, it is iron which is attracted, while the magnet
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? rather moves away, for this mineral and iron, which are derived from the earth and are cold like the earth, are contraries by nature. What happens to them is the opposite of what happens to almost all flowers which turn towards the sun and follow the path of the sun, as can be seen, for the sake of this argument, not only in heliotropes, but also in the narcissus, the crocus and in innumerable other flowers. Therefore, we can safely say that these things, which are hostile to the sun and to heat, turn towards and hurry towards those places which are the most removed from the sun and heat.
Epilogue on the motions which occur in things
Thus, we find that local motion occurs in many ways. First is the motion which constitutes and preserves life (i. e. , the circular motion of things in their own place due to the soul, or native spirit, as was said above); second is the fleeing of a contrary; third is the acquisition of something helpful or good; fourth is the expulsion and rejection by a contrary impulse; fifth is the violent attraction by a contrary which needs or seeks some material to convert into itself; sixth is an animal choice in accordance with the ten- dency of a natural power; the last is a violent motion, which either impedes or stops natural powers by some device or desire, or which is due to nature itself which, while it is strong enough to move something in one direction, blocks or impedes another motion of a lesser power, as happens almost everywhere. For example, a natural flow of water in one direction is stopped by another flow of water, as occurs when rivers flowing into the ocean are resisted by the flow of the sea and are turned back for many miles towards their sources.
On the bonding of spirits
As was said above, some spirits reside in more subtle matter, others in more dense matter; some reside in composite bodies, others in more simple bod- ies; some in observable bodies, others in unobservable bodies. As a result, the operations of the soul are sometimes easier, sometimes more difficult, sometimes weaker, sometimes well adapted, sometimes impossible. Some spirits operate within one genus, others act more efficaciously in another genus. Thus, humans possess certain operations and actions and desires not found in demons, and vice versa.
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? It is easy for demons to penetrate through bodies and to initiate thoughts in us. The reason for the latter is that they convey certain impressions directly to our internal senses, just as we ourselves sometimes seem to think of something suggested by the internal senses. This knowledge seems to occur according to the following comparison and analogy. If one wishes to generate a thought in someone standing at a distance, one must shout so that the thought is produced in their internal sense through their hearing it. But if the person is closer, a shout is not needed, only a quieter voice. And if the person is immediately nearby, a whisper in the ear suffices. But demons have no need of ears or voices or whispers because they penetrate into the internal sense directly, as was said. Thus, they send not only dreams and voices and visions to be heard and seen, but also certain thoughts which are hardly noticed by some. They communicate truths sometimes through enigmas, and sometimes through sense impressions. Sometimes they may even deceive. Not all things are granted to everyone, although they always happen in a definite sequence and order.
Not all spirits or demons have the same level of existence, power and knowledge. Indeed, we know that there are many more species of them than there are of sensible things. Thus, some of them are brute animals and cause injury without any reason. Although these are far inferior to humans in knowledge, they still can do as much harm as dangerous animals or poi- sons. Mark called these spirits 'deaf and dumb',13 i. e. , they are without rea- son, since they recognize no commands, and they do not hear or perceive any threats or prayers. As a result, it has been declared that it is impossible to banish them, although it has also been said that they can be controlled and conquered by fasting or abstinence, and by prayer or lofty meditation, and by the power of the senses. This latter is a medical issue, for spirits of this crass type, like food and pleasure, are located in our dense humours and earthy melancholies, which a doctor controls either by thinning them out through fasting or by expelling them with a proper dose of laxative.
There is another type of demon which is fearful, suspicious and credu- lous. These hear and understand voices but do not distinguish the possible from the impossible, or the appropriate from the inappropriate. They are like humans who are dreaming and disturbed by fantasies. This type of demon is usually expelled by threats of death, prison, fire and other such things.
There are other, wiser demons which reside in pure air, which is a sim- ple substance. They are affected by no cult, no religious practice and no
13 Mark, ? :? ? . ? ? ?
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? prayers. Rather, they freely distort all these things and play with humans by counterfeiting illusions of fear, anger, religion and such things. They understand languages and the sciences, but never make any firm assertions. And so these hateful demons introduce confusion and doubt into the human mind and senses.
There are also ethereal spirits which are pure and luminous. All agree that they are hostile to no one and are completely good and friendly to virtuous men. But the airy spirits are friendly to some, and hostile and hateful to others.
The aqueous and terrestrial spirits are hostile, or at least are not friendly, since they are less rational and more fearful. In accordance with the saying, 'They hate what they fear,'14 they deliberately cause injury.
But the spirits of fire, which are more properly called heroes and gods, are said to be the ministers of God. The cabalists call them Fissim, Seraphim and Cherubim, and the prophet of the Psalms said, 'He made the winds to be his angels, and the flames of fire his ministers. '15 Hence, Basil and Origen rightly argue that the angels are not completely incorpo- real, but are spiritual substances; that is, they are animals with very subtle bodies, which divine revelation has said are fire and flames of fire.
In every group of spirits there are sovereigns and rulers, ministers, lead- ers, governors and ranks, by which the wiser and more powerful dominate and direct the more ignorant and more uncultured. These roles do not endure forever, but they are also not as briefly constituted as they are among humans. For in many ways, the lives of spirits are not comparable to ours, since the soul's union with a simple body is much more easily main- tained than it is with bodies like ours, which are composed of contraries. Their bodies very easily ward off change. Thus, air and water undergo less change than do composite bodies. Furthermore, they are easily restored. For example, when air is divided, it is reunited very easily, and portions of water reunite after they have been separated. Thus, Virgil did not use a ridiculous poetic figure of speech when he said that Aeneas frightened the shades when he cut through their abode with his drawn sword. 16
These various spirits occupy the bodies of humans, animals, stones and minerals. There is no body which is completely devoid of spirit and intel- ligence. Furthermore, no spirit possesses a permanent location for itself. Rather, spirits fluctuate from one matter to another, and matter fluctuates from one spirit to another, and from one nature or composition to another.
14 Cicero, De officiis, ? ? , ? , ? . 15 Psalm, ? ? ? :? . 16 Virgil, Aeneid, ? ? , ? ? ? , ? ? ? , ? ? ? . ? ? ?
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? This is what alteration, mutation, passion and even corruption are: namely, the separation of certain parts from others, and their recombination with still others. For death is nothing more than such a disintegration. No spirit and no body ever perishes; rather, there is only a continual change of combinations and actualizations.
Parallel to the various actualizations, which arise from the various com- positions of things, there are various loves and hates. As was said, everything desires to remain in its present state of existence and does not comprehend, or even think about, any other new state of being. Therefore, there is, in general, a bonding of reciprocal love of a soul for its own body, and of that body (in its own way) for its soul. Thus, the diversity of natures and drives gives rise to a variety of bonds which affect both spirits and bodies. We will discuss these bonds immediately after we have first defined the analogy between spirits and composites.
On the analogy of spirits
Porphyry, Plotinus and the other Platonists assign bodies to spirits as fol- lows. The best and purest spirits, which are also called 'gods', have bodies of fire, which is the purest and simplest substance. The spirits which have denser elementary bodies exist only by sharing in a more subtle element. Thus, airy spirits have bodies mixed with air and fire; aqueous spirits have bodies mixed with air and fire; terrestrial spirits have bodies mixed with water, air and fire. These substances are invisible because of their thinness. Furthermore, terrestrial and aqueous spirits sometimes choose to make themselves visible by means of dense and concrete vapours, and they appear in the purer regions, where the air is more calm and quiet.
I, myself, have seen them at Mount Libero and at Mount Lauro. And they have appeared not just to me, but frequently to the local inhabitants to whom they are sometimes hostile (but only moderately so), by stealing and hiding the local animals, which they later return in a few days to their stables.
It is well-known and widely accepted as true that these spirits have also frequently appeared to workers in gold mines and in other under- ground places, for example, in the mountains of Gebenna. These spirits sometimes harmed them, sometimes helped them and sometimes pre- dicted events. This same type of spirit is found near Nola in a desolate place near the temple of Portus, and under a certain cliff at the foot of Mount
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? Cicada,17 which was once used as a cemetery for plague victims. I myself, as well as many others, have personally experienced them while walking through that place at night. I was bombarded with many stones which vio- lently exploded at a very short distance from my head and other parts of my body, and this continued in a threatening manner for some time. Nevertheless, these stones did not inflict any bodily injuries on me or on any of the others who reported the same experience. These incidents are reported by Psellus in his book De daemonibus (On Demons), where he describes them as refugees from light and as throwers of stones, although their projectiles are harmless.
The existence of subterranean demons is established not only by the senses, experience and reason, but also by divine authority in the very wise Book of Job, which contains a great deal of the most profound philosophy. When Job curses the day he was born with the words, 'May the day of my birth perish', he adds after a few sentences, 'Why was light given to one in misery, and why was life given to those who are bitter of heart? ' 'Why did I not perish as soon as I left the womb? ' 'Why was I not hidden and replaced after having been aborted? ' 'For now I would be silently asleep and would rest in my dreams together with the rulers and princes of the earth, who have built isolated houses for themselves and have filled them with their sil- ver. ' The point at hand could not have been more clearly stated than in these words from the mouth of Job himself. 18
As was said above, different spirits reside in different bodies, and their ranks are distinguished by a definite order and justice. Origen, Pythagoras and the Platonists list humans among the demons, including those who are not good but who could become good or evil as they live out their lives in a better or worse way. This is why both Christian theologians and the better philosophers say that life is like a road and a transition, a journey and a fight. The same judgement applies to other types of beings. Furthermore, we know that the best things into which a soul or spirit enters are the things which persevere the longest. That is what we said at the beginning: namely, all spiritual substances reduce to one, all material substances to three, there is one soul, one God, one first mind above all things and one soul of the universe.
Also, it is very probable that all illnesses are due to evil demons, which
? 17 Mount Cicada (or Cicale or Cicala) is adjacent to Bruno's native town of Nola, immediately east of Naples. Its foreboding appearance made a deep and lasting impression on him during his childhood.
18 See Job, ? : ? -? ? .
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On magic
? are expelled and replaced by their opposites with chants, prayers, med- itations and ecstacies of the soul. And it cannot be denied that, in some people, there are dominating spirits who have the power to dispel certain types of illnesses. They say that Cyrus and other Persian kings could cure diseases of the spleen with the touch of their thumb. And it is well-known and clearly established that the same is true of the Kings of France, who cured disorders of the lymph glands with the touch of a thumb. It is also said that someone who is the seventh son of the same father, and who was born without the help of a woman, can do the same thing with his saliva.
One can prove that demons are material, and that they are of several different kinds, by the fact that they have emotions, desires, angers, jeal- ousies and similar feelings found in humans, and in animals composed of observable and more dense matter. That is why the slaughtering and sac- rifice of animals were instituted, for these demons are pleased a very great deal by such ceremonies and their fumes. It must be that these demons are constituted very much like us, because they also express their affections for some peoples and nations, while they detest and hate all others.
Some of these demons have names and are famous and more powerful, while others are more ordinary. The Romans called the latter 'gods of the dishes',19 i. e. , there were no specific offerings and sacrifices made to them. It is credible that such offerings were not necessary, but rather were pleas- ing to them (for they could provide for themselves whatever they needed). Nevertheless, these offerings were established for them as luxuries, which they would not have had without human contributions. For although they are able to know much more than we can, they cannot do and change as many things as we can, because of their spiritual and more noble and more reasonable characters. They are delighted by sweet scents and were adequately paid homage at one time by incense, saffron, moss, amber and fragrant flowers.
The more noble and more eminent spirits are said to be pleased by hymns, chants and musical instruments.
Above all, these are the gods who, by nature, 'have no need of us, and are neither favourably influenced by our merits, nor touched by our anger'. 20 Being affected by our good or evil actions pertains only to those spirits who can ask and receive from us some arrangement whereby they can have a better and happier life. This does not seem to be at all appropriate for those spirits who already enjoy a most happy state.
19 'petallares dei'. See Plautus, Cistellaria, ? ? , ? , ? ?
