No More Learning

? ? . The eyes of the bonding agent. Bonds are so subtle, and that which is bound is so barely sensible in its depths, that it is possible to examine them only fleetingly and superficially. They change from moment to moment and are related to the bonding agent like Thetis fleeing from the embraces of Peleus. It is necessary to study the sequence of the changes and how the power of a subsequent form is influenced by its predecessor, for although matter is indeterminate in relation to innumerable forms, still its present form is not equally distant from all the others. Rather, only one of those forms is the immediate successor, others follow after many or a few inter- mediaries, and one is located the furthest away of all. Thus, just as the form of blood immediately follows the form of chyle, so do the bonds of anger follow the bonds of indignation, and the bonds of sadness follow the bonds of anger, as yellow bile easily becomes dark. Hence, after having carefully observed the disposition and the present qualities influencing Thetis, Peleus planned and prepared ahead of time the bond to win her over before she might change into some other form, knowing full well that a snake and a lion and a wild boar are captured in different ways.
? ? . The enticements of the bonding agent. A bonding agent does not easily bind someone who can be bound, just as a military commander does not easily capture a well-protected fortress unless entry is provided by an inter- nal traitor, or by some arrangement with a collaborator, or by surrender or by some sort of a compliant official. Thus, in her own realm, Venus does not bind and does not easily capture the fortress when goblets are empty, when the spirit is disturbed and when anxiety is aflame. But the fortress is handed over when the goblets overflow, and the soul is at rest, the mind is quiet and the body is at leisure. Having closely observed the changes of these guards and custodians, one must suddenly act with boldness, attack with force, use all resources and never hesitate. This same course of action must be followed in other acts of binding.
? ? . The steps in bonding. A bonding agent does not unite a soul to himself unless he has captured it; it is not captured unless it has been bound; he does not bind it unless he has joined himself to it; he is not joined to it unless he has approached it; he has not approached it unless he has moved;
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A general account of bonding
? he does not move unless he is attracted; he is not attracted until after he has been inclined towards or turned away; he is not inclined towards unless he desires or wants; he does not desire unless he knows; he does not know unless the object contained in a species or an image is presented to the eyes or to the ears or to the gaze of an internal sense. Bonds are brought to com- pletion by knowledge in general, and they are woven together by feelings in general. I say 'knowledge in general' because it is sometimes not known which sense has captured the object, and I say 'feelings in general' because sometimes that is not easy to define.
? ? . The gates through which the bonding agent attacks. There are three gates through which the hunter of souls ventures to bind: vision, hearing, and mind or imagination. If it happens that someone passes through all three of these gates, he binds most powerfully and ties dowm most tightly. He who enters through the gate of hearing is armed with his voice and with speech, the son of the voice. He who enters through the gate of vision is armed with suitable forms, gestures, motions and figures. He who enters through the gate of the imagination, mind and reason is armed with customs and the arts. After that, the first thing that happens is the entrance, then the joining, then the bonding, and fourthly the attraction. The one who is bound encounters the bonding agent through all the senses, up to the point that a perfect bond has been made such that the former is totally immersed, and desires to be totally immersed, in the latter. And thus, a bond of mutual desire is established. Parallel to this, there are, indeed, also unpleasant bonds, which we will discuss later when we talk about natural bonds. For example, the toad attracts the weasel with a hidden power in its breathing; the cock overwhelms the lion with its voice; the mullet, by its touch, stops a ship; in his fantasy, the fanatic devours the demon; and a melancholic and unstable humour acts like a magnet on evil spirits.
In conclusion, there are thirty topics which relate to the general theme of the bonding agent, namely:
? . Types
? . Effects
? . Art
? . Rank
? . Steps
? . Multitude
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A general account of bonding
? ? . Talent
? . Power
? . Coincidence of contraries
? ? . Diversity
? ? . Mediation
? ? . Partiality and concurrence of circumstances ? ? . Instruments
? ? . Opportunity
? ? . Differences
? ? . Variable powers
? ? . Location
? ? . Predisposition
? ? . Diversity of predispositions
? ? . Condition
? ? . Reaction
? ? . Distinction
? ? . Blindness or ignorance
? ? . Diligence
? ? . Weapons
? ? . Vicissitudes
? ? . Eyes
? ? . Enticements
? ? . Sequences
? ? . Gates
On what can be bound in general
? . Types of things which can be bound. There are four things which rotate around God, or universal nature, or the universal good, or absolute beauty. They rotate in such a way that they cannot abandon that centre, otherwise they would be annihilated, and in such a way that they can be separated from that centre only by the distance of each of their circumferences from its proper centre. These four things, I say, move in a circle around their bonding agent in such a way that they maintain the same order forever. According to the Platonists, they are mind, soul, nature and matter. Mind, in itself, is stable; soul, in itself, is mobile; nature is partly stable and partly mobile; and matter, as a whole, is both mobile and stable.
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A general account of bonding
? ? . The condition of that which can be bound. Nothing is bound unless it is very suitably predisposed, for that brightness5 is not communicated to all things in the same way.
? . The form of that which can be bound. Everything which is bound has an awareness in some sense, and in the nature of that awareness, one finds a certain type of knowledge and of appetite, just as a magnet attracts or repels different kinds of things. Hence, he who wishes to bind ought to focus in some way on the awareness in that which can be bound. For, indeed, a bond accompanies the awareness of a thing just like a shadow follows a body.
? . The comparison of things which can be bound. Let us note that humans are more open to bonding than are animals, and ignorant and stupid men are very much less suited for heroic bonds than are those who have developed an illustrious soul. In regard to natural bonds, the common person is much more susceptible than is the philosopher; as the proverb says, the wise rule over the stars. In regard to the intermediate type of bonds, it happens that the greedy person might boast of being temperate, and the lustful person of being moderate.
? . The distinction of things which can be bound. From what has just been said, it must be noted that the strength of one bond makes another type of bond less forceful or more mild. Thus, a German is less agitated by Venus, an Italian by drunkenness; a Spaniard is more prone to love, a Frenchman to anger.
? . The seed or incitement of the capacity to be bound. A thing is bound in the strongest way when part of it is in the bonding agent, or when the bonding agent controls it by one of its parts. To show this with just one example, necromancers are confident that they exercise control over entire bodies by means of the fingernails or the hair of the living, and especially by means of footprints or parts of clothing. They also evoke the spirits of the dead by means of their bones or any part of their bodies. Hence, it is not accidental that special care is taken in burying the dead and in preparing funeral pyres, and that leaving a body unburied is counted among the most grievous crimes. Also orators create good will with their art when their listeners and judges find something of themselves in it.
? 5 For Bruno's use of this term, see Part Three, 'On Cupid's Bond and on Bonds in General', paragraph ? , 'The definition of a bond'.
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A general account of bonding
? ? . The timing of the capacity to be bound. In different seasons and ages, one and the same thing can be bonded in various ways, and different things are not related to one and the same bond in the same way. Nor are wholes always recomposed in the same way. From this we can point out that some- one who was easy going and showy as a young man becomes a more stable and prudent adult, while an old man is more suspicious and morose, and a very old man is full of blame and loathing.
? . The diffences of things that can be bound. Whoever wishes to bind must take note of the fact that some of the things that can be bound are affected more by nature, others more by judgement or prudence, and still others more by practice and habit. As a result, the skilful person obliges and binds the first type of things with bonds provided by natural things, the second type by reasons and proofs, by symbols and arguments, and the third type by what is at hand and is compelling.
? . Resistance to being bound. The more that a soul is bound to one object, the more it turns away from and rejects others. Therefore, he who wishes to limit what can be bonded to only one bond should make a special effort to make it insensitive to other activities and objects, and to turn it away from any concern for them. For, indeed, a more pleasant action excludes a less pleasant one; the soul that is intent on hearing neglects vision; he who observes more attentively becomes deaf; when we are either very happy or sad for some reason, we are little concerned with the other; when we are lazy we stop or slow down our work, that is, we become restrained, pulled away, held, bonded. As a result, when the orator breaks the bond of love by laughter or envy or other feelings, he binds by hate or contempt or indignation.
? ? . The number of things that can be bound. Thinking persons turn away from sensible things and are bound by divine things.
Pleasure seekers descend through vision to the abundances of touching. Moralists are attracted by the amusement of conversation. The first are heroes, the second are nat- ural, and the third are rational. The first are higher, the second lower, the third in between. The first are said to be worthy of the heavens, the second of life, the third of feeling. The first ascend to God, the second cling to bodies, the third move away from one extreme and approach the other.
? ? . The motion of what can be bound. All composite and variable things, and generally all things which undergo changes in their nature and disposition,
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A general account of bonding
? such as the soul and the spirit, are subject to various changes in their bodies and in the motions of their bodies (for although each substance is quite stable and eternal because of its simplicity, still it acquires a desire from its privation, an impulse from its desire, a motion from its impulse, and a breaking of bonds from its motion). As a consequence, no bonds are eternal. Rather, things alternate between bondage and freedom, between being bonded and escaping from a bond, or they transfer from one type of bond to another. This is a natural occurrence, and it precedes, accompa- nies and follows the eternal condition of all things. Thus, nature binds with its variety and motion, and art, which emulates nature, multiplies, varies, diversifies, orders and arranges bonds in a successive series. But complete stability is opposed to the nature of things, just as we are sometimes more inclined to condemn it, and yet at other times we rather desire it, for it is quite natural to desire to break from bonds, while just a little while ago we were open to being tied to them by our own voluntary and spontaneous inclinations.
? ? . The indefiniteness of what can be bound. Insofar as that which can be bound is composed of more parts, to the same degree it is less limited to specific bonds. Thus, human pleasure is less limited to only one time or individual or sex than are the pleasures of animals. All horses would have an equal chance to mate with one mare, but this is often not true of all men and one woman. This separation and indeterminateness between humans and animals is also found between a true human and a brutal human, between a more sensitive, and also more feeling, person and a more dull person. And what we have said about one type of bond must also be applied to all other genera and species of bonds.
? ? . The foundation of the capacity to be bound. The primary reason why each thing is capable of being bound is partly because there is something in it which strives to preserve itself as it presently is, and partly because it strives to be completely developed in itself according to its circumstances. In gen- eral, this is self-love. Hence, if one could extinguish self-love in an object, it would be subject to any and every type of bonding and separation. On the other hand, when self-love flourishes, all things are easily attracted to the types of bonds natural to them.
? ? . The relation of things that can be bound. Consider the friendship and the enmity among animals, their sympathy and hostility, their similarity and
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A general account of bonding
? diversity, and the circumstances of such things. Then arrange in an order and in an analogy all the particularities and the separate individuals in the human species, then all of the individuals and all the species of the other animals, and finally the species of all other things. You now have collected before you in a convenient order the diversity of bonds.
? ? . The material diversity of things that can be bound. Although everything that can be bound is composite in some way, still one thing can be said to be simple and another many-sided or complex, and one thing can be more simple while another has more parts. Consequently, some things are bound purely and others impurely, and some bonds are pure while others are impure. Thus some pleasures and pains are pure, some are impure, and some are mixed. For example, Epicurus taught that the pleasures of Venus are impure, because they are accompanied by pain and by an insatiable desire (by which the whole body tries to transform itself into another whole body), and this results in a sorrowful exhaustion. If there are things whose principles never fail (perhaps the stars and the great living souls or gods of the world, in whom there is no fatigue and in whom the influx and outflux of substance is always exactly the same), then they would be bound by themselves to each other in the most happy way.
Therefore, he who desires to bind in a socially effective way must take into account the diverse composition or structure of things, and must con- sider, evaluate and decide differently when dealing with heroes, or with ordinary people, or with those who are more like brutes.
? ? . The degrees of things that can be bound. Children are less bound by their natural feelings, because their nature is absorbed in growth and is dis- turbed by great changes, and all their nutrition is given over to growth and the structuring of the individual. But they clearly begin to be open to being bound in the fourteenth year, for even though at that age they are still involved in growth, their rate of growth is not as fast and as great as when they were children. And in the stable period of adulthood, men have a greater strength in their semen and, as a result, seem to be more subject to being bound. Furthermore, adolescents and young men seem to be more sexually excited for the reason that they are on fire for a long time because of the novelty of this pleasure; because the passages through which the semen passes are narrower, the wetness gushes forth with a more delight- ful pleasure. And as a result of the sexual itch which arises from this pres- sure, they are more delighted and liberated. But bonds are more difficult
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A general account of bonding
? in older men, whose powers are half dead, whose organs and passages are spent, and whose semen is not abundant. Precisely the same thing is found proportionally in the other emotions which have an analogy or contrast or dependence on the passion of love.
? ? . The temperaments of things that can be bound. Because of their tempera- ment, those who are melancholy are more bound to indignation, sadness, pleasure and love, for since they are more impressionable, they also have a stronger sense of pleasure. They are also more prone to contemplation and to speculation, and in general are moved and agitated more often and more strongly by their emotions. Hence, in regard to the affairs of Venus, they regard pleasure as an end in itself rather than as a means to propagate the species. Next to them are people who are choleric, in comparison to which the sanguine are less agitated. Those who are phlegmatic are less lustful than the others, but are more greedy. Nevertheless, the fact remains that everyone has his role in obeying nature. The melancholy are bound by a greater force of imagination; the sanguine by a greater ability to emit sperm and by their hot temper; the phlegmatic by their greater abundance of fluids; and the caloric by their being more strongly and more sharply agitated and stimulated by a hot spirit.
? ? . The signs of things that can be bound. Physiognomy also has its part to play in these considerations. There are people who have slender and sinewy tibias, and who are similar to goats and to satyrs in having a wide concave nose, deep breathing and a languid face. Such people love more intensely and pursue sexual license more strongly. At the same time, they are easily appeased and do not have any emotion for a long time.
? ? . The duration of things that can be bound. With respect to bonds, old men are more stable but less suitable; young men are more unstable but more suitable; but middle aged men are bound suitably, skilfully and in a stable manner.
? ? . The reaction of things that can be bound. Mutual agreeableness gives rise to mutual bonds. Thus, there are bonds in jokes, in wit and in theatrical performances. In these ways, even those who are ugly and deformed can bind those who have feelings for them. Let us add that we have often tried to think about what it would be like to have a huge and lustful body, since the following imaginary verses were composed to be cast as a spell upon a young boy or girl:
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A general account of bonding
? I confess that I lack a beautiful form;
Yet God prefers me as more excellent, As does a girl who is steady and not silly. 6
In a proportional way, there are bonds by which those who are ugly bind because of their reputation for courage, vigour, eloquence, ingenuity and other such things, for from one type of power they can cause bonds of another type. It is not a rare occurrence that the more ugly Amazons bind in the act of love because of their reputation for their strength or their use of eloquence.
? ? . The heterogeneity of things that can be bound. Furthermore, there are species which are bound to a different species through love, hate, admira- tion, piety, compassion and other such feelings. For example, there are some famous cases of such bonding, like Lesbia with her sparrow, Corinna with her small dog, Cyparissus with his doe, and Arion with his dolphin. In general, the seeds of all species are attracted to other species. I will remain silent about the sympathy between a man and a lion, and I will pass over what I know about the astonishing intimacy between a boy and a snake.
? ? . The changing of things that can be bound. It is not difficult to change that which can be bound from one type of bond to its contrary, since the bond- ing agent is also changeable. And it makes no difference whether this occurs actually or only in thought. Even though I was once bound in thought by a teaching, the bonds of contempt and indignation may come later when that opinion has been studied in a better light. And the bonds arising from the fires of youth and beauty are relaxed and soothed in time when they do not agree with the bonds derived from customs and skill.
? ? . The cause and effect of things which can be bound. What it is that bonds to love and hate or contempt is hidden to the functions of reason. Adrastia's explanation is useless: namely, that the explanation of love, which arises from seeing a beautiful object, is a recollection by the soul of divine beauty, which was first seen as a companion to the body. If this were true, what is
? 6 Bruno quotes these three lines, with minor variations, from the 'Priapea', a set of approximately eighty short Latin poems, mostly from the Roman era, which were collected by an unknown editor. The poems commemorate Priapus, the mythological Greek god of plant and animal fertility, who was depicted as having a grotesque body and an enormous phallus. The 'Priapea' can be found in Emil Baehrens, ed. , Poetae latini minores (Leipzig: Teubner, ? ? ? ? ) Vol. ? , ? ? -? ? . Bruno's quotation is from #? ? (? ? ).
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A general account of bonding
? it that suddenly changes the soul to reject an object which in no way has changed in its nature? Why are different souls captured more easily by different objects? Why does that which is beautiful to one person also turn out to be ugly to another, no less talented person? Thus, the condition of things that can be bound is unfathomable to casual and routine examination.
? ? . The definition of things that can be bound. Theocritus attributed love and the other emotions by which individuals are bound to luck or fate or some kind of an indeterminate cause. But he would have understood them more clearly if he had thought and said 'a hidden but determinate' cause instead of an 'indeterminate' one, because their origin is not apparent. The emo- tions, indeed, have a definite and rational structure which is either given by nature or which arises from practice and habit.
? ? . The meaning of things which can be bound. The fact that things are bound by love or hate or some other feeling was explained by the Achaeans as due to fate and not to reason or to any type of thought. As a result, they vener- ated both love and hate at the same altar. Some Platonists agreed with this opinion, saying that animals who cannot speak are never bound by love, because they lack reason and prudence. But they had too limited a view of the nature of thought and reason, which fills all things with the universal spirit and which shines forth in all things and proportionally in each object. But, for us, love, like all emotions, is a very practical form of knowledge. Indeed, it is a type of discourse and reasoning and argumentation by which humans are most powerfully bound, even though it is never listed among the primary types of knowledge. Therefore, he who wishes to bind believes that reason has neither a greater role nor a more important role than love in binding, although indeed the latter falls under the genus of knowledge.
? ? . The flight of that which can be bound. Sometimes that which ties itself by one type of bond flees in order to bind itself with another type of bond. As a result, he who wishes to bond should be careful to use means which effectively bind the object, that is, he should employ the bonds which already hold it. For example, a hunter, who was absorbed by his interest in and attention to wild animals, was sexually seduced with appropriate gifts by the nymph who used a horn whose sound made fleeing animals come to a standstill. Also a soldier may be bound by other feelings by enchanting him with the power of his weapons. Thus, people are bound to sex through hunting, fasting, drunkenness, gymnastic exercises and in general through
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A general account of bonding
? various types of concerns, leisure activity, abstinence, debauchery, etc. And what is true of this type of bond also applies to the others in their own way.
? ? . The substance of that which can be bound. There are two causes of the act of bonding, and they are the same as the two causes of the essence of that which, as such, can be bound: namely, knowledge of some kind and desire of some kind. If something has no desire at all, then it cannot be bound spiritually in any way at all. Furthermore, if something has no knowledge and desire, then it cannot bind anything either socially or through magic. I will not speak of the other types of bonds because I would not want to say anything unsuitable to those of limited vision, who are numerous.