Book II, chapters 59–60: The seven governors of the world; imprecations

CHAP. LIX. Of the seven governers of the world, the Planets, and of their various names serving to Magicall speeches.

MOreover they did call those seven governors of the world (as Hermes cals them) Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury, and the Moon, by many names, and epithites; viz. calling Saturn Coelius, sithe-bearer, the father of the Gods, the Lord of the time, the high Lord, the great, the wise, the intelligent, ingenious revolutor, of a long space, an old man of great profundity, the author of secret contemplation, impressing, or depressing great thoughts in the hearts of men, destroying and preserving all things, overturning force and power, and constituting, a keeper of secret things, and a shewer of them, causing the loss, and finding of the author of life and death. So Jupiter is called as it were a helping Father, the King of heaven, Magnanimous, thundering lightning, unconquered, high and mighty, great and mighty good, fortunate, sweet, mild, of good will, honest, pure walking well, and in honor, the Lord of joy, and of judgements, wise, true, the shewer of truth, the judge of all things excelling all in goodness, the Lord of riches, and wisdome Mars is called Mavors, powerfull in war, bloody, powerful in arms, a sword bearer, magnanimous, bold, untamed, generous, lightning, of great power and furious hast, against who none can defend himself if he resist him, who destroyes th[…] strong, and powerfull, and deposeth Kings from their throne the Lord of heat and power, the Lord of fiery heat, and the planet of blood; who inflames the hearts of contende[…] and gives them boldness. The Sun is called Phaebus, Diespit Apollo, Titan, Pean Phanes, Horus, Osiris, as it is in that Ora[…]

The Sun, Osyris, Dionysius gay,
Apollo, Horus, King ruling the day
Who changeth times, who giveth winds and rain,
The King of Stars, and the immortall flame.

He is called also Arcitenens, burning fiery, golden flaming radiating, of a fiery hair, of a golden hair, the eye of the world, Lucifer, seeing all things, ruling all things, the creator of light, the King of Stars, the great Lord, good, fortunate, honest, pure, prudent, intelligent, wise, shining over the whole world, governing, and vivifying all bodies that have a soul, the prince of the world keeping all the Stars under himself, the light of all the Stars, darkening, burning overcoming their vertue by his approach, yet by his light and splendor giving light and splendor to all things: in the night he is called Dionysius, but in the day Apollo, as if driving away evill things. Therefore the Athenians called him Alexicacon, and Homer Vlion. i. e. the driver away of evil things. He is also called Phaehus from his beauty and brightness, and Vulcan from his fiery violence, because the force thereof consists of many fires. He is also called the Sun, because he contains the light of all the Stars: hence he is called by the Assyrians [non-Latin script] Adad, which signifies only, and by the Hebrews [Hebrew] Schemesch, which signifies proper. Venus is called the Lady, nourishing, beautifull, white, fair, pleasing, powerfull, the fruitfull Lady of love and beauty, the progeny of Ages, the first parent of men, who in the beginning of all things joyned diversity of sexes together with a growing love, and with an eternall off spring propagates kinds of men and Animals, the queen of all delights, the Lady of rejoycing, friendly, sociable, pittifull, taking all things in good part, alwaies bountifull to mortals, affording the tender affection of a mother to the conditions of them in misery, the safegard of mankind, letting no moment of time pass without doing good, overcoming all things by her power, humbling the light to the low, the strong to the weak, the noble to the vile rectifying, and equalling all things: and she is called Aphrodite, because in every sexe, she is found to be of every mind: and she is called Lucifera, i. e. bringing light, bringing the yeers of the Sun to light; and she is called Hesperus, when she follows the Sun, and Phosperus, because she leads through all things though never so hard. Mercury is called the son of Jupiter, the cryer of the gods, the interpreter of gods, Stilbon, the Serpentbearer, the rod-bearer, winged on his feet, eloquent, bringer of gain, wise, rationall robust, stout, powerfull in good and evil, the notary of the Sun, the messenger of Jupiter, the messenger betwixt the supernall and infernall gods, male with males, female with females, most fruitfull in both sexes; And Lucan cals him the Arbitrator of the gods. He is also called Hermes i. e. interpreter, bringing to light all obscurity, and opening those things which are most secret. The Moon is called Phebe, Diana, Lucina, Proserpina, Hecate, Menstruous, of a half form, giving light in the night, wandring silent, having two horns, a preserver, a night-walker, horn-bearer, the queen of heaven, the chiefest of the Dieties, the first of the heavenly gods and goddesses, the queen of spirits, the mistris of all the Elements, whom the stars answer, seasons return, Elements serve; at whose nod lightnings breath forth, seeds bud, plants increase, the initiall parent of fruit, the sister of Phaebus, light, and shining, carrying light from one planet to another, enlightning all powers by its light, restraining the various passings of the Stars, dispensing various lights by the circuits of the Sun, the Lady of great beauty, the mistris of rain and waters, the giver of riches, the nurse of mankind, the governor of all States kind, mercifull, protecting men by Sea and land, mitigating all tempests of fortune, dispensing with fate, nourishing all things growing on the earth, wandering into divers woods, restraing the rage of Goblins, shutting the openings of the earth dispensing the light of the Heaven, the wholsome rivers of the Sea, and the deplored silence of the infernals, by its nodsruling the world, treading hell under her feet; of whose majesty the birds hasting in the Aire are affraid, the wild beasts stragling in the mountains, Serpents lying hid in the ground fishe swiming in the Sea; But of these and the like names of Sta[…] and planets, and their Epithites, Sirnames, and callings upon, […] he that will know more, and make more curious enquiry, must betake himself to the hymnes of Orpheus, which he that truely understands, hath attained to a great understanding of naturall Magick.

CHAP. LX. That humane imprecations do naturally impress their powers upon externall things; And how mans mind through each degree of dependencies ascends into the intelligible world, and becomes like to the more sublime spirits, and Intelligencies.

THe Celestiall souls send forth their vertues to the Celestial bodies, which then transmit them to this sensible world. For the vertues of the terrene orb proceed from no other cause then Celestiall. Hence the Magician that will worke by them, useth a cunning invocation of the superiors, with mysterious words, and a certain kind of ingenious speech, drawing the one to the other, yet by a naturall force through a certain mutuall agreement betwixt them, whereby things follow of their own accord, or sometimes are drawn unwillingly. Hence saith Aristotle in the sixth book of his Mysticall Philosophy, that when any one by binding or bewitching doth call upon the Sun or other stars, praying them to be helpfull to the work desired, the Sun and other Stars do not heare his words, but are moved after a certain manner by a certain conjunction, and mutuall series, whereby the parts of the world are mutually subordinate the one to the other, and have a mutuall consent, by reason of their great union: As in mans body one member is moved by perceiving the motion of another, and in a harp one string is moved at the motion of another. So when any one moves any part of the world; other parts are moved by the perceiving the motion of that. The knowledge therefore of the dependency of things following one the other, is the foundation of all wonderfull operation, which is necessarily required to the exercising the power of attracting superior vertues. Now the words of men are certain naturall things; and because the parts of the world mutually draw one the other, therefore a Magician invocating by words, works by powers fitted to nature, by leading some by the love of one to the other, or drawing others by reason of the following of one after the other, or by repelling by reason of the enmity of one to the other, from the contrariety and difference of things, and multitude of vertues; which although they are contrary, and different, yet perfect one part; sometimes also he compels things by way of authority, by the Celestiall vertue, because he is not a stranger to the heaven. A man therefore, if he receives the impression of any ligation, or fascination, doth no: receive it according to the rationall soul, but sensuall, and if he suffers in any part, suffers according to the Animall part. For they cannot draw a knowing and intelligent man by reason, but by receiving that impression and force by sense, in as much as the Animal spirit of man is by the influence of the Celestials, and cooperation of the things of the world, affected beyond his former and naturall disposition. As the son moves the father to labor, although unwilling, for to keep and maintain him, although he be wearied; and the desire to rule is moved to anger and other labors, for to get the dominion. And the indigency of nature, and fear of poverty, moves a man to desire riches. And the ornaments, and beauty of women is an incitement to concupiscence. And the harmony of a wise Musitian moves his hearers with various passions, whereof some do voluntary follow the consonancy of art, others conform themselves by gesture, although unwillingly, because their sense is captivated their reason not being intent to these things. But these kinds of fascinations & ligations the vulgar doth neither admire, nor detest, by reason of their usualness: but they admire other naturall things, because they are ignorant of them, and are not accustomed to them. Hence they fall into errors, thinking those things to be above nature, or contrary to nature, which indeed are by nature, and according to nature. We must know therefore that every superior moves its next inferior, in its degree, and order, not only in bodies, but also in spirits. So the universall soul moves the aprticular soul; and the rational acts upon the sensual, and that upon the vegetable; and every part of the world acts upon another, and every part is apt to be moved by another; and every part of this inferior world suffers from the heavens according to their nature, and aptitude, as one part of the Animall body suffers from another. And the superior intellectuall world moves all things below it self, and after a manner contains all the same beings from the first to the last, which are in the inferior world. Celestiall bodyes therefore move the body of the elementary world, compounded, generable, sensible, from the circumference to the center, by superior, perpetual, and spirituall essences, depending on the primary intellect, which is the acting intellect; but upon the vertue put in by the word of God, which word the wise Chaldeans of Babylon call the cause of causes, because from it are produced all beings, the acting intellect which is the second from it depends; and that by reason of the union of this word with the first author, from whom all things being are truely produced; The word therefore is the image of God, the acting intellect the image of the word, the soul is the image of this intellect; and our word is the image of the soul, by which it acts upon naturall things naturally, because nature is the work thereof. And every one of those perfects his subsequent, as a father his son, and none of the latter exists without the former. For they are depending amongst themselves, by a kind of ordinate dependency, so that when the latter is corrupted, it is returned into that which was next before it, untill it come to the heavens, then unto the universall soul, and lastly unto the acting intellect, by which all other creatures exist, and which it self exists in the principall author, which is the creating word of God, to which at length all things are returned. Our soul therefore, if it will work any wonderfull thing in these inferiors, must have respect to their beginning, that it may be strengthned, and illustrated by that, and receive power of acting through each degree from the very first author. Therefore we must be more diligent in contemplating the souls of the Stars then their bodies, and the supercelestiall, and intellectuall world, then the Celestial corporeall, because that is more noble, although also this be excellent, and the way to that; and without which medium the influence of the superiour cannot be attained to. As for example, the Sun is the King of Stars, most full of light, but receives it from the intelligible world above all other Stars, because the soul thereof is more capable of intelligible splendor. Wherefore he that desires to attract the influence of the Sun, must contemplate upon the Sun, not only by the speculation of the exterior light, but also of the interior. And this no man can do unless he return to the soul of the Sun, and become like to it, and comprehend the intelligible light thereof with an intellectuall sight, as the sensible light with a corporeal eye. For this man shalbe filled with the light thereof; and the light thereof which is an under type impressed by the supernal Orb it receives into it self, with the illustration whereof his intellect being endowed & truely like to it, & being assisted by it shall at length attain to that supreme brightness, and to all forms that partake thereof. And when he hath received the light of the supreme degree, then his soul shall come to perfection, and be made like to the spirits of the Sun, and shall attain to the vertues, and illustrations of the supernaturall vertue, and shall enjoy the power of them, if he hath obtained faith in the first author. In the first place therefore we must implore assistance from the first author, and praying not only with mouth but a Religious gesture and supplicant soul, also abundantly, uncessantly, and sincerely, that he would enlighten our mind, and remove darkness growing upon our souls by reason of our bodies.