Chapter 12

How different powers flow into different individuals, even within the same species.
Quomodo diversis individuis, etiam eiusdem speciei, diversae virtutes influuntur.
← Chapter 11ContentsChapter 13 →

Latin — 1533, repaired

Individuorum singularis etiam dotes plurimae infunt, tam mirabiles, quam in speciebus, propter figuram caelestium situque stellarum. Omne enim individuum, quando incipit esse sub determinato horoscopo et constellatione caelesti, contrahit cum esse mirabilem quandam virtutem operandi et patiendi, rem mirabilem, etiam praeter eam quam habet a sua specie, cum per influxum caelestium, tum per obedientiam materiae generabilium ad animam mundi, quod quidem talis est, qualis est obedientia nostri corporis ad nostras animas. Nos enim sentimus in nobis id quod ad quamcunque formam concipimus, moveri corpus nostrum delectabiliter, vel horrende, vel fugiendo: sic frequenter animae caelestes, quando diversa concipiunt, tunc materia movetur per obedientiam ad illud: sic in natura multa apparent prodigia ex imaginatione superiorum motuum: sic etiam virtutes diversas, non modo res naturales, sed etiam quandoque res artificiales concipiunt, et hoc maxime, si anima operantis in idem nititur. Unde inquit Avicenna, quaecunque hic fiunt, oportet praeexistere in moribus et conceptionibus stellarum, et orbium.

Sic fiunt in rebus variis effectus, inclinationes et mores, non tantummodo a materia varie disposita, ut plerique opinantur, sed ab influxu vario et forma diversa: non quidem diversitate specifica, sed particulari et propria. Et horum gradus varie distribuuntur ab ipsa omnium prima causa deo, qui idem manens distribuit singulis ut vult, cui tamen cooperantur secundae causae, angelicae et caelestes, corpoream materiam, et alia illis commissa disponentes. Infunduntur itaque virtutes omnes a deo per mundi animam, particulari tamen virtute imaginum et intelligentiarum praesidentium, et concursu radiorum ac aspectuum stellarum peculiari quodam et harmonico concentu.

Close translation

Very many gifts are also present in single individuals, as marvellous as those found in species, on account of the figure of the heavens and the position of the stars. For every individual, when it begins to exist under a determinate horoscope and celestial constellation, contracts along with its existence a certain marvellous power of acting and of being acted upon — a marvellous thing, even beyond that which it has from its species — both through the influx of the celestial bodies, and through the obedience of generable matter to the soul of the world; which obedience is indeed of such a kind as is the obedience of our body to our souls. For we ourselves feel within us that, whatever form we conceive of, our body is moved by it, either with delight, or with horror, or by fleeing: so too, frequently, when the celestial souls conceive of different things, matter is then moved, through obedience, toward that same thing: thus in nature many prodigies appear from the imagining of the higher motions; thus too, not only natural things but sometimes even artificial things conceive diverse powers, and this especially if the soul of the one working strives toward the same thing. Whence Avicenna says that whatever things come to be here must pre-exist in the dispositions and conceptions of the stars and the orbs.

Thus there arise in things various effects, inclinations, and characters, not merely from matter variously disposed, as most suppose, but from a varied influx and diverse form — not, indeed, a specific diversity, but a particular and proper one. And the degrees of these are variously distributed by the very first cause of all things, God, who, remaining the same, distributes to each as he wills; with whom, nevertheless, the second causes cooperate, the angelic and celestial ones, disposing the corporeal matter and other things committed to them. All powers, then, are infused by God through the soul of the world, yet by the particular power of the images and intelligences presiding over them, and by the confluence of the rays and aspects of the stars in a certain peculiar and harmonious concert.

Modern rendering

Individual things also carry a great many gifts as remarkable as those found across whole species, because of the arrangement of the heavens and the position of the stars at the time. Every individual thing, the moment it comes into being under a specific horoscope and set of celestial positions, picks up along with its existence a remarkable power to act and to be acted upon — something beyond what it gets simply from belonging to its species. This happens both through the direct influence of the heavens and through the way matter capable of coming-into-being obeys the soul of the world — an obedience just like the obedience our body shows toward our soul. We feel, within ourselves, that whatever we picture in our mind moves our body — with pleasure, or horror, or by making us flee. In the same way, when the celestial souls picture different things, matter moves in obedience to that. This is why so many strange occurrences show up in nature, coming from the imaginings of the higher heavenly motions; and it's why not just natural things but sometimes even human-made things pick up different powers this way — especially when the mind of the person making them is striving toward the same end. That's why Avicenna says that whatever happens here must already exist beforehand in the dispositions and configurations of the stars and heavenly spheres.

This is how different effects, tendencies, and characters arise in things — not just, as most people think, because their matter happens to be arranged differently, but because of a varied influence and a distinct form working on them — not a difference between species, but one particular to the individual. God, the first cause of everything, distributes these differences as he wills, remaining unchanged himself, though the secondary causes — the angelic and celestial ones — cooperate with him, arranging bodily matter and whatever else is entrusted to them. So every power is poured out by God through the soul of the world, but by way of the particular power of the images and presiding intelligences, and through the convergence of the rays and aspects of the stars, in a distinctive and harmonious concord.

← Chapter 11ContentsChapter 13 →