Latin — 1533, repaired
[†...] cunt Academici simul cum Trismegisto, et Iarchas Brachmanus, atque Hebraeorum Cabalistae fatentur, omnia quae sunt sub lunari globo in hoc inferiori mundo generationi et corruptioni subiecta esse. Eadem etiam esse in caelesti mundo, sed modo quodam caelesti; deinde etiam in mundo intellectuali, sed multo perfectiori, siue notiora perfectiora rande in archetypo. Atque hac serie unumquodque inferum suo superiori, et per hoc supremo, pro suo genere respondere, et ab eisdem suscipere: e caelis quidem vim illam caelestem, quam quintam essentiam, sive spiritum mundi, sive mediam naturam vocant; ab intellectuali autem mundo spiritualem lumenque vigorem, omnem qualitativam virtutem transcendentem; ab archetypo denique per haec intermedia pro gradu suo originalem vim totius perfectionis. Hinc ab istis inferioribus ad sidera, ab illis ad earundem intelligentias, et inde ad archetypum unaquaeque res apte reduci potest: ex quarum serie tota magia, et omnis occultior philosophia emanat. Trahitur enim quotidie aliquid naturale per artem, trahitur quotidie divinum aliquod per naturam, quod intuentes Aegyptii, naturam magam vocavere, hoc est, vim ipsam magicam, in attractu similium per similia, et convenientium per convenientia. Attractus autem huiusmodi, per rerum mutuam convenientiam ad se invicem superiorum cum inferioribus, Graeci συμπάθειαν vocaverunt: sic convenit cum terra aqua frigiditate, aqua cum aere humore, aer cum igne calore, ignis convenit cum caelo in materia: nec miscetur ignis cum aqua, nisi per aerem, nec aer cum terra, nisi per aquam. Sic nec miscetur anima corpori, nisi per spiritum; nec intellectus spiritui, nisi per animam. Sic videmus, cum natura fetus corpus humanum figuraverit, hoc ipso praeparamento spiritum statim ab universo deducit: spiritus hic fomes est in spiritu corporeque ad intelligentiam mentemque divinitus consequendam: sicuti in ligno siccitas parata est ad penetraturum oleum: oleum huic imbibitum esca est ad ignem: ignis ipse luminis est vehiculum. His exemplis videmus quomodo certis quibusdam praeparamentis naturalibus et artificialibus, caelestia quaedam dona desuper suscipere possumus. Conveniunt enim lapides et metalla cum herbis, et hae cum animalibus, haec vero cum caelis, et hi cum intelligentiis, et istae cum divinis proprietatibus et attributis, atque cum ipso deo, ad cuius similitudinem et imaginem omnia creata sunt. Prima autem dei imago, mundus; mundi homo; hominis animal; animalis zoophytum; illius vero planta; plantae autem metalla, et horum lapides similitudines imaginesque repraesentant. Rursus in spiritualibus convenit planta cum bruto vegetatione, brutum cum homine sensu, hic cum daemone intellectu, illi cum deo immortalitate. Iunguntur clarius menti, mens intellectui; hic intentioni, haec imagini; illa sensationi, ea sensibus, ipsi tandem rebus. Ea enim est naturae colligantia et continuitas, ut omnis virtus superior per singula inferiora longa et continua serie radios suos dispertiendo usque ad ultima fluat: et inferiora per singula sua superiora ad suprema perveniant. Sic enim inferiora ad superiora invicem conexa sunt, ut influxus ab eorum capite, prima causa, tanquam chorda quaedam tensa, usque ad infima procedat: cuius si unum extremum tangatur, tota subito tremat, et tactus eiusmodi usque ad alterum extremum resonet, ac moto uno inferiori, moveatur et superius, cui illud correspondet, sicut nervi in cythara bene cordata.
Close translation
[†...] the Academics, together with Trismegistus, and Iarchas the Brahman, and the Cabalists of the Hebrews confess it: that all things which are under the lunar globe, in this lower world, are subject to generation and corruption. The same things also exist in the celestial world, but in a certain celestial mode; and then again in the intellectual world, but far more perfectly; and yet more perfectly known in the Archetype. And by this series each lower thing corresponds to its own higher, and through that to the supreme, according to its own kind, and receives from them: from the heavens, that celestial power which they call the quintessence, or the spirit of the world, or the middle nature; from the intellectual world, a spiritual power and light-force, transcending every qualitative power; from the Archetype finally, through these intermediaries, according to its own degree, the originating power of total perfection. Hence from these lower things one can be fittingly led up to the stars, from the stars to their intelligences, and from there to the Archetype: and from this series the whole of magic, and all the more hidden philosophy, flows out. For daily something natural is drawn by art, daily something divine is drawn through nature — which the Egyptians, observing this, called nature magical, that is, the magical power itself, in the attraction of like things by like, and of agreeing things by what agrees with them. This kind of attraction, through the mutual agreement of things, of the higher with the lower, the Greeks called sympatheia: thus water agrees with earth in coldness, air with water in moisture, fire with air in heat, fire agrees with the heavens in matter; nor is fire mixed with water except through air, nor air with earth except through water. So too the soul is not mixed with the body except through the spirit, nor the intellect with the spirit except through the soul. Thus we see that, when nature has shaped the fetal human body, by this very preparation it at once draws down a spirit from the universe: this spirit is the tinder in the spirit and body for attaining, divinely, to understanding and mind — just as in wood a dryness is made ready for oil to penetrate; oil, once soaked into it, is food for fire; fire itself is the vehicle of light. By these examples we see how, by certain natural and artificial preparations, we can receive certain celestial gifts from above. For stones and metals agree with herbs, and these with animals, these in turn with the heavens, and the heavens with intelligences, and these with divine properties and attributes, and with God himself, to whose likeness and image all things are created. Now the first image of God is the world; of the world, man; of man, the animal; of the animal, the zoophyte; of that, the plant; of the plant, metals; and of these, stones represent likenesses and images. Again, in spiritual things, the plant agrees with the brute in vegetative life, the brute with man in sense, man with the daemon in intellect, and these with God in immortality. They are joined more clearly: mind to intellect, intellect to intention, this to image, that to sensation, sensation to the senses, and the senses finally to things themselves. For such is the binding-together and continuity of nature, that every higher power, through each single lower thing, in a long and continuous series, distributes its rays flowing down to the very last things: and the lower things, through each of their higher things, arrive at the highest. For the lower things are so connected to the higher, in turn, that the influence proceeds from their head, the first cause, like a certain stretched cord, down to the lowest things: and if one end of it is touched, the whole trembles at once, and such a touch resounds all the way to the other end, and when the lower one is moved, the higher moves too, corresponding to it — just as the strings on a well-tuned lyre.
Modern rendering
[†...] the Academics agree with Trismegistus, with Iarchas the Brahman, and with the Hebrew Kabbalists on this: everything under the lunar sphere, in this lower world, is subject to generation and decay. The same things exist in the celestial world too, but in a celestial way; and again in the intellectual world, but far more perfectly there; and more perfectly still, known in the Archetype. By this chain, each lower thing corresponds to what is above it, and through that to the highest, each according to its kind, and draws from them: from the heavens, the celestial power called the quintessence, or the spirit of the world, or the middle nature; from the intellectual world, a spiritual force and light that goes beyond every ordinary quality; from the Archetype, finally, through these intermediaries, the originating power behind all perfection, in proportion to its own rank. So a person can be led properly from these lower things up to the stars, from the stars to their governing intelligences, and from there to the Archetype — and it is out of this chain that all of magic, and all the deeper philosophy, flows. Every day something natural is drawn by art; every day something divine is drawn through nature. Seeing this, the Egyptians called nature itself "magical" — meaning the magical power at work in like things drawing like things, and things that agree drawing what agrees with them. This kind of pull, arising from the mutual fit between higher and lower things, the Greeks called sympatheia: water agrees with earth in coldness, air with water in moisture, fire with air in heat, and fire agrees with the heavens in its matter. Fire does not mix with water except through air, nor air with earth except through water. In the same way, the soul does not mix with the body except through the spirit, nor the intellect with the spirit except through the soul. We see this when nature shapes a human body in the womb: in that very act of preparation it immediately draws down a spirit from the universe. That spirit is the kindling, in both spirit and body, for reaching understanding and mind by divine means — the way dryness in wood readies it for oil to soak in, the oil once soaked in becomes fuel for fire, and fire itself is the carrier of light. These examples show how, through certain natural and artificial preparations, we can receive certain celestial gifts from above. Stones and metals correspond to plants, plants to animals, animals to the heavens, the heavens to intelligences, and these to divine properties and attributes, and to God himself, in whose likeness and image everything is made. God's first image is the world; the world's image is man; man's is the animal; the animal's is the zoophyte; the zoophyte's is the plant; the plant's is metal; and metal's likeness is represented in stones. On the spiritual side, in the same way, plants correspond to animals through vegetative life, animals to humans through sense-perception, humans to daemons through intellect, and daemons to God through immortality. The chain runs on: mind to intellect, intellect to intention, intention to image, image to sensation, sensation to the senses, and the senses finally to the things themselves. This is how bound-together and continuous nature is: every higher power, running down through each lower thing in one long unbroken chain, spreads its rays all the way to the very bottom, and the lower things, moving back up through their own higher things, reach all the way to the top. The lower things are linked to the higher ones so closely that the influence running from their source, the first cause, moves down to the lowest things like a stretched cord — touch one end, and the whole thing trembles at once, and the vibration carries all the way to the other end; move the lower part, and the higher part moves with it, corresponding to it exactly, the way strings do on a well-tuned lyre.
Editorial flags — draft status
- lacuna: Opening fragment 'PMMiigU l ! ietum est de virtutibus...' — dropcap word lost and following text OCR-corrupted beyond safe reconstruction; marked [†...] at chapter start in latin/close/modern.
- uncertain: Clause 'sed multo perfectiori, siue notiora perfectiora rande in archetypo' — restoration of 'rande' uncertain; general sense (things known ever more perfectly the higher one ascends, most perfectly in the Archetype) is clear from parallel construction but exact wording is not fully recoverable.