Latin — 1533, repaired
Tradunt Magi per inferiora superioribus conformia, posse opportunis caeli influxibus caelestia dona trahi: atque sic quoque per haec caelestia, caelestes daemones, quatenus stellarum pedissequos, nobis conciliari et insinuari. Quare certis quibusdam materiis naturalem vim divinitatis habentibus — hoc est, quae naturaliter superis conformes sunt — rite collectis, partim physice, partim astronomice, undique opportune conflatis, dona non solum caelestia aut vitalia, verum etiam intellectualia, quaedam daemoniaca et divina, desuper suscipi posse, Iamblichus, Proclus, atque Synesius, cum tota Platonicorum schola, confirmant: et Mercurius Trismegistus scribit ex propriis certisque rebus, certo cuidam daemoni congruentibus, compositam rite statuam, confestim per daemonem congruum animari. Cuius etiam meminit Augustinus, De civitate dei, libro octavo. Ea enim est mundi concordia, ut etiam supercaelestia trahantur a caelestibus, et supernaturalia a naturalibus conspirent ac trahantur: quia una virtus opifex et specierum participatio per omnia diffunditur: quae quidem virtus opifex, sicut ex occultis rationibus manifesta producit, ita magus assumit manifesta, ut occulta attrahat: puta, per stellas et radios, per suffumigationes, per lumina, per sonos, per res naturales caelestibus congruas: quia adhuc ultra corporeas qualitates insunt etiam rationes, et sensus, et numeri, et mensurae, incorporeae atque divinae. Sic legimus antiquos certis rebus naturalibus saepe divinum aliquod et mirandum suscipere solitos: sic lapis qui nascitur in pupilla oculorum hyaenae, sub lingua retentus, divinationem praestare dicitur. Idem fertur selenites, lapis lunaris, efficere: sic anchitide dicunt evocari imagines deorum, synochitide umbras inferorum evocatas teneri: similia aglaophotis herba, quae et marmoritides vocatur, in marmoribus Arabiae nascens Persico latere, efficit, ut narrat Plinius, atque magos ea uti, cum uelint deos evocare: esseque herbam theangelidam nomine, qua pota magi divinent. Praeterea etiam esse herbas quasdam, quibus mortui revocentur ad vitam, unde Xanthus historicus narrat herba quadam nomine balis occisum draconis catulum, vitae restitutum a parente, eademque Tillonem quendam, quem draco occiderat, resuscitatum. Et Iubar refert in Arabia herba quadam hominem revocatum ad vitam. Verum an possint talia re vera fieri vi herbarum, vel cuiusuis alterius rei naturalis, in hominem, in sequentibus disseremus. Posse autem fieri in caeteris animantibus certum et manifestum est. Sic muscae submersae, si ponantur in cineribus tepidis, reviviscunt: et apes submersae similiter vitam recuperant in succo neperae; et anguillae defectu aquae mortuae, si corpore integro existente ponantur sub fimo macero, et addatur de sanguine vulturis, post paucos dies omnes recuperant vitam. Echeneis si quis in frusta discerpserit, et in mare proiecerit, paulo post partes convenire, et reviviscere aiunt. Scimus quoque pellicanum necatos pullos suos revocare ad vitam proprio sanguine.
Close translation
The Magi hand down that, through lower things conforming to higher ones, celestial gifts can be drawn by opportune influences of heaven: and thus also, through these celestial things, celestial daemons — insofar as they are followers of the stars — can be conciliated and insinuated to us. Wherefore, when certain matters possessing a natural power of divinity — that is, which are naturally conformable to the beings above — are duly collected, blended opportunely, partly physically and partly astronomically, from every side: Iamblichus, Proclus, and Synesius, together with the whole Platonic school, confirm that gifts not only celestial or vital, but even intellectual, certain daemonic and divine ones, can be received from above. And Mercurius Trismegistus writes that a statue, duly composed of its own proper and specific materials suited to a certain daemon, is at once animated by the congruent daemon. Augustine also mentions this, in *The City of God*, book eight. For such is the concord of the world, that even the super-celestial things are drawn by the celestial, and the supernatural things conspire with and are drawn by the natural: because one creative power and participation of forms is diffused through all things. And just as that creative power produces manifest things from hidden principles, so the magus takes up manifest things in order to draw down hidden ones — namely, through stars and rays, through fumigations, through lights, through sounds, through natural things conformable to the heavens: because beyond bodily qualities there still reside in things principles, and senses, and numbers, and measures, that are incorporeal and divine. Thus we read that the ancients were accustomed to receive, by certain natural things, something divine and wondrous: thus the stone that is born in the pupil of the eye of a hyena, held under the tongue, is said to grant divination. The same is reported of selenite, the moon-stone. Thus they say that by the anchitis-stone images of the gods are called up, and by the synochitis shades of the underworld are held once called up. Similar things are done by the herb aglaophotis, also called marmoritis, growing on the marble of Arabia on the Persian side, as Pliny relates, and that the Magi use it when they wish to call up gods; and that there is a herb called theangelis, by drinking which the Magi divine. Moreover there are also certain herbs by which the dead are called back to life: whence Xanthus the historian relates that, by a certain herb called balis, a slain dragon's cub was restored to life by its parent, and likewise a certain Tyllus, whom a dragon had killed, was revived. And Iubar reports that in Arabia a man was called back to life by a certain herb. But whether such things can truly be brought about, in a human being, by the power of herbs or of any other natural thing, we will discuss in what follows. That it can happen in other living creatures, however, is certain and manifest. Thus drowned flies, if placed in warm ashes, revive; and drowned bees likewise recover life in the juice of catmint; and eels dead from lack of water, if their body remains whole and they are placed under fine dung, with the blood of a vulture added, all recover life after a few days. If one tears the echeneis-fish into pieces and throws them into the sea, they say the parts come together shortly after, and it revives. We also know that the pelican calls its slain young back to life with its own blood.
Modern rendering
The Magi teach that lower things, when they match higher ones, let us draw down celestial gifts at the right astral moments — and through those same celestial things, draw in and win over celestial daemons, insofar as these daemons follow in the train of the stars. So when certain materials that carry a natural share of divinity — meaning, materials naturally suited to the beings above — are properly gathered and combined at the right time, partly by physical method and partly by astronomical timing, Iamblichus, Proclus, and Synesius, along with the whole Platonic school, all agree: gifts can be received from above that are not just celestial or life-giving, but intellectual too — certain daemonic and even divine gifts. Hermes Trismegistus writes that a statue built correctly from its own specific materials, matched to a particular daemon, is immediately brought to life by that matching daemon. Augustine mentions this too, in *The City of God*, book eight. This is because the world hangs together so well that even things above the heavens are drawn down by heavenly things, and supernatural things cooperate with and are drawn by natural ones — since one single creative power, one sharing-out of forms, runs through everything. And just as that creative power produces visible effects out of hidden causes, the magician works the other way: taking up the visible in order to draw out the hidden — through stars and their rays, through incense, through lights, through sounds, through natural objects that match the heavens. Because beyond their physical properties, things still carry within them patterns, meanings, numbers, and measures that are non-physical and divine. This is why we read that the ancients regularly picked up something divine and marvelous through specific natural objects: the stone found in a hyena's eye, held under the tongue, is said to grant the power of divination. The moon-stone, selenite, is said to do the same. They say the anchitis-stone calls up images of the gods, and the synochitis holds fast the ghosts it summons from the underworld. The herb aglaophotis, also called marmoritis, which grows on Arabian marble on its Persian side, does something similar, according to Pliny — and that the Magi use it when they want to summon gods; and that there is a herb called theangelis which, when drunk, lets the Magi see the future. There are also, it's said, certain herbs that can call the dead back to life: the historian Xanthus tells of a herb called balis, by which a slain baby dragon was restored to life by its parent, and by which a man named Tyllus, killed by a dragon, was likewise revived. And Iubar reports that in Arabia a man was brought back to life by a certain herb. Whether such things can really happen to a human being, through the power of herbs or any other natural substance, we will take up later. That it can happen with other living things, though, is certain and plain to see. Drowned flies, placed in warm ashes, come back to life; drowned bees recover in the same way in catmint juice; and eels killed by lack of water, if the body is left whole and buried under fine dung with vulture's blood added, all come back to life after a few days. They say that if you tear the remora-fish into pieces and throw them into the sea, the pieces come back together shortly after and the fish revives. We also know that the pelican revives its slaughtered chicks with its own blood.
Editorial flags — draft status
- uncertain: Proper names Xanthus, Iubar/Iuba, and Tyllus/Tillon in the herb-revival anecdotes are OCR-damaged; restored to plausible standard forms but should be checked against a printed Latin edition.
- list: Sequence of stone/herb virtues (hyaena-stone, selenite, anchitis, synochitis, aglaophotis, theangelis, balis) — translated as legible but names should be re-verified against page images per spec rule 3.