Chapter 49

Close translation

Light too is a quality much formal, and a simple act of intelligence, and an image: diffused first from the divine mind into all things. But in God the Father himself, who is the father of lights, is the first true light: then in his Son, an illustrating and overflowing splendor: in the Holy Spirit, a burning brightness, surpassing even, as Dionysius says, the understanding of the seraphim. So in the angels a shining intelligence is diffused, and a joy poured out beyond the bounds of all reason, though received in different degrees according to the nature of the receiving intelligence: it descends next into the heavenly bodies, where it becomes abundance of life, and effective propagation, and visible splendor too: in fire, a certain natural vigor implanted from the heavens: in men, finally, it becomes a lucid discourse of reason, and knowledge of divine things, and the whole rational faculty — but this too is manifold, either by disposition of the body, as the Peripatetics hold, or, more truly, at the pleasure of the giving cause, which apportions to each as it wills: from there it passes to the phantasy, above sense still, but only as something imaginable; and finally it reaches sense, chiefly that of the eyes. In the eye it becomes visible clarity, and is extended through transparent bodies in turn, in which it becomes color and a shining beauty: but in opaque bodies, a certain beneficial and generative power, and it penetrates even to the center, where its rays being gathered into a narrow space, a murky heat arises, tormenting and boiling over, so that all things, according to their capacity, feel the vigor of light — which, binding all things to itself with vivifying heat, and at the same time permeating all beings, conducts their qualities and powers through everything. For this reason the magi forbid that the shadow of any sick person be sprinkled, or that the urine of any sick person be given against the sun or moon: because the penetrating rays of light, carrying with them under the diseased body the noxious qualities, cast them back upon the one opposite, and afflict him ill with a quality of that kind. This is the reason why those who fascinate take care to cover the one fascinated with their own shadow: thus the hyena, by the touch of its shadow, makes dogs fall silent.

Certain lights are also made artificially by means of small lamps, lanterns, candles, and the like, out of certain substances and liquids chosen fittingly according to the rule of the stars, and composed according to their mutual agreement, which, when they are lit and shine alone, are wont to produce marvelous and celestial effects that men often wonder at — as Pliny relates from Anaxilaus, that the poison of mares from coition, kindled in lamps, makes the heads of horses appear monstrously; the same happens also from asses. And fly-glue tempered with wax and kindled makes flies appear: and a serpent's skin kindled in a lamp makes serpents appear. And they say that when grapevines are in flower, if one binds around them a vial full of oil and leaves it so until they are ripe, that oil afterward lit in a lamp makes grapes appear.

The same holds also for other fruits. And if centaury is mixed with honey and the blood of a hoopoe, and placed in a lamp, the bystanders will appear taller: and if it is lit at night in clear weather, one sees the stars seeming to run to and fro among themselves. The ink of the cuttlefish also has this power, that added to a lamp it makes Ethiopians visible. It is also said that a candle made from certain Saturnine substances, once lit, if extinguished in the mouth of a man recently dead, thereafter, as often as it alone shines, brings the greatest sadness and fear upon the bystanders. Many similar lamps and lanterns of this kind Hermes and Plato relate, and the Kyranides, and, among more recent writers, Albertus, in a certain treatise on this singular subject.

Colors too are a kind of light, which, mixed into things, are wont to expose them to the stars and celestial bodies to which they themselves correspond. And we shall say later which colors belong to the lights of the planets: according to which the natures of the fixed stars too may be discerned — which it will also be permitted to apply here to the flames of lamps and lanterns. But in this place we shall relate how the colors of lower and mixed things are distributed among the various planets. For all black, lucid, earthy, leaden, dusky colors belong to Saturn. But sapphire colors, sky-blue, perpetually green, bright, purple, the darker ones, and gold mixed with silver, belong to Jupiter.

Red colors, however — ardent, fiery, flame-colored, violet, purple, blood-red and iron-colored — belong to Mars. Golden colors, saffron and purple, the brighter ones, belong to the Sun. All white colors, however — beautiful, varied, green, ruddy, somewhat saffron or purple — belong to Venus. Mercury is signified by varied and mixed colors, and the Moon [†...]. Moreover, from the houses of heaven, the first and seventh have the color white; the second and twelfth, green; the third and eleventh, saffron; the fourth and tenth, red; the fifth and ninth, honey-colored; the sixth and eighth, black.

The elements too have their own colors, by which physicians judge of complexion and property of nature: for the earthy color, brought about from cold and dry, is dusky and black, and promises black bile and a Saturnine nature: sky-blue tending toward whiteness denotes phlegm — for cold whitens the moist, and dryness blackens: a reddish color indicates blood: but a fiery, or a glowing yellow color, indicates choler — which, because of its subtlety, easily mixes with all the rest, and thereafter causes various colors: for if it is mixed with blood, it grows strong with the ruddiness of the blood predominating: if choler predominates, it makes a reddish-yellow: if the mixture is equal, it makes a ruddy color: but if choler burnt is with blood, it renders a hemp color: red with blood predominating, or reddish, with choler prevailing. But if it is mixed with the melancholic humor, it tinges with blackness: but with melancholy and phlegm, in equal portion, it makes a hemp color: if phlegm superabounds, tawny yellow: if melancholy prevails, gray-green: but if it is mixed with phlegm alone, in equal portion, it makes citrine: if by excess of one or the other, pale or somewhat pale. All colors, moreover, are more potent when they are in silk or metal, or in transparent substances, or in precious stones, and in those things that more closely imitate a celestial likeness — but most of all in living things.

On fascination, and its working.

Modern rendering

Light is also very much a formal quality — a simple act of understanding, an image — poured out first from the divine mind into all things. In God the Father himself, the father of lights, is the first true light. In the Son, it becomes an illuminating, overflowing splendor. In the Holy Spirit, a burning brightness that surpasses, as Dionysius says, even the understanding of the seraphim. In the angels, it spreads out as a shining intelligence and a joy beyond the reach of reason, though each angel receives it according to its own capacity. From there it descends into the heavenly bodies, where it becomes abundance of life, effective propagation, and visible splendor. In fire, it becomes a natural vigor planted there from the heavens. In human beings, finally, it becomes the clear working of reason and the knowledge of divine things — the whole rational side of us. But even this varies: either, as the Peripatetics hold, by the disposition of the body, or — more truly — at the discretion of the cause that gives it, which apportions to each person as it pleases. From reason it passes into the imagination, still above the senses, purely something imaginable — and finally it reaches the senses themselves, above all the eyes. In the eye it becomes visible brightness, passing through transparent bodies one after another, in which it turns into color and a shining beauty; in opaque bodies, into a certain beneficial, generative power that penetrates to the very center, where its gathered rays produce a murky heat that torments and burns — so that all things, each according to its capacity, feel the force of light, which binds everything to itself with a life-giving warmth and, permeating all beings at once, carries their qualities and powers through everything.

That is why the magi forbid letting a sick person's shadow fall on someone, or giving a sick person's urine toward the sun or moon: the penetrating rays of light carry the noxious qualities that lie beneath the diseased body back onto whoever stands opposite, and infect him with that same quality. This is also why those who cast the evil eye make sure to cover their target with their own shadow — just as a hyena, merely by the touch of its shadow, can strike dogs mute.

Certain lights can also be made artificially, using small lamps, lanterns, candles, and the like, made from particular substances and liquids chosen to match the right star and combined according to their mutual affinity. When lit and left to burn alone, these are said to produce marvelous, celestial effects that people often find astonishing — as Pliny reports from Anaxilaus: the discharge of mares in heat, burned in lamps, makes the heads of horses appear as monstrous visions; the same is said of asses. Fly-glue mixed with wax and burned makes flies appear. A snake's skin burned in a lamp makes snakes appear. And they say that if, while grapevines are in flower, you tie a vial full of oil around them and leave it there until the grapes ripen, lighting that oil afterward in a lamp will make grapes appear.

The same is said to work with other fruits. If centaury is mixed with honey and hoopoe's blood and put in a lamp, the people standing around will look taller; and if it's lit outdoors on a clear night, the stars will seem to dart back and forth. Cuttlefish ink has the same power — added to a lamp, it makes Ethiopians visible. It's also said that a candle made from certain Saturn-associated materials, once lit and then snuffed out in the mouth of someone freshly dead, will afterward, every time it's lit again, bring great sadness and fear on everyone nearby. Hermes, Plato, and the Kyranides tell of many more such lamps and lanterns, and, among later writers, Albertus, in a treatise devoted to this particular subject.

Colors, too, are a form of light: mixed into things, they tend to expose those things to whichever stars and celestial bodies they correspond to. We'll say later which colors belong to which planetary lights, and how the natures of the fixed stars can likewise be read from them — something you can also apply to the flames of lamps and lanterns. But here we'll cover how the colors of lower, mixed things are assigned to the various planets. All black, bright, earthy, leaden, and dusky colors belong to Saturn. Sapphire, sky-blue, permanently green, bright, purple, the darker shades, and gold shot through with silver belong to Jupiter.

Red shades — burning, fiery, flame-colored, violet, purple, blood-red, and iron-colored — belong to Mars. Golden shades, saffron and purple, the brighter ones, belong to the Sun. All white shades — beautiful, varied, green, ruddy, tinged with saffron or purple — belong to Venus. Varied, mixed colors belong to Mercury, and [†...] to the Moon. And from the houses of the chart, the first and seventh carry white; the second and twelfth, green; the third and eleventh, saffron; the fourth and tenth, red; the fifth and ninth, honey; the sixth and eighth, black.

The elements have their own colors too, which physicians use to judge a person's complexion and nature: an earthy color, produced from cold and dry, is dusky and black, and points to black bile and a Saturnine nature. Sky-blue tending toward white signals phlegm — since cold whitens what is moist, and dryness blackens it. A reddish color indicates blood; a fiery or glowing yellow indicates choler. Because choler mixes so readily with everything else, it produces a whole range of colors: mixed with blood, if blood dominates, it glows ruddy; if choler dominates, it turns a reddish yellow; if the mix is even, it turns tawny red. If the choler is burnt and mixed with blood, it turns hemp-colored; red with blood dominant, or reddish with choler prevailing. Mixed with melancholic humor, it tints toward black; with melancholy and phlegm in equal parts, it makes a hemp color; too much phlegm gives yellow-brown; too much melancholy gives a gray-green; phlegm alone in equal measure gives citrine; an excess of either gives pale or faintly pale. All colors, though, are more potent in silk or metal, in transparent substances, or in precious stones — and especially in whatever comes closest to a celestial likeness, and most of all in living things.

On fascination, and how it works.