Latin — 1533, repaired
Passiones animi a caelo plurimum adiuvantur et adiuvant, potentissimaeque evadunt, quatenus cum caelo consentiunt vel naturali quodam pacto, vel voluntaria electione seu libero arbitrio. Nam, ut inquit Ptolemaeus, qui elegit id quod melius est, nihil differre videtur ab eo, qui habet hoc ex natura. Conducit ergo maxime in quovis opere ad beneficia caeli suscipienda, si cogitationibus, affectibus, imaginationibus, electionibus, deliberationibus, contemplationibus et similibus, nos quoque caelo consonos praestiterimus. Passiones enim eiusmodi spiritum nostrum ad similitudinem suam vehementer agitant, ac subito nos nostraque superis exponunt eiusmodi passionum significatibus: tum etiam ob dignitatem et propinquitatem suam cum superioribus, multo magis atque amplius caelestia capiunt, quam res quaevis materiales. Potest enim animus noster per imaginationem vel rationem quandam imitatione, ita alicui stellae conformari, ut subito eiusdem stellae muneribus impleatur, tanquam sui influxus proprium receptaculum.
Mens vero contemplatrix, quatenus se ab omni sensu, imaginatione, natura, deliberatione revocat, et ad separata se revocat, nisi quatenus Saturno se exponit, praesentis indagationis non existit. Multa enim mens nostra per fidem operatur, quae est firma adhaesio, fixa intentio, et vehemens applicatio operantis aut suscipientis, in quacunque re, ad ipsum cooperantem et dantem vim ad opus, quod facere intendimus, adeo, ut fiat quodammodo in nobis idolum virtutis suscipiendae, et rei in nobis vel a nobis faciendae. Debemus igitur in quovis opere et re, applicatione vehementer affectare, imaginari, sperare firmissime, ac credere: id enim plurimum erit adiumento. Et verificatum est apud medicos, firma credulitate, spe indubia, et amore erga medicum et medicinam, ad sanitatem plurimum conferre, etiam aliquando vel plus quam medicinam. Nam cum hoc quod operatur medicinae virtus et efficax vis, operatur etiam medici fortis animus, potens immutare qualitates in corpore aegroti, maxime quando ille medico adhibet fidem, eo ipso sese disponit ad medentis et medicinae virtutem suscipiendam.
Ideoque oportet in magia operantem esse constanti credulitate, confidentem, ac de consecutione effectus nullatenus dubitare, nec animo haesitare. Nam sicut firma et pertinax credulitas mirabilia operatur, etiam nonnunquam in operibus falsis, sic diffidentia atque haesitatio virtutem animi operantis, quae inter utrunque extremum medium est, dissipat atque frangit: unde contingit optatum a superioribus influxum frustrari atque deperdi, qui sine animi nostri stabili ac solida virtute rebus et operibus nostris coniungi atque uniri minime potest.
Close translation
The passions of the mind are very greatly aided by the heavens, and they in turn aid, and come out most powerful, insofar as they agree with the heavens either by a certain natural pact, or by voluntary choice or free judgment. For, as Ptolemy says, one who chooses what is better seems to differ not at all from one who has this from nature. It is therefore most conducive, in any work, to receiving the benefits of the heavens, if in our thoughts, feelings, imaginations, choices, deliberations, contemplations, and the like, we too render ourselves consonant with the heavens. For passions of this sort powerfully move our spirit toward likeness with themselves, and at once expose us and our affairs to the heavens under the significations of such passions: moreover, on account of their dignity and their nearness to the higher things, they receive celestial influences much more and more fully than any material things whatever. For our mind can, through imagination or a kind of reasoned imitation, be so conformed to some star that it is at once filled with the gifts of that same star, as if it were the proper receptacle of its influence.
But the contemplative mind, insofar as it withdraws itself from all sense, imagination, nature, and deliberation, and recalls itself to things separate, does not exist within the scope of the present inquiry, except insofar as it exposes itself to Saturn. For much of what our mind does, it does through faith, which is a firm adherence, a fixed intention, and the vehement application of the one working or the one receiving, in whatever matter, toward that very thing that cooperates with and gives force to the work we intend to do — so much so that there arises, in a certain manner, within us an idol of the power to be received, and of the thing to be made in us or by us. We ought, therefore, in whatever work and matter, by application, vehemently to be affected, to imagine, to hope most firmly, and to believe: for this will be of the greatest help. And it has been confirmed among physicians that firm credulity, undoubting hope, and love toward the physician and the medicine, contribute very greatly toward health, sometimes even more than the medicine itself. For alongside that which the power and effective force of the medicine accomplishes, the physician's own strong mind also accomplishes something, being able to alter the qualities in the sick person's body, most of all when the patient places his trust in the physician — by that very fact he disposes himself to receive the power of the healer and of the medicine.
And therefore it is fitting that one operating in magic be of constant belief, confident, and in no way doubt the attainment of the effect, nor waver in mind. For just as firm and persistent belief works marvels, even sometimes in works that are false, so diffidence and hesitation scatter and break the power of the operator's mind, which stands as the mean between the two extremes: whence it happens that the influence longed for from the higher powers is frustrated and lost, since it can by no means be joined and united to our affairs and works without the stable and solid power of our own mind.
Modern rendering
The mind's passions get a great deal of help from the heavens, and give a great deal of help in return, and come out at their strongest exactly to the degree that they're in tune with the heavens — whether by a kind of natural fit, or by deliberate choice, free will. As Ptolemy puts it, someone who chooses the better course seems no different from someone who simply has it by nature. So the single most useful thing you can do, in any undertaking, to pick up the benefits of the heavens, is to make your thoughts, feelings, imaginings, choices, deliberations, and reflections consonant with the heavens yourself. Passions of this kind powerfully shape our spirit into their own likeness, and immediately expose us and our affairs to the sky under whatever these passions signify; and because of their rank and their closeness to the higher powers, they pick up celestial influence far more fully than any material thing does. Our mind, in fact, can — through imagination, or through a kind of reasoned imitation — conform itself to a given star closely enough that it's at once filled with that star's gifts, as if it had become the natural receiving-vessel for its influence.
The contemplative mind, though — to the extent that it pulls itself back from all sense, imagination, nature, and deliberation, and returns to things wholly apart — falls outside what we're examining here, except insofar as it opens itself to Saturn. Much of what our mind achieves, it achieves through faith — meaning a firm attachment, a fixed intent, and an intense engagement, whether acting or receiving, in whatever matter is at hand, directed at the very thing that cooperates with us and lends force to the work we mean to do. This is strong enough that it effectively builds, inside us, a template of the power we're meant to receive, and of the thing to be done in us or by us. So in any undertaking, we should throw ourselves into it — feel it intensely, imagine it, hope for it with total conviction, and believe it — because that alone does most of the work. Physicians confirm this: firm confidence, unshaken hope, and warmth toward the doctor and the medicine contribute enormously to getting well — sometimes even more than the medicine does. Because alongside whatever the medicine's own active power accomplishes, the doctor's own strong conviction accomplishes something too, capable of shifting the qualities in the patient's body — especially when the patient trusts the doctor, since that trust alone primes him to take in the power of both healer and medicine.
Which is why anyone working magic needs to hold to it with steady conviction, stay confident, and never doubt that the effect will follow, and never waver in his mind. Firm, stubborn belief works wonders — sometimes even in workings that are actually false — while hesitation and self-doubt shatter and break the operator's mental force, which sits as the middle ground between the two extremes. And that's exactly how the influence you were hoping to draw down from above ends up wasted and lost — because it simply cannot be joined and bound to our work without a stable, solid strength of mind on our part.
Editorial flags — draft status
- uncertain: The sentence 'Mens vero contemplatrix... nisi quatenus Saturno se exponit, praesentis indagationis non existit' sits over moderate OCR damage; the Saturn clause in particular ('nifi quatenusSaturno fe cxponit') is a confident-but-not-certain reading — flagging for manual check against page image given the doctrinal weight of linking the contemplative mind specifically to Saturn.