MAGNETISM AND MAGIC. 351
Just so Johann Baptist Van Helmont, who takes great pains to explain away as much as possible of the Devil's influence, in order to attribute it to the will. I quote a few passages from the voluminous collection of his works, Ortus Medicinae [The Origin of Medicine], ("Tractatus de Morbis" [Treatise of Diseases]):
Recepta injecta [Things received that are injected] § 12. Quum hostis naturae (diabolus) ipsam applicationem complere ex se nequeat, suscitat ideam fortis desiderii et odii in saga, ut mutuatis istis mentalibus et liberis mediis transferat suum velle per quod, quodque afficere intendit. 1 Quorsum imprimis etiam execrationes cum idea desiderii et terroris odiosissimis suis scrofis praescribit. [As the enemy of nature (the devil) is unable by himself to effect the application itself, he awakens in the sorceress the notion of a strong desire and hatred so that, by borrowing those mental and arbitrary media, he may transfer his will. Through this he strives to influence everything, and for this purpose he prescribes curses with the idea of provoking desire and terror in these, his extremely repulsive sows.]
§ 13. Quippe desiderium istud, ut est passio imaginantis, ita quoque creat ideam non quidem inanem, sed executivam atque incantamenti motivam. [For just as that desire is a passion in the imagination, so does it also create a notion that is not merely empty, but acts and causes enchantment.]
§ 19. prout iam demonstravi, quod vis incantamenti potissima pendeat ab idea naturali sagae. [As I have already shown, the main power of enchantment depends on the natural notion of the sorceress,]
De injectis materialibus [Of material things injected]
§ 15. Saga per ens naturale imaginative format ideam liberam, naturalem et nocuam. [By virtue of her natural being, the sorceress forms in the imagination an arbitrary, natural, and harmful notion] … Sagae operantur virtute naturali. [Sorceresses work through their natural power] … … Homo etiam dimittit medium aliud executivum, emanativum et mandativum ad incantandum hominem; quod medium est Idea fortis desiderii. Est nempe desiderio inseparabile ferri circa optata. [Human beings release from themselves a strange, emissive, imperious medium that has the effect of bewitching a person. This medium is the notion of a strong desire. Thus it is inseparable from a longing to move toward the thing desired.]
De sympatheticis mediis [Of sympathetic media] § 2. Ideae scilicet desiderii per modum influentiarum caelestium, iaciuntur in proprium objectum, utcunque localiter remotum. Diriguntur nempe a desiderio objectum sibi specificante. [Thus the notions of desire are cast on the path of celestial influences into their object, however far off it may be situated; for they are guided by the desire that sets itself a special object.]
De magnetica vulnerum curatione [Of the magnetic curing of wounds]
§ 76. Igitur in sanguine est quaedam potestas exstatica, quae, si quando ardenti desiderio excitata fuerit, etiam ad absens aliquod obiectum exterioris hominis spiritu deducenda sit: ea autem potestas in exteriori homine latet velut in potentia nec ducitur ad actum, nisi excitetur accensa imaginatione ferventi desiderio vel arte aliqua pari. [Therefore there is to be found in the blood a certain ecstatic power. Whence once this has been excited by a burning desire, it is carried across even to an absent object through the spirit of the outer person. This power is latent and exists, so to speak, potentially. It does not become active unless it is excited through the kindling of the imagination by a burning desire or similar means.]
§ 98. Anima, prorsum spiritus nequaquam posset spiritum vitalem (corporeum equidem) multo minus carnem et ossa movere aut concitare, nisi vis illi quaepiam naturalis magica tamen et spiritualis ex anima in spiritum et corpus descenderet. Cedo, quo pacto oboediret spiritus corporeus iussui animae, nisi iussus spiritum,
1 Goethe, Faust, I, Lines 2376 – 2377,
"Der Teufel hat sie's zwar gelehrt;
Allein der Teufel kann's nicht machen."
[It's true that the Devil taught it to them; However, the Devil can't make it.]
[Add. to 3rd ed.]
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