The Minor Works of Marsilio Ficino

...is called the author of all harmony and the Leader of the Muses. Since he releases souls from a certain confused crowd—not so much by manifest influences as by the hidden power of his rays—he governs them harmoniously and finally leads them toward true intelligence.

Nor indeed should it be thought that this most ample and effective light—given among worldly things as the best and most perfect gift above all others—takes its primary origin from the small body of the sun. Rather, it comes from the Good itself, as if from the "Father of Lights" original: "patre luminum" — a reference to the Epistle of James 1:17, common in Renaissance Neoplatonism to describe God as the source of all illumination.. In that source, whatever light exists is certainly more than intelligible In this context, "intelligible" refers to things that can only be understood by the mind, rather than seen by the eyes., for it entirely surpasses all human understanding.

But descending from that source into the divine or angelic intellect, it then becomes intelligible. Next, coming into the mind of the World Soul The "Anima Mundi," an intrinsic spirit that Neoplatonists believed surrounded and animated the entire universe., it soon becomes "intellectual" and furthermore "imaginable." Then, passing into the heavens, it becomes both "sensual" original: "sensuale" — referring to the faculty of sensation or the power to perceive. and "sensible" original: "sensibile" — referring to the quality of being perceivable by the senses. at the same time.

Finally, having been sent down to the lower realms, it is, as it were, divided: in some places it becomes "sensual" (that is, within the eyes of living creatures), while in other places it becomes "sensible" (that is, in the objects themselves). In a few instances, it preserves both qualities—specifically in those creatures that can see at night.

But let us return to the first principles. The Platonists posit three principles: the Good itself, the Divine Intellect, and the World Soul. Light alone represents all these things more clearly than anything else.

It represents the Good itself because, while it wonderfully excels all things, it meanwhile diffuses itself through all things and calls them back to sublime heights, all while its own excellence and purity are wonderfully preserved.

It represents the Divine Intellect because it declares all things, distinguishes them, and adorns them.

It also represents the World Soul because it generates all things with nourishing heat, cherishes them, gives them life, and moves them.

Again, just as light descends from the three principles above the heavens into the heavens, and is reflected below the heavens, mirroring its parents everywhere; so in the heavens, through the sun, it represents the Good itself. Through the starry firmament, however, it represents the Divine Intellect—that is, the fullness of the Ideas In Platonic thought, "Ideas" or "Forms" are the eternal, perfect patterns of all things in the physical world....