Oration on the Dignity of Man

...outstanding founders, especially two—Zalmoxis A legendary social and religious reformer of the Thracian Getae, often elevated to the status of a god or a student of Pythagoras., who was followed by Abaris the Hyperborean A legendary Thracian sage and priest of Apollo said to have possessed a golden arrow and the gift of prophecy., and Zoroaster, but not the one you might think, but the son of Ormuzd original: "Oromasidis." This refers to Ahura Mazda, the supreme deity in Zoroastrianism.. To our question of what each of these magics is, Plato answers in the Alcibiades⁵⁰: the magic of Zoroaster is the science of divine things, which the Persian kings taught to their sons so that they might learn to govern their own state according to the pattern of the heavenly kingdom. And in the Charmides⁵¹, he says that the magic of Zalmoxis is the "medicine of the soul," through which self-mastery is achieved in the soul, just as the health of the body is achieved through another kind of medicine. This opinion was later held by Charondas A celebrated lawgiver of Sicily., Damigeron⁵², Apollonius⁵³ Apollonius of Tyana, a Neo-Pythagorean philosopher and reputed miracle-worker., Ostanes⁵⁴, and Dardanus⁵⁵. Homer also adhered to it, having hidden it, like all other sciences, under the guise of the wanderings of his Ulysses—I shall endeavor to prove this someday in my Poetic Theology⁵⁶ Pico's planned (but perhaps never completed) work attempting to reconcile pagan myths with Christian truth.. Eudoxus⁵⁷ and Hermippus⁵⁸ followed this, as did nearly all those who investigated the mysteries of Plato and Pythagoras. Among the more recent who have dealt with magic, I shall name three: Al-Kindi the Arab⁵⁹, Roger Bacon⁶⁰, and William of Paris⁶¹. Plotinus⁶² also mentioned it, saying that the magus is a servant, not a master, of nature. This most learned man, while supporting and justifying one kind of magic, felt such a strong aversion to the other that when he was invited to the mysteries of evil demons, he quite rightly replied that it would be better if they presented themselves to him, than he to them⁶³.

One kind of magic makes man a slave, subject to the influence of evil powers; the other makes him their commander and master. Finally, one can earn neither the name of an art nor the title of a science, while the other includes the wealth of ancient mysteries and leads to the deepest penetration into the hidden secrets of phenomena, to the knowledge of nature as a whole. One, as if calling from darkness to light among the forces generated and scattered in the world by the grace of God, does not so much perform miracles as it diligently serves the nature that performs them. The other deeply studies the harmony of the universe, which the Greeks more expressively called sympathia original: "συμπάθεια," meaning "mutual attraction" or "universal sympathy." In Renaissance thought, this was the idea that all parts of the universe are interconnected and "vibrate" together., and gazes intently into the secrets of nature, rendering to each thing its due honor—the so-called "charms of the magi"—in solitary places, in the lap of nature, in the secret places of God, putting hidden wonders on public display, and through this, she herself appears as if she were their creator. And just as a farmer binds grapevines to elms, so the magus weds the earth to heaven—that is, he marries the lower things to the powers of the higher.

Thus, it is clear that just as one magic is unnatural and false, so the other is divine and beneficial. And what is especially important is that one, by surrendering man to the enemies of God, turns him away from God, while the other stirs in him a wonder for divine works, the result of which are faith, hope, and love.

Nothing draws us toward religion and the worship of God more than the constant contemplation of God's miracles. When we have studied them well with the help of this "natural magic" of which we have spoken, then in fervent faith and deep-felt love for the Creator, we shall sing:

"The heavens and all the earth are full of the majesty of Thy glory"⁶⁴.