Three Books of Occult Philosophy

V.

returned to their own simplicity, virtue original: "uirtus"; here meaning the inherent spiritual power or essence of a thing is above all else the fulfillment that gives power to all occult operations and the operations of nature: and these are the foundation of all natural Magic. Natural Magic was considered the study and use of the hidden "virtues" or powers within physical objects like herbs and stones, distinct from ceremonial or demonic magic. The elements of the third order are not elements primarily or in themselves, but are composite, varied, manifold, and interchangeable among themselves: they are the infallible medium, and are therefore called the "mediators of nature" or "souls of nature’s middle ground." There are very few who understand their deep mysteries. Within them, through certain numbers, degrees, and orders, is the completion of every effect in whatever thing—be it natural, celestial, or super-celestial. They are wondrous and full of mysteries, capable of operating in magic both natural and divine: for through them comes the propitiation original: "litationes"; referring to successful or favorable sacrifices/offerings of all things, as well as their dissolution and transmutation, the knowledge and prediction of the future, and even the driving out of evil demons and the reconciliation of good spirits. Without these triple elements Agrippa refers to elements in three states: pure, mixed, and composite/spiritual. and the knowledge of the same, let no one trust that they can accomplish anything in the occult sciences of Magic and nature. However, whoever knows how to reduce these things—turning the impure into the pure and the manifold into the simple—and knows how to discern their nature, virtue, and power in number, degree, and order without dividing their substance: that person shall easily obtain the knowledge and perfect operation of all natural things and celestial secrets.

Chapter V. On the wondrous natures of fire and earth.

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According to Hermes Hermes Trismegistus, the legendary Hellenistic figure to whom many foundational texts of alchemy and magic were attributed., two elements are sufficient for the operation of all wonders: fire and earth. The latter is passive, the former active. Fire, as Dionysius Dionysius the Areopagite, a Christian Neoplatonist whose "Celestial Hierarchy" used fire as a symbol for divine light and purification. says, comes clearly into all things and through all things, and is yet withdrawn from them; it is bright to all, yet simultaneously hidden and unknown. When it exists by itself, without any material present in which to manifest its own action, it is immense and invisible; it is powerful in its own right for action and mobile, giving itself to everything that approaches it in any way. It is renewing, the guardian of nature, and illuminating; though its splendors are veiled, it remains uncomprehended, clear, and distinct. It leaps back, carries things upward, and moves sharply; it is exalted and cannot be diminished by any insult of reduction. It is always moving and causing movement, grasping others while remaining ungrasped, needing nothing else, and growing secretly from itself, manifesting its own greatness to whatever materials it receives. It is active and powerful, invisibly present to all things at once; it does not allow itself to be neglected, but like a kind of vengeance, it suddenly brings things back to order, both generally and specifically. It is incomprehensible, untouchable, undiminished, and most rich in its own gift of itself. Fire is an immense and relentless part of the nature of things, as Pliny Pliny the Elder, author of the Roman "Natural History." says, and it is doubtful whether it consumes more than it brings forth. Fire itself is one and penetrates all things, as the Pythagoreans Followers of Pythagoras, who believed the universe was structured by numbers and that a central fire sat at the heart of the cosmos. say, but it is expanded in heaven, giving light; in hell, however, it is narrowed, dark, and tormenting; and in the middle region, it partakes of both. Thus fire is one in itself, but manifold in the receiver, distributed in different ways among different things, as Cleanthes A Stoic philosopher; his views are preserved here via the writings of Cicero. testifies in the works of Cicero. There is also this adventitious fire which we use: it is found in stones, which by the strike of steel—

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