To the Reader.

Now Reader, if you would be further satisfied regarding his distaste for Black Magic, I encourage you to read his most Christian Invective original: "Invective"; a vehement verbal attack or denunciation against the German Conjurer who was entertained in the French Court. Indeed, he was so zealous and possessed such a sensitive conscience that when he was urged by certain Divines Theologians or clergy members to write a Commentary on Trismegistus Hermes Trismegistus, the legendary Hellenistic figure to whom various occult, philosophical, and alchemical writings are attributed, he returned them a very sharp answer, referring all true knowledge to the Scriptures.

In short, he did not only hate impious arts, but also vain ones. For instance, he lost the favor of the Queen Mother Likely referring to Catherine de' Medici, who was known for her interest in astrology because he refused to be employed by her in Astrology. He was miraculously skilled in the true, natural part of that science—which concerns Generation and Corruption The natural cycles of birth, growth, and decay in the physical world—but he knew it was useless to look for fatal events in the planets. Such things are not written in Nature, but in the superior Tables of Predestination. Having thus sufficiently proved his integrity,