LIST OF TITLES

OF THE ENTIRE WORK.

THE FIRST ECSTATIC JOURNEY. original: "Iter Exstaticum I." This refers to Athanasius Kircher's famous 1656 work describing a fictional celestial voyage guided by an angel.

Preface of the Commentator to the Kind Reader. page 1
Preface of the Author to the student Reader of celestial Philosophy. 11
Universal Prelude of the Commentator, or an Astronomical Introduction for Beginners; in which the constitution of the World, and the disposition, order, nature, and properties of worldly bodies are summarized, and various Systems of the World are explained. 19
§. I. On the order of the parts of the World; and on its figure, center, diameters, axis, and poles. 20
§. II. On the stars of the starry heaven, and their number and differences. 22
§. III. On Comets and new stars. 25
§. IV. On the motions of the stars, and the variety of those motions. 26
§. V. On the nature of the starry heaven regarding its fluidity and solidity. 28 This refers to the contemporary debate on whether the heavens were made of solid crystalline spheres or a fluid ether.
§. VI. On the number and motion of the heavens. 32
§. VII. On the composition and corruptibility of the heaven. 33
§. VIII. On the nature of the stars, and certain properties, and their motion from East to West, and vice versa. 34
§. IX. On the various Systems of the World. 36 Likely discussing the Ptolemaic, Copernican, and Tychonic models.
Exhortatory Prelude of the Author, Kircher, in which it is taught that this little work contains nothing foreign that does not agree with the authorities of the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Doctors of the Church, and with the irrefragable experiments of observations. 39
Scholium I. On the center proper to individual stars. 54
Scholium II. Whether the stars are moved by Intelligences. 60 A "Scholium" is an explanatory note or commentary. "Intelligences" refers to the medieval and early modern idea that angels or spiritual beings guided the planetary spheres.