Section 6

Chap. XIII.
That particular creatures have particular gifts j fome in their whole bodj/y others have them in their parts.
P Articular creatures are not deftitute of excellent and firange properties, but are very powerful in operation , more then ordinarily their kind yields : and this is by reafon either of fome hidden property , or rather of the hea- venly afpedtsand influences working diverfly in divers particulars, as Alhertta fuppofeth, and in one particular more then in moft other cf the fame kind. Thefe fundry effects and inclinations cf fuch particulars , a Magkian muft
Of the Qaufes of Wonderful things. ij>
alfo be well acquainted with j that knowing fundry ways whereby to work,he may make choice of the fitted, and fuch as may bcft ferve his prefent ufe and need ; for this is our task, to teach the way and method of fearching out, and applying of fe- crecies ; which done, no further thing can be required of us. Therefore to our pur- pofe. Albertvu faith, That there were once two twins, one of them would open doors and gates if he did but touch them with his fide ; and the other would fnut them as fait when they were open. Some cannot away to look upon a Cat, a Moufe, and fuch like, but prefently they fwoon. So, many have the gift from heaven to heal the Kings-evil, and divers other fores : and that which hath troubled much, many Surgeons, and they could not heal it, hath at length been healed only with fpittle. Again, we muff well confider, what kinds of qualities are incident to what kinds of parties j as, commonly queans are impudent, ruffians are luxurious, theeves are fear- ful ; and fuch like paffions, as Writers everywhere mention. Moreover, fome natural things have not only fuch properties in tbemfelves, but they are apt alio to commu- nicate them unto others. A Harlot is not only impudent in her felf, but fhe alfo naturally infe&s therewith, all that fhe touches and carries about her ; fo that if a man do often behold himfelf in her glaffe, or put on her garments, it will Make him impudent and lecherous as fhe is. The Load-ftone doth not only draw to it felf that iron which it touches, but alfo all iron things neer it ;thc fame ring which the Load-ftone draws to it felf , will draw many rings if they be neer, fo that it will be like a chain ; the vertuc of the Load-ftone paffing out of one ring into another. And the like may be obferved in other things. We muft note alfo, that the vertues of fome things arc feated in their whole fubftance ; of other things, in fome of their part*. The Sea-Lamprey ftayeth a Ship, not principally with any one part , but with her whole body. And there be many like examples. On the other fide, ma- ny things work by fome of their parts; as the Cockatrice and the Bafilisk, by their eyes ; likewife Pifmires fhun the wings of a Rere-moufe, but her head and heart they do not fhun ■ fo they fhun the heart of an Houpe, but neither the head, nor yet the wings. The like may be obferved in other things.
Chap. XIV.
Of thofe properties and vertues which things have whtle they live j and of fnch as remain in things, after death,
muft confider that almoft all thofe vertues which are found to be excellent in things while they are alive, do quite perifh in death, and feldom are of any force afterward. If the wolf efpy us , his eyes make us dumb • the eyes or* the Cockatrice and Bafilisk will kill us forth-right; the Sea-lamprey ftaies the courfe of a Ship ; the Struthio-camelus can digeft iron : but none of all the thefe being dead,worketh ought;for when they perifh,their vertues alfo perifh with them. Ther- fore it is a wife rule in natural Migick, that if a man will work any thing by living creatures, or by any of their parts or properties , he muft take the benefit of them while they be alive ; for if they die, their venue dies alfo. For the foul, faith AI-, bertus^s a chief help, and flrikes a great ftroke in thofe qualities which arc in living creatures;fo that they being alive, are endued with many operative vertues , which their death, (efpecially if it be natural, that their humours are quite wafted) takes from them,as Phyfitians do much obferve. Draw out a frogs tongue,take away from the Ray or Fork-fifh his dart,thc eyes or ftones out of any creatures head,or any fuch operative thing,not after they are dead,but while they are yet alive,and throw them into the water again, that if it be poflible they may live ftill,left their vertue ftiould decay , but rather that by their living "they might quicken thofe their natural properties, and fo you may work better thereby. And thus we muft do in all things elfe, which I fpare to fpeak of any further. Sometimes yet the proper- tics of thing i arc operative, yea, and that more forcibly, after death. The
F % wolfe
zo Natural Magick , Soo^ i.
Wolf is hurtful and odious to (beep after he is dead : for if you cover a drum with a wolfs skin, the found of it will make fheep afraid, when moli other creatures will not be afraid ; nay, (beep will make a heavy noife , whereas it contrariwiie caufeth fuchciamorous creatures as hear it, to hold their peace : lb if you cover it with a bears skin, the found thereof will make horlesrun away: and if you make harp- firings of all their guts feverally, and put them together upon the inftiumenr, they willalwayes jar , and never make any conforr. The beaft Hyxna , and the Panther, are naturally at variance ; hence the skin of a dead Hysena makes the Panther run a- way ; nay, if you hang their feverall skins one againft the other, the Panthers skin will lofe the hairs.So a Lions skin wafteth and eateth out the skins of other beafts ; and fo doth the wolfes skin eat up the Lambs skin. Likewile, the feathers of other fowles, being put among Eagles leathers, do rot and conlumc of themfelves. The beaftFlorus, (it may be the Afs) and the bird vEgithus are at fuch mortal enmity, that when they are dead, their blood cannot be mingled together.The Pigeon loves theKaftrel fo well, that (he loves the Dove-houfe much the better, where a dead Kaftrel is. In like manner, herbs, and other fimples, retain many operative qualities, even after they are dried up. Thefe things malt be well confidered by a Maguian, kit peradventure he be deceived in their working,
Chap.XV.
That all Simples are to begotten and ttfed in their certain Jeafons.
SEeing all inferiours, efpedally plants, receive their vertue from the heavens, therefore we muft have a fpecial care to take them in their due leafons : for as heaven varies the constitutions of the year, fo doth it vary plants, they being much nourilhed by the temperature of the Air ; and the time of the year, as Theophrajltu faith,is all in all from thcm.Whence that proverb was juftly fetcht,That it is the year, and not the field, which brings forth fruit. Which may be underftood two wayes ; either as the vulgar fort mean, cr after a more peculiar manner. Concerning the vulgar undemanding thereof' \Diofcor ides Qiews,that we muft have a fpecial care both to plant, and to gather ail things in their right leafons ; for they are operative onely, as their feafon is obferved, but otherwife of no force. The time of gathering, muft be a calm and fair time. If we gather them either too foon or too late, they loofe their beft vertue. Roots muft be plucked up in the fall of the leaf, for then they are fulleft, both of moifture and vertue ; their force hiding it felf within them when their leaves fall, which lafts long in them, being at that feafon gathered. Flowers muft be gathered in the Spring, becaufe then they have moft vertue : and Leaves muft be gathered in the Summer. The like we muft oblerve in other things. Know allo,that fome things lofe their vertua quickly, others keep it along time, as experience and the rules of Phytick teach us ; that fome things may be kept many years, others being long kept, are good for nothing. Whence it cometb, that many experiments prove falfe, becaufe that which we work by, happily hath loft hisver- tue,beingkept too long. But there are certain peculiar times to gather them in (which the vulgar fort obferveth not) wherein the heavenly conftellations beftow tiponthem fome lingular venue , proceeding from the moft excellent nature and quality of the ftars : in which times if they be gathered, they are exceedingly ope- rati ve.But there can be no fet and juft time afhgned,by reafon of the divers fituations of divers places in refpe&of the Sun ; for as the Sun-beams come neerer or further off, fo the earth fructifies fooner or later : yet we will give fome general obfervations. Roots are t6 be gathered betwixt the old Moon and the new ; for then the moi- fture is fallen into the lower pans , and that in the Evening ; for then the Sun hath driven in the moifture , and by theftalkic is conveyed down into the root. The time ferves well to gather them,when their wrinkles be filled out with moifture,and they chap becaufe they have fo much juice, as if they were about to break in pieces. Leaves are then to be gathered, as foori as they have opened themf^lves out of the fprigs ; and that in the morning about Sun-rifing ; for then they are raoifter then in
Of the Qaujes of Wonderful things. %\
the evening, the Suns beat having drunk up their moifiure all day long. Flowers are then to be gathered, when they begin to feed, while their juice is in them, and be- fore they wax limber. Stalks are then to be gathered, when the flower is withered j for then efpecially are they profitable. And feeds muft be then gathered, when they are fo ripe that they are ready to fall. There are fome more peculiar obfervations. Hot and (lender herbs ftiould be gathered when Mars and the Sun are Lords of the celeftial houfes moift herbs, when the Moon is Lord $ but you muft take heed that you gather them not in the falling houfes thereof. Thefe things well obferved in ga- thering plants, will make them very profitable for Phyfical ufes.
Chap. XVI.
That the Countries and places where Simples grow, are chiefly to be conjidered,
M Any are deceived in plants, and metals, and fuchlike, becaufe they ufe them that come next hand, never heeding the fituation of the place where they grow. But be that will work foundly , mutt well confider, both theafpeft of the heavens, and the proper nature and fituaiion of the place j for the place works di- v erfly in the plants, according to his own divers temperatures ; and fometimes cau- feth luch an alteration in the venues of them, that many, not onely young Ma- gicians, but good Phyfitians and Philofophers too, have been deceived in fearching them out. Tlato makes mention hereof : God (faith he) hath furnithed the places of the earth with divers vertues,that they might have divers operations into plants and other things according to their kind. And lb Porphyry faith, that the place is a prin- ciple of a generation, as a father is. Theophraftus would have Hemlock gathered and fctch'd from Sufa, becaufe Thrapai was of opinion, that there it might fafely be ta- ken, and in other very cold places : for whereas in Athens the juice of it is poifon, odious amongft the Athenians, becaufe it is given to kill men in common executi- ons ; and Socrates there taking it, died prefently ; yet here it is taken without dan- ger, and beafts feed upon it. The herb called Bears-foot, that which grows on the Hill Oeta and Parnaflus, is very excellent ; but elfewhere, of fmall force: there- fore Hippocrates , when he would cure Democntm, hecaufed it to be fetch'd from the Hills. And in Achaia , efpecially about Cabynia, there is a kind of Vine, as Theophrafius faith, the wine whereof caufeth untimely births ; and if the dogs eat the grapes, they will bring forth abortives: and yet in thetafie, neither the wine, nor the grape, differ from other wines and grapes. He faith alfo, that thofe Phyfi- call drugs which grow in Eubcea, neer unto j£ge, are good ; but neer to Telethri- um, which is a fhadowed and waterifh place, they are much worfe and drier. In Perfia there grows a deadly tree, whofe apples are poifon, and prefent death ^here- fore there it is ufed for a punilhment: but being brought over to the Kings intoE- gypt, they become wholefome apples to eat, and lofe their harmfulnefle , as Columel- la writes. Diofcorides faith, That the drugs which grow in fteep places, cold and dry, and open to the winde, aremoft forcible; but they that grow in dark, and warerifh, and calm places, are leffe operative. Wherefore if we find any difference in fuch things, by reafon of the places where they grow, that they have not their right force, we muft feek them out there where the place gives them their due vertue.
Chap. XVII.
Certain properties of Places and Fountains, which are commodious for this work*
Difference of places, works much in the different effe&s of things. For the place of the waters, and alfo of the earth, hath many miraculous vertucs,which a Magician muft needs be well acquainted with : for oft-times we fee, that fotne things are ftrangely operative, onely by reafon of the (ituation of the place, the dif- pofit ion of the Air, and the force of the Sun, as it cometh nearer or further off. If
one
1% Natural Magick, cBool^i.
one ground did not differ from another, then we fhould have odoriferous reeds, rufhes, graffe,frankincenfe, peper, and myrrh, not only in Syria and Arabia, but in all other Countries alfo. Likewife many properties are derived out of Waters and Fountains ; which otherwife could not be made, but that the waterifh humor in the earth, conveys his fcent and fuch like properties, into the root of that which there groweth, and fo nourifheth up that matter which fprings out , and caufeth fuch fruit as favours of the place, according to his own kind, Zama is a City in A- frica, and Ifmuc is a Town twenty miles from it : and whereas all Africk befides, is a great breeder of beafts, efpecially of ferpents, about that Town there breed none at all ; nay, if any be brought thither, it dies : and the earth of that place al- fo killeth beafts,whitherfoever it is carried. In the great Tarquine Lake of Italy, are feen Tree?, fome round, fome triangle, as the wind moves them; but none four-fquare. In the Country beyond the River Po , that part which is called Mon- fteraxj there is a kind of Corn called Siiigo, which being thrice fown, makesgood bread-corn Neer to Harpafum a Town of Afia, there is a huge Rock, which if you touch with one finger, will move j if with your whole body, it will not move. There are fome places of the earth that are full of great fires, as j£tna in Sicily, the Hill Chimera inphafelis • the fire whereof Ctejias writes,will be kindled with wa- ter, and quencht with eartb. And in the Country of Megalopolis, and the fields about Arcia, a coal falling on the earth, fets it on fire. So in Lycia, the Hills Ephe- fli being touched with a Torch, flame out, infomuch that the ftones and fands there do burn in the waters ; wherein if a man make a gutter with a ftaff, he fhall fee Ri- vers of fire run therein. The like things are reported of water?. For feeing they pafTe under the earth, through veins of allum , pitch , brimftone, and fuch like ; hence it is that they are iometimes hurtful, and fometimes wholfcme for the body. There are alfo many kinds of water, and they have divers properties. The River Himera in Sicily, is divided into two parts : that which runs againft jEtna, is very fvveer, that which runneth through the fait vein,is very fait. In Cappadocia, betwixt the Cities Mazaca,,and Tuava, there is a Lake, whereinto if you put reeds or timber, they become ftones by little and little, and are not changed from ftones again, nei- ther can anything in that water be ever changed. In Hierapolis, beyond the River Maeander, there is a water that becomes gravel, fo that they which make vvater- courfes, raife up whole banks thereof. The Rivers Cephifes and Melas in Bxotia, if cartel drink of them, as they do continually to make them conceive, though the dams be white, yet their young {hall be ruffet, or dun, or coal-black. So the fheep that drink of the River Peneus in Theffaly, and Aftax in Pontu?, are thereby made black. Some kinds of waters alfo are deadly, which from the poifonou; juice of the earth become poifonousj as the Well of Terracina called Neptunius, which kills as many as drink of it ; and therefore in old times it was ftopt up. And the Lake Cychros in Thracia, kills all that drink of it,and all that wa(h themfelves with ir. In Nonacris, a Country of Arcady , there flow very cold waters out of a ftone, which are called the water of Styx, which break to pieces all veffels of filver and braffe ; >and nothing can hold them but a Mules hoof, wherein it was brought from Antipa- ter^ into the Country where Alexander was, and there his Son JoUa killed the King with it. In the Country. about Flafcon,thc way to Campania, in the field Cor netum, there is a Lake with a Well in it, wherein feem to lie the bones of Snakes,- Lyfard?, and other Serpents ; but when you would take them out, there Uno fuch thing. So there are fome fharp and fowre veins of warer, as Lyncefto, and Theano ip Italy ; which I fought out very diligently, and found it by the way to Rome, a mile from Theano • and it is exceeding good againft the Stone. There is a Well in Paphlago- nia, whofoever drinks of it, is prefently drunken. In Chios is a Well, that makes all that drink of it, fottifh and ienfleffe. In Sufa is a Well, whofo drinks of ic, lo- feth his .teeth. The water of Nilus is fo fertile, that it makes the clods of ear t£ to become living creatures^In iEthiopia is a Well,which is fo cold at noon,that you can- not clunk it ; and fo hot at midnight, that you cannot touch it. There are many other like Wells, which Ovid fpeaks of : Jmmons Well is cold all day, and warm , both morning and evening : ifre waters of Athamas,fet wood on fire, at the fmafl'oFihe