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76 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back
1. What is John Baptist Della Porta?
1. 1535-1615
2. Born of a rich family in Naples, Italy
3. Showman
4. Many-faceted persona, well-educated
5. Academy of the Segreti met in his home
6. However, the study of magic became suspect, and he ran into trouble with the Inquisition
2. What types of things did Della Porta do?
1. Mathematics
2. Physics
3. Philosophy
4. Optics
5. Alchemy (people trying to make gold)
6. Cryptology (study of encryptions)
7. Agriculture
8. Natural Magic
3. Who is Jean Bodin?

What did he do?
A French lawyer

He accused Della Porta of being involved in witch craft so Della Porta must defend himself against these accusations (preface of Natural Magic)
4. Is witch craft real?
Yes, at this time people engage in witch craft (have relations w/ demons and the devil)

Typically women because the devil is attracted to their body

(check women's body b/c devil would leave spots or marks if he had relations with her)
5. What types of activities do witches engage in?
Kiss butt of devil as sign of submission to master

Witches do lots of cooking (roast or boil babies)

Acts of mockery such as devil mimicking ritual of baptism (renouncing Christianity for devil)
6. What happened to witches?
Burn at stake be/c fire is ultimate sign of purity

This is the time of the Inquisition so religious authority resides over all crimes of morality and religion regardless of country
7. Why are there heretics?
Europe is breaking up into numerous states and pulling away from Rome

Slipping out of straight, Catholic position
8. What does Della Porta mean when he refers to Natural Magic?
1. “Secrets of Nature”
2. “anything that was secret and concealed”
3. “rarities”
4. “anything that was curious”
5. “whatever was notable”
6. “excellent things”
7. “wonderful things”
9. So what is Natural Magic?
1. The study of all the above things
2. Perfection of the natural sciences
3. Applied natural philosophy
4. Survey of the course of nature

*The works of magic are the works of nature
10. What are the two sorts of Magic?
1. Sorcery/Witchcraft

2. Natural Magic
11. What is Sorcery or Witchcraft?
“That which comes by Nature is abused by their Superstition”

1. Has to do with foul spirits
2. Consists of Incantations and wicked Curiosity
3. “Stands merely upon fancies and imaginations, such as vanish presently away, and leave nothing behind them”
12. How is Natural Magic viewed?
“Magic is taken amongst all men for Wisdom, and the perfect knowledge of natural things”

"All excellent wise men do admit and embrace”
13. How do the most noble Philosophers view Natural Magic?
“They that have been most skillful in dark and hidden points of learning, do call this knowledge the very highest point, and the perfection of natural Sciences”
14. What does Della Porta say about what Natural Magic is?
1. Full of much virtue
2. Many secret mysteries
3. It opens unto us the properties and qualities of hidden things
4. The knowledge of the whole course of Nature
5. It teaches us by the agreement and disagreement of things
15. What is the goal of Natural Magick?
1. Find out if the stories are true or false
2. “The most Magical Wonders of Nature are not to be concealed(admire the Mighty Power of God, his wisdom, his Bounty, and therein Reverence and adore him)
3. True Things be they never so small, will give occasions to Discover greater things by them.” – pg. 2 of preface
16. What must the Magician be skilled in?

(Six things)
1. Philosophy
2. Physician/Physic - medicine
3. Herbalist – study of plants, metals, minerals, gems, stones
4. Distillation – discovery and recreation of the internal processes of natural phenomena
5. Mathematical Sciences, especially Astrology
6. Optics – light, vision, how the sight may be deceived
17. What characteristics must a Magician have?
1. Be a skillful worker (both by natural gifts and practice)
2. Hard-working and devoted (rude/ignorant men will discredit this Science)
3. Must be rich
4. Must be patient
18. What does Della Porta say you must do if you "have your works appear more wonderful..."?
Must not let the cause be known

"He that knows the causes of a thing done, doth not so admire the doing of it; and nothing is counted unusual and rare, but only so far forth as the causes thereof are not known.”
19. What does Magic say of the universe?

What are maleficia?
Everything is interconnected

Evil act aimed at harming a person or animal (voodoo or crime because it causes harm)
20. How was the cosmos perceived?
Sphere with layers or shells within the sphere

The shells are crystal, solid, and transparent
21. How do the planets and stars move?
Celestial bodies are fixed, but the shell moves and carries planets

There are minds in spheres that give them motion
22. What is at the center of the universe?

How do things proceed out from there?
Earth and it sits motionless in center of sphere

Earth, Water, Air, Fire, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Fixed Stars
23. What is outside the cosmos?
Celestial region aether

It is just nothing, where God lives
24. What are the four elements and their qualities?
1. Fire: hot & dry

2. Air: hot & wet

3. Water: cold & wet

4. Earth: cold & dry
25. Which element is the lightest and purest?

What is the lowest (heaviest) of all the elements?
Fire

Earth: compacted together out of purer elements (solid and by no means to be pierced through)
26. What are elements subject to?

How elements show double quality?
Subject to constant mixing, transformation into one another

Every element has two qualities, where it agreed with some, and disagreed w/ other elements (agreement/disagreement)
27. How do elements change into one another?
Elements are mutually made of one another

Change is easy in those that agree in any one common quality (fire and air by reason of heat)

When either of the qualities are opposite in both (as in fire and water) the change is not so easy
28. What two things is every natural substance made of?
Matter and Form

Matter alone (the 4 elements) cannot explain everything; essential forms are also necessary to understand the natural world
29. Matter is made of elements. What are the effects of elements subdivided into?
Bodily effects: function and power of the matter (thin, rough, etc. - consistency)

Effects of qualities: temperature or mixture of elements
30. Where does the form come from?
Has divine origin

*This explains why we have a soul

*God and devil compete for souls of people (witches sell their souls to devil for power)
31. What are the active principles?

What are the passive principles?
Active: God, heavens, forms

Passive: matter, elements
32. What type of souls do humans, animals, and plants have?
Humans: intelligent souls

Animals: sensitive souls

Plants: vegetative souls

*Remember God bestows form on everything
33. Describe the chain of being.
God gives form to divine intelligences, humans, animals, plants, nonliving things

Elements are instruments to dispose the matter
34. What is sympathy and antipathy?
A property of nature that connects all things

Everything has the hidden property of being in sympathy/antipathy with other things

Consent: symbiosis/working with one another
Disagreement: working against
35. How do the man and wolf exemplify sympathy and antipathy?
There is a two way relationship between the man and wolf

If a wolf spots a man first he takes his voice and man is powerless and speechless

If man spots wolf first the wolf losses his aggressive nature
36. What is another example of things being in sympathy and antipathy?
Rue and Hemlock

Sympathy: both poisons

Antipathy: Hemlock expels Rue if you eat it; Rue is good against Hemlock being drunken
37. How do the Heavens influence?
Celestial bodies influence things happening on Earth

All things take their destiny from the Heavens and stars (sway in all generations and corruptions)
38. What is an example of how the Heavens influence?
With date of birth and time and chart of position of stars and planets - use diagram to tell about one's future (casting a horoscope/astrology)
39. What causes the motion of all lower things?
The highest (superior) motion of the heavenly bodies causes the motions of all lower (inferior) things
40. What two heavenly bodies are especially influencial?
The Sun and the Moon

Sun is governor of time; rule of life, heart of Heaven

Moon is closest to Earth of the planets; rules moist bodies; race of the Moon is necessary for plants
41. What did Platonicks term Magic to be?

What is important to magic?
The attraction or fetching out of one thing from another, by a certain affinity of Nature

Universal attraction is very important to magic (with natural magic must know secrets of nature and how things in nature work)
42. What are some examples of universal attraction?
1. Hollowness of the sphere of the Moon draws up fire to it
2. Sphere of fire draws up air
3. Center of the world draws the Earth and water down (pulls heavy things toward it)
4. Loadstone (magnet) has an affinity for iron
5. Amber (electrically charged objects) have an affinity for chaff/straw
6. Water has an affinity for the Moon (high tide the moon is closer)
7. Flowers/leaves have an affinity for the Sun
43. Why does everything couple together?
Because of these mutual affinities

World is a living creature, with both male and female parts everywhere that couple together (each linked w/ a common bond)
44. What is magic based on?

What must the magician know how to do?
Based on understanding the workings of nature

Arrange natural objects so the mutual affinities work, (celestial bodies are able to act upon them)
45. Is natural magic mysterious?
No, it is kind of mundane
46. How is the magician related to witch craft?
He does not question the reality of witch craft, but rather he distances himself from witch craft
47. What two types of causes does natural magic involve?
1. Mechanical, such as blood

2. Non-mechanical (or magical), such as mental images, sympathy/antipathy

*A magician uses both and both are considered natural (even if they are not magical)
48. What is natural magic based on knowing?

How is cosmology important?
Knowing and using the hidden causes within Nature

Magician holds a general framework of ideas about the world (cosmology) and uses them to perform
49. How are the ancient philosophers viewed?
Magician is heavily dependent upon the ancient philosophers at this time

Della Porta always cites things that important people have said in the past b/c the ancients carry authority

Stories and explanations passed down through generations are not to be dismissed lightly
50. Are magicians credulous (ready to believe anything)?
Magician is not credulous guy

Della Porta claims that he TESTS the facts and stories (don't take them at face value)

HOWEVER, he is not as concerned w/ testings as we would be today
51. What are the ways in which things can be generated?
1. Generation out of a seed of the same kind
2. Generation w/o seed
3. Generation out of putrefied earth and plants
4. Generation out of dew
5. Generation out of mud
6. Generation out of living creatures (copulation)
52. What is meant by "Generation of Putrefaction"?
Heat and moisture together "ferment" causing the generation of animals

Creatures arise spontaneously from the earth by the heat of the Sun
53. How are plants and living creatures brought about?
Some of them are generated of seed

Some of them nature brings forth of her own accord w/o any seed of the same kind (putrefaction)
54. What does seed refer to?
The generating power that any animal or plant has to produce more of its own kind
55. What are some examples of earthly creatures being brought about by Nature?
1. Frogs are generated from the dirt
2. Bees are generated out of a dead ox
3. Large numbers of mice are generated suddenly (out of earth and water) then suddenly consumed
56. From where are birds generated from?
Putrefaction of plants (fruit covered tree)

Putrefied wood
57. From where do water creatures come from?
1. Eels do not copulated, but are generated of rain-water and the "garbage of the earth"
2. Certain fish generated from mud and sand
3. Shellfish generated from frothy mud
58. What is a monster?

How are they generated?
Monster is an abnormal creature

Generated by copulation of different kinds of animals

*can happen naturally (conjoined twins) or not naturally
59. What constraints are there on copulation by different animals?
1. Must be of equal pitch, if there are great odds in their bigness, they cannot couple
2. Must have one and the same space to bring forth in: "if one bring forth in 12 months and the other 6, young will be ripe by one side when it's but half ripe by the other
3. Both must be lustful
4. Must couple at a time that is fit for generation (common time is spring)
60. What do the Ancient authorities say about copulation and generation?

What evidence does Della Porta say is contrary to these positions?
1. Of two kinds of animals diverse in nature, a third cannot be made, unlike to either of the parents
2. Some creatures do not gender at all (like Mules)

1. Many creatures are generated of kinds diverse in nature, and of these are generated others
2. Must not think that one example of Mules not gendering should prejudice the common course of other creatures
61. What is an Indian Dog?
A creature (monster) that is generated from the copulation of a dog and a tiger

*First cross is extremely savage, aggressive creature so use third generation more often for things like hunting
62. How is the Indian Dog generated?
Tie up female dog and if the tiger is in an amorous mood he will pair with here

If not full before meeting female dog, he will eat her (this occurs more often)
63. How was the valor of the Indian Dog demonstrated to Alexander the Great?
Dog ignored beer and wild boar BUT seized the lion

He held onto the lion even after his tail was cut off, then he legs one after the other, and finally the head was cut off (still kept the held of the lion)
64. What are some other possible causes of monsters?
1. Mixture of different kinds of seed in the same womb (two heads, more parts)
2. Too much seed
3. Too little seed
4. Seed doesn't "light" in the right place
5. Womb "puffed up w/ wind" or indisposed
6. Too many young in the womb at the same time
7. More than one yolk in the same egg
65. Why do small four-footed creatures bring forth more monsters?
Man and large four-footed beasts do not produce them so often

Smaller kinds are far more faithful then the greater kinds
66. How does Nature fashion living Creatures?
First shape out principal parts of body

Continues working on framing as the matter can afford

If defective matter, bring forth monster

*Cooperation of matter and form in natural objects. The matter must be disposed in a particular way for Nature to combine it w/ proper form
67. How do monsters occur in man?
1. Inordinate or unkindly copulations
2. Seed is not conveyed into the right place
3. Narrowness of womb
4. Two young in one womb causing them to be pressed together and grow
68. Can monsters be produced after birth?
Yes, can fashion them into a monstrous shape

Fruit/vegetables being grown in confining spaces to make them result in a certain shape

Crushing a baby's head to make it a longer shape
69. What is the theory of pangenesis?
That seed comes from all parts of the body, and children inherit even the acquired characteristics of their parents
70. How powerful is imagination?
It is important, esp when it is excessively bent upon any such thing as it cannot attain unto

Imagination can bring about the generation of monsters
71. How does imagination affect child bearing?
When a woman w/ a child sets her mind upon something, alters the inward spirits

The spirits move the blood, and so imprint the likeness of the thing mused upon in the tender substance of the child
72. What are heavy things?

What are light things?

How is this seen in the cosmos?
That which descends to the center (heavier descends sooner)

That which ascends from the center (lighter ascends soonest)

Inner have heavy elements (Earth) and outer have lighter elements (fire)
73. How do bodies interact?
They yield to one another and do not penetrate one another

No body is heavy or light in its own kind (water will not descend or ascend in water)
74. What principle is the wine and water experiment based upon?

How is this seen in the cosmology of Della Porta's time?
"Nature abhors the void"

Natures hates the formation of empty space

The universe is densely packed (not lots of empty space)
75. Why does the wine go up and the water down (Della Porta's time)?
Even though wine is heavy by nature (usually descends) it rises in this situation b/c of the abhorrence of nature to have empty space

Water goes down and nature doesn't want flask empty so wine must ascend to fill space
76. What are the three cornerstones of the experiment?
1. Cosmology

2. Heavy/light elements

3. Nature abhorring empty space