Book Two, chapter 7

1Chapter 7

2And from what we have mentioned one comes to know the form of receiving and giving in the actions of talismans and their operations, and the form of mutual likeness and difference. For likeness belongs to a category [that applies] in the making of talismans; that is, it is the likeness that comes about through the work between the action of the stars [in relation] to the action of the stone from which the talisman is made, and to the time and the place and the setting up of the talisman. That is, by the coming together of these the talisman comes to be, and with the absence of this the talisman is removed. So relation is one of the great principles in the coming-to-be of the talisman.

3And quantity is likewise so, for quantity, as has been said in the mathematical sciences, is divided by the major division into two divisions, namely the continuous and the discrete. The continuous division of them is divided into five divisions, which are the line, the surface, the body, time and place; and the discrete division of them is divided into speech and number. And knowledge of all these divisions may be needed in the making of talismans with the most pressing need.

4As for the line, [it is needed] because of the alignment that exists between the stars and the talisman, and because of the alignment between the talisman and the thing on which the occurrence of the talisman's action is intended, by way of likeness and opposition.

5And these two divisions into which the line is divided by way of alignment are the statement that was made in the mathematical sciences concerning the straight line, namely their statement about it that the straight line is that which is laid in opposition to whichever points there are, one upon another. And this is the most complete thing that has been said in the discourse on the talisman. And that straight line is the thing over which the thing carried upon it passes in a single passage, from the beginning of the point from which it goes out to the point touching the thing at which it ends, as we say that so-and-so is opposite so-and-so and facing his sight, and the like of such description; and that is when no obstacle hinders what runs along the straight line. An example of that is the falling of the points of the castings of the rays of the planets: they are a single point which falls upon the corporeal surface that is set up for the casting of the ray. So know that and make it clear to yourself.

6The cause, too, of this statement being the most complete of statements concerning the coming-to-be of the talisman is that the planetary bestowal by which the action of the talisman is sought is also a casting of a ray by which is intended the very action of that stone, or of the thing set for the action of the talisman, in opposition or in likeness. So it is necessarily required that that line issuing from the planets to the figure of the talisman be straight, so that the bestowal may be complete; and if the line [reading uncertain: of the line] is deviating, or not straight with that straightness which we have described, that bestowal is not complete.

7As for the surface, it is of necessity the form of the bestowal; and that is because the surface is the spreading of the action of the talisman in that place, and when the action spreads it is necessarily required that it be a surface. The cause of that is that the air itself is altered by that action, as it is altered by heat and cold, odour, light, colours and the like of that; and the thing over which pass the lines issuing from the planets to the talisman and from the talisman to the place is a surface. So understand these hidden secrets and the cause in these things: the people did not freely grant them.

8As for time, it follows the motion of the body, and by it we intend only to make clear the matter of the talisman itself. It is divided into divisions in the works of talismans. Among them is the time of watching the planet [as it comes] to the place in which the bestowal of its action is complete and incomplete, on account of the deviations that the planets have; and among them is the time needed in watching for the degree which is greatest in action among the action of the planets, in a real respect;

9and among them is the time of watching the planets when there is need for the planet to be found in conjunction with another planet, either in one degree, or where the planet is in opposition, or in trine or square, and the like of that among what is needed of the positions of the planets which give their actions there, either complete or otherwise, according to the modes of the actions, such as direct motion, fall and exaltation; or where the bestowal [is concerned], such as the benefics and the malefics, the lodging of the light, the wells, the cuttings, and the rest of these matters spoken of in this science; and among them, in the elections, is the time of watching for the end of the action of the bestowal; and among them is the time of setting up the talisman in the place, and the like of that among the states of time.

10As for place, it is the end of the discussion in this division under the head of quantity. It is the place of observation, and its being made easy for the one who works at it, so that he attains it [pronoun ambiguous: the place or the observation] at the time he wishes; and among them is the place of the talisman and the location of its setting-up in the air and the earth, its being displayed and its being concealed, and the like of that; and among them is the place in which the talisman is made; and among them is the place in which the matter of the talisman is drawn out, for this is needed in the works of talismans, in the actions and works whose bestowals and actions are as if belied when they are heard. By my life, O reader, they indeed belong among the miraculous actions. Of this kind is the action of the talisman and its effects on things that are not animal, such as the cause in uprooting sands, moving stones, lifting pestilence, warding off rains and clouds, changing the winds, and the like of that, for which an allusion suffices; for this place is not a place for it, since what is of this rank of knowledge is not fit for you to hear at all.

11As for speech and number, of discrete quantity, they are among what is needed in eloquence, in transactions, in soothsaying, in augury, and the like of that among [branches of] knowledge. As for number in particular, it enters into these works because it is proper to time, since time is the number of the motion of the sphere; for when we say 'from such a time to such a time', we are only pointing to some number, and when it reaches that, it ends. And when we say that generation takes place from one temporal hour up to a period of forty-two days, we have only related some number.

12And know, O reader, that the configuration enters into this kind of knowledge, because it is the shape of the talisman and the place of the work in it, which receives the effects that are said to be active in the talisman, [namely] most of these actions that are attributed to them [sense uncertain]; and the form of the placing of the talisman in the place in which it is placed, for that state too enters into the genus of configuration, and what resembles that among these states.

13As for quality, it is the cause in the talisman in reality; that is, the subject for the action of the talisman must have a complete power in resembling the action of the quality that is borne upon it, so that that action may spread forth from it. And this is the binding of the upper natures to the lower natures: that is, that that subject be resembling the gift of the planets and the reception of the effect in it, so that what is sought may come from it.

14That is because we have said many times that the planets are specific in their action to some things rather than others, as the planets are specific to countries and to one kind among the kinds of animals, plants, stones and other things. So if the subject stone, or something else, is receptive to the action of the planet, or resembling what it receives of the actions of that planet, and its nature upon which it was composed, I mean the quality, is also resembling the reception of the action of the planet *** And likewise the stone too, because the nature of the stone from which the talisman is made needs to be strengthened, so that when it has come to the limit of the prevailing nature, its action spreads and appears.

15And there is no way to that, among those who have practised this kind of knowledge, other than increasing the quality of the stone by qualities entering into it that are like it, until it becomes prevailing. That is like what is done with electuaries, such as theriac for example, which prevails in power through the powers of the multitude of drugs that are in it; that is, in all these drugs, [joined] one to another, there are wondrous complementations, and in many crafts that are not trivial, such as medicine, the craft, and the other natural matters, such as talismans, and such as lifting pestilence, and the actions of stones upon one another.

16And remember the saying in the second Result: 'Hold, in all works, to what is concordant, and beware of what is discordant, part of which repels part.' For the pivot of what we have mentioned shortly before is comprised in this saying, if you understand it.