Of Magical Suspensions And Alligations...

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CHAP. V.

OF MAGICAL SUSPENSIONS AND ALLIGATIONS--SHEWING HOW, AND BY WHAT POWER, THEY RECEIVE VIRTUE, AND ARE EFFICACIOUS IN NATURAL MAGIC.

WHEN the soul of the world, by its virtue, doth make all things (that are naturally generated, or artificially made) fruitful, by sealing and impressing on them celestial virtues for the working of some wonderful effect, then things themselves not only applied by collyry, or suffume, or ointment, or any other such like way; but when they are conveniently bound to, or wrapped up, or suspended about the neck, or any other way applied, although by ever so easy a contact, they do impress their virtue upon us: by these alligations, &c., therefore, the accidents of the body and mind are- changed into sickness or health, valour, fear, sadness or joy, and the like; they render those that carry them, gracious, terrible, acceptable, rejected, honoured, beloved, or hateful and abominable.

Now these kind of passions are conceived to be infused no otherwise than is manifest in the grafting of trees, where the vital life and virtue is communicated from the trunk to the twig engrafted into it, by way of contact and alligation; so in the female palm-tree, when she comes near to the male, her boughs bend to the male, which the gardener seeing, he binds them together by ropes across, but soon becomes straight, as if by the continuation of the rope she had received a propagating virtue from the male. And it is said, if a woman takes a needle, and bewray it with dung, and put it up in earth in which the carcass of a man has been buried, and carry it about her in a piece of cloth used at a funeral, no man can defile her as long as she carries that.

Now by these examples we see how, by certain alligations of certain things, also suspensions, or by the most simple contact or continuation of any thread, we may be able to receive some virtues thereby; but it is necessary to know the certain rule of magical alligation and suspension; and the manner that the art requires is this, viz. that they must be done under a certain and suitable constellation; and they must be done with wire, or silken threads, or sinews

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of certain animals; and those things that are to be wrapped up, are to be done in the leaves of herbs, or skins of animals, or membraneous parchments, &c. For, if you would procure the solary virtue of any thing, this is to be wrapped up in bay leaves, or the skin of a lion, hung round the neck with gold, silk, or purple or yellow thread: while the sun reigns in the heavens, so shalt thou be endued with the virtue of that thing. So if a saturnine quality or thing be desired, thou shalt in like manner take that thing, while Saturn reigns, and wrap it up in the skin of an ass, or in a cloth used at a funeral, especially if melancholy or sadness is to be induced, and with a sad, or ash, or leaden, or black silk or thread, hang it about thy neck; and so in the same manner we must proceed with the rest.