Chapter VIII

The Stoic and Plotinian doctrine that all parts of the cosmos are bound by hidden affinities, so that a movement in one part resonates through the whole; the metaphysical basis for astrology, magic, and divination.

The passage explicitly mentions that parts produce energies on each other through sympathy and similitude of powers.

Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity.

The text describes a harmonious universe where parts produce effects on each other according to divine ordering principles.

Augustinian and Plotinian doctrine that evil has no positive being of its own but is a lack, distortion, or absence of the good — denying ontological dualism while preserving moral seriousness.

Evils are described as salutary for wholes but introduce necessary corruption due to privation of symmetry or imbecility.

The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.

The passage emphasizes the harmony and interconnectedness of the universe where parts are bound by hidden affinities.