Agrippa: The Philosophy of Natural Magic, Chapter XXXVII — How, By Some Certain Natural and Artificial Preparations, We May Attract Certain Celestial and Vital Gifts · 2 of 2 · tr. Henry Morley; L. W. de Laurence ed.
Chapter XXXVII, Section 1b
For this is the band and continuity of Nature, that all superior virtue doth flow through every inferior with a long and continued series, dispersing its rays even to the very last things; and inferiors, through their superiors, come to the very Supreme of all.
For so inferiors are successively joined to their superiors, that there proceeds an influence from their head, the First Cause, as a certain string stretched out to the lowermost things of all; of which string, if one end be touched the whole doth presently shake, and such a touch doth sound to the other end; and at the motion of an inferior the superior also is moved, to which the other doth answer, as strings in a lute well tuned.
Themes
◆Cosmic Sympathycosmology
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 describes a resonant influence where motion in an inferior moves its superior, mirroring the concept of cosmic sympathy.
All passages →◆Emanation Hierarchycosmology
A chain of divine beings or principles flowing downward from a single transcendent source (the One or the Father), each level less perfect than the one above.
The passage describes a downward flow of virtue from a First Cause through a series of levels to the last things, establishing a hierarchical structure of being.
All passages →Related passages · 3 parallels
◆hermeticism|Corpus Hermeticum 4: The Epistles|Section 1c
“It is Itself Its Source, since It may have no other Source.
The Oneness then being Source, containeth every number, but is contained by none; engendereth every number, but is engendered by no other one.
11.
Now all that is engendered is…”
Both passages discuss the interconnectedness of all things and the flow of influence from a supreme source. Agrippa describes a hierarchical flow of virtue from superior to inferior, while the second passage emphasizes the Oneness as the source and root of all things, drawing a parallel in their mystical understanding of unity and influence.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 211 (part 1)
“Section 5 5.
There is, then a Providence, which permeates the Kosmos from first to last, not everywhere equal, as in a numerical distribution, but proportioned, differing, according to the grades of place- just as in some one animal, linke…”
Both passages describe a hierarchical, interconnected system where influences flow from higher to lower levels, and actions at one level affect others. They also emphasize the unity and continuity of the system, though they use different metaphors and contexts.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 213
“Section 7 7. And since the higher exists, there must be the lower as well. The Universe is a thing of variety, and how could there be an inferior without a superior or a superior without an inferior? We cannot complain about the lower in th…”
Both passages describe a hierarchical structure of the universe where higher entities influence lower ones, and lower entities are connected back to the highest cause. They share the concept of a continuous, interconnected flow of influence from the supreme to the inferior.