“Thus the imagination becomes a spirit, and its vehicle is the body, and in this body are generated the seeds which bear good and evil fruits.” (“De virtute imaginativa,” III.)
IV.—Spirituales.
Up to this class we have had to deal with forces which are, even if not fully recognized, at least admitted by modern science; but now we are going to speak of the action of a spiritual power, which, being in the conscious possession of only a few persons, is almost entirely unknown. This is the power which the self-conscious spirit exercises over the unintelligent forces in nature, and which comes under the head of “Magic,” a term whose meaning is understood only by few.
“Magic”—from mag, priest—means the great power of wisdom, an attribute of the self-conscious spirit, holy or devilish according to the purpose to which it is applied. It is therefore a power which does not belong to the terrestrial intellectual man; but to the spiritual man, and it may even be exercised by the latter without the external man being aware of the source of this power acting in him. For this reason we often see that some remedy proves very efficacious in the hands of one physician and entirely useless in the hands of another equally learned and intellectual. Paracelsus says:
“Such physicians are called spirituales, because they command the spirits of herbs and roots, and force them to release the sick whom they have imprisoned. Thus if a judge puts a prisoner in the stocks, the judge is his physician. Having the keys, he may open the locks when he chooses. To this class of physicians belonged Hippocrates and others.” (“Paramir.,” Prolog. III.)
Such an assertion appears to be incredible only as long as nothing is known about the constitution of matter; but if we call occult science to our aid and realise that all things in the world constitute certain states of one universal consciousness, and that the foundation of all existence is Spirit, it not only becomes comprehensible, but even self-evident, that the self-conscious spirit of a person can move and control the products of nature’s imagination according to its own action in them, and we may truly say that in such cases it is the spirit of the physician acting by means of the spirit of the remedies which he employs, and herein is the solution of the secret of the wonderful cures of leprosy, etc., effected by Theophrastus Paracelsus, which have been historically proved, but which are unintelligible if examined from the point of view of material science.
An investigation into this subject would take us within the realm of white and black magic, witchcraft and sorcery, which have received attention already on a previous occasion,[52] and whose further elucidation would be premature and altogether impossible within the limited space of this work.
V.—Fideles.
The word “fidelity”—from fido, to trust—means faith, confidence, conviction arising from the perception of truth; knowledge, such as results from experience, and the class of physicians here referred to, includes those who, remaining true to their own divine nature, are in possession of divine powers, such as have been attributed to Christ, the apostles and saints.
“They restore health by the power of faith; for he who believes in truth becomes healed by its own power.” (“Paramir.,” I., Prol. 3.)