416. magik naturel. Chaucer alludes to the same practices in the House of Fame, 1259-70 (vol. iii. p. 38):—
'Ther saugh I pleyen Iogelours
. . . . . .
And clerkes eek, which conne wel
Al this magyke naturel,
That craftely don hir ententes
To make, in certeyn ascendentes,
Images, lo! through which magyk
To make a man ben hool or syk.'
417. The ascendent is the point of the zodiacal circle which happens to be ascending above the horizon at a given moment, such as the moment of birth. Upon it depended the drawing out of a man's horoscope, which represented the aspect of the heavens at some given critical moment. The moment, in the present case, is that for making images. It was believed that images of men and animals could be made of certain substances and at certain times, and could be so treated as to cause good or evil to a patient, by means of magical and planetary influences. See Cornelius Agrippa, De Occulta Philosophia, lib. ii. capp. 35-47. The sense is—'He knew well how to choose a fortunate ascendant for treating images, to be used as charms to help the patient.'