l62 PARACELSUS 



are required. The making of circles and the burning 

 of incense are all tomfoolery and temptation, by which 

 only evil spirits are attracted. The human heart is a 

 great thing, so great that no one can fully express its 

 greatness. It is imperishable and eternal, like God. 

 If we only knew all the powers of the human heart, 

 nothing would be impossible for us. The imagination 

 is fortified and perfected through faith, and each doubt 

 destroys the effect of its labour. Faith must confirm 

 the imagination, because it perfects the will. The reason 

 why men have not a perfect imagination is because they 

 are still uncertain about their power, but they might 

 be perfectly certain if they only possessed true know- 

 ledge." 



" If the imagination of a man acting upon another 

 cannot always accomplish what he desires, it is because 

 it is too weak to penetrate the armour of the soul of 

 that other person, and a weak imagination has no effect 

 upon another person, if the latter is protected by a 

 strong and resisting faith ; and each one may strengthen 

 his own faith and make his soul invulnerable by believ- 

 ing in the supreme power of Good " ^ (Be, Peste., lib. i.). 



" Those who are strong in their faith, and full of 

 confidence that the divine power in man can protect 

 him against all evil influences, whether they come from 

 an incarnated or a disincarnated entity, cannot be harmed 

 by either. But if a weak person is obsessed by such 

 an evil influence and is unable to drive it out, then 

 it is necessary that some other person who possesses 

 that spiritual power should drive it out in his place. 



1 Fear makes a person negative and liable to be infected. During the 

 time of epidemic diseases, those who are not afraid of being infected are 

 the least liable to become their victims. He who is confident that he 

 cannot be affected by sorceries is not liable to become their victim. 



" He who fears thinks of nothing but evil. He has no confidence in 

 God (in himself) ; he only imagines diseases and death, and thus he creates 

 diseases in his imagination, and ultimately makes himself sick " {De 

 PestUitate, ii.). 



