262 PARACELSUS 



take ; they incline us to nothing which we do not desire.^ 

 They are free for themselves, and we are free for our- 

 selves. You believe that one man is more successful in 

 the acquirement of knowledge, another one in the acqui- 

 sition of power ; one obtains riches more easily, and 

 another one fame. And you think that this is caused 

 by the stars ; but I believe the cause to be that one 

 man is more apt than another to acquire and to hold 

 certain things, and that this aptitude comes from the 

 spirit.^ It is absurd to believe that the stars can make 

 a man. Whatever the stars can do we can do ourselves, 

 because the wisdom which we obtain from God over- 

 powers the heaven and rules over the stars." 



He objected strongly to the use of ceremonies that 

 were made for the purpose of attracting spirits by means 

 of planetary influences. He says : " Whatever comes 

 from the astral ' spirits ' is sorcery. Such spirits are 

 false, and we do not believe in them ; but we believe in 

 the power of that wisdom which rules heaven, and by 

 which all the mysteries of Nature may be known. Sor- 

 cery has been called magic ; but magic is wisdom, and 

 there is no wisdom in sorcery. True science knows 

 everything. The eternity of all things is without time, 

 without beginning, and without an end. It is sub- 

 stantially present everywhere, and acts where it is not 

 expected. That which seems to be incredible, impro- 

 bable, and impossible will become wonderfully true in 

 eternity." 



"Man's mind is made up of the same elements as 

 the stars ; but as the wisdom of the Supreme guides the 

 motions of the stars, so the reason of man rules the in- 

 fluences which rotate and circulate in his mind. The 

 essence of man's sidereal body, which he attracts from 



^ It is not divine man, but the elements in the body of man, which attract 

 corresponding influences from the powers of marocosmic Nature. 



^ If they come from the spirit, the spirit must have pre-existed, and 

 have acquired them in a previous incarnation. 



