Three books of occult philosophy written by Henry Cornelius Agrippa of Nettesheim ... ; translated out of the Latin into the English tongue by J.F.

Of Cabalie.

HEre the words of Pliny come into my mind, who saith the faction of Magick depends upon Moses and Lutopea, being Jews; which words put me in mind of the Cabalie of the Jews, which the Hebrews are of opinion was delivered to Moses by God himself on mount Sinai, and then by de∣grees of succession without the monuments of letters was un∣till the times of Esara delivered to others by word of mouth only as the Pythagorian opinions were formerly delivered by Archippus, and Lysiaus, who had chools at Thebes in Greece, in which the Scholers keeping the precepts of their masters in their memorie, did use their wit, and memorie in stead of books: So certain Jews despising literature, placed this in memorie, and observations, and vocall traditions, whence Cabalie was by the Hebrews called as it were the reception of any thing from another only by hearing. That art (as it is reported) is very ancient, but the name was known but of late times amongst Christians: They deliver a double science therefore, the one of Bresith, which they call Cosmologie, viz explaining the powers of things created naturall, and Celestiall and expounding the secrets of the Law and Bible by Philosophicall reasons: which truly upon this account differs

nothing at all from naturall Magick, in which we believe K. So∣lomon excelled. For it is read in the sacred Histories of the He∣brews, that he was skilled in all things, even from the Cedar of Lebanon, to the Hyssop that grows upon the wal: also in cattle, birds, creeping things, and fishes; all which shew that he knew the Magicall vertues of nature. Moses the Aegyptian, amongst the later writers followed after this in his exposition upon the Pentacles; also many more Talmudists. They call the other Science thereof of Mercara, which is concerning the more sub∣lime contemplations of divine & Angelick vertues, & of sacred names, and seals, being a certain Symbolical divinity, in which letters, numbers, figures, things, & names, and tops of elements, and lines, points, and accents, are all significative of most pro∣found things, & great secrets. This again they divide into Arith∣mancy, viz. that which is called Notariacon, treating of Angeli∣cal vertues, names, & seals, also of the conditions of spirits, and souls, and into Theomancy, which searcheth into the mysteries of divine majesty, as the emanations thereof, & sacred names, and Pentacles, which he that knows may excell with wonderful ver∣tues; as that when he pleaseth, he may fore-know all future things, & command whole nature, have power over devils, and Angels, and do miracles. By this they suppose, that Moses did shew so many signs, and turned the rod into a Serpent, and the waters into blood, and that he sent Frogs, Flies, Lice, Locusts, Caterpillars, fire with hail, botches and boyls on the Egyptians, and slew every first born of man and beast; and that he open∣ed the Seas, and carryed his thorow, and brought fountains out of the rock, and quails from Heaven, that he sent before his, clouds and lightnings by day, a pillar of fire by night, and called down from Heaven the voice of the living God to the people, and did strike the haughty with fire, and those that murmured with the Leprosie; and on the ill deserving brought suddain destruction; the earth gaping and swallowing them up; further he fed the people with heavenly food; pacified Serpents, cured the envenomed, preserved the nu∣merous multitude from infirmity, & their garments from wear∣ing out, & made them victors over their enemies. To conclude, by this art of miracles Joshua commanded the Sun to stand

still, Eliah called down fire from Heaven upon his enemies, restored a dead childe to life; Daniel stopt the mouths of the Lyons; The three children sang songs in the fiery Oven; moreover by this art the incerdulous Jews affirm, that even Christ did do so many miracles; Solomon also very well knew this art, and delivered charms against devils, and their bonds, and the manner of conjurations, and against diseases, as Joseph reporteth, but as I doubt not but that God revealed to Moses many secrets, contained under the bark of the words of the Law, which were not to be revealed to the prophane vulgar. So I acknowledge that this Cabalisticall art, which the Hebrews brag of, and I sometimes diligently and labo∣riously sought after, is nothing else than a meer rapsody of superstition, and a certain Theurgicall Magick, but if it pro∣ceeded from God (as the Jews boast) and conduceth to the perfection of life, health of men, to the worship of God, and to the truth of understanding; truly that spirit of truth, which hath left this Synagogue, and come to teach us all truth, would not have concealed it from his Church even untill these last times, which indeed knoweth all things that are of God, whose benediction, baptism, and other mysteries of salvation are re∣vealed and perfected in every tongue, for every tongue hath the same equall power, if so be that there be the same equall piety, neither is there any name, either in heaven or earth, by the which we must be saved, and by which we work miracles, besides this one name Jesus, in which all things are recapitu∣lated and contained. Hence it is, that the Jews, who are most skilful in using the names of God, can operate little or nothing after Christ, as their ancient fathers did; but that we by experience find, and see, that by the revolution of this art (as they call them) oftentimes wonderful sentences, full of great mysteries, are wrested from the holy Scriptures, this is nothing else then a certain playing upon Allegories, which idle men busying themselves with all the points, letters, and numbers, which this tongue and the custome of writing do easily suffer, do fain and disguise at their pleasures; which al∣though sometimes they hold forth great mysteries, yet they

can neither prove nor evince any thing; but we may (accord∣ing to the words of Gregory) with the same facility contemn them, as they are affirmed. Rabanus the Monk, by the same artifice hath fained many things, but in Latin Characters and verses, with certain pictures inserted, which being read any way by the delineations of the superficies and pictures, do declare some sacred mysterie, representing the Histories of the things painted; which also may without doubt be wrested from prophane writings, as every one may know, who hath read the Cantones of Valeria Proba, composed out of the verses of Virgil, concerning Christ; All things of this kind are the speculations of idle brains, but what belongeth to the working of miracles, there is none of you, I suppose, of so foo∣lish an understanding, who believeth that they have any art or science of them; therefore this Cabala of the Jews is nothing else than a most pernitious superstition, by the which they ga∣ther at their pleasure, divide, transfer words, names and let∣ters, scatteringly put in the holy Scriptures, and by making one thing out of another, they dissolve the connections of the truth, the speeches, inductions and parables, and here and there construing them by their own fictions, would bring the words of God to their follies, defaming the Scriptures, and saying that their fictions have foundation on them. They calumniate the Law of God, and by the supputations of words, syllables, letters, numbers impudently extorted, they assay to bring violent and blasphemous proofs for their unbe∣lief. Besides, they being puft up by these trifles, do boast that they finde and search out the unspeakable mysteries of God, and secrets, which are above the Scriptures, by the which also they impudently affirm, and without blushing, that they can even prophecy, and do miracles and wonders; but it hap∣peneth to them, as to Aesops Dog, who leaving his bread, and gaping after the shadow, lost his food; so this perfidious and stiff necked people, being always busied in the shadows of the Scriptures, and about their own vanities, and doing vio∣lence by their artificiall, but superstitious Cabala, do loose the bread of eternall life, and being fed with vain words, do

destroy the word of truth; from this Judaicall ferment o Cabalisticall superstition proceeded (as I suppose) the Ophi∣tane, Gnostican, and Valentinian Hereticks, who together with their disciples, fained a certain Greek Cabala, perverting all the mysteries of the Christian faith, and by their hereticall corruption wresting them to the Greek letters and numbers, by the which they constituted a body of truth (as they call it) and taught, that without these mysteries of letters & numbers the truth could not be found in the Gospel, because that the writings thereof are various, and sometimes repugnant to themselves, and full of parables; that they who see, might not see, and that they who hear, might not hear, and that they who understand, might not understand, and that they are propounded to the blind and erroneous, according to the ca∣pacity of their blindness and error; But that the sincere truth lying hid under these things, is committed to the perfect only, not by writings, but by word of mouth, and that this is that Al∣phebetary and Arithmetical Theology which Christ in private manifested to his Apostles; and which Paul speaketh to the perfect only; for seeing that these are the highest myste∣ries, therefore they are not written, nor ought so to be, but to be kept in secret amongst wise men; but no man is a wise man amongst them, who knoweth not to refrain the greatest mon∣sters of Heresie.