VIII. The Influence of Psychic Factors in Magic

VIII. The Influence of Psychic Factors in Magic.VIII. Der Einfluß psychischer Faktoren in der Magie.

1. The Agent.1. Der Agent.

The magical working of man has, like every other, its physical side. It happens through magnetic emanations; therefore magnetism is the key to magical physics. The magical agent, then, is the inner man, called the astral body by the medieval occultists, because when it comes into sensuous appearance (double, ghost, materialization) it is shaped after the pattern of the outer man. The astral body stands in the most intimate connection with the soul; it is the immediate instrument of the soul, the body only the mediate one. The magnetic emanation is formed by the thoughts of the soul, that is, the soul realizes its ideas organically, as in maternal impressions and the stigma, and the quality of the magical function is determined by the will and the disposition of the agent, as for example in miraculous cures and in witchcraft.

This shows itself already in the simplest magical function, in magnetizing, which comes about through the emanations of the inner man. Animal magnetism is determined quantitatively by the will of the agent and is coloured psychically by his disposition. Already the medieval occultists said that the healing power granted to some people is brought about by subtle vapours that they communicate to the sick, but that the effect is much greater when in the agent the firm will to heal is joined with the greatest self-confidence that he can do it, especially if faith and trust are present in the patient as well. Agrippa says of magical operations in general: “We must therefore in every work express a strong desire, strain our imagination, have the most confident hope and firm faith; for this contributes very much to success ... To act in a magical way, therefore, steadfast faith and unshakeable trust are required; one may not set the slightest doubt on success, indeed not even let the thought of it arise.”¹⁾ Paracelsus knew that in magic the inner man acts upon the inner man. He says outright that we perform wonderful works by this, that we too are spirits and invisible men.²⁾ “Therefore mark that through our faith we become spirits, and that we act upon earthly nature: that is the work of faith, which works out of us as a spirit.” Now since death separates the inner man from the outer, the logical conclusion already follows from those propositions of Paracelsus that the magical forces of man are identical with the normal forces of spirits, which becomes evident in the comparative study of somnambulism and spiritism.