viz. If you would drive away any venemous serpent or noysom beast make the figure thereof in some certain matter under some convenient constellation and inscribe thereupon the name of the signe ascending and the name of the thing you would expell c. And for the contrary effect do it after a contrary constellation c. And observe the like in alluring to love or in provoking to hatred in curing of diseases and procuring of health c. But by no means so conscientious or cautious they are ascribe the effect to the Image for that 's say they idolatry superstition witchcraft but to the constellation and I pray what 's that But I am weary with reckoning up in part things of so great folly and of greater impiety Onely I ask not them but the sound and sober if indeed they be not so I mean if the businesse and folly of the world brought and sought to be directed by the businesse and folly of an Art be not very much repugnant to humane prudence and to divine providence much more CHAP. XXVI From the conviction of Confession WHether Magicians and Astrologers themselves have not plainly and plentifully discovered and acknowledged the vanity and impiety of Magick and Astrology And whether it be not an Argument irrefragable against an Art or operation whenas the Arch-Artists are so far convinc't as to confesse the pravity and obliquity thereof themselves For who can more truly and fully set them forth then they that have given themselves over to study and practise them How many things of old and of late have been spoken either through a spirit of recantation a conscience of conviction or a fury of exclamation by magicians against Magick and by Astrologers against Astrology Hear what one of them saith both against himself and all the rest of what kind or sort soever Whatsoever things have here already and shall afterward be said by me I would not have any one assent to them nor shal I my self any further then they shall be approved of by the universal Church and the Congregation of the faithful Magicians and those who were the authors of this Art amongst the Antients have been Chaldeans Aegyptians Assyrians Persians and Arabians all whose Religion was perverse and polluted idolatry We must very much take heed lest we should permit their errors to war against the grounds of the Catholike Religion For this was blasphenious and subject to the curse and I also should be a blasphemer if I should not admonish you of these things in this science Wheresoever therefore you shall find these things written by us know that these things are onely related out of other Authors and not put down by us for truth but for a probable conjecture which is allyed to truth and an instruction for imitation in those things that are true Of Magick I wrote whilst I was very young three large books which I called Of Occult Philosophie in which what was then through the curiosity of my youth erroneous I now being more advised am willing to have retracted by this Reeantation For I have heretofore spent very much time and cost in these vanities At length I grew so wise as to understand how and by what reasons I was bound to dehort others from this destruction For whosoever do not in the truth nor in the power of God but in the delusions of Devils according to the operation of the evil spirits presume to divine and prophecy and by magical vanities exorcisms inchantments love potions allurements and other devilish works and deceits of Idolatry exorcising prestigious things and making ostentation of phantasms boasting themselves to work miracles presently vanishing all these with Jannes and Iambres and Simon Magus shall be destinated to the torments of eternal fire The antient Philosophers teach us to know the nature of the genius of every man by stars their influx and aspects which are potent in the nativity of any one but with instructions so diverse and differing amongst themselves that it is much difficult to understand the mysteries of the Heavens by their directions c. Cicero following the stoicks affirms that the foreknowing of future things belongs onely to the Gods And Ptolomie the Astrologer saith that they onely that are inspired with a deity foretel particular things To them Peter the Apostle consents saying Prophesying is not made according to the will of man but holy men spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost Take heed that you be not deceived by them that are deceived Neither can the great reading of books direct you here since they are but as riddles How great writings are there made of the irresistible power of magical Art of the Prodigious Images of Astrologers of the monstrous transmutations of Alchimists of the blessed stone by which Mydas like all mettals that were touched were presently transmuted into Gold or Silver All which are found vain fictitious and false c. Whatsoever the monstrous Mathematicians the prodigious Magicians the envious Alchymists and bewitching Necromancers can do by spirits See where their Faith is placed where their hope is reposed who endeavour to subject the Elements Heavens Fate Nature Providence God and all things to the command of one Magician and seek for the preservation of a kingdom from Devils the enemies of publike preservation Saying in their heart with Ochoziâ—s there is not a God in Israel let us go and consult Beelzebub the God of Acbron c. Are they not delivered over to a reprobate sense who desire the certainty of secret counsels from the Devil the father of lies and hope for victory elsewhere them from the Lord of Hosts All these ungodly follies are wont to bring destruction to the admirers thereof to which truly they who especially confide are made the most unfortunate of all men Surely it is unknown to these Fools and Slaves of the Devil for to finde out things to come and to pronounce truth concerning those things which hang over our heads and are occult and from heaven portended unto men and to effect things which exceed the common course of Nature c. O Fools and wicked Who by these Arts would establish a kingdom by which formerly most potent Empires have fallen and have been utterly overthrown It is now time to speak of the Mathematical disciplines which are reputed to be the most certain of all other and yet they all consist not but in the opinions of their own Doctors to whom much faith is given who also have erred in them not a little Which Albumasar one of them attests to us saying that the Antients even since Aristotles time have not plainly known the Mathematicks For seeing all these Arts are chiefly conversant about the spherical or round whether figure or number or motion they are forced at length to confesse that a perfect round or spherical is no where to be found neither according to Art nor according to Nature And these disciplines although they have
water of silver Mercury of the Sun secret water water of the Sea of life miraculous white water permanent water the spirit of the body the unctuous vapour the blessed water the vertuous water the water of the wisemen the Philosophers vinacre the minerall water the dew of heavenly grace the seed of divine benediction heaven of earth earth of heaven stone salt fire caement balsome venerable nature our Philosophicall Chaos first matter matrix mother mother of the Chaos quintessence Nothing And yet the waters upon whose face the spirit of God moved must needs be understood of this chymicall chimericall fancy and foppery This earth to earth is just the doctrine of the Magi. Metals say they and all things may be reduced into that whereof they are made They speak the very truth it is Gods own principle and he first taught it Adam Dust thou art and to dust shalt thou return And so let all vain arts and vile adulteratings of holy Scripture But I am weary with writing and have nauseated the Christian Reader yet had I not troubled my self or them with these collections had I not found them dispersed in English to the great dishonour of our Church and danger of our people Nor would I have added a word of reply to the confidence of asserting there 's enough in that to overthrow it self but for the impudence of challenging And for that cause I could willingly have said more but that I had an eye to the question and that part of it whether the recitation be not refutation enough I am not altogether ignorant or unaware that these are but the scatterings and sprinklings in comparison of those wherewith the Rabbinizing and Christianizing Magicians and Astrologers yea and Chymists too seek to stuff out their portentous volumes yea to fraight their very fragments and paint their very Pamphlets glad to snatch at and crowd in any place of Scripture upon any occasion that so they might pretend some consistency nay and convenience of their imposturous Arts and Artifices with the pure word of God But let all those depravations perish in their own dung for any further raving of mine who am loath to rake further into them unforced CHAP. II. 2. From the truth of Faith 1. WHether it be not the sole property of the prime verity to require simply a Faith or belief unto himself and to the Doctrine of his divine authority and revelation and therfore not belonging to any humane art science discipline or institution whatsoever much lesse to be arrogated to any that is diabolicall and prestigious yea vain unnecessary and unprofitable Wherefore then should Faith pure Faith be so precisely required and severely exacted above all other helps and means to the study and profession proficiency and successe of Magick and magicall operations 2. Whether Magick and Astrologie as indeed all ascititious and commentitious errours and heresies of any art study or profession whatsoever have not proceeded from a false and superstitious Faith and such as is no whit analogall either to the object or to the end of true religious Faith and not only so but altogether excessive and repugnant thereunto 3. For as much as Almighty God requires not a Faith in those things which he hath not revealed Why then should Magicians exact it to their mysteries which they so often check at themselves and one another for revealing nay professe or pretend themselves whether through envy or ignorance as adjured not to reveal 4. All Faith is not only in the Intellect but also in the Will And therefore ere it be believed how prove they that Magick ought either to be assented to as true and demonstrable or yet to be affected as good and lawfull 5. Whether all that can be supposed to those they call the Mathematicall arts and sciences be sufficient to acquire unto them an assent of Faith properly so called suppose some probable truth is not an assent of opinion enough to that Suppose some necessary truth is not an assent of reason sufficient for that Suppose some reall effect will not assent of experiment now serve the turn Is nothing answerable to all or the best of these but only a Faith which properly is either in God or of the things of God or at least to those things which are directly in order to God But suppose there be none of those must now this prime assent be allowed where all the other are justly to be denied 6. Right and pure Faith is neither of a bare proposition although true nor yet of a meer prediction although probable but of a divine promise only and that not only because certain and infallible but because good and beneficiall neither is there in either of the other the substance or evidence of things hoped for but in this last alone And therefore if Magicians and Astrologers cannot afford us such a promise ought we not justly to disclaim an adherence acquiescence affiance or confidence in any of their propositions or predictions whatsoever 7. Faith is properly in the heavenly mysteries of divine revelation such as cannot be otherwise attained unless they be infused nor otherwise comprehended but by faith alone Now as for the Secrets of Philosopâ—…e are they not acquisite and such as may be attained by industrie study discourse reading observation art science experience yea and sufficiently assented to by the light of nature lense reason opinion perswasion And though peradventure some Secrets of Philosophie such as are true and usefull may be divinely revealed or infused yet for as much as that is but to the common light of Nature Sense or Reason which for assent considers not the authority of God revealing but the evidence of the thing revealed How then can this be of Faith which is speciall and supernaturall altogether 8. A divine supernaturall infused theologicall Faith is given not because of the appearance or evâ—dence of the thing propounded but because of the authority and infallibility of the proposer And daâ—e they arrogate thus much to their Art or excuse their defect of evidence through a presumption of infallibility But if it be a naturall acquisite humane or civill faith or assent which they expect then we ask where the evidence proof demonstration reason For though reason follows the first yet it precedes the second kind of faith 9. Whether a miraculous faith or the faith of Miracles such as must needs be the faith of Magicall miracles and Astrologicall Predictions abovt suâ—uâ—e contingents as it is defective in Theologie so it be not excessive to Philosophie That is although it be very incompleat in relation to divine doctrine yet whether it be not too transcendent for any humane discipline to exact 10 Whether it may be verily called a faith of Miracles to give credit unto Magick or Astrologie because of some mirandous or stupendious things either effected or foretold in as much as we are taught to believe that such things may be done both by false arts and
do onely dote through the instinct of the devil drawing them from errour into su-perstition and from that into infidelity 6. Whether Augurizing auspicating and aruspicinating and all such heathenish observations and ominations were not founded upon Magick and Astrologie For not onely these descended from the Chaldeans to the Greeks and from them to the Hetrurians and from them to the Latines But there had never been very like neither faith in nor practise of any such had not the Artists taught that there are certain lights of praesagition descending from the coelestial bodies upon all inferiour creatures as certain signes in their motion site gesture flight voice colour meat c. So that omination or divination may well be made from the similitude and convenience betwixt them and the stars For beast and birds their parts and entrails their flyings and cryings c. How can these considered onely in themselves be causes of future events Yea how can they be so much as signes Unlesse they be taken as effects of some other causes that may cause or signe future things And what can they be but the coelestial motions And therefore they must prenuntiate future events in their conformity to the coelestial bodies and subjection to the disposition of the stars So that thus it is that they are brought to presage besides out of a natural instinct such things as may concern themselves as in storms and showers out of a preternatural and astral disposition such ominousaccidents as may befal others To have observed an old Augur seated on the top of his tower the ayre being cleer and cloudlesse with his Lituus in his hand quartering out the regions of the heavens c. who would not have taken him to have been an Astrologer And who would not take our Astrologers to be Augurs and Auspicinators that can fancy no more apt and comparable motion of the stars then that the stars flit and hover in the heavens just as the birds flie and flutter in the ayre 7. Whether the Cabalistical art was not the tradition of Rabbinish Magicians and Astrologers And what a shame is it that Magicians themselves should tell us that although the art be old yet the name and appellation is but of later invention and not known till imposed by and among Christians But it is well that they themselves will acknowledge it to be a certain Theurgical Magick and nothing else but a meer rapsodie of superstition a play of allegories and speculation of idle brains And indeed who can think otherwise of it When they teach that he who is expert in this Cabalistical Magick of names numbers letters characters symbols figures elements lines points accents spirits and other minute things all significative of the profoundest secrets he shal foreknow and foretel things future have power over Angels and Divels command whole nature make all things obey him as he will work miracles rule the heavens make the Sun stand still and go back divide the Sea dry up Rivers remove mountains raise the dead c. and all this at his own will and with lesse then a word 8. Whether the paganish Oracles were not founded upon Magick and Astrology or by Magicians and Astrologers And whether it be not confest by them that they could not ominate or give answer because the stars made not way for them 9. Whether the art called the Art Notorie had ever been so notorious but for Magick and Astrologie A'notorioâ—… art indeed and worthy to be noted with a black coal or a piece of the blackest art for all the white pretext Which is to attain unto science or knowledge not onely of things natural and moral but spiritual and divine by inspection of certain figures and characters and prolation of certain unknown words yea and by some pact solemn or secret with the devil not without the vain observations of certain superstitious acts and ceremonies in fasting prayers confessions humiliations invocations adorations upon certain days of the new Moon about Sun rising either in Churches houses barns fields or woods And so start upon a suddain by some inspiration or infused suggestion of an evil spirit prompting the mouth to speak like a Parrot but not enlightning the mind to apprehend or understand a preacher a teacher an expounder a prophesier predictor wiseman artist and that without any study labor hearing reading conference or other ordinary way of acquisite learning And so to boast himself illuminated and instructed like any Prophet Apostle or Angel of God And now it is agreed among themselves their Art shall no more be called the Notorious for in truth they neither conceive what they say while they are uttering nor remember it after they have uttered nor are able to give any reason of their faith or science that is in them or comes from them but the art Spiritual the Angelical yea the Pauline art For they are now gotten beyond Solomons way of wisdome and have already attained to revelation after an extatick and enthusiastick manner not unlike nay not unequal to that of Paul himself when he was wrapt into the third heavens Of this Diabolical Magical Necromantical Sortilegious Fanatical Art or injection fame is common as concerning a young man at this day in our neighbouring Country which I but onely intimate from the generall report as not being particularly informed thereof Onely I would ask of our Magical Planetarians what is the reason that they are so furious for the rooting out of the Ministry Is it not because they would set up others in their stead according to this their own Art of Ordination 10. Whether Alchymie that enticing yet nice harlot had made so many Fooles and Beggers had she not clothed or painted her selfe with such Astrological phrases and Magical practices But I let this Kitchin Magick or Chimney Astrology passe The sweltring drudges and smoaky scâ—llions of it if they may not bring in new fewel to the fire are soon taught by their past observed folly to ominate their own late repentance But if they will obstinately persist in hope to sell their smoak let others beware how they buy it too dear 11. Whether Pericepts Amulets Praefisoinals Phylacteries Niceteries Ligatures Suspensions Charmes and Spels had ever been used applyed or carried about but for Magick and Astrologie Their supposed efficacy in curing diseases and preventing of perils being taught from their fabrication configuration and confection under such and such sydereal aspects conjunctions constellations 12. Whether many of the fantastick errors and opinions concerning the coming of Antichrist of the thousand yeers of the end of the world and of the day of judgement have not at least been renovated and promoted by Astrologers and Magigicians For these have been suspected by their friends such is their arted fury for dropping into enthusiastical and fanatical prophecies and predictions And we know they have undertaken to determine the time of the worlds durance and to foretel the day of judgement from the stars
caused heresies in the Church few or none yet as Augustine saith they nothing pertain to salvation but rather induce to errour and recall from God and as Hierome saith are not sciences of piety This Arithmetick vaine and superstitious hath brought forth Geomaney and divination and cogging dicing or chancing and whatsoever is of that sort of sortilegious numerals Although almost all doe adopt Geomancy to Astrologie because of the like judiciall way and because they draw the power thereof not so much from number as motion Of this there have written among the Antients Holy among the moderne Gerardus Cremonensis Bartholomeus Parmensis and one Tundinus I also have written a certaine Geomancy farre different from that of others and yet not lesse superstitious and fallacious or if you will let me say not lesse lying then all the rest Neither do I think that to be passed over which the Pythagorickâ—… did assert and which others think that Aristotle himselfe believed sc that the elements of Letters doe possesse their certain numbers out of which they did divine by the proper names of men the numbers of the letters of every one being collected in summe which compared they gave to him the palme whose summe exceeded the other whether it was enquired about warre or strife or marriage or life or any other the like And there are who by the same compute promise themselves to finde out the Horoscopes as I know not whom one Alchandrius by name an obscure Philosopher hath delivered conâ—erning them Moreover I cannot easily say what Pythagoricall mysteries what Magicall powers they dream to be in numbers although divided of things themselves yea and dare say that the world could not have been created by God but by those instruments and exemplars and that the knowledge of all divine things are contained in numbers as in a rule of all most certaine Hence arose the heresies of Marcus and Magus and Valentinus founded on numbers and proceeding from numbers who presumed themselves able to finde out and declare divine religion and innumerable secrets of the divine truth by most frigid numbers All which are vaine and feyned and false neither remaines there any thing of truth to these Arithmeticians but an insensate and inanimate number and yet they suppose themselves to play the part of a divine or divining men because they know how to number The Astrologie which is Astronomie or rather the Astronomie which is Astrologie is wholly fallacious and much more nugacious then the fables of Poets whose Masters bold men in truth and authors of prodigies out of an impious curiosity after their owne fancy and above humane capacity as if it were Basilides the hereticke his Abraxas fabricate the heavenly orbes and depaint the measures of the starres their motions figures images numbers concents as if they were but of late descended downe from heaven and had been there conversant for some time by which they imagine all things stand are done and may be knowne And yet about these very things they are greatly disagreeing among themselves and contrary and repugnant one to another so that I doubt not to say with Pliny it plainly argues the inconstancy of this Art and that it is none in that teaching the very principles of it one way thinke or judge the Indians otherwise the Chaldeans otherwise the Aegyptians otherwise the Mores otherwise the Jewes otherwise the Arabians otherwise the Greekes otherwise the Latines otherwise the ancient otherwise the moderne Authors For treating of the number of the Spheres Plato Proclus Aristotle Averroes and almost all the Astrologers before Alphonsus a few only excepted doe number eight Spheres only yet Averroes and Rabbi Isaac say that Hermes and some of the Babylonians placed the new orbe or ninth sphere To which opinion adhere Azarcheles the More and Tebith and the same learned Rabbi Isaac and Alpetragus to which assent Albertus the Almaine of his age I know not for what famous enterprize of his called the Great and all they who approve of the accesse and recesse of motions But the junior Astrologers now surmise that there are ten Orbes which Albertus himselfe supposes Ptolomie also to have held Averroes also supposes him to reckon up nine when as in truth Ptolomie affirmes no more but eight But Alphontius sometime following the judgement of Rabbi Isaac by surname Bazâ—m held nine Spheres yet four yeeres after the edition of his Tables adhering to the opinions of Albuhassen the More and Albategni he recal'd himselfe againe to eight Also Rabbi Abraham Avenezra and Rabbi Levi and Rabbi Abraham Zacutus do suppose there to be no moveable orbe above the eight and as touching the motion of the eighth Orbe and of the fixed Stars they are very various amongst themselves For the Chaldeans and the Aegyptians affirm it to be carried with one motion onely to whom assent Alpatragus and of the modern Alexander Aquilinus But the rest of the Astronomers from Hipparchus to our times say that it is carried about with many motions The Talmudisticall Iewes assigne to it a double motion Azarcheles and Tebith and Johannes Regiomontanus have ascribed to it the motion of Trepidation which they say is of accesse and recesse above the little circles that are about the head of Aries and Libra But in this they differ among themselves because Azarcheles saith the moveable head cannot be distant from the fixt more then ten parts But Tebith saith not more then four parts with ten and almost nine minuts Johannes Regiomontanus saith not more then eight parts and therefore the fixed Stars not alwaies varying to the same parts of the world but they conceive them sometime returning where they began But Ptolomy Albategni Rabbi Levi Avennezra Zacutus and amongst the moderne Paulus Florentinus and Augustinus Ritius very familiar to me in Italy affirm the Stars to be moved alwaies and continually according to the successions of signes The latter Astronomers attribute a tripple motion to the eighth Sphere one proper which we have called that of Trepidation which is compleated once in seven thousand yeeres another which they call that of Gyration from the ninth Sphere whose circumvolution is not finished in lesse then forty nine thousand yeeres the third from the tenth Orbe which they call the motion of the First moveable or the motion of Rapture or the Diurnall which within a naturall day returns daily to his beginning Furthermore they who attribut a double motion to the eighth Sphere doe not all of them agree among themselves For almost all the modern and they who admit of the motion of Trepidation doe argue it to be hurried along in a superiour Sphere but Albategni Albuhassen Alfraganus Averroes Rabbi Levi Abraham Zacutus Augustinus Ritius doe think that the Diurnall motion which others think to be the motion of Rapture is not proper to any Sphere but is done by the whole Heavens And Averroes himselfe saith that Ptolomy in his book which he inscribed of narrations doth deny the motion
she burnt three of them before his face and still asked the same price for the rest at which the King laughed so much the more then burning other three and yet bating nothing of her former price the King conceived there might be some rare thing contained in them and bought the last three at the same rate and so the woman went out and was never seen after by any Now these books they kept as divinatory Oracles to be consulted as occasion served One hath a pretty Apologue to this effect A light giddy huswife Dame vanity stole into the bed of a wilde youth called Sir Curiosity and betwixt them both was begotten a many-faced Elfe called Magick and fearing lest the Lady Truth should cause it to be strangled as soon as it was born for a monster the two sureties of it or guardians Grandsire Impudence and Grandame Superstition having wrapt it up in the mantle of an old crone called Difficulty and her waiting puzzle named Jill Hard-trifle attending upon it they committed it to nurse to a prodigious Hagge that hight Praestigie she carried it up and down to the blind houses of Gaffer Ignorance and Gammer Folly in whose families it has lurkt ever since entertained onely by a fond Gossip called Credulity where it still keeps in like an Owle all the day time of Truth and Peace and never dares to peep abroad but in the twilight of Error and Distraction From the sect of the Grecians have proceeded all these books of Darknesse which Vlpianus the Lawyer calls books disallowed to be read and forthwith appointed them to be destroyed Of which sort the first is Zabulus reported to invent who was given to unlawfull Arts then Barnabas a certain Cyprian And now in these daies there are carried about books with feined titles under the names of Adam Abel Enoch Abraham Solomon also Paul Honorius Cyprianus Albertus Thomas Hierome and of a certain man of Yorke whose toyes Alphonsus King of Castile Robert an Englishman Bacon and Apponus and many other men of deplored wit have foolishly followed Moreover they have not made Men onely and Saints and Patriarks and the Angels of God the Authours of such execrable opinions but they boast also that these books were delivered by Raziel and Raphael the angels of Adam and Tobias which books openly betray themselves to him that looks narrowly into them c. Peter in â—lement deduces this art from the prevaricating Angels proving how they taught men that the Divels doe obey mortall men according to certaine arts and may be compelled thereunto that is by magicall invocations C ham the sonne of Noaâ— delivered the ill found out discipline of Magick art to a certaine sonne of his called Misraiâ— from whom is derived the race of the Aegyptians Babylonians and Persians him the Nations that then were called Zoroaster the first author of the admired magicall art His master in this vanity was Ayovax or Azovax c. Methodius writeth that in the 340 yeere of Jared there arose the inventors of the evil art men full of all wickedness of the sonnes of Cain as Iabeth and Tholuscoll the sonnes of Lamech who was blind in the time of whose dominion the divel perverted them to all kind of Magicall arts Zabulus and Zamolxis addicted to unlawfull arts first invented or rather propagated it so as that without doubt it might be determined for issuing from their father the Divel There followed their steps Almadal Alchiudus and Hipochus from the root of the Arabians Apusâ—herus Zaâ—atus and Cobares among the Medes Marmaridius among the Babylonians Zarmoceâ—das among the Assyrians Abbaris among the Hyperboreans Thespetion among the Aethiopians Arunphis among the Aegyptians Julian among the Chaldaeans called the Thaurgists c. Besides the spurious fictitious and ascriptitious books of Adam Abel Enoch Abraham Moses Aaron Daniel Solomon Zacharias Paul c. St. Augustine oh horrour of blasphemy reports certaine foolish wretched Pagans affected themselves to magicall art to have boasted that they had seen and read books of Magicall art written by Christ himselfe and by an epistolary title directed to Peter and Paul affirming that by the arts therein contained he did all those miracles for which he was so famous But the Father bids shew those books they spake of and askes if they by them can learn to doe as he did and withall proves against them That Christ himselfe wrote no booke at all that he need not write to Peter because he was alwaies with him that he could not write to Paul because he was not called till after his passion and that he would not write of Magick because it was contrary to his doctrine and that even his enemies were thus convinc't how venerable and vertuous the name of Christ was in that they thought and sought to winne the waight of authority to such their execrable arts by commentitiously prefixing his most glorious name Cassandra desperately loved by Apollo and importunately solicited by him would not consent unlesse he would first bestow upon her the gift of Divination Which the credulous lover soon granted but she having already obtained her desire refused to stand to her promise for the satisfaction of his This the divining God could not foresee yet indigning to finde himselfe so deluded because he could not recall such his fatall gift he laid this curse upon it That whatsoever she vaticinated she should not be believed Let it be a curse to the predictors not to be believed surely it is a blessing to Christians not to believe them And believe them who list whose originall endowment was from a lust The first man that themselves confesse to have attained to the skill of a Prophet in Tharsus was a silly Shepheard having only so much wit as taught him to take advantage of the follies of his Countreymen Others say the first Prophet of this kind was found by chance in an old vault in Hetruria without knowledge either of his name his dwelling or the mean that conveyed him thither When began the motions of the Starres and accordingly the genethliacall way to be known was it not after Theatis the Aegyptian or else as some say after Atlas the prop and supporter of the heavens The Originall and foundation of Magicall and Astrologicall arts is yet more dubious and fabulous from the false opinions and impossible about the time of the worlds beginning and computation of the yeeres thereof Apuleius was of opinion that the world and men and arts therein were from eternity And being destroyed by flouds and conflagrations in some parts but not all were repaired but not created The Indians boasted of men living long before Adam and that they could name who was Adams father and master The Aegyptians fained that they had a story in letters comprehending thirteen thousand yeeres The Chaldaeans dotingly gloried that they had monuments of Astrology containing foure hundred and seventy thousand yeeres Plato accounts many thousands of ages to have been past since the