Cause Principle Unity

On magic
he himself belongs to the same species as the things which expelled him.
Since the senses happen to be bound and obligated in all these ways,
magic and medicine must pay very special attention to the workings of
the imagination. For this is the doorway and entrance for all the actions
and passions and feelings of animals. And to that linkage is tied the more
profound power of thought.
Fifthly, the bondings arising from thought
The bondings of the imagination would not be very significant in themselves
if they did not duplicate the powers of thought, for those appearances
which bind and obligate the souls of those who are simple-minded,
stupid, credulous and superstitious, are derided and condemned as empty
shadows by those who have a sober, disciplined and well-bred mind. As a
result, all practitioners of magic, medicine and prophesy produce no
results without a pre-given faith, 31 and unless they act according to the
rules of that faith. (We use the word ‘faith’ here in the more general sense
in which it is used by these people, individually and as a group.)
This faith arises in some people from their pre-given powers, which are
well disposed and organized, and in others, it comes from a disturbance of
their powers. Indeed, great results are produced by those bonds which come
from the words of a man of eloquence, by which a certain disposition arises
and flourishes in the imagination, which is the only entrance for all internal
feelings and is the bond of bonds. This is the point of Hippocrates’ saying,
‘The most effective doctor is the one whom most believe’. The reason for
this is that he binds many people with his eloquence or presence or fame.
This applies not only to medicine but to any type of magic or to any power
identified by a different title, for, in the act of binding, the imagination must
be stimulated or else one can hardly motivate anyone by other means.
In regard to the notion that it is possible for a person to do everything
on his own, the theologians believe, agree and state publicly that it is
impossible to help those who do not believe the minister. The reason for
their lack of power lies in the imagination which they cannot bind. Indeed,
kinsmen reject and laugh at physicians and divines because they know
about their humble origins and education. As the well-known adage states,
‘No one is a prophet in his own land’.
31 In his De magia mathematica, 8, Bruno claims that even Christ could not cause miracles when the
disciples around him had too little faith. See Matthew, 17:19.
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