Observations Natural and Moral, Chapter 20
CHAP. XX. Whether the phantaſie bringeth forth reall effects or not.
THe phantaſie is an imagination and an impreſſion made in the ſoule of ſuch formes and ſhapes as are let in by the ſenſes, The Phastaſie what.or by ſuch as are imagined without any ſight.How Imaginations are wrought in the Phantaſie.
The way how theſe imaginations are wrought in the braine is this: The naturall ſpirits which are in the heart are ſent up by the arteries to the braine, and there they waken theſe phantaſies which are ſleeping as it were in the braine, and then they begin to compoſe devide or abſtract.
The reſemblance of theſe imaginations wakened by the ſpirits, How the reſemblance of the imaginations are carried from the braine to the ſeede.are ſpeedily carried from the braine to the heart, and from the heart to the liver, from the liver to the blood, and from the blood to the ſeed. And as the influences of the heavens when they meet with a fit object, make diverſe impreſſions in the earth, ſo doe the ſpirits in the ſeed; Simile. and as the painter uſeth to adde, divide and compoſe, ſo doe the imaginations as it were ſet a copie to the ſpirits, ſometimes by encreaſe as when we imagine that wee ſee a Gyant; ſometimes by diminution as when we imagine that we ſee a pigmei or a dwarſe, and ſometimes by tranſlation, as when wee imagine the eye to be in the breaſt; and as the painter by art borroweth the noſe from one, the lip from another, and the eye from the third, ſo doth the phantaſie, and as nature compoſeth ſometimes, as ſtruthiecamelus, pardo-camelus, ſo doth the phantaſie compoſe things, and make up diverſe formes.
The ſpirits when they aſcend unto the braine, The ſpirits being free from exhalations, doe compoſe and divide in the braine.and are cleare without fogge or miſt of groſſe exhalations, then they compoſe and divide, and play the part as it were of a Poet or painter in the braine; and this we ſee by experience, for when a man lieth downe firſt, and the groſſe exhalations ariſe out of his ſtomacke, then he cannot dreame, or if he dreame, Why dreames in the forcpart of the night are not ſo diſtinct as in the latter part of the night.his dreames are wonderfully confuſed & undiſtinct: but when the humors are ſetled, and the ſpirits begin to be more cleare, then they compoſe or divide more diſtinctly; Simile. as a man ſeeth not his face ſo clearely in the water when it is troubled as when it is ſettled: ſo the ſpirits when they are troubled with theſe fogges of miſt and groſſe exhalations ariſing out of the ſtomacke, then they worke not ſo clearely and diſtinctly as they doe when the humors are ſetled.
That the phantaſie of it ſelfe worketh no alteration within a man, Reaſons proying that the phantaſie worketh no alteration of it ſelfe in man.it is proved thus.
Firſt, nihil agit extra genus ſuum, as thornes bring not forth figges, Reaſon, 1 nor thiſtles grapes, Mat. 7.16. The imagination conceiveth not the things themſelves but the images of things, for as we are not fed by the nature of bread apprehended in the phantaſie, but by the bread it ſelfe: So neither can the notions of things apprehended in the phantaſie affect or change the body; Simile. and as the ſenſe is to the thing taken by the ſenſe, ſo is the imagination to the thing imagined, but the ſenſe and the thing taken up by the ſenſe are idem numero one and the ſelfe ſame thing, Senſus & ſenſile idem numere.as the eche and the ſound are one. So the fight, and the thing taken up by the ſight are one, even ſo the thing imagined, and the imagination are one; and there is no other act without the imagination, it is not actio tranſiens here ſed immanens, it is not a tranſient action, but permanent, and therefore worketh nothing upon the bodie.
The imagination cannot worke upon the bodie. Reaſon, 2 Firſt, it worketh not formally, for that which worketh formally, The imagination neither worketh formallie nor vietually upon the bodie.produceth an effect like the thing it ſelfe, as the fire produceth heate. Secondly, it worketh not virtually, for one body virtually onelyonly affecteth another, as Phyſicke worketh upon our bodies. Thirdly, it worketh not eminenter by way of excellencie upon the bodies, for then it ſhould produce ſuch an effect which ſhould be more excellent than the cauſe.
The ſpirits then aſcending from the heart, How the ſpirits waken the phantafies and carry them to the ſeed.wakeneth theſe phantaſies in the braine, and carrieth theſe idea's or ſhapes downe againe by the Nerves, to the heart, and to the Liver, and then to the blood, and laſt …o the ſeede where they take their impreſſions, and there is a great correſpondencie betwixt the two begettings, the imaginarie begetting and the bodily begetting, and the one taketh the examplary from the other; and although theſe imaginations be not actually ſeene in the ſeede, The imaginations are not actuallie but virtually in the ſeed.yet they are virtually in it, as the reſt of the members are comprehended in it before they bee faſhioned; ſo are the colours, markes and ſhapes.
The ſpirits draw out theſe ſhapes and colours, taking the parterne of them from the phantaſie, and they imprint them in the ſeede; The ſpirits imprint the ſhapes and colours in the ſeed.neither muſt this ſeeme ſtrange unto us, for if the divell can mixe himſelfe with the humors of the bodie, and out of theſe humours, frame diverſe ſhapes and colours, much more may the naturall ſpirits doe this in the humors. Auguſtirus de civitate dei lib. 8. cap. 8.Auguſtine ſheweth this, how the Divell did delude the Aegyptians and continued Idolatrie amongſt them, preſenting to the Cow when ſhe was engendring, an Oxe marked with the ſame markes wherewith the oxe was marked which they worſhipped in Aegypt, ſo that when he dyed they had ſtill an Oxe marked after the ſame manner.
Whether was this a miracle or not, Queſt. when Iacobs ewes brought forth ſpeckled lambs? Anſw.
It was mirum but it was not miraculum. God in working a miracle ſometimes he uſeth an ordinarie meanes, as when he cured Ezekias ſore, he bade lay figges to it, figges naturally mature and ripen the ſore, Iacobs Ewes bringing forth ſpeekled Lambs whether a miracle or not.but becauſe hee healed Ezekias in an inſtant the naturall cauſe wrought no more here than Pauls girdle, when he healed the ſicke by it: but when Iacobs ewes conceived ſpeckled lambes, this cannot bee called a miracle, for they conceived by naturall meanes here, and they brought not forth their lambs upon an inſtant, but kept their courſe as other ewes did. Queſt.
What is the reaſon that other men who have tryed, this concluſion could never doe the like?
God who is the God of nature, Anſw. and worketh by his handmayd nature (who is natura naturans, whereas ſhe is but natura naturata) can doe many things by her, Natura naturans naturata.which neither the Divell nor men can doe, who are but natures inſtruments; the Nazarets by the law might drinke no wine, yet their cheekes were moſt comely and ruddie, Lament. 4.7. But ordinarily drinking of water maketh the face more pale: ye ſee here how the God of nature did worke beſide the ordinary courſe of nature; Sathan can dive farre in nature.but Sathan albeit hee be not the God of nature, yet hee could dive farre and invegle himſelfe into the phantaſie of the Cow, when ſhe was in gendering, and ſo made the braine of the Cow more pregnant, and the ſpirits made the colours more vively in the feede, and brought forth ſuch a calfe marked with ſuch ſpottes: but God being the God of nature, gave ſuch a bleſſing to the ewes that they brought forth all their young ones ſpeckled. Man can onelyonly preſent to a Cow when ſhee is gendering an oxe or a bull marked with ſuch markes, but he cannot give that bleſſing which the Lord gave to the ewes, neither can hee invegle himſelfe in the phantaſie of the Cow, as the Divell did who is a ſpirit; and therefore a Cow bringeth not forth a calfe ſo vively marked, when a man, the inſtrument of nature hath a hand in the worke, as when the Devell hath an hand in it.
Man is an inſtrument of nature two manner of wayes, either he is propinquum inſtrumentū naturae, or remetum inſtrumentum naturae; Inſtrumentum propinquum remotum.he is propinquum inſtrumentum naturae the neere inſtrument of nature quando ſol & homo generant hominem, and here he worketh more forciblie in nature; than Sathan can doe. Againe he is the remote inſtrument of nature: example; when a Phyſitian compoſeth his drugges of ſo many hearbs and ſimples, here he cannot worke ſo effectually as Sathan can doe, becauſe he is but remotum inſtrumentum naturae: ſo if a man ſhould have preſented a marked oxe bfore the Cow, ſhe would not have brought forth a calfe marked after that manner, becauſe hee was but inſtrumentum remotum naturae here, and could not worke ſo as the divell could doe.
Laſt obſerve, The parents give matter and forme to the birth.that the parents give matter and forme to the birth, and if there be not a like efficacie in them both, then the imagination appeareth not ſo vively in the birth; now the Lord by his directing hand matched the like with the like, the ſtrong imagination with the ſtronger, and the weake with the weaker, and ſo, they brought forth lambs ſome with broader ſpots, and ſome with leſſer.
The phantaſie then by it ſelfe worketh not this alteration, The phantaſie doth not alter the bodie, but moveth the ſpirits and they alter the bodie.but yet the phantaſie when it apprehendeth the object either as profitable or hurtfull, then it moveth the ſpirits, and the ſpirits altereth the body. Concluſion. 1
The concluſion of this is, as in naturall things, the Images breed Imaginations in the phantaſie; when they behold monſtrous objects the birth is oftentimes marked with the like. The Concubine of Pope Nicolas brought forth a child marked like a Beare, becauſe in her conception ſhe beheld the armes of the Vrſins, and therefore his ſucceſſor Pope Martine cauſed the armes of the Vrſins to be raſed out. So wee muſt beware of obſceene ſpectacles and filthy objects, for they breed monſtrous ſinnes in the heart.
Secondly, Concluſion. 2 ſeeing that the phantaſie of the mind procured by the object of the fight or ſome other cogitation in the time of conception, is of ſuch force to faſhion the birth: It becommeth men and women not to come together with beaſtly appetites and uncleane imaginations, for by ſuch meanes monſters and miſhapen birthes are often procured.