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Hidden (Occult) Qualities/ Manifest Qualities


HIDDEN (OCCULT) QUALITIES/ MANIFEST QUALITIES
  A quality is an attribute or a property characteristic of an object. A manifest quality is an attribute that we can detect with our senses; something we can see, hear, feel. A hidden quality is an attribute that cannot be detected with our senses.
  According to Bacon, magic, when properly understood, “applies the knowledge of hidden form to wonderful operations and uniting actives with passives, displays the wonderful works of nature” (Copenhaver 2015, 506). In other words, hidden or occult qualities in the working of the world is part of what makes natural magic or why we believe things to be magical.
  Athanasius Kircher, who believed magnetism was a fundamental and universal property of matter, refers to hidden qualities as a gateway to real wisdom called ‘‘magic’’ that all philosophers seek. He says it is a “generally occult and defying description” that constitutes magnetism or, “a form of hidden and active in all things that others describe as a quality of sympathy and antipathy” (Copenhaver 2015, 557). He says anyone that can understand the hidden qualities will find themselves with true wisdom or ‘magic,’ as he puts it.
  Paracelsus states that one must understand the method of occult qualities which are invisible to humans and how they are made manifest to us by magic. For example, the remedy of medicine and how it has hidden qualities that heal our bodies from the inside and then exhibits them for us to observe which is the manifest quality. Even though the healing element is occult to us, they are still recognized by the body- which he says follows the art of magic. Another example he gives is the power and properties of wind and the sun and how they are able to dry the earth but no one sees with their eyes, the drying happening. Paracelsus also mentions plants in comparison to human organs having hidden and manifest qualities. Although they do not physically have the same organs as humans, they resemble organs acting as powers untouched by the hands yet known by the mind (Copenhaver 2015, 410-411).

  Hidden qualities were discussed a lot in medicine especially when methods failed. Other indescribable or occult qualities were used to trace certain cures of diseases from plants, stones, and some animal ingredients. Christian author, Galen, said it was best to not put too much faith in the indescribable workings of the natural ailments since how they help in unknown. He says any physician must act according to things he can see and find reason for. In summary, he claimed that its better to not rely on hidden qualities as a way of magically curing someone of a disease (Copenhaver 2015, 203-204).
  Augustine argues that superstition is seen as idolatry because “it confuses creatures with the Creator” (Copenhaver 2015, 241). He says that sinners use amulets, spells, and remedies that medical teaching condemns for their hidden qualities which can signify the devils presence. Therefore, people who associate superstition with something they will be able to experience with the senses or ‘manifest qualities’ are “sending an invitation to the Devil” (Copenhaver 2015, 241).
  Agrippa exalts his ‘occult philosophy’ with magic being the core of the philosophy, unified by physics, mathematics, and theology. He talks about the world as a triad in which everything is ruled or influenced by something higher. Ultimately, he says magic includes these three subjects and considers it to be the “holiest” and “most supreme” science. He says a person who wants to study magic must have an understanding in physics which reveals hidden qualities or “opens up the occult properties of every entity” (Copenhaver 2015, 402). Without understanding math or theology, you won’t understand the manifest qualities of immaterial substances that control and administer everything. This theory basically lists what Agripppa thinks is necessary to fully comprehend magic through mastered skills of these three realms which give you insight into all hidden and manifest qualities of everything in the natural world (Copenhaver 2015, 402-403).
 Key terms for manifest qualities: primary quality, macrocosm, senses, revealed, sensible quality

 Key terms for hidden qualities: resemblance, signs, causation, force, microcosm, action at a distance 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 Agrippa. 2015. “A Higher and Holier Philosophy: The Occult Philosophy, 1.1-2.” In The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment, Translated by Brian Copenhaver. Penguin Classics, 402-403.
 Augustine. 2015. “Deluded by Lying Angels: On Christian Teaching, 2.30-45.” In The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment, Translated by Brian Copenhaver. Penguin Classics, 241.
 Copenhaver, Brian. 2015. The Book of Magic: Magic in an Age of Science. Penguin Classics, 506.
 Kircher, Athanasius. 2015. "Magnetisms: Athanasius Kircher, Nature's Magnetic Kingdom, I." In The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment, Translated by Brian Copenhaver. Penguin Classics, 556-57.
Paracelsus. 2015. “An Anatomy of Magic: The Labyrinth, 9.” In The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment, Translated by Brian Copenhaver. Penguin Classics, 410-411.
Pseudo-Galen. 2015. “Undescribale Properties: On Kidney Diseases, 5.676-9.” In The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment, Translated by Brian Copenhaver. Penguin Classics, 203-204.

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