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Microcosm and Macrocosm

Microcosm and Macrocosm


The concepts of microcosm and macrocosm were made to describe the relation of humans in comparison to the universe—making it so we could look to each for answers. Macrocosm refers to the universe—the world at large. Microcosm refers to a portion of a macrocosm.

Firmicus Maternus, an ancient astrologist and writer, uses these concepts to analyze the “small world,” or microcosm, of an individual and the “great world” or macrocosm of the universe. He says, “Man was formed in the nature and likeness of the cosmos on the same principles that rule and bind the cosmos itself,” (Copenhaver 2015, 155-156). Firmicus states that the physical and structural principles of the human body are the same as those that shape and govern the entire universe, therefore relating the concepts of microcosm and macrocosm to each other (2015, 185-187).

Paracelsus, a physician and alchemist, proposed a philosophy that stated that for every ailment and illness in a human (microcosm), there existed a cure in nature (macrocosm). With that said, he stated that every plant or part of a plant that looked like an organ in the human body was worth examining, and that any shapes and colors that could be seen by humans should be considered , “…clues into deeper realities,” (Copenhaver 2015, 410). Paracelsus believed that the plants have microcosms (or “organs” as he called them) that have occult abilities to be remedies for the human body (2015, 411).


Key words: manifest qualities, hidden qualities, sympathy, antipathy

Bibliography:

Copenhaver, Brian. 2015. The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment. Penguin Classics.
Maternus, Firmicus. 2015. “Formed in the Likeness of the Cosmos: Firmicus Maternus, Instruction, 2.1-2." In The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment, Translated by Brian Copenhaver. Penguin Classics, 185-87.
Paracelsus. 2015. “An Anatomy of Magic: Paracelsus, The Labyrinth, 9." In The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment, Translated by Brian     Copenhaver. Penguin Classics, 410-11.

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