Skip to main content

Sympathy and Antipathy

Sympathy and Antipathy


 Sympathy and antipathy are causal forces used to explain a wide range of phenomena. The theories of sympathy and antipathy were often seen and written about as though they were dogma of natural science. Some examples of people who wrote about the concepts of sympathy and antipathy were Plato, Pliny the Elder, Ptolemy, Plotinus, Proclus, Tomasso Campanella, and Athanasius Kircher.

  As Proclus describes, sympathy is usually discussed as a force that drives things near, while antipathy drives things away (Copenhaver 2015, 210).  He discusses the lotus flower, and its behaviors in which he observed. He says, “The lotus shows that there is sympathy,” in the way it unfolds in the presence of the sun rising, expanding when the sun is at its peak, and contracts with the sunset (2015, 208). In a slightly different way, Campanella describes that there is a, “…natural love and hate in sentient things…” (2015, 534)—again describing an attraction/aversion relationship relating to sympathy and antipathy. Plato appeals to this idea of “love” as the “…divine harmonizer of all the world’s antipathies and sympathies,” (2015, 94) and that love (sympathy) is the force that energizes the world brings it all together (2015, 107). Pliny justifies daily activities and habits, “…by theoretical motions like sympathy and antipathy,” (Copenhaver 2015, 133-135). For example, he believes that people can have occult qualities that, “By the antipathy innate in all these peoples…can heal someone just by meeting him,” (2015, 133-135).

  The principle of sympathy was also often seen as the main force governing the cosmos. Ptolemy discusses the moon, and how the rivers, seas, plants and animals sympathize with it (Copenhaver 2015, 141). Sympathy is discussed as a driving force that is the reason behind how the moon and other parts of the cosmos are able to affect/control living and nonliving things on Earth. Plotinus discusses how the system of the cosmos is “energized” and “harmonized” by the force of cosmic sympathy, which he says operates on its own (2015, 161)

  Kircher discusses magnetism, which he treated as a universal force—one that he says others describe as, “a quality of sympathy and antipathy,” (Copenhaver 2015, 557). He goes on to say that all things act, “…through a kind of attraction and repulsion. This attraction is a kind of love whereby, through natural desire, things seek what is good, friendly and similar to the,. And repulsion is the anger in a  kind of hatred whereby they strive to get rid of the bad…” (2015, 557). Although Kircher’s analogy is related to a magnet, as he explains, these qualities are those of sympathy and antipathy.


Key words: action at a distance, magnetism, vitalism, macrocosm, microcosm


Bibliography:

Copenhaver, Brian. 2015. The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment. Penguin Classics.

Campanella, Tomasso. 2015. "Science is Magic: Campanella, On Sense and Magic, 4.5-6." In The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment, Translated by Brian Copenhaver. Penguin Classics, 534.

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.
Plato. 2015. “A Science of Erotics: Plato, Symposium, 185E-88D." In The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment, Translated by Brian Copenhaver. Penguin Classics, 107.

Pliny. 2015. “Who Invented Such Things?: Pliny, Natural History, 28.4-32." In The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment, Translated by Brian Copenhaver. Penguin Classics, 133-35.

Plotinus. 2015. “The Reining Sympathy: Plotinus, Enneads, 4.4.40-44." In The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment, Translated by Brian Copenhaver. Penguin Classics, 174.

Proclus. 2015. “Attracting by Likeness: Proclus, On the Priestly Art." In The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment, Translated by Brian Copenhaver. Penguin Classics, 208-210.

Ptolemy. 2015. “Configurations of Sun, Moon, and Stars: Ptolemy, Treatise in Four Books, 1.1-2." In The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment, Translated by Brian Copenhaver. Penguin Classics, 140-41.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Supernatural

Supernatural A term used when something does not fit into the category of natural or normal. It can also be imagined as something that is caused by a bigger force. Supernatural can be explained as a treatment for epilepsy because Galen of Pergamon the most renowned roman doctor found a “supernatural” cure because it wasn't a pill or medicine it was a simple peony root that was worn like amulet without being eaten. This technique was used as an alternative medicine and since there wasn't any explanation for a herbal medicine they categorized the treatment into a "supernatural" treatment. Agrippa uses magic as the core of his philosophy that unifies theology, physics, and mathematics in one. He went on to explain that the earthly levels of the hierarchy are connected to the natural cosmos but the intellectual level is supernatural inhabited by angels and demons. Supernatural is defined as an illusion because Scot rejects witchcraft and the supernatural ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sorcery

Sorcery A sorcerer is a person who practices magic and thus has the ability to make the unexplainable happen. However, sorcery does not just refer to any type of magic. According to Copenhaver, sorcery is also known as a “magical wrongdoing” (Copenhaver 2015, 93). Another word for harmful sorcery is “Maleficium”, which is seen as a criminal offense (Apuleius 2015, 143). It is said that even Moses, after bringing about the Ten Commandments, claimed that sorcery was evil and should be illegal (Copenhaver 2015, 17). This practice is commonly associated with witches, who were seen as evil because of their suspected relations with the devil. Witches were believed to be able to manipulate the feelings or actions of others as well as cause damage using mysterious methods of magic (Burchard 2015, 273). This kind of sorcery was feared by all and the suspicion that resulted often led to the accused women being put to death. Sorcery was not only associated with witches, but with other ki...
Post a Comment
Read more

Superstition

Superstition Superstition is the belief that an event can be caused as a result of a supernatural happening or being. People who are superstitious readily attribute magical qualities to objects and events with the belief that something larger is going on than meets the eye. Augustine, a student of the psychology of superstition, explains that “Anything undertaken by humans to make and worship idols is superstitious, whether it involves giving divine honours to a creature or any part of a creature or enquiries and certain pacts and marks agreed and contracted with demons – like those attempted in the magical arts” (Augustine 2015, 241). This claims that people who are superstitious are in accordance with demons and usually possess a magical worldview. Superstition can run deep in a culture’s beliefs. Copenhaver explains that superstition was extensively woven into society and showed itself through “Ordinary customs and conventions” (Copenhaver 2015, 248), meaning that their norma...
Post a Comment
Read more