15th Century Florentine Micro-Macro Analogy

A genealogy of the macrocosm and microcosm analogy will explain its emergence and usage in Pre Modernity. Grillot de Givry believes that “the theory of Macrocosm and Microcosm is found repeatedly in the secret mystic teachings of all people. A very ancient hermetic text, La Table d’Emeraude, says, “The thing that is on high is like that below” (de Givry, 240). The Hermetica Corpus (the first source of ancient Hermetic and pre modern Hermetic writers) has a very clear idea of Macrocosm and Microcosm analogy: “Eternity, therefore, is an image of God; the cosmos is an image of eternity; and the sun is an image of the cosmos. The human is an image of the sun” (Hermetica, XI:2). Hermes Trismegistus’ macro and micro analogy has the following syntax: God is the macrocosm of eternity (microcosm), eternity is the macrocosm of the cosmos, the cosmos is the macrocosm of the sun, and the sun is the macrocosm of the microcosm of man. Analogical links between the subjects are descending order, but linked together, as an unbroken chain, each chain is in proportion to the previous chain, and, unlike Aristotelian logic, these descending links between God and man are transitive.

In 1464, Ficino translated Hermetica Corpus from Greek to Latin for Latin West, who had not known this work for well over a thousand years. In fact, Ficino misdates the Hermetica Corpus by thousand years and claims it had been written by an Egyptian priest, Hermes Trismegistus, who lived around the same time as Moses, but this document really had been written around 200 ad. Although Frances Yates documents well the influence of Ficino’s misdating of Hermetica Corpus and its influence upon Ficino, Pico, Agrippa, and Bruno (which she refers to as the Hermetic tradition), her taxon is a bit narrow, because she does not include Lazzarelli, Tritemius, Paracelsus, and Sebastian Frank, or Porta.  

In Commentary on the Symposium (1469), we can see the influence of Ficino’s translation of the Hermetic Corpus on his own view of the world in his commentary, because he uses a very clear macrocosm and microcosm analogy between the sun and the human heart: “Just as the heart of the world, the sun, from its circuits sends down light, and through the light sends down its own power to lower things, so the heart of our body, through a certain perpetual motion of its own, stirring the blood nearest to it, spreads sparks of light through all the parts certainly, but especially through the eyes (Ficino, 159). First of all, Ficino’s macro and micro analogy is stunning in its strict reference between “the sun” and “man,” as the Hermetica. His description of “the heart,” “blood,” and “perpetual motion” almost implies some understanding of the circulation of blood, which would not be discovered until William Harvey, who also draws macro and micro analogy between the sun and the heart.

Ficino modifies his macro and micro analogy from the Hermetica by drawing a specific link between the “sun” and the “human heart” by showing how the function of the sun, which is spreading light through the cosmic body, is analogous to the human heart, which spreads light throughout the human body. Second, Ficino uses the macro and micro analogy in a slightly different way than the Hermetica, because he does not speak of image between the macro link and micro link, but function between the macro link and the micro link. Thirdly, Ficino speaks of this analogical relation not as some way of understanding the cosmos, but rather as a cosmic law, that the microcosm will always replicate its immediate superior macrocosm in its function (i.e., heart will imitate the sun).      

Ficino will use the sun and heart macro and micro analogy again. In the Book of Life (1489), Ficino draws the same macro and micro analogy, but phrases it slightly different and includes the world soul (anima mundi) on this occasion: "The anima mundi flourishes everywhere in the same way, but it especially unfolds its own power of life in the Sun. Thus, they locate the soul, both in us and in the world, as whole in any limb, and especially in the heart and the Sun” (Ficnio, 89). Now, Ficino adds three links to the macro and micro analogy: just as the soul of the world (macro) is linked to the sun (micro), so the sun (macro) is linked to the heart (micro). Ficino draws three-fold link: world soul, the sun, and the heart. These links also have the same function to provide animation and light to its respective body. Not only does the heart replicate the sun’s functions, the sun replicates the world soul’s function.

We could call this law like operation of replication in the macrocosm and microcosm analogy de Givry’s Hermetic law: that which occurs above will necessarily occur below. De Givry’s Hermetic law does not sound like an epistemological principle, but rather a metaphysical law. Ficino’s usage of the world soul should put down any objections whether or not Ficino understands the macrocosm and microcosm analogy as a metaphysical law, because the doctrine of the world soul is central to not only to Stoic metaphysics, but also to Neo Platonic. 

Lazzarelli admits to reading Ficino’s recent translations of Corpus Hermetica: “So while I read all the books of Hermes that I possibly could, as a student of true wisdom, I did not omit the preface by Marsilio Ficino to those books that he recently translated into Latin” (Lazzarelli, 155). He disagrees with Ficino who dates Trismegistus life around or after Moses; instead, he believes that he lived “rather a long time before Moses…Trismegistus lived among the gods in the time of the gods” (Lazzarelli, 157). Instead of using macro and micro analogy to reveal the secrets of nature (such as functions), he applies the very same language as Trismegistus in describing the descending links of spiritual power of respective religious figures, which descend from God’s splendor and divine power. If you substitute anima mundi or the sun for God’s power moving downward through religious characters, Lazzarelli applies the macro and micro analogy in rather unusual manner: “This is the brilliance of light eternal, the spotless mirror of God Majesty and an image of his goodness” (Lazzarelli, 125). Just as the anima mundi or the sun is the source of power and light for the body, so God is the brilliant eternal light.

Like Trismegistus, Lazzarelli uses the language of a mirror reflecting divine light downward. Ficino never uses Trismegistus’ language of mirror or image as clearly as Lazzarelli in his macro and micro analogies. Ironically, the translator is less sensitive to the language of Trismegistus than one of his grateful readers. As Trismegistus says “eternity is an image of God,” Lazzarelli argues that “the book of Enoch, the visions of Hermes, Noah’s arch, the sign of covenant of the Lord, the rod and tabernacle of Moses” (Lazzarelli, 125) are mirrors of God’s eternal light, and are reflecting off of one another in a descending order. What makes Lazzarelli’s usage of a macro and micro analogy controversial is that he places the book of Enoch and visions of Hermes before canonized revealed Scripture. His usage of the macro and micro analogy makes his intention clear, because the macro and micro analogy always involves descending or ascending order, and his placement of God’s eternal light and its mirror and image at the outset clearly makes his macro and micro analogy one of a descending order. Further, evidence of this descending order is his belief that Hermes lived before Moses and with the gods. So Lazzarelli is using the Hermetic macro and micro analogy to explain God’s eternal light and its reflection downward to man. Lazzarelli’ usage of macro and micro analogy with God’s eternal light is clearly not epistemic, but metaphysical/theological.

 Of the 15th century Hermetic Florentines, Pico has the best spelled out and philosophical defined structure of the Hermetic macro and micro analogy. Ficino is a translator, who is a part time philosopher and physician. Lazzarelli is peculiar in his religious views, and is more of a poet than philosopher. In the Heptaplus(1489), Pico organizes the macro and micro analogy around the metaphysical assumption that the created universe is composed of a hierarchical order of worlds: angelic, celestial, and terrestrial. Angelic is the same as the Neo-Platonic Intelligible world. This is the world of God’s perfect ideas.

On Pico view, you can interchange Angels for Neo-Platonic Forms, and vice versa. Celestial realm is perfect, insofar as celestial spheres move in perfect perpetual motion around the earth ad infinitum. Pico attributes souls to these celestial bodies, because anything which moves on its own has spirit or soul. Celestial spheres are above the terrestrial, so they must have souls (or intelligences). Terrestrial realm is realm of opposition, because of the warring elements, which are in constant Opposition. “Fire” burns wood (Earth). “Water” puts out “Fire.” Air is in opposition to Water. Earth limits Water and vice versa. Terrestrial world has a soul too: anima mundi. Pico’s placement of the anima mundi is different than Ficino. While Ficino makes the anima mundi the spirit of celestial world, Pico places anima mundi in the terrestrial domain exclusively. This spirit moves itself perpetually, because it is the force of generation and degeneration of all genus and specie on the terrestrial world: plants, animals, and man. Threefold hierarchy of angelic, celestial, and terrestrial is the established order of God’s created hierarchy, but Pico is careful not to include God himself in this Hierarchy.

Unlike Hermes and Lazzarelli, Pico wants God out of the structure of his macro and micro analogy. God is the creator of Pico’s cosmology. Ergo, God is not part of the cosmology. Pico is a strong believer God as creator and is not obscure about this point, unlike other Hermetic(s). Accordingly, Pico formulates the following rule for the macro and micro analogy: "These three worlds are one world, not only because they are all related by one beginning and to the same end, or because regulated by appropriate numbers, they are bound together both by harmonious kinship of nature and by regular series ranks, but because whatever is in any of the worlds is at the same time contained in each” (Pico, 77). First, Pico believes, unlike Lazzarelli or Hermes, that angelic, celestial, and terrestrial worlds are the same world due to God’s creation of them, because they are bound together by “one beginning and to the same end.”

These worlds are related to another, metaphysically speaking, by “number” and by “rank.” Just as there are seven planets (macro), there are seven metals (micro) in the terrestrial world. These celestial spheres and metals are ranked equivalently and the same. Just as the “sun” is the most important celestial sphere, gold is the most important metal. This harmony between celestial planets and their rank and terrestrial metals and their rank is bounded together by God’s creation. Accordingly, whatever is the case in upper worlds is the case in the lower world. Pico’s principle for macro and micro analogies between the three worlds is the same as de Givry’s Hermetic law: that which occurs above will occur necessarily below. On Pico’s view, if man can understand these metaphysical analogies between the different worlds, he will understand how to perfect himself beyond the terrestrial world and ascend to the greater worlds.