The Micro-Macro Analogy of William Gilbert.

In Premodernity, any natural phenomena which can not be explained by Aristotle’s natural philosophy or another classic authority of natural philosophy (Ptolemy, Galen, etc) is considered occult and the realm of natural magic. Agrippa’s work Three Books Occult Philosophy is dedicated to natural magic. Hermetica Corpus is regarded as the ancient source of the occult. One of the most occult phenomena of Premodernity is the magnet and its ability to attract iron, because it could not be explained by Aristotle’s natural philosophy or any other classic natural philosophy. In De Magnete (1600), William Gilbert uses the micro and macro analogy in very distinct manner without any of the Florentine Hermetic imagery of “mirror” and “image.” His usage is distinct from the 15th century Florentines and the early 16th century German writers, because of no ascending or descending astrological orders to explain the occult or magnetic phenomena. He rails Ficino’s descriptions of the loadstone. “[Marsilio Ficino’s] chews the cudd of ancient opinions and to give the reason of the magnetic direction seeks its cause in the constellation Ursa: in the load-stone, says he, the potency of Ursa prevails and hence it is transferred into the iron” (Gilbert, 6). Although Gilbert criticizes Ficino and Paracelsus and alters the usage of micro and macro analogy to demonstrate the Copernican hypothesis, he cannot escape the limits of Premodernity and still maintains Hermetic beliefs.

Gilbert refuses to accept Ficino's descending order of a celestial body (Ursa) empowering a terrestrial mineral or metal with magnetism:“Ficino writes that the load-stone draws iron and make it point north, because of it is of the higher order than iron in the Bear” (Gilbert, 13). Not only is Ficino’s beliefs about the load-stone (or magnet) confused due to his strict astrological explanation of the occult force of magnetism, but also he confuses the load-stone’s power of magnetism with the Artic pole: “Ficino will have it that the loadstone follows its Artic pole, and that iron follows the loadstone, and chaff follows the amber” (Gilbert, 179). Gilbert does not find the 15th century Hermetic Florentine explanations of occult load-stone acceptable, but speculative and too conveniently explainable by their astrology. He appears to be mistrustful of explanations which involve ascending and descending orders characteristic of 15th century Florentine Hermetic thought. Not only is Ficino corrupted by such astrological speculation, but Paracelsus is guilty as well: “Paracelsus declares that there are stars which gifted with the loadstone’s power, do attract to themselves” (Gilbert, 6). 

Instead, our Englishman, Gilbert, not only wants to remove the Hermetic ideas associated with the load-stone, but also changes the usage of the Macrocosm and Microcosm analogy in the explanation of the load-stone. Ficino and Paracelsus are railed by him for their characteristic Hermetic ascending and descending structure of their macro and micro analogies by attributing the power of the load-stone to the stars. Tritemius’ adaptation of macro and micro analogy is to push the analogical metaphysical links to secondary causes and his adaptation influences his students, Agrippa and Paracelsus. Gilbert‘s adaptation of the macrocosm and microcosm analogy is similar to Pico's syncretic method to reconcile this Hermetic analogy with Aristotelian natural philosophy in order to explain the occult load-stone. Paradoxically, Gilbert’s adaptation of the macro and micro, which pushes away its Florentine and German Hermetic language and imagery, pushes it closer to Pico’s syncretic method of showing unity through opposition. Interestingly, Gilbert never rails Pico, but does rails Agrippa for carelessly “handling [the loadstone] in the most careless way, while [he] repeats only the figments and ravings of others” (Gilbert, 4).

On Being and The One (1491), Pico tries to reconcile Aristotle concept of ousia and the Neo-Platonic One, which is meant to be above ousia. Accordingly, Gilbert’s effort to reconcile Aristotle with an opposing doctrine (Hermetic macro and micro analogy) and subject (the load-stone) has its roots with Pico’s syncretic method. Clearly, the first and most distinct feature of Gilbert’s usage of macro and micro analogy is that his usage simultaneously renounces Ficino’s, Agrippa’s, and Paracelsus’ astrological micro and macro analogies to explain the load-stone, but applies Pico’s syncretic method to use macro and micro analogy with Aristotle’s natural philosophy to explain the load-stone which is outside of his natural philosophy. Foucault would regard Gilbert’s first distinctive use of macro and micro analogy as a limitation of the episteme of Premodernity. Gilbert cannot escape the rational field of the Premodern episteme. His raillery against Ficino, Agrippa, and Paracelsus’ astrological macro and micro analogies to explain the load-stone only pushes him to Pico’s syncretic method, which involves reconciling Aristotle and the Hermetic macro and micro analogy (a subject of his raillery) to explain the inexpiable load-stone in Aristotle’s natural philosophy.  

Gilbert’s macro and micro analogy is plain, straightforward, and less alien to us than Ficino and Paracelsus’ analogies: “Just as in our hand the load-stone possesses all the primary power (forces) of the earth, so the earth by reason of the potencies lies in the same direction in the universe” (Gilbert, 64). Unlike Ficino, Agrippa, and Paracelsus astrological analogies, Gilbert’s is astronomical, so the second distinctive feature of Gilbert’s usage of macro and micro analogy is that it is an astronomical not astrological analogy. He does not say that the power of the load-stone is influence by the power of a celestial body. Instead, he says that the load-stone is the microcosm which reflects the macrocosm of earth. The planet Earth and the load-stone share features, which makes one the greater over the other.  In the celestial domain, astronomers say that a celestial sphere has two moving poles. One pole is pointing north, the other is pointing south. “In like manner the load-stone has from nature two poles, a northern and a southern; fixed, definite points in the stone, which are primary termini of the movements and effects, and the limits and regulators of several actions and properties” (Gilbert, 23). Just as the earth has two poles, so the load-stone has two poles, which pull at opposite directions. A load-stone’s north pole has greatest attraction to another load-stone’s south pole: “the north pole of one has the strongest attraction for, has the most vigorous pull, on the south part of another” (Gilbert, 31).

In his explanation of how north pole of one magnetic body is attracted to another’s opposite pole, Pico’s syncretic is the underlying rationality which makes sense of this phenomena, because unity comes from opposition. To put it more in Gilbert’s language, the attraction of two opposite poles of different load-stones unites the two load-stones together. Again, Gilbert’s astronomical macro and micro analogy cannot escape the episteme of Premodernity, because his analogy relies upon Pico's syncretic concept of unity of opposites. Ironically, Pico’s Premodern syncretic concept of unity of opposites has its roots in the Hermetica Corpus as well: “This motion is not conjoint but opposed, for the spheres are not moved in the same way; they move contrary to one another, and the contrariety keeps the motion balanced through opposition” (Hermetica II:4). Just as the contrary motions of the two poles of the load-stone maintain its balance in its rotation, so the contrary motions of the north and south poles maintain the balance of the earth in its rotation.

The third feature of his astronomical macro and micro analogy between the earth and the load-stone is heavily rooted in the Hermetic tradition, not Aristotelian, because the load-stone’s power is transitive. According to Hermes Trismegistus, the macrocosm and microcosm analogy involves links between subjects in a descending or ascending order relative to your perspective, but linked together, as an unbroken chain, each chain is in proportion to the previous chain, and, unlike Aristotelian natural philosophy, these ascending or descending links between God and man are transitive. Gilbert’s does not like Trismegistus’ view of descending and ascending order, because he is accepts Copernicus. As he admits, “Copernicus….undertook, with a new hypotheses, to illustrate the phenomena of bodies in motion” (Gilbert, 318). Gilbert does not accept the cosmology of Ptolemy, so the macrocosm (or cosmos) from him is very different than the Premoderns discussed in other two posts. His acceptance of the Copernican hypothesis makes his macro and micro analogy astronomical and not astrological, because he does not believe in the astrological links between the seven celestial spheres and metals and other such analogical correlations.

Hence, his raillery against Ficino and Paracelsus’ astrological macro and micro analogies about the load-stone stems from his acceptance of Copernicus. Earth moves around the sun. Just as a load-stone ball (microcosm) moves from one pole to the other, so the earth (macrocosm) moves from pole to the other. Accordingly, Gilbert believes that the earth has two movements. Gilbert, however, accepts the transitivity of the Hermetic macro and micro analogy, because no better description explains how a chain of magnets hold together. Just as the macro micro analogy is transitive between worlds (man, world, heaven), so the magnetic attraction of load-stone is transitive, because load-stones can magnetize iron: “ not only [loadstone] attracts iron rings, but also endows them with the power of doing as the stone itself, to wit, of attracting other rings, and that thus sometimes a long chain” (Gilbert, 31). A load-stone can attract piece of iron, that piece of iron can attract another and so forth. Analogously, the cosmos is the image of God, man is the image of God; ergo, man is image of cosmos. Just as you have a chain of magnetized iron rings, you have a chain of being due to the occult power of transitivity through bodies. Regardless of ascending and descending order, you still have the chain connected to one another by an invisible force (whether occult or magnetic). Gilbert provides a perfect metallic example of transitivity between different links, which would have been regarded as perfect proof for the macro and micro analogy.

 Although Gilbert’s acceptance of Copernicus alters the macro and micro analogy from astrological to astronomical, the analogy itself has certain consequences regardless of astrological or astronomical characterizations, such as the doctrine of the anima mundi (world soul). Gilbert disagrees with Aristotle over the world soul (or anima mundi): “Aristotle’s world would seem a monstrous creation, in which all things are perfect, vigorous, animate, while the earth alone, luckless small fraction, is imperfect, dead, inanimate and subject to decay. On the other hand, Hermes, Zoroaster, Orpheus, recognized a universal soul” (Gilbert, 309). Gilbert concedes acceptance of the Hermetic anima mundi, contrary to Aristotle, because without the anima mundi, he could not draw macro and micro analogies. He gives credit to Hermes for having the idea of anima mundi first. Since the earth has two perpetual movements (one around the sun and one around itself), the earth has a soul and intelligence (anima mundi). Every Premodern believes in the anima mundi, because it is part of the rational field of the episteme of Premodernity. Gilbert says this about the planet earth:" And the earth herself cannot endure so pitiable and so horrid a state of things on either side, with her astral magnetic mind she moves in a circle, to the end there may be, by unceasing change of light, a perpetual vicissitude, heat and cold, rise and decline, day and night, morn and even, noonday and deep night” (Gilbert, 332).                                                     

Gilbert refers to the earth’s daily rotation as the work of “her astral magnetic mind,” who governs the cycle which causes noon, morning, dusk, and night relative to her pole. In Premodernity, a celestial sphere has a mind if and only if it has soul, not just spirit. Premoderns distinguish between “spirit” which perpetual motion self-moved, but soul means intelligence or mind. If the world has mind (anima mundi), then “she” governs generation and degeneration of species on the world, as well as Gilbert’s cycle of the day: morning, noon, dusk, and day. Since Gilbert is a Copernican, who believes in two movements of the earth, he has added additional domain to anima mundi’s governance: the cycle of the day. Again, his Copernican astronomical macro and micro analogy between the earth and load-stone has not freed him from the pre modern anima mundi, but has only given anima mundi an additional choir.

Gilbert is not altogether clear whether astrology has its place within his astronomical macro and micro analogy between the earth and load-stone, or silly superstition due to his raillery against Ficino and Paracelsus. According to Gilbert, the “magnetic mind” of the earth does control bodies and those bodies are mostly earth and iron: “For everywhere within the sphere of the magnetic force does the earth’s magnetic effluence reign, everywhere it alter bodies. But those bodies that are most like to it and most closely allied, it rules and controls” (Gilbert, 216). Gilbert’s uses a resemblance and similitude between the anima mundi (earth) and the objects which are under her governance. Some objects are more “closely allied” to the earth than other objects, “such as iron and load-stone (Gilbert, 216). The earth will affect iron /load-stone objects more than gold, silver, copper, mercury, tin, or lead, because the earth has governance over iron over those other metals. This explains why magnetized needle of compass always points north due to the governance of Earth over iron and load-stone. Gilbert’s language is not very different from other astrologers. His only difference is that iron and the load-stone are under the governance of Earth, not Mars.

Since the earth governs iron and the load-stone, Gilbert thinks these astrological remarks are acceptable: “For this reason it is not altogether superstitious and silly n many of our affairs and business to note the positions and configuration of countries, the point of the horizon of the location of the stars” (Gilbert, 216). Gilbert draws from these astrological remarks another macro and micro analogy: just as a baby gains the ability of breath once the child leaves the womb, so the other planets depend upon the earth. The difference between Gilbert’s astrology and other Hermetic astrologers is the importance the former puts upon the earth over the latter. His acceptance of Copernicus hypothesis would explain his shifting more importance on the earth than Ptolemaic astrologers, because they do not regard earth as celestial sphere, while Gilbert does regard the earth a celestial sphere which rotates around the sun. Accordingly, since the earth is a celestial sphere, it must have governance over certain bodies, such as iron and the load-stone. Gilbert’s distinctive astronomical macro and micro analogy does revert back to an astrological analogy. While Gilbert rails Ficino and Paracelsus for their astrological macro and micro analogy of load-stone, Gilbert reverts back to astrology, only reorganized by Copernicus.

Since Gilbert’s has different cosmological hierarchy which places the sun at the center of the cosmos instead of the earth, Gilbert has a different a hierarchy of metals. Gilbert also regards iron as the best metal, because it is truest form of earth. “In iron, especially in best iron, is earth in its true and genuine nature” (Gilbert, 38). Ironically, he railed Ficino in having a hierarchy of minerals and metals, but that does not stop him for having a hierarchy of metals, or drawing astrological relations between them: “”Wherefore, not without reason, Thales, as Aristotle reports in his De Anima, declares the loadstone to animate, a part of the animate mother earth, and her beloved offspring” (Gilbert, 312).  The other metals are less pure earth and vary in their purity relative to their mixtures of salt. “In other metals is not so much earth…. condensed and fixed with salts” (Gilbert, 38).

Not only does he have a hierarchy of metals, but also uses Empedocles' theory of elements, not very differently from Paracelsus. His hierarchy of metal does not place gold first, but gold is not the link between the load-stone and the planet earth, but the element of earth is such a link. The load-stone only attracts iron, because iron is the purest metal, because it contains the most earth. Iron can be magnetized and function as a load-stone. The earth is a magnet which moves by way of opposite poles, like a load-stone. Gilbert has to make iron special or his macro and micro analogy between the earth and the load-stone is not possible in the rational space of Premodernity. In fact, Gilbert argues that the load-stone and iron are the same: “these two associated bodies [iron and load-stone] possess the true, strict form of one species” (Gilbert, 61). Load-stones are found iron mines. They share many of the same alchemical qualities once aqua fortis is applied to them. In fact, “most loadstones yield in the furnace the best iron” (Gilbert, 63).

Like Paracelsus, Gilbert believes that the metal iron has medical benefits, but disagrees again with his description of a load-stone. “It will not be alien to our purposes to treat briefly of medicinal power of iron; for it is beneficial in may diseases of the human system, and by its virtue both natural and acquired through fit and skillful preparation” (Gilbert, 55). Gilbert would not believe iron to have medical value unless he operated under a similar rationality as Paracelsus, which means he believed that the human body had micro and macro relationship with the world. Both believed that the body was composed of the four elements of the world and could be healed by the four elements of the world, because the human body was the mirror of the larger world. Both believed in the hermetic anima mundi. Iron is “chiefly in cases of lax and over humid liver, and in cases of tumid spleen after suitable evacuations (Gilbert, 55). Gilbert does not agree, however, with Paracelsus about the load-stone: "Hence the more infamous becomes all charlatanry of Paracelsus, who declares that the loadstone’s force and energy may be increased and transformed tenfold what it is naturally. And the way of doing this …is to make the loadstone very hot” (Gilbert, 146). Heating a load-stone in a furnace only makes steel and eliminates its magnetic power, so Paracelsus is not only wrong about increasing the power of the load-stone, but also wrong about the load-stone not being a species of iron. Gilbert is amazed that Paracelsus, alchemist par excellence, would make such a mistake about the load-stone.