The Second Book Of Occult Philosophy, or Magic
by Henry Cornelius Agrippa
Annotated by Donald Tyson
Chapter IV
Of Unity, And The Scale Thereof.
Now let us treat particularly of numbers themselves: and because number is nothing else but a repitition of unity, let us first consider unity itself. Forunity doth most simply go through every number, and is teh common measure, fountain, and original of all numbers, contains every number joined together in itself entirely, the beginner of every multitude, always the same, and unchangable: whence also being multiplied into itself, produceth nothing but itself: it is indivisible, void of all parts: but if it seem at any time to be divided, it is not cut, but indeed multiplied into unities: yet none of these unities is greater or lesser than the whole unity, as a part is less than the whole: it is not therefore multiplied into parts, but into itself.1
Therefore some called it concord, some piety, and some friendship, which is so knit, that it cannot be cut into parts. But Martianus, according to the opinion of Aristotle, saith, it is named Cupid,2 because it is made one alone, and will always bewail itself, and beyond itself it hath nothing, but being void of all haughtiness, or coupling, turns its proper heats into itself.
It is therefore the one beginning, and end of all thngs, neither hath it any beginning, or end itself: nothing is before one, nothing is after one, and beyond it is nothing, and all things which are, desire that one, because all things proceeded from one, and that all things may be the same, it is necessary that they partake of that one: and as all things endeavour to return to that one, from which they proceeded; it is necessary that they should put off multitude.
One therefore is referred to the high God, who seeing he is one, and innumberable, yet creates innumerable things of himself, and contains them within himself. There is therefore one God, one world of the one God, one Sun of the one world, also one phoenix in the world, one king amongst bees,3 one leader among flocks of cattle, one ruler amongst herds of beastss, and cranes follow one,4 and many other animals honour unity; amongst the members of the body there is one principal by which all the rest are guided, whether it be the head, or (as some will) the heart. There is one element overcoming, and penetrating all things, viz. Fire.
There is one thing5 created of God, the subject of all wondering, which is on Earth, or in heaven; it is actually animal, vegetable, and mineral, everywhere found, known by few, called by none by its proper name, but copvered with figures, and riddles, without which neither alchemy, nor natural magic, can attain to their complete end, or perfection.
From one man, Adam, all men proceed, from that one all become mortal, from that one Jesus Christ they are regenerated: and as saith Paul,6 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, and Father of all, one mediator betwixt God and man, one most high Creator, who is over all, by all, and in us all. For there is one Father, God, from whence all, and we in him: one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom all, and we by him: one God Holy Ghost, into whom all, and we into him.
The Scale Of Unity
| In the Exemplary World | י Yod | One divine essence, the fountain of all virtues, and power, whose name is expressed with one most simple letter. |
| In the Intellectual World | The Soul of the World | One Supreme Intellect, the first creature, the fountain of lives |
| In the Celestial World | The Sun | One king of stars, the fountain of life |
| In the Elemental World | The Philosopher's Stone | One subject, and instrument of all virtues, natural, and supernatural |
| In the Lesser World | The Heart | One first living and last dying |
| In the Infernal World | Lucifer | One price of rebellion, of angels, and darkness |
Notes - Chapter IV
1. into itself - Any one thing, divided, produces several single things, each one thing in itself, And the oneness of a thing cannot be greater or less than the oneness of any other thing.
2. Cupid - The Roman Eros, who according to Hesiod was the third born:
Chaos was first of all, but next appeared
Broad-bosomed Earth, sure standing place for all
The gods who live on snowy Olympus' peak
And misty Tartarus, in a recess
Of broad-pathed earth, and love most beautiful
Of all teh deathless gods. He makes men weak,
He overpowers the clever mind, and tames
The spirit in the breasts of men and gods.
(Hesiod Theogony [Wender, 27])
3. king amongst bees - The ancients entertained the mistaken notion that the single oversized bee in each hive was its king, whereas it is in fact female, and the queen. See Virgil's descriptiopn of the warfare between two rival "kings" in his Georgics4, c. line 67.
4. cranes follow one - "These birds agree by common consent at what moment they shall set out, fly aloft to look out afar, select a leader for them to follow, and have sentinels duly posted in the rear, which relieve each other by turns, utter loud cries, and with their voices keep the whole flight in proper array" (Pliny 10.30 [Bostock and Riley, 501]).
5. one thing - The mysterious Azoth of philosophers - a word coined by hermetic alchemists from the first and last letters of the Lattin, Greek, and Hebrew alphabets to signify the hidden essence that pervades the universe. Paracelsus is represented with the word - minus the first letter - inscribed in the pommel of his sword in a woodcut from 1567 (see next page).
6. saith Paul - I Corinthians 12:4-13.
