MAGIC, ON THE THRESHOLD OF MIRACLES?
I think this is the last post in the series, where i am concerned with magic and miracles.
I am fascinated by how Magic was conceived in Middle ages, and by the theological views about the nature of God.
Basically, that is why i cannot find satisfaction in how magic is portrayed in AD&D. It is too childish to me, and it fails to have an emotional impact over me.
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A girl had died just in the hour of
her marriage, and the bridgegroom was following her bier lamenting as
was natural his marriage left unfulfilled, and the whole of Rome was
mourning with him, for the maiden belonged to a consular family.
Apollonius then witnessing their grief, said: "Put down the
bier, for I will stay the tears that you are shedding for this
maiden." And withal he asked what was her name. The crowd
accordingly thought that he was about to deliver such an oration as
is commonly delivered as much to grace the funeral as to stir up
lamentation; but he did nothing of the kind, but merely touching her
and whispering in secret some spell over her, at once woke up the
maiden from her seeming death; and the girl spoke out loud, and
returned to her father’s house, just as Alcestis did when she was
brought back to life by Hercules. And the relations of the maiden
wanted to present him with the sum of 150,000 sesterces, but he said
that he would freely present the money to the young lady by way of a
dowry. Now whether he detected some spark of life in her, which those
who were nursing her had not noticed,--for it is said that although
it was raining at the time, a vapour went up from her face—or
whether life was really extinct, and he restored it by the warmth of
his touch is a mysterious problem which neither I myself nor those
who were present could decide.
[...]And in just keeping with his
visits to the Arabians were the studies he undertook among the
Persians also, according to the account given by the same author. For
after forbidding Damis, so we are told, to go to the magi, though
Damis was his only pupil and companion, he went alone to school with
them at midday and about midnight; alone in order not to have as his
companion in the study of magic one who was clearly without a taste
for such things. And again when he came to converse with Vardan the
Babylonian king, it is related that he addressed him as follows: "My
system of wisdom is that of He professed the wisdom of
PythagorasPythagoras, a man of Samos, who taught me to worship the
gods in this way and to recognize them, whether they are seen or
unseen, and to be regular in converse with the gods."
The "miracles" performed by
Apollonius caused great consternation in the young Christian Church.
Justin Martyr, the great Church Father of the second century,
pertinently asked:
"How is it that the talismans of Apollonius have power over certain members of creation, for they prevent, as we see, the fury of the waves, the violence of the winds, and the attacks of wild beasts. And whilst Our Lord's miracles are preserved by tradition alone, those of Apollonius are most numerous, and actually manifested in present facts, so as to lead astray all beholders?"
[...]Everywhere
Apollonius received almost divine honors and legends about him grew
up everywhere. His capacity for clairvoyance enabled him to make
predictions that were verified by events and which had the effect of
increasing his fame. He had no difficulty in escaping Nero's
persecution of philosophers, and his admirers said that when
confronted with the tribunal that was to try him, he was able,
through his Hermetic art, to erase the writing on the document on
which his indictment was written.
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