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Article MAGICAL SUPERSTITION. ← Page 2 of 2 Article DETACHED THOUGHTS, Page 1 of 2 →
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Magical Superstition.
Another of the same kind of phylacteries were the gamdbez , that is , natural figures found in stones , marble , metals , & c . things by no means uncommon ; perhaps every virtuoso has one in his cabinet . The same spirit of superstition has formed another kind of magic ; which consists in certain words and expressions , sometimes accompanied by certain actions . Such . as , when men were exposed to storms , lightning , & c . they drew a circle on the earth with a knife , capable
of containing those they desired to protect . Then they made a cross , and wrote Verbum Caro factum est . —Characters more diabolical are framed , by which Le Brim informs us they pretend to corrupt the morals of the fair . Then he gives a prolix account of certain enchanted metals . But I am weary of collecting these superstitious follies ; enough has been exhibited to remind the reader to what a deplorable degree the human mind can sink , when it labours under a . load of superstitious imaginations .
Detached Thoughts,
DETACHED THOUGHTS ,
ILLUSTRATED BY ANECDOTES , ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS . Continued from P . 280 . .
ON CURIOSITY .
PHILON the Jew used to say , that curiosity was a poisonous desire which consumed the mind by degrees , till it had reduced it to nothing . —Solomon again assures us , that curiosity has been given us as a punishment for our sins . —Horace says , that the . nature of man is to mount aloft into the air with the wings of Icarus , and that nothing can stop him but the thunder of Jupiter . —Curiosity penetrates into the deepest abyss of the eartheven to the confines of hell
, , where she meets with an impenetrable barrier to the living , and is obliged to return . —Empedocles threw himself into the fiery gulph of Mount Etna , transported with an insurmountable desire to enquire into the cause of its eternal flames . —Polianthe had his eyes put out , for having had the curiosity of admiring Sophronia naked in the Bath . —Aristophane lost his sig ht , by his too great attention in examining
the spots- in the sun . —Zenon the Philosopher was consumed by a flash of lightning , on going to the top of a hig h mountain in order to examine into the nature and mystery of thunder . —Pericles became mad in endeavouring too strictly to examine -into the principles of folly . —Alexander ' s curiosity was so great , that iie ordered the ground to be dug in search ofanother world . —Aristotle , who , on account of his great penetration in natural philosophy , was called the Demon of the Earth , had so great a curiosity to know the cause of the flowing and ebbing of the tide at Cbalcide , a town of Ettbea , that lie died oi
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Magical Superstition.
Another of the same kind of phylacteries were the gamdbez , that is , natural figures found in stones , marble , metals , & c . things by no means uncommon ; perhaps every virtuoso has one in his cabinet . The same spirit of superstition has formed another kind of magic ; which consists in certain words and expressions , sometimes accompanied by certain actions . Such . as , when men were exposed to storms , lightning , & c . they drew a circle on the earth with a knife , capable
of containing those they desired to protect . Then they made a cross , and wrote Verbum Caro factum est . —Characters more diabolical are framed , by which Le Brim informs us they pretend to corrupt the morals of the fair . Then he gives a prolix account of certain enchanted metals . But I am weary of collecting these superstitious follies ; enough has been exhibited to remind the reader to what a deplorable degree the human mind can sink , when it labours under a . load of superstitious imaginations .
Detached Thoughts,
DETACHED THOUGHTS ,
ILLUSTRATED BY ANECDOTES , ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS . Continued from P . 280 . .
ON CURIOSITY .
PHILON the Jew used to say , that curiosity was a poisonous desire which consumed the mind by degrees , till it had reduced it to nothing . —Solomon again assures us , that curiosity has been given us as a punishment for our sins . —Horace says , that the . nature of man is to mount aloft into the air with the wings of Icarus , and that nothing can stop him but the thunder of Jupiter . —Curiosity penetrates into the deepest abyss of the eartheven to the confines of hell
, , where she meets with an impenetrable barrier to the living , and is obliged to return . —Empedocles threw himself into the fiery gulph of Mount Etna , transported with an insurmountable desire to enquire into the cause of its eternal flames . —Polianthe had his eyes put out , for having had the curiosity of admiring Sophronia naked in the Bath . —Aristophane lost his sig ht , by his too great attention in examining
the spots- in the sun . —Zenon the Philosopher was consumed by a flash of lightning , on going to the top of a hig h mountain in order to examine into the nature and mystery of thunder . —Pericles became mad in endeavouring too strictly to examine -into the principles of folly . —Alexander ' s curiosity was so great , that iie ordered the ground to be dug in search ofanother world . —Aristotle , who , on account of his great penetration in natural philosophy , was called the Demon of the Earth , had so great a curiosity to know the cause of the flowing and ebbing of the tide at Cbalcide , a town of Ettbea , that lie died oi