Page:Three Books of Occult Philosophy (De Occulta Philosophia) (1651).djvu/158

 a woman in lower Germany at the same time, who took no food till the thirteenth yeer of her age, which to us may seem incredible, but that he lately confirmed it; as also he tels of a Miracle of our Age, that his brother Nicolaus Stone, an Helvetian by Nation, who lived twenty yeers in the wilderness without meat, till he dyed. That also is wonderfull which Theophrastus mentions concerning a certain man, called Philinus, who used no meat, or drink, besides Milk. And there are grave Authors who describe a certain hearb of Sparta, with which they say the Scythians can endure twelve dayes hunger, without meat or drink, if they do but tast it, or hold it in their mouth.

Chapter lix. Of Divination by Dreams.
There is also a certain kind of Divination by Dreams, confirmed by the traditions of Philosophers, the authorities of Divines, the examples of Histories, and daily experience. A Dreams I call here, not vain Dreams, or idle imaginations: for those are vain, and have no Divination in them, but arise from the remains of watchings, and disturbance of the body. For as the mind is taken up about, and wearied with cares, it suggests it self to him that is asleep. I call that a Dream here, which is caused by the Celestiall influences in the phantastick spirit, mind, or body, being all well disposed. The rule of interpreting this is found amongst Astrologers, in that part which is wrote concerning questions; but yet that is not sufficient, because these kind of Dreams come by use to divers men after a divers manner, and according to the divers quality, and dispositions of the phantastick spirit: wherefore there cannot be given one common rule to all for the interpretation of Dreams. But according to the opinion of Synesius, seeing there are the same accidents to things, and like befall like; so be which hath often fallen upon the same visible thing, hath assigned to himself the same opinion, passion, fortune, action, event, and asAristotle saith, the