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Somnia
Spirits celestial influences and signs · A Chymical Dictionary
At a Glance
The word. Dreams explained through stellar operations in the sleeper.
In the book. Compare Sortilegium, a presage through spirits, and Pyromancy, divination through fire.
A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 43; facsimile PDF page 371.
Historical Definition
Somnia are operations made in a person by the stars during sleep.
Meaning
The definition treats dreams as effects of an active relation between stars and the sleeping person. It supplies a cause within the compiler’s natural philosophy, rather than merely listing images seen in a dream.
Use in the Book
Compare Sortilegium, a presage through spirits, and Pyromancy, divination through fire. Dreams belong to the wider vocabulary of signs and influences, but this sentence does not claim that every dream is a reliable prediction.
Places to Read
Pyromancy. Divination through the signs of fire.
Sortilegium. Foretelling mediated by spirits.
Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 43; facsimile PDF page 371 — Facsimile
See also. Pyromancy; Sortilegium