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Spirits celestial influences and signs

Bruta

A celestial influence said to become known through animal behaviour.

From the book

A Chymical Dictionary

Gerhard Dorn and John French · Diotimos Editions · 2026

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Orientation

At a Glance

  • The wordA celestial influence said to become known through animal behaviour.
  • In the bookCompare Aniada and Influentia for the vocabulary of celestial virtue and influence.
  • A place to readThe historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 11; facsimile PDF page 339.

Historical definition

Bruta is the influence of a celestial virtue made known to people through brute animals: for example, the use of celandine through the swallow, and of salt for a clyster through the stork, with many other examples of this kind.

Meaning

The definition treats animals as mediators of knowledge. A celestial virtue is said to be manifested through their actions, and human beings recognize a useful material or practice by observing them. The swallow and stork examples belong to that historical explanatory pattern. They should be reported as the dictionary’s claims rather than presented as verified accounts of animal medicine.

The term therefore names more than animals as a category. Its stated subject is an influence and the way it is revealed. If a passage uses an animal story to explain how a remedy became known, Bruta offers a conceptual setting for that story.

Use in the book

Compare Aniada and Influentia for the vocabulary of celestial virtue and influence. These links clarify the proposed source of efficacy, while the animal examples show its supposed transmission into human knowledge. The entry does not provide a modern experimental basis for the practices it mentions.

Places to read

  1. BrutaRead the complete historical definition and its commentary.
  2. AniadaA term linking heavenly gifts, Christian sacraments and life-preserving celestial influence.
  3. InfluentiaThe causal action of superior bodies upon inferior bodies.

Source note

Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 11; facsimile PDF page 339 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Bruta ; compare Aniada, Influentia