From the book
A Chymical Dictionary
Gerhard Dorn and John French · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordMetallic images treated as subjects of celestial efficacy.
- In the bookGamahei are images impressed by supercelestial influence.
- A place to readThe historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 27; facsimile PDF page 355.
Historical definition
Imagines are metallic figures or effigies in which celestial powers operate.
Meaning
The definition identifies both a material medium and an attributed activity. The figures are metallic, and celestial powers are said to operate in them. Their shape is not described, and the entry supplies no means by which a power is attached to a particular image.
The term therefore concerns a relation between figure and efficacy rather than merely the visual resemblance of a representation to its subject. The source’s claim should remain legible without supplying an unmentioned system of planetary assignments.
Use in the book
Gamahei are images impressed by supercelestial influence. Gamathei are stones marked with characters and images and associated with celestial virtues. Imaginatio instead concerns a star in a person. These comparisons keep medium and subject clear: a metallic figure, a marked stone and imagination in a human being are related through vocabulary, but separately defined.
Places to read
- ImaginesRead the complete historical definition and its commentary.
- GamaheiImages attributed to an influence beyond the celestial.
- GamatheiStones bearing signs and images associated with celestial powers.
- ImaginatioImagination described through human, celestial and supercelestial relations.
In this edition
The modernised definition retains the asserted operation of powers as a historical account. It adds no construction procedure for such figures.
Source note
Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 27; facsimile PDF page 355 — Facsimile