Spark, globe and luminous vehicles

Use in the book

The analogy between lowest fire and highest air prepares the claim that rational soul is “in a certain way” subtle heaven and heaven denser soul. These comparisons bridge adjacent levels without abolishing their differences. A point running in a circle then becomes an image of circumference unfolded from a centre; an invisible spark becoming a flaming orb supplies its luminous counterpart. Spark represents soul, flame ethereal body. Visible light follows spiritual light as a pale lunar halo follows moonlight.

Ficino distinguishes the souls of fixed stars and planets, surrounded by one luminous body, from other rational souls with two bodies, luminous and opaque, or one more and one less luminous. The spark senses without being sensed; the unfolded flame is sensed without itself sensing. The distinction therefore expressly prevents making every visible luminous globe a sensing thing simply qua flame. The jokes that a denier lacks sense or lacks soul intensify persuasion. The attached Heraclitean maxim gives this luminous psychology an authoritative cadence, but the account remains the chapter’s preliminary excursion.

Places to read

1. VI.2.24Adjacent elemental levels furnish the qualified soul/heaven comparison.
2. VI.2.25Point and spark are separately paired with circumference and flame; the halo image states dependence.
3. VI.2.26The number of bodily vehicles and the senses of sensing/being sensed are carefully distinguished.

Translation in this edition

The edition preserves tamquam, quasi and quodammodo where Ficino qualifies the likeness. The Greek αὐγὴ ξηρὴ ψυχὴ σοφωτάτη is glossed by Ficino himself as lux sicca, anima sapientissima. Its “dry light” should not be silently replaced by another familiar text of Heraclitus.

circumferentia; cardo

circumferentia; cardo. Printed forms: cardine; circumferentia.

Circumference and stable hinge or pivot. The moving point and enfolded circle provide a geometrical counterpart to the spark–flame image. References: VI.2.25. See Spark, globe and luminous vehicles.

comprimere; profundere

comprimere; profundere. Printed forms: compressa; profusa.

Compressed and poured forth. The spark is described as concentrated flame and flame as outpoured spark within the analogy. References: VI.2.25. See Spark, globe and luminous vehicles.

corpus aethereum; corpus geminum

corpus aethereum; corpus geminum. Printed forms: corporibus geminis; corpus aethereum; lucido et opaco.

Ethereal body; a pair of luminous and opaque bodily vehicles. Ficino distinguishes the one luminous surrounding body of stellar souls from the two bodies attributed to other rational souls. References: VI.2.25, VI.2.26. See Spark, globe and luminous vehicles.

declinare; attollere

declinare; attollere. Printed forms: attolli; declinare.

To tend down toward and be raised up toward. Lowest fire and highest air approach one another as the analogy for adjacent levels of heaven and rational soul. References: VI.2.24. See Spark, globe and luminous vehicles.

evolvere; convolvere

evolvere; convolvere. Printed forms: convoluta; evolutumque.

To unfold outward and roll together. The paired participles express the relation of circumference to point without making the point an extended body. References: VI.2.25. See Spark, globe and luminous vehicles.

Heraclitus; lux sicca

Heraclitus; lux sicca. Printed forms: anima sapientissima; Heraclitus; lux sicca.

Heraclitus and the maxim glossed as dry light, wisest soul. The local Greek supports Ficino’s luminous analogy; its wording is retained rather than replaced with a different familiar fragment. References: VI.2.26. See Spark, globe and luminous vehicles.

implicare; explicare

implicare; explicare. Printed forms: explicatas; explicatur; implicatos.

To enfold and unfold. Souls are called enfolded luminous globes and globes unfolded souls, with the sensing/sensed distinction still preserved. References: VI.2.26. See Spark, globe and luminous vehicles.

orbis pallidus

orbis pallidus. Printed forms: pallidus orbis in nubibus.

A pale circle in clouds, the lunar halo. Its following moonlight illustrates visible light’s dependence on spiritual source rather than identity with it. References: VI.2.25. See Spark, globe and luminous vehicles.

quodammodo

quodammodo. Printed forms: quodammodo.

In a certain respect or manner, explicitly qualifying a proposition. It limits claims about matter's priority, soul's inclination and the mode in which contraries or analogies are predicated. References: V.5.5, V.12.2, V.12.3, V.14.3. See Potency, possibility and the lion.

In a certain manner or respect, limiting an identification. Soul is called subtle heaven only under the comparison, not asserted to be literally an extended celestial body. References: VI.2.24. See Spark, globe and luminous vehicles.

scintilla; flamma

scintilla; flamma. Printed forms: flamma; scintilla; scintillam.

Spark and flame as concentrated source and extended manifestation. The spark stands for soul and the flame for ethereal body, with distinct relations to sensation. References: VI.2.25, VI.2.26. See Spark, globe and luminous vehicles.

Dry light and the wisest soul (Greek quotation)

αὐγὴ ξηρὴ ψυχὴ σοφωτάτη

Ficino’s Latin gloss is lux sicca, anima sapientissima. The supplied English renders it “A dry light is the wisest soul.”

The four Greek words mean radiance/light (αὐγή), dry (ξηρή), soul (ψυχή), and wisest (σοφωτάτη). Ficino’s own Latin gloss controls the local reading. The compressed nominal statement has no expressed verb. He places it after the spark–flame and enfolded–unfolded globe comparisons, reinforcing the conception of soul as invisible sensing and intelligent light. It is not a modern medical assertion about literal dryness, nor should another familiar wording of Heraclitus be silently substituted. The forms intelligibilem and intelligentem in the same unit distinguish being intelligible from actively understanding.

Place. VI.2.26. See Spark, globe and luminous vehicles.

Heraclitus (authorities and interlocutors)

Heraclitus. A Greek dry-light maxim is interpreted through Ficino’s accompanying Latin gloss. Another appeal, with the Orphic writers, occurs in the visible/invisible-light discussion. The companion does not replace the printed quotation with another historical form of the fragment. References: VI.2.26, VIII.13.1. See Spark, globe and luminous vehicles; Mirror, light, and the soul of the sun.