Natural magic
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In the context of Renaissance magic, "natural magic" refers to the part of the occult that deals directly with natural forces, as opposed to ceremonial magic, which involves summoning spirits. Natural magic sometimes uses physical substances from the natural world, such as stones or herbs.
Natural magic, as defined, includes astrology, alchemy, and disciplines that we would today consider fields of natural science, such as astronomy and chemistry (which developed and diverged from astrology and alchemy, respectively, into the modern sciences they are today) or botany (from herbology). The Jesuit scholar Athanasius Kircher wrote that "there are as many types of natural magic as there are subjects of applied sciences."
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa discusses natural magic in his Three Books of Occult Philosophy (1533), calling it "nothing else but the highest power of natural sciences." The Italian Renaissance philosopher Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, who founded the Christian Kabbalah tradition, argued that natural magic was "the practical part of natural science" and was lawful rather than heretical.
- More information is available at [ Wikipedia:Natural_magic ]
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