Excerpts from Giordano Bruno's treatises: On Magic and A General
Account of Bonding As with any other topic, before we begin our
treatise On Magic, it is necessary to distinguish the various
meanings of the term, for there are as many meanings of ‘magic’
as there are of ‘magician’. First, the term ‘magician’ means a
wise man; for example, the Trismegistes among the Egyptians, the
druids among the Gauls, the gymnosophists among the Indians, the
cabalists among the Hebrews, the magi among the Persians (who
were followers of Zoroaster), the sophists among the Greeks and
the wise men among the Latins. Second, ‘magician’ refers to
someone who does wondrous things merely by manipulating active
and passive powers, as occurs in chemistry, medicine and such
fields; this is commonly called ‘natural magic’. Third, magic
involves circumstances such that the actions of nature or of a
higher intelligence occur in such a way as to excite wonderment
by their appearances; this type of magic is called
‘prestidigitation’. Fourt