the iĄaculty oÍ' Graduate Ątudies April, L96[ - MSpace at the ...

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Knowledge of God also implied knowled-ge of the Devil
and, his i,vorks, and Paracelsus irnplied chat the diabolic
or daemonic hlas a prereo,uisite for insighi into the
nature of deity" Ind.eed, evil, the enemy oÍ' the soul,
j-s conceived as being God-given" This in tu-rn implied.
Ëi+o types of magi c: a white nragic which was the legi bi-
mate use of occult pot\rers for good ends, ancL blaclc rnagic,
the art of sorcery and league '¿¡ibh the diabolic for evil
ends. Again ihere r'¡as often no clearly defined line
between õhese poivers in the popular minci nor, for ihat
m¡rFn--¡ î-n"^ Paracelsus? vievr-point v,¡hen he rvrote in hiS
ll¡4UUEA g JIVIII
Opus Parami-rum ihat:
ItKein Ding ist so schwarz, es hat eine irJeisse in
ihm; niçhts ist so weiss, es habe eine Schr^¡ärze in
ihm. v 27'
The lack of an immedÍately apprehendable definition be-
tween these two was to have been cast by God inÈo the
face of humanity as a ehallenge to manf s free r,,rill.
lJhile being airare of the pull of opposite forces,
Paracelsus sbrove to live the ritu-al of his life by
practising white rrragic. Thj-s type of Ii'lagia was for him
the most esoteric of arts and ihe greatesÈ wisdom of
supernatural things on earth. ufhai could not be
aporehended by man 'i.hrou-gh reason was fo have been
rendered scru'bable by the virtuous occult.