Chapter 2 Matter as a Mirror: Marsilio Ficino and Renaissance ...

Matter as a Mirror 63
duty, the soul moves downward from the celestial spheres to the centre of
the universe. Here it may be arrested against its will by the physical attractions
of the body. In order to explain how souls and bodies may communicate,
Ficino introduces the concept of spiritus. This term was widely used in
contemporary medical discourses to account for what we would call today
psycho-physical phenomena. Spiritus is an intermediary substance, a kind
of pure and clean envelope or robe (purum tegumentum). This fabric is less
bright and clear than the soul, but more transparent than the body. 55 According
to Ficino, the soul has the capacity to imprint the forms (it receives
from mens) “without difficulty” into this ethereal body. Once activated by
soul, the spiritus turns into a fine vapour originating from the thinnest
blood and corporeal heat. The spiritus spreads from the heart to all parts
of the body. In this case, spiritus functions like a mirror that communicates
the powers of the soul to the body, transforming “a lifeless substance into
the form of our lives.” The spiritus thus has a vital function in explaining the
embodiment of souls. 56 (See also chapter five.)
In the Neoplatonic tradition, this embodiment of the soul is described
in terms of reflection in a mirror. In most instances, Ficino describes
the descent of soul into the corporeal world as a disastrous event
that imprisons a spiritual being into a body and thus diverts soul from its
55 The paradoxical quality of spiritus is well expressed in the De vita III, 3: 257, it is
“quasi non corpus et quasi iam anima” and “excelentior corpus, quasi non corpus” (253).
56 De amore VI 9: 225 and V 6: 205; De vita III, 22: 368: “intellige tum corporum
coelestium dotes in corpora nostra venire per spiritum nostrum rite paratum […].” Then
at III, 1: 247: “redigitur per spiritum nostrum ad vitae nostrae formam.” In other places,
Ficino identifies this vehicle of the soul with complexion, which he calls the fifth constituent
of a body: the ingredient of a body which is extremely susceptible to the messages and
commandments of the stars; complexio is the preparation or right disposition of the inanimate
body for the reception of soul which is transmitted by celestial music, to which the
body answers like resonant guitars do. See also De lumine chapt. 9, OO 979–980; Matton
(1993) 143, with references: “À l âme du monde correspond donc un esprit du monde, au
moyen du quel elle communique partout la vie au corps du monde. Comme le voulait Porphyre,
cet esprit du monde est directement produit par l’âme du monde sous forme d’un
halo lumineux, qui, explique Ficin, est formée de la lumière incorporelle et du diaphane,
son véhicule. L’esprit du monde précède ainsi les quatre éléments, que l’âme du monde
produit à partir de lui; c’est pourquoi il constitue bien une quinte essence.” On the topic in
general, see Walker (1958) passim.