Giordano Bruno (Fragments) On The Magic

Giordano Bruno
(fragments)
Images as they are received in the imagination have the power to
effect changes on the soul-and therefore on the body-while both
provide information and alter mental and physical states. ...
By adding to and rearranging these images they come to life "like a
wild beast goring with his horns". Again, images piled on images
seemingly spiraling out of control. By continuing in this manner, and
creating combination after combination, Bruno presents a potentially
infinite amount of sets. Thus he allows the creator of images a near
infinite palate to create meaning. He is making talismans out of
memory images and infusing mnemonics into talismans. As mentioned,
memory images must be striking in appearance to affect the phantasy;
talismanic images must be able to draw down the forces of cosmic
powers. "Images are not named", he writes, "for those things that they
signify in intention but for those things from which they have been
gathered". Meaning is generated by association; it
changes whenever it belongs to a new set. Thus meaning is created by
those who change the set; or more accurately, those who have the
power to control the set. Since aIl experience, linguistic and otherwise,
must be transformed into phantasmic images, the creator of images
is the creator of meaning at the most fundamental level. It is important
to appreciate not only the title of the work, but Bruno's own
statements about Imaginum.
Bruno is c1ear that he is talking about a way to create and
manipulate reality, can there be a greater act of magic? Bruno
be1ieves that images affected the soul once they enter it. The
recipients, unless they understand the process, are unaware of what
happens. Magic works indirectly through
sounds and images which pass through the senses and impress
themselves on the imagination. Those who have the ability to create
the correct images and sounds therefore have the ability to control the
mental states of the recipient. This creates a bond between the image
and the recipient. For Bruno these bonds can be either natural or
artificial. There are many different kinds of bonds all working at once.
Some bonds are so strong that they can blind you or make you
immune to pain such as the martyrs' bond to faith which allows them
to endure torture.
Our reality is dictated by the bonds that we have. Bonds are both
"natural" and open to manipulation. It is naturaI to have bonds to one's
family, country, values, worldview, and so on. Yet, as Bruno realizes,
these are aIl abstract concepts; and in knowing hands these bonds can
be manipulated.
Nonethe1ess, establishing and maintaining the bonds is a difficult
process. And this is the genius of Imaginum, Bruno is outlining the very
process for creating and manipulation of the bonds which dictate such
basic responses.
An initial problem is that there are so many types of people: rich, poor,
ambitious, lazy, reptilian, porcine, asinine, philosophical, and so on,
and each are susceptible only to certain bonds. To understand them all
requires access to the ability to generate infinite lists to generate
infinite categories. "When certain symbols are arranged in different
ways, they represent certain things . .. These symbols do not have a
fixed and definite form, rather each person by dictate of his own
inspiration or by impulse of his own spirit, determines his own reaction
of desiring or rejecting something,,106. In order to achieve the bonding
of many individuals, many bonds are needed. These bonds structure
matter, make seeds
grow, they attract and inflame and repel.
Another problem with binding is that the bonds change from moment
to moment.
Therefore the manipulator of bonds must constantly be making
refinements to the bond. The one who bonds "must have an
understanding of all things, or at least of the nature, inclination, habits,
uses and purposes ofthe thing they are to bind. The more skilled you
are, the more you can bind. Bonds are not just in the mind, they also
exist in the body; they are physical bonds. These bonds are both
material and non-material because of the complex,
and dual nature of humanity. The faculty of phantasy must translate all
stimuli to the soul.
Whether they be actions or language they must be translated into a
medium that the soul understands: images. What Bruno is suggesting
is a process which bypasses the medium and creates, through the
manipulation of images, a direct conduit to the soul. His twist, though,
is the reciprocal, pantheistic, nature of the universe. If the human soul
can change based on
outside stimuli, so can God also change.
The art of bonding must always remain unknown to those being bound.
Bruno envisioned this manipulation with bonds on a mass scale. Indeed
"it is easier to manipulate several people than one only" Ill. Bruno sees
organized religions as an example of this manipulation.
The founders and prophets were able to create bonds with the
imagination of the masses by arousing feelings and beliefs they would
not have had naturally.
Remarkably, the bonds themselves do not have to be real: "A real bond
is not required, that is, a bond which is found in things. An apparent
bond is enough, for the imagination of what is not true can truly
bond ... for fantasy [with an 'f'] has its own type of truth.
And further, "Fantasy and opinion bind more than reason, the former
are stronger than the latter"
And finally, "it is not true that. .. the power of bonding is derived from
what is good rather than from an opinion of what is good; nor is it
derived from a known rather than a hidden cause,,.
Bruno summarizes the whole binding process as follows:
The bonding agent does not unite a soul to himse1f unless he has
captured it; it is not captured unless it has been bound ;
he does not bind it unless he joins himself to it;
he do es not join it unless he has approached it;
he has not approached it unless he has moved;
he has not moved unless he is attracted;
he is not attracted until he has been inc1ined towards or turned away;
he is not inclined towards until he desires or wants;
he do es not desire unless he knows;
he does not know unless the object contained in a species
or an image is presented to the eyes or the ears or
the gaze of the internal senses.
In order to create and manipulate bonds one must do two things. First,
one must rid oneself of emotion; one must become almost inhuman
(computer ?!?), otherwise one is susceptible to enchainment oneself.
If the subject of manipulation has no desire it cannot be bound.
Second, the manipulator must have perfect knowledge of the subject,
their wishes, desires, etc. The magician must have on hand all the
possible reactions and emotions of their targeted subject and be able
and ready instantly to create new bonds.
In sum, Bruno's magic works indirectly through sounds and images that
pass through the senses and impress themselves directly on to the
imagination (phantasia). Those who have the ability to create the

desired images and sounds therefore have the concomitant ability to
control the mental states of the recipients or even their subjective
reality. The key to successful binding is to have a vast and perfect
knowledge and be keenly aware of when new and different bonds need
to be cast.

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How does Bruno believe images can affect people?

What are bonds and how can they be manipulated?

Giordano Bruno

imagination (phantasia). Those who have the ability to create the

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