106

THE COMPLETE HERBAL

body of man by sympathy. It helps theevils Venus and the wanton Boy produce,by antipathy; and it doth something elsebesides. It cleanses the body of choler(who dares say Mars doth no good ?) Itprovokes urine, helps surfeits, or swellingsin the belly; it causes appetite to meat,because Mars rules the attractive faculty inThe sun never shone upon a better

man

herb for the yellow jaundice than this ; Whyshould men cry out so much upon Mars foran infortunate, (or Saturn either ?) DidGod make creatures to do the creation amischief ? This herb testifies, that Mars iswilling to cure all diseases he causes ; thetruth is, Mars loves no cowards, nor Saturn fools, nor 1 neither. Take of the flowers ofWormwood , Rosemary, and Black Thorn,of each a like quantity, half that quantityof saffron ; boil this in Rhenish wine, butput it not in saffron till it is almost boiled ;This is the way to keep a man’s body inhealth, appointed by Camerarius, in hisbook inti tied Hortus Medicus, and it is agood one too. Besides all this, Wormwood provokes the terms. I would willinglyteach astrologers, and make them physi-cians (if I knew how) for they are mostfitting for the calling; if you will not believeme, ask Dr. Hippocrates , and Dr. Galen ,a couple of gentleman that our college ofphysicians keep to vapour with, not tofollow. In this our herb, I shall give the pat-tern of a ruler, the sons of art rough cast,yet as near the truth as the men of Benja-min could throw a stone: Whereby, mybrethren, the astrologers may know by apenny how a shilling is coined : As for thecollege of physicians, they are too stately tolearn, and too proud to continue. Theysay a mouse is under the dominion of theMoon , and that is the reason they feed in thenight; the house of the Moon is Cancer ;rats are of the same nature with mice, butthey are a little bigger; Mars receives hisfall in Cancer , ergo, Wormwood being an

herb of Mars , is a present remedy for thebiting of rats and mice. Mushrooms (Icannot give them the title of Herba, Eru-tex, or Arbor) are under the dominion ofSaturn , (and take one time with another,they do as much harm as good ; if any havepoisoned himself by eating them, Worm­ wood , an herb of Mars , cures him, becauseMars is exalted in Capricorn, the house ofSaturn , and this it doth by sympathy, as itdid the other by antipathy. Wheals, pushes,black and blue spots, coming either bybruises or beatings. Wormwood , an herb of Mars , helps, because Mars , {as bad youlove him, and as you hate him) will notbreak your head, but he will give you aplaister. If he do but teach you to knowyourselves, his courtesy is greater than hisdiscourtesy. The greatest antipathy be-tween the planets, is between Mars andVenus : one is hot, the other cold; onediurnal, the other nocturnal; one dry, theother moist; their houses are opposite, onemasculine, the other feminine; one public,the other private; one is valiant, the othereffeminate; one loves the light, the otherhates it; one loves the field, the other sheets;then the throat is under Venus , the quinsylies in the throat, and is an inflammationthere: Venus rules the throat, (it beingunder Tamus her sign.) Mars eradicatesall diseases in the throat by his herbs (ofwormwood is one) and sends them to Egypt on an errand never to return more, thisdone by antipathy. The eyes are underthe Luminaries; the right eye of a man,and the left eye of a woman the Sun claimsdominion over; the left eye of a man, andthe right eye of a woman, are privileges ofthe Moon , Wormwood , an herb of Mars ,cures both; what belongs to the Sun bysympathy, because he is exalted in hishouse; but what belongs to the Moon byantipathy, because he hath his fall in her’s.Suppose a man be bitten or stung by amartial creature, imagine a wasp, a hornet,