41. Neither the sun, nor any other star hears the prayers addressed
to it. If they are granted, it is only by the sympathy felt by each
part of the universe for every other; just as all parts of a cord are
caused to vibrate by excitation of any one part; or, just as causing
one string of a lyre to vibrate would cause all the others to vibrate
in unison, because they all belong to the same system of harmony. If
sympathy can go as far as making one lyre respond to the harmonies
of another, so much the more must this sympathy be the law of the
universe, where reigns one single harmony, although its register
contains contraries, as well as similar and analogous parts. The things
which harm men, like anger, which, together with the bile, relate to
the liver, were not created for the purpose of harming men. It is as if
a person, in the act of taking fire from a hearth accidentally wounded
another. This person is doubtless the author of the wound because he
transferred the fire from one place to another; but the wound occurred
only because the fire could not be contained by the being to whom it
had been transmitted.
AS THE STARS ANSWER PRAYERS UNCONSCIOUSLY, THEY DO NOT NEED MEMORIES
THEREFOR.
42. The stars therefore have no need of memory to remember our prayers,
nor senses to receive them; thus is solved the problem considered
above. Nor even, if our prayers are answered, is this due, as some
think, to any free will on their part. Whether or not we address
prayers to them, they exercise over us a certain influence by the mere
fact that, along with us, they form part of the universe.
THE PRAYERS OF EVEN THE EVIL ARE ANSWERED, IF MADE IN ACCORDANCE WITH
NATURAL LAW.
There are many forces that are exercised involuntarily, either
automatically, without any invitation, or with the assistance of
skill. Thus, in an animal, one part is naturally favorable or harmful
to another; that is why both physician and magician, each by his
characteristic arts, force one thing to communicate its power to
another. Likewise, the universe communicates to its parts something of
its own power, either automatically, or as a result of the attraction
exercised by the individual. This is a natural process, since he who
asks is not foreign to it. Neither should we be astonished if even an
evil individual obtains his requests; for do not the evil drink from
the same streams as do the good? In this case, the granting is done
unconsciously; it grants simply, and what is granted harmonizes with
the order of the universe. Consequently, if an evil individual asks and
obtains what is within reach of all, there is no reason why he should
be punished.