humours, heavens, character in MD

[Thomas Eckhardt]

I agree with Paul Murphy. One should definitely be on the look-out for
hidden references (as opposed to the explicit ones) to the neo-platonic or
hermetic school of thought in which microcosm and macrocosm are linked. As
the recent discussions of Newton's alchemical experiments show there was
obviously no clear-cut boundary between "science" and "magic" at this point
in time, not even in the mind of Doctor Isaac himself. As far as Saturn and
melancholy are concerned, apart from Burton I recommend the exhaustive study
by Klibansky/Panowski/Saxl titled, not surprisingly, "Saturn and
Melancholy", which is, as far as I can tell, the  standard work upon that
topic. 

Thomas Eckhardt


                             The clouds didn't look like cotton,
                             they didn't even look like clouds.

                             Townes Van Zandt