But in the De Vita coelitas comparanda the concept of spirit is plainly widened far beyond the bounds of its technical medical meaning. Ficino here accepts a theory, of astrological influence, ultimately Stoic in origin, which postulates a cosmic spirit (spiritus mundi), flowing through the whole of the sensible universe, and thus providing a channel of influence between the heavenly bodies and the sublunar world. Since the world, as in Plato and Plotinus, is one animal, its soul, like ours, must have a “first instrument” which transmits its powers to its body. This mean between the anima and corpus mundi, though analogous to our spirit, is not, says Ficino, made like ours out of the four humours (and ultimately the four elements). But may properly be called the fifth element quinta essentia, i.e. the Aristotelian substance of the heavens, incorruptible “aether”; but it also contains the powers of the lower four elements, so that it can and does enter into ordinary sub-lunar bodies. This cosmic spirit, says Ficino:
is a very subde body; as it were not hotly and almost souL Or again, as it were not soul and almost body. Its power contains very little earthy nature, hut more watery, still more aerial and the maximum of hery and starry nature . . . Ii vivifies everything everywhere and is the immediate cause of all generation and motion; of which he [Virgil| says; “Spiritus jntus alit…”.
This cosmic spirit, which is also that of the alchemists, is like enough to ours for us to be able to nourish and purify our own spirit, by attracting and absorbing it. “Undoubtedly the world lives and breathes, and we may absorb its breath (spiritus)” by means of our spirit, especially if we render this even more similar than it already is by nature to the spiritus mundi, “that is, if it becomes as celestial as possible”. There are various ways of doing this. You may consume things which contain an abundance of pure cosmic spirit, such as wine, very white sugar, gold, the scent of cinnamon or roses. To attract the “spiritual” influence of a particular planet you may use animals, plants, people, subject to that planet—as food, scents, acquaintances; Ficino gives lists of these for the Sun and Jupiter. You may perhaps use talismans (imagines); he is extremely worried and hesitant about these, but devotes a great deal of space to them. Finally, you must use music fitted to the planet. Here again, it is music which is recommended most strongly.