Statement on Psychic Events
It is necessary fox the physician also to know what psychic events are, how many there are, and from where each kind stems. If he does not know these, then he cannot preserve them in their natural condition and drive away the non-natural. It is said that you should know that man has a power by which he distinguishes and thinks, a power by which he is angry and enraged, and thirdly, a power by which he desires and lusts for pleasures. Man completes his actions and work by these three powers. The ancients called them the deteriorating powers; they recognized that characters and physical events are different for each of these three kinds of power of the soul.
Also he must know what the ancients mean with their word "event". Galen explained it; I shall relate what he said. Galen wrote that as long as the soul of man remains in its state, this is its state - as rest and quiet. If its state changes, then we can imagine that change as a movement which belongs to it. Some movement is very translational and some is otherwise. We call the movement which is very translational an action, and the movement which is [done] by something other than itself an event. An example of this is that if a man takes a thing and conveys it from its place to another place, then the movement of the hand is an action of that man and his hand, but the movement of the thing is an event of the thing. This is the relation of the action and event for movement in space.
As to the movement in change, as when the body of a man is heated by a fire or the warmth of the sun, this heat is an event to the body, and the heat [of the fire or sun] is the action of the things which heat. When the exalted God created the matter of man's body from these powers and their actions in whatever amount, it was then necessary that these quantities be natural for that particular man. If any of it is lacking or is excessive, then it is not natural. The natural one indicates possession of a healthy power for a certain body; the unnatural indicates disease [of the power and body].
Because both of the animal souls [the second and third of the three powers] which are in man, especially the carnal one of the two, often harms the rational soul to attain pleasure in a persistent fashion, it is essential that the pleasure be of limited duration and of a moderate amount. When it exceeds this amount, it is harmful and causes illness. For this reason, the intelligent soul will stop this corruption by determining and limiting their periods to act and their amounts. The situation being so, he must know the action of each one of these souls, first separately without being, affected by the other two, and then how it acts with their help. The action of the rational soul is [to determine] the existence of the correlation of things and their difference. An example of this is that when you hear two statements you notice their difference from another, you know the real one and the untrue one. As to its action with the help of another, it is that when the physical desires, it may some movements which are strengthened by the soul of anger. This is the [soul of the] animal since this soul has strength and courage. If these were not, it would be impossible to make a stand and attain any aim. Galen said that the essence of this soul, by which is meant the soul of anger, is the natural beat. Galen said, "The essence of this power by which man is strengthened in endurance and patience in work, in my opinion, is the natural heat since whenever the movement of the natural heat is stronger, the man is more hot; also coldness causes laziness and quietness, and thus heat causes willingness, movement, and power for action. Thus, youth and wine arouse movement and courage in man, and age and cold remedies cause laziness and weakness. The latter corrupt action and movement."
Moderation of the rational soul indicates that it is sagacious, has much understanding and a good memory, and has a longing for beautiful deeds.
When it is not in moderation, the opposite is true.
Galen said, "It is true that if the rational soul is silly, of little understanding and memory, and not desirous of meritorious actions, and both the animal souls are strong but not very obedient, then it [i.e. the rational soul] is not moderate. The rational soul needs to be prepared for perspicacity and for what is correct, and to be expert in attuning, to things and their differences. If the power of the soul of an-er, an animal one, is of easy obedience, the carnal soul, a vegetable one, is weak. It is because the latter is not dependent on the rational soul." Plato described it and likened it to the predatory beast, saying, "Whoever needs to be straightened up has a weak vegetable soul for this should not hinder the rational soul from its actions. Since the powers of these souls from its actions. Since the powers of these souls are dependent on the complexity of the body, whatever happens to their actions and characters in the events which change them and remove them from moderation and a satisfactory state, occurs only because of bodily change. This may be seen in what happens to one who is anxious, excited, or steals, drinks wine and other drinks." He, whose complexion is changed by any of these causes, the examples alone, changes in his character as a result and in the states of his souls which were previously healthy - when his soul was quiet without movement and without that event. Therefore, the physician must be trained to recognize the types of these complexions so as to know in certain people's complexions, if they wish preservation, what is good in one's character and the powers of his souls, and also the rectification of that which is out of line. It is also necessary to investigate further what has happened to the souls if it may be determined for the bodies. In some people who are sensitive to shame there may be a natural inclination which is not the state of the soul nor the complexion. One exception to the word "naturally" is that nature may be somewhat changed by education.
If you wish to examine what is in the [irrational] nature of man and the events of the souls and their characters, examine those who are the uneducated - the unimproved with virtues and sciences - as, for example, children. You will find these events and characters separately especially in those who do not have good habits and have no one to educate them. These do only what is in their nature.
Galen has described some of these characters in children. We must relate it in his words. The observation was made by one of intelligence and a good mind. Galen said, "There are children who do not lie at all and children who do not speak the truth at all. Some feel ashamed and others do not. Some are timid and some bold; some are voracious and some are not. Some are generous and help one another and some are avaricious and do not help one another. Some of them like cruelty and anger, some like justice. Some have mercy on any sympathy for children who are beaten and some advise to beat them and laugh about it. They differ from one another; the differences are in their characters.
"If this is so, then the physician must know the [irrational] natural character and the difference between it and the educated character so as to examine the condition of the souls and the events [associated with them]; the character is improved with good education and good habits do not cause him to err."
"Just as association with good and virtuous ones causes the soul to acquire the virtues and goodness of the [good] souls, so associating with evil ones and those with bad habits spoils the character of many people. They lose their good temperament for the other [evil one]. For this reason, the physician must first take care of the soul by improving the soul of the patient and the events [associated with it]. He must care for the soul more than anything else since the completion of man is in his soul; completion is dearer than that which is completed."
From these conclusions mentioned, one must know that purpose of the book, to encourage it, and to read what Galen and others have stated. Galen explained it in his book On Natural Powers and in his book On the Opinions of hippocrates. Plato described [it] in his book On the Characteristics of the Soul and in his writing where he explained that the powers of the soul are dependent -on the complexion of the body, the actions of the soul and its characteristics, and other events relating to it. He also explained that each of the three powers which many ancients called the souls, i.e. that rational, animal, and vegetable souls, has a dwelling and a place special to its actions. The place of the rational soul is the brain; the place of the animal soul is the heart, and the place of the vegetable soul, which is carnal, is the liver. Undoubtedly, upon the health of these organs will depend the health of the souls in action. If they are sick, then [the souls will be] ill. Thus, it is necessary as previously mentioned, that the physician understand the states of these organs if he wants to recognize "physical events." The latter are mentioned as part of the natural matter previously numbered; they are the attributes of the air, motion, quietness, food, drink, discharge [of excesses] and congestion, sleeping, waking, physical events, the countries, occupations, and other matters mentioned earlier.
We mentioned the importance of these natural matters to maintain completely the health of the body and to maintain the health of organs and their parts. We began, by example, teaching the friends of the medical arts to show how the physician uses them for the maintenance of health. Our example for this was the brain since it is the most important of bodily organs. We set down in each chapter, what we mentioned of the statements on these natural matters, the summations and principles which encourage students. We recall for the learned ones what was said regarding, every meaning. We did not finish them all but discussed some of them, For this reason, we returned to the rest, as we did previously, for a statement on treatment of the brain which is the example here for all organs. Then we went on to mention treatment of one organ as distinguished from another by brief descriptions. God is the helper with His generosity.
