The three worlds of medieval and renaissance Magic
The material The celestial The spiritual
“Know that there are two kinds of stars-the heavenly and the earthly, the stars of folly and the stars of wisdom. And just as there are two worlds, a Little World the Microcosm, man and a Great World the Macrocosm, the Universe and just as the little one rules over the great one, so the stars of the microcosm rule over and govern the Stars of heaven.” - Paracelsus (Jolande Jacobi, ed.) page 152.
Agrippa divides his magnum opus, Three Books of Occult Philosophy into three sections, "Seeing there is a threefold world, elementary, celestial and intellectual, and every inferior is governed by its superior, and receiveth the influence of the virtues thereof, so that the very original and chief Worker of all doth by angels, the heavens, stars, elements, animals, plants, metals and stones convey from himself the virtues of his omnipotency upon us..." Three Books of Occult Philosophy, Bk. I, Chap. 1, page 3.
Thus the first book deals with the world composed of the four elements: fire, air, water and earth, the material world. The second book deals with the celestial world: the Zodiac and the heavenly bodies. The third book with the spiritual world of angels, intelligences and ideas. Each of these worlds is connected, says Agrippa, because the spiritual world gave rise to the celestial and the celestial to the material. Having created the lower realms the more perfect worlds continue to influence and control them. Because of this descent, says Agrippa, "...wise men conceive it no way irrational that it should be possible for us to ascend by the very same degrees through each world, to the same very original world itself, the Maker of all things and First Cause..." Three Books of Occult Philosophy, Bk. I, Chap. 1, page 3.
Astrology One of the most important links between the higher and lower worlds is that of astrology. Agrippa says, "Every natural virtue doth work things far more wonderful when it is not only compounded of a natural proportion, but also is informed by a choice observation of the celestials opportune to this (viz. when the celestial power is most strong to that effect which we desire, and also helped by many celestials) by subjecting inferiors to the celestials as proper females to be made fruitful by their males." Three Books of Occult Philosophy, Bk. I, Chap. 29, page 357. Thus everything that exists in the material world is under the rule of a particular celestial as each inferior thing had its origin through a superior. By identifying the ruler we may influence the ruled.