The part of the soul which desires meat and drink was placed
between the midriff and navel, where they made a sort of manger;
and here they bound it down, like a wild animal, away from the
council-chamber, and leaving the better principle undisturbed to
advise quietly for the good of the whole. For the Creator knew
that the belly would not listen to reason, and was under the
power of idols and fancies. Wherefore he framed the liver to
connect with the lower nature, contriving that it should be
compact, and bright, and sweet, and also bitter and smooth, in
order that the power of thought which originates in the mind
might there be reflected, terrifying the belly with the elements
of bitterness and gall, and a suffusion of bilious colours when
the liver is contracted, and causing pain and misery by twisting
out of its place the lobe and closing up the vessels and gates.
And the converse happens when some gentle inspiration coming from
intelligence mirrors the opposite fancies, giving rest and
sweetness and freedom, and at night, moderation and peace
accompanied with prophetic insight, when reason and sense are
asleep. For the authors of our being, in obedience to their
Father’s will and in order to make men as good as they could,
gave to the liver the power of divination, which is never active
when men are awake or in health; but when they are under the
influence of some disorder or enthusiasm then they receive
intimations, which have to be interpreted by others who are
called prophets, but should rather be called interpreters of
prophecy; after death these intimations become unintelligible.
The spleen which is situated in the neighbourhood, on the left
side, keeps the liver bright and clean, as a napkin does a
mirror, and the evacuations of the liver are received into it;
and being a hollow tissue it is for a time swollen with these
impurities, but when the body is purged it returns to its natural
size.
The truth concerning the soul can only be established by the word
of God. Still, we may venture to assert what is probable both
concerning soul and body.
The creative powers were aware of our tendency to excess. And so
when they made the belly to be a receptacle for food, in order
that men might not perish by insatiable gluttony, they formed the
convolutions of the intestines, in this way retarding the passage
of food through the body, lest mankind should be absorbed in
eating and drinking, and the whole race become impervious to
divine philosophy.