History of magic

More than any other object of historical and anthropological study, Islamicate occult science cuts to the quick of what it means to be modern, to be Western, to be scientific. Yet nowhere else are 19th-century colonialist metaphysics and materialist cosmology more firmly entrenched. The piecemeal, truncated study of “Magic in Islam” to date has thus of-ten been pursued in service of either scientistic or religionist agendas, whereby magic can only ever be failed science or apolitical religion, and Islam can never be the West; Islamic Magic as simply Western and often imperial Science-and-Religion is thereby utterly disappeared from historiographical purview. And even those Islamicist historians of science and historians of religion who eschew ideology in favor of rigorously empirical philology, the majority, have tended to favor outsider, polemical discourses over insider, practitioner ones, and “classical” sources over “postclassical,” resulting in bizarre historiographical distortions and the disenchanting sanitization of Islamicate societies past and present. This manifesto therefore proposes a way out of this dire epistemological and ethical bind. To re-store Islamic Magic to its rightful place in Western intellectual and cultural history, especially history of science, we must take far more seriously the panpsychist cosmology on which it is predicated, and realize that our own reflexive materialism commits us willynilly to a colonialist agenda that is, ironically, both antireligious and antiscientific.

A partir de trois concepts clefs ("secret", "occulte" et "merveille") envisagés sur une période définie (la Renaissance) le premier numéro d'Arcana Naturae (en cours d'impression) a permis d'établir la fécondité d'un champ de recherche, celui des sciences secrètes, et d'ouvrir sur elles divers points de vue. * Ce second numéro cherchera à approfondir certaines de ces pistes, en recentrant la focale sur un domaine plus précis : l'illusionnisme, ou autrement dit, la magie artificielle ou simulée. Inscrit dans l'immémoriale tradition des secrets, cet art de la fabrication de merveilles oscille entre deux pôles : la magie naturelle et la physique amusante, entre expérience magique et récréation ludique. L'illusionnisme met en jeu des connaissances expérimentales, de même que psychologiques ou encore techniques. C'est un savoir de l'esprit, du regard et de la main. A la Renaissance, par exemple, il intéresse tout autant le bateleur forain que le savant, le courtisan ou encore le théologien. Considéré depuis le XX e siècle, à tort, comme un divertissement puéril, le monde académique l'a généralement ignoré. Cependant, l'apparition du terme illusiographie, il y a quelques années, a permis d'attirer l'attention sur la légitimité épistémologique de cet objet singulier. Comme le montre le renouveau des études sur l'illusionnisme, cette discipline cristallise des enjeux épistémologiques forts, à la croisée-entre autres-de la sociologie, de l'ethnographie, de l'histoire des sciences et techniques, de l'art ou des spectacles. Mais ces études pionnières en appellent bien d'autres : le champ illusiographique reste encore à cartographier. Ainsi, Arcana Naturae souhaite contribuer à cette structuration en lui ouvrant un espace potentiel. Selon les termes de la profession de foi de la revue : Arcana Naturae « traite de l'ensemble des disciplines dites "secrètes", à savoir la magie, l'astrologie, l'alchimie, l'illusionnisme, la divination, etc., en explorant leur dimension conceptuelle et technique ainsi que leurs relations avec les débats religieux, philosophiques et scientifiques qui leur sont contemporains. La Revue a pour ambition d'aider à structurer une approche scientifique rigoureuse de ce savoir des marges. Elle cherche à frayer des voies nouvelles dans ce continent noir où se reflète la culture et la pensée de chaque époque. » Les articles chercheront à faire le point sur l'illusionnisme, envisagé dans ses différents aspects. Pour ce numéro thématique, Arcana Naturae n'impose pas de cadre géo-historique : les contributions pourront porter sur l'Antiquité, le Moyen-Âge, la Renaissance, l'Époque moderne et le XIX e siècle. L'"Occident" constituera par défaut le cadre des réflexions, mais des travaux pionniers concernant d'autres espaces géographiques (monde arabe, Asie, etc.) seraient plus que bienvenus. S'il est conseillé aux auteurs de s'appuyer sur un travail d'analyse historique critique et rigoureuse, mobilisant des exemples précis, ils devront également inscrire leur réflexion dans un cadre plus vaste qui cherchera à rendre sensible l'esprit de l'illusionnisme durant chacune de ces époques. A travers cet ensemble d'études, l'enjeu pour Arcana Naturae est de rendre sensible au lecteur "profane" les multiples enjeux et échos de cet art. En un mot : au-delà du simple divertissement, qu'est-ce qui se joue réellement dans l'illusionnisme ?

Exploring the tales of many of the mysterious and captivating Faerie Queens, this exceptional anthology contains eighteen essays exploring the diverse accounts and themes associated with the Faerie Queens and their influence in magic, literature and folklore. From the Arthurian mythos to Scandinavia, from ancient Greece to Renaissance poetry and beyond, the awesome power of the Faerie Queens to inspire, challenge and transform is investigated and discussed from both scholarly and personal perspectives.

Der Begriff Hydromantie begegnet uns seit Isidor von Sevillia (Etymologiae VIII 9, 13), der denselben wiederum von Varro übernommen hatte, in allen einschlägigen Texten der mittelalterlichen Superstitions- und Magiekritik von Hrabanus Maurus De magicis artibus über das Decretum Gratiani und Hugo von Stankt Viktors Didascalicon bis in die Summen Thomas von Aquins und über diese hinaus. Dabei bleibt der Begriff stets seltsam leer. Hinter der topischen Aufzählung der Weissagungen aus Erde, Wasser, Luft und Feuer, also geomantia, hydromantia, aeromantia und pyromantia, verbirgt sich keine Vorstellung einer wie auch immer gearteten Divinationspraxis, weder einer historischen, wie noch bei Augustinus (De civitate Dei 7, 35), noch einer zeitgenössischen. Während der Begriff Geomantie seit dem 12. Jahrhundert durch die Identifizierung mit der arabischen ‛ilm al-raml (Sandkunst) einen neuen Gegenstand erhalten hat, bleibt die Hydromantie im Grunde bis heute, nicht anders als die Aeromantie und Pyromantie, eine Signifikante ohne Signifikat, ein leerer Begriff, obwohl es Versuche gab dies zu ändern.  In meinem Vortrag will ich Johannes Hartlieb dabei beobachten, wie er den überkommenen Begriff der „Ydromancia“ in seinem  ‚Buch aller verbotenen Künste‘ (1456) mit neuer Bedeutung füllt und daran zu scheitern droht. Ich werde dabei aufzeigen, dass Hartlieb nicht nur die bestehende Superstitionskritiken weitergeschrieben hat und sich auf selbst Gesehenes und Gehörtes beruft, sondern darüber hinaus auch die fachliterarischen Schriften zur Divination seiner Zeit benutzt hat, die bisher noch in ihren Handschriften vergessen liegen.

This collection of articles will illustrate the close relationship between music and magic that existed from 1100 and 1600, especially in the West. The question which we seek to answer here is not: "Did there exist a relationship between music and magical traditions?" but rather: "What was the relationship of music and magic during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and how exactly did it manifest itself in theory and in practice?".

Celem tekstu jest przedstawienie magicznych, a w szczególności apotropaicznych zastosowań części ciała hieny, na podstawie fragmentu Historii naturalnej Pliniusza Starszego. W artykule opisuję biologiczną specyfikę tego zwierzęcia oraz jego znaczenie w kulturze, by na tej podstawie zastanowić się nad rolą i praktycznymi zastosowaniami tekstu Pliniusza w kulturze rzymskiej. Opisuję również związki pomiędzy rzeczywistymi właściwościami hieny, jej wizją w kulturze oraz rolą w magii.

Цель этой статьи – исследовать своеобразие древнеегипетской ментальности и культуры в отношении восприятия природы имени. Автор рассматривает религиозно-магические практики, непосредственно связанные с использованием имен богов и людей, а также описывает традиции именования и структуру имени в этой культуре, проясняя их специфику через особенности древнеегипетского мировидения.

ARCANA NATURAE is an annual journal published by Agorà & Co. that follows a double-blind
peer review process.
The official working languages of the journal are French, English and Italian.
It deals with all “secret” disciplines, namely magic, astrology, alchemy, illusionism, divination,
etc. In particular, the journal welcomes papers devoted to the historical study of fundamental
notions of those disciplines, such as “secret”, “occult” or “wonder”.
Arcana naturae publishes original research contributions, as well as documented essays on
specific points. The journal also publishes editions and critical commented translations, critical
reviews and book reviews.

The book is dedicated to what we could broadly define 'Solomonic magical objects' (ch. 2). This notion includes a series of items that are traditionally associated with the king of Israel, mostly through non-canonical sources: the ring, used to control demons (ch. 3), the bottles/containers in which he was said to constrain evil forces (ch. 4), the so-called Solomon's knot (ch. 5), a decorative/apotropaic device with a complex and multi-layered history, the shamir, mythical creature/object, known for its ability to cut through stone (ch. 6), and the flying carpet (ch. 7). Each chapter is conceived as a separate and independent piece, which can be appreciated per se; however, taken together, they create a consistent body of research, illuminating different aspects of the Solomonic tradition in a cross-cultural perspective (through Christian, Jewish and Muslim sources) and along a chronological arch which stretches approximately from Late Antiquity well into modern times, in some cases. The book can in fact be read both as a study on the reception of the figure of Solomon, but also, seen from a different angle, as a research on the impact of certain objects and of their inherent aesthetic, morphological or technical qualities. In this sense, the different chapters can be considered as case studies, illuminating the way in which 'magic' manifests itself at a material level, either being embedded in the very medium of the object, in its function, in its main recognized property, in its shape, etc.

ABSTRACT
The Jacobean era's infamous witchcraft trials are recalled after reservoir repairs close to Pendle Hill reveal a buried cottage with bricked‐up cat. Interpretations of the building as the site of Malkin Tower, recorded in court records as the venue of a witches coven are critically evaluated in the light of archaeological and historical evidence.

KEYWORDS
WITCH, PENDLE WITCH TRIALS, PENDLE HILL, MALKIN TOWER, FOLK BELIEF, MAGIC, LANCASTER ASSIZES, WISE WOMEN, CUNNING FOLK, ARCHAEOLOGY, HISTORY, SEVENTEENTHCENTURY, ALIZON DEVICE, SALEM WITCHES, THOMAS POTTS, LOWER BLACK MOSS, ELIZABETH SOUTHERNS, DEMDIKE, ELIZABETH DEVICE, JAMES DEVICE, ANNE WHITTLE, CHATTOX, ANNE REDFERNE, JANE BULCOCK, JOHN BULCOCK, ALICE NUTTER, KATHERINE HEWITT, ALICE GRAY, JENNET PRESTON, GUNPOWDER PLOT, CAT

In 1459, the manuscript called Thott 290 2° (now stored in Copenhagen) was completed at the request Hans Talhoffer. Most of its teachings related to the myriad forms of fighting that were the trade of a fencing master. However, modern readers paging through it for the first time are quick to notice an anomaly: 36 pages toward the beginning of the manuscript contain fantastic depictions of complex war machines, exotic inventions, and strange scenarios. They tend to conclude that Talhoffer must have been an inventor or technologist, his generation’s Leonardo da Vinci. What is not apparent is that these are not creations of Talhoffer at all; they are a remnant of Konrad Kyeser’s treatise _Bellifortis_ and predate Talhoffer’s manuscript by over fifty years. To date, there has been no substantial work on _Bellifortis_ in English, so my intent with this article is threefold: 1. To give a sense of Kyeser’s life and place in history; 2. To briefly outline the origin and evolution of _Bellifortis_ and its tradition; 3. To review the contents of the 7-chapter _Bellifortis_, with attention to the parts found in Copenhagen.

Compito degli inquisitori era rintracciare la presenza di eretici nelle comunità e condannarli in base alle pene previste dal diritto inquisitoriale, che potevano comprendere forme di penitenza di vario genere e giungere fino all'abiura e, in casi estremi, alla condanna a morte. Tuttavia, l'Inquisizione non si concentrava solo sulla repressione delle eresie che contraddicevano uno o più aspetti della dottrina cattolica, ma volgeva il suo sguardo verso un'ampia gamma di reati, tra i quali figura anche - e in maniera tutt'altro che secondaria - la pratica delle arti magiche che si riteneva fossero ispirate dal demonio. Il volume si propone di indagare il modo in cui si evolsero, durante il tardo Medioevo, la trattatistica inquisitoriale e i documenti pontifici sul tema della magia e del suo rapporto con l'eresia, per il quale si dispone di una messa a fuoco ancora parziale, ma che risulta essere essenziale se si vogliono comprendere la costruzione del crimine di stregoneria e gli sviluppi della caccia alle streghe.

This book aims to treat the history of magic and experimental science and their relations to Christian thought during the first thirteen centuries of our era, with especial emphasis upon the tweelfth and thirteenth centuries. No adequate survey of the history of either magic or experimental science exist for this period, and considerable use of manuscript material has been necessary for the medieval period. Magic is here understood in the broadest sense of the word, as including all occult arts and sciences, superstitions, and folk-lore. I shall endeavor to justifiy this use of the word from the sources as I proceed.

Even though the concept of “magic” has sufffered severe criticism in academic discourse, the category continues to be used in many disciplines. During the last two decades, classicists in particular have engaged in a lively discussion over “magic” and have produced an impressive amount of written output. Given the impossibility of defijining “magic” in a consistent and widely accepted manner, one cannot help but wonder what these scholars are actually talking about. Hence this paper purports (a) to critically review the recent debate on “magic” in Classical Studies, (b) to advocate for abandoning an abstract category of “magic” in favour of a proper analysis of ancient sources and (c) to historicize the term “magic” in Antiquity, that is, to muse on its ancient semantics, functions, and contexts. This methodological approach does not only overcome the major problems inherent in modern definitions of “magic,” but will also yield new insights into terminologies, modes of thought and speech strategies that underlie ancient religious discourses.

Throughout history, the Druids have always been seen as sorcerers who had a strong bond with nature. Ancestral knowledge holders within Celtic society, directed all religious activity as the highest authority linked to the gods, practiced human sacrifices and festivals organized as Imbolc, Beltaine, Lugnasad or Samain, etc.. all aspects of which are discussed in this article.

In recent years, we have witnessed an efflorescence of research on Islamic esoteric traditions and occult thought. Such scholarly activity established that occultism is a part of Islamic intellectual history that cannot be overlooked; rather it illuminates an essential aspect of the way people thought about the hidden, the extraordinary, and their potential for partaking in the divine and wondrous. Occult beliefs are embedded in philosophical, scientific, and religious discourses and in this chapter I consider the adaptations and modifications of the metaphysical elements that underpinned occult practices in medieval Islam (eighth to thirteenth centuries), particularly in their relation to the ways whereby nature and the divine were perceived and experienced. I argue that medieval Islamic occult philosophy distinguished the practices it supported from forbidden siḥr or sorcery by identifying legitimate conditions of acquiring power based on two paradigms: association with natural philosophy, and/or an affiliation with mysticism. A shift of emphasis occurred in the medieval period: from the eighth to the eleventh centuries, legitimisation of occult practices derived mainly from natural philosophy, stressing causation and knowledge of signs as the core principles of magical efficacy. Towards the thirteenth century occult practices began to derive their justifications from Sufi doctrines. In the first case, by and large, magic was deemed natural as it functioned according to a causality proven empirically and understood rationally; however, later, the power of extraordinary acts, including magic, became the prerogative of mystics achieved through non-rationalised revelation and contact with the divine, all of which undermined natural causality and transformed the signs from indicators of natural links to tokens of God and supernatural agents that mediate between Him and the mystic.

The Arabic original of the ninth-century pseudo-Platonic Kitāb al-Nawāmīs (The Book of Sacred Secrets) has not been discovered save for fragments from Paris arabe 2577 ff. 104-5, containing only three chapters.  Through a Latin translation completed in twelfth-century Spain we have access to a fuller version of the work. One of the titles given to this translation is the Liber Vaccae (The Book of the Cow) derived from its most notorious experiments that involve the gruesome slaughtering and mutilation of a cow to magically produce a rational animal or bees.  The work contains recipes or experiments for causing extraordinary transformations such as splitting the moon in half, causing the appearance of incredible giants, and prestidigitation. Recent scholarly research on the Liber Vaccae has focused mostly on its reception in medieval and early modern Europe.  This article explores the Indo-Arabic tradition to which Kitāb al-Nawāmīs belonged by associating it with a cluster of related works: Kitāb al-Tajmīʿ (The Book of Assembling) attributed to Jābir ibn Ḥayyān (c. 721-815), Ġāyat al-Ḥakīm (The Goal of the Wise) of  Maslama al-Qurtubī (d. 964), Kitāb al-Sumūm (The Book of Poisons) by Ibn Waḥshiyya (fl. 10th century), and finally ʿUyūn al-Ḥaqāʾiq wa Īḏāḥ al-Ṭarāʾiq (The Quiddities of Truths and the Explication of Paths) of Abu al-Qāsim al-ʿIrāqī (d. c. 1260) . The first two texts have been studied in relation to the Liber Vaccae by David Pingree, MaaikeVan der Lugt, Sophie Page, and William Newman; their findings will be re-evaluated under the light of the aforementioned texts of Ibn Waḥshiyya and al-ʿIrāqī which offer new links that inform us further about the prevalence and influence of the ideas contained in Kitāb al-Nawāmīs.

Cannibalism has been connoted negatively among many Western civilizations throughout history, medieval Iceland included. Icelandic giants were characterized by a diet consisting mainly of horsemeat (banned by the Church) and human flesh (an ancient taboo). But cannibalism was also connoted positively when it was performed by heroes in accordance with the laws of sympathetic magic: in this case, eating specific parts of the human body would transfer the qualities of the eaten to the eater. The intention of this article is to discuss the role that the human body played as identity marker, and its different connotations depending on who consumed it.

In Islamic magic, the Greatest Name of God is traditionally represented in graphic form by a series of seven glyphs known as the Seven Seals; the series is also known to Jewish Kabbalah. Ciphers of a very different appearance, characterised by strings of single-letter (ha’ and ‘ayn) repeats, are another recurring feature of Islamic amulets, as for example in the popular “Pleiades Square.” These ciphers are often found close to occurrences of the Seven Seals and, while much less well known, they too are alleged to represent the Greatest Name. In the present communication, an unexpected avian association for the repeat-letter ciphers is explained in terms of the mythology of the Pleiades star cluster. Moreover, the ciphers are shown for the first time to relate directly to the Seven Seals via a ca. twelfth-century CE prototype of the latter preserved in a manuscript copy of the Diwan of Ali (Brit. Mus. 577 Add. 7534). While this prototype was soon supplanted by the now canonical version of the Seven Seals, degraded forms of the Diwan series seem to have survived incognito as the repeat-letter ciphers, which persist in Shi‘a talismanic plaques sold today. Two other unexpected survivals/revivals of the Diwan Seal series in talismans of recent manufacture are also presented: one inscribed on an Ethiopian silver ring, the other concluding a Jewish Kabbalah scroll. The newly proposed Seal–cipher–Pleiades relationship links two auspicious heptads by associating the Seven Seals with the Seven Stars, a conjunction reminiscent of the seven stars/seals nexus in Revelation 1-6.

In Islamic mysticism and theurgy, the Seven Seals represent in graphic form the Greatest Name of God; in Jewish Kabbalah, the Seals bear individual Divine Names which collectively form a “Great Name.” We review and compare the primary interpretations and secondary associations for each Seal in Islam and Judaism, from which it is clear that the two traditions have developed largely independent understandings of the individual symbols. Nevertheless, points of convergence – such as the interpretation of the fourth Seal as a ladder and an ascent to/of goodness – do exist. Conversely, the attributes of the third Islamic and seventh Jewish Seals have a surprising amount in common. Collectively, the Seals have been linked via word- and letter-counting to key affirmations of each religion: the Islamic ones to the Shahāda, the Jewish ones to Psalm 46:7,11. In contrast to the Islamic Seals, individual correspondences are rarely given for the Jewish Seals and are inconsistent across sources. Kabbalistic amulets are more likely to employ the Names of the Seals than their symbols, and when present the latter are often much degraded; in contrast, Islamic talismans make frequent use of the symbol series. In Islamic magic, the Seven Seals are associated with the seven Ṭahaṭīl Names, which exhibit possible similarities to the Names of the Seals in Kabbalah. Intriguing overlaps of the Jewish Seal Names with Egyptian mythology and Vedic Sanskrit are explored, but ultimately it is thought more likely that the  seven Names derive from the Names of God’s fingers and eyes (five plus two, respectively) in the Shīʿūr Qōmah of the Hekhalot literature. Fittingly, exegesis of the Seals in both Judaism and Islam contains general themes of hands/fingers and sight/blindness.

Diese Arbeit wurde als ein Versuch gedacht, die Rolle des Magischen in der zeitgenössischen
Kunst bzw. Kultur durch die Beziehungen und die konvergenten Wege zwischen den
bildenden Künstlern und der Magie darzulegen. Während der Recherche und Bearbeitung
stellte ich fest, dass das Feld der bildenden Kunst für die vorliegende Masterarbeit zu eng
gefasst ist, deshalb habe ich das Themenfeld um neue Medien erweitert.
Die Magie, die selbst für ihre eigene, dunkle Aura verantwortlich ist, präsentiert sich als ein
sehr schwierig anzufassendes Untersuchungsobjekt, der Grund warum eine Erklärung des
Begriffes 'Magie' zum Anfangen nötig wird. Es wird also versucht, eine wissenschaftliche
Beschreibung der Magie sowohl als Kunst als auch als wahrnehmbare Realität oder Qualität
eines Ereignisses (in dem besonderen Fall eines künstlerischen Ereignisses) zu erreichen.
Dafür werden die vielen Seiten des Magischen analysiert und gemäß unseren Interessen
klassifiziert, um die innewohnende Ambivalenz dessen unter Kontrolle zu halten. Nach einer
historischen Beschreibung der Magie wird gezeigt, inwieweit sie relevant ist für die
Entwicklung der modernen Kultur. Durch ihrer Beziehung mit den Neuen Medien, ihrem
Einfluss auf politische Ereignisse und ihrer Anwesenheit in der Konsumkultur wird dann
gezeigt, und das ist meine Kernfrage, wie und warum manche zeitgenössische Künstler sich
das Magische für verschiedene Zwecke angeeignet haben.

EDIT: I have recently learned that the primary author of this manuscript was in fact Robert Ashley, founder of the Middle Temple Library in London. While I have not yet had a chance to return to this paper in order to correct it, I would like to thank Renae Satterly of the Middle Temple Library for letting me know that she has identified Ashley's handwriting. I hope someday to write a corrected and more complete version of this paper which relates this manuscript to Ashley's life and book collecting.

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This paper is a full transcription, annotation, and in-depth analysis of Newberry Manuscript 5017, referred to as "Book of Magical Charms." Based on my detailed analysis of the contents, I propose that this manuscript was the notebook of at least one early 16th century male witch, who was probably active in the East of England or the East Midlands. As I will argue, this witch was most likely what we today know as a cunning-man, whose primary business was to assist locals with everyday problems ranging from stomach aches to cheating spouses. As I will demonstrate, the primary owner of this notebook was a typical cunning-man, who employed various kinds of magic - both benign and malignant - for his business purposes. This manuscript offers a unique glimpse into the world of everyday Renaissance magic, some of which I hope to uncover here.

Marsilio Ficino's De Vita libri tres (1489) has been an important influence on the history of magic in the Christian West, both for its transmission of ancient and medieval astral magic and for his reflections on licit and illicit forms of practice and how this magic worked. This article introduces his ideas about "subtle" matter (Spiritus) and considerations concerning suitable material for the fashioning of magical amulets and talismans, attuned to the influences of the planets and stars. It then moves on to discuss the impact of these ideas on subsequent generations of magical practitioners. These include Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, author of the sixteenth century's encyclopedia of magic, De Occulta Philosophia (1533), whose influence can be see in the designs of talismans in the British Museum, and his contemporary, the revolutionary alchemist and idiosyncratic magus, Philippus Theophrastus Paracelsus, who provides instructions for the creation of magic mirrors and talismans in his Archidoxis magicae (1570). The chapter concludes with a brief look at the work of someone extremely familiar with Agrippa and Paracelsus's works, the theosophical alchemist, Christian Cabalist and hyperphysical magus, Heinrich Khunrath, whose magical mirrors, concrete examples of engravings from his Amphitheatrum sapientiae aeternae (1595), can still be found in the British Library.