Renaissance magic
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| - | A '''grimoire''' is a [[textbook]] of [[Magic (paranormal)|magic]]. Books of this genre, typically giving instructions for [[invocation|invoking]] [[angel]]s or [[demon]]s, performing [[divination]] and gaining magical powers, have circulated throughout [[Europe]] since the [[Middle Ages]]. | + | [[Renaissance humanism]] (15th and 16th century) saw a resurgence in '''[[hermeticism]]''' and [[Neo-Platonic]] varieties of '''[[ceremonial magic]]'''. |
| + | The Renaissance and the [[Industrial Revolution]], on the other hand, saw the rise of [[scientism]], in such forms as the substitution of chemistry for alchemy, the dethronement of the [[Ptolemaic theory]] of the universe assumed by astrology, the development of the [[germ theory]] of disease, that restricted the scope of applied magic and threatened the belief systems it relied on. | ||
| - | [[Magician (paranormal)|Magicians]] were frequently prosecuted by the Christian church, so their journals were kept hidden to prevent them from being burned. | + | ==Artes magicae== |
| + | The seven ''artes magicae'' or ''artes prohibitae'', arts prohibited by canon law, as expounded by [[Johannes Hartlieb]] in 1456, their sevenfold partition reflecting that of the [[artes liberales]] and [[artes mechanicae]], were: | ||
| + | #[[nigromancy]] ("[[black magic]]", [[demonology]], by popular etymology, from ''necromancy'') | ||
| + | #[[geomancy]] | ||
| + | #[[hydromancy]] | ||
| + | #[[aeromancy]] | ||
| + | #[[pyromancy]] | ||
| + | #[[chiromancy]] | ||
| + | #[[scapulimancy]] | ||
| - | Such books contain [[astrology|astrological]] correspondences, lists of [[angel]]s and [[demon]]s, directions on casting charms and [[spell (paranormal)|spell]]s, on mixing medicines, summoning unearthly entities, and making [[amulet|talisman]]s. "Magical" books in almost any context, especially books of magical spells, are also called grimoires. | + | The division between the four "elemental" disciplines (viz., geomancy, hydromancy, aeromancy, pyromancy) is somewhat contrived. Chiromancy is the divination from a subject's palms as practiced by the [[Romani people|gypsies]] (at the time recently arrived in Europe), and scapulimancy is the divination from animal bones, in particular shoulder blades as practiced in peasant superstition. Nigromancy contrasts with this as scholarly "high magic" derived from High Medieval [[grimoire]]s such as the ''[[Picatrix]]'' or the ''[[Liber Rasielis]]''. |
| - | ==Origin of the term== | + | ==Renaissance occultism== |
| - | The word ''grimoire'' is from the [[Old French language|Old French]] ''grammaire'', and is from the Greek root "grammatikos", “relating to letters”, from which ''[[grammar]]'', a system for language, and ''[[Glamour (spell)|glamour]]'', influential appeal, are derived. In the mid-late Middle Ages, [[Latin]] "grammars" (books on Latin [[syntax]] and [[diction]]) were foundational to school and university education, as controlled by the [[Roman Catholicism|Church]]—while to the illiterate majority, non-[[Ecclesiology|ecclesiastical]] books were suspect as magic, or believed to be endowed with [[supernatural]] influence. The word "grimoire" came over time to apply specifically to those books which did indeed deal with magic and the supernatural. | + | Both bourgeoisie and nobility in the 15th and 16th century showed great fascination with |
| + | these arts, which exerted an exotic charm by their ascription to Arabic, Jewish, Gypsy and Egyptian sources. There was great uncertainty in distinguishing practices of vain superstition, blasphemous occultism, and perfectly sound scholarly knowledge or pious ritual. The intellectual and spiritual tensions erupted in the Early Modern [[witch-hunt|witch craze]], further re-inforced by the turmoils of the [[Protestantism|Protestant]] [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]], especially in [[Germany]], [[England]], and [[Scotland]]. | ||
| - | Similar magical writings have existed from antiquity, and although these are not in the same genre of medieval magic, they are sometimes described as grimoires. | + | [[C. S. Lewis]] in his 1954 ''English Literature in the Sixteenth Century, Excluding Drama'' differentiates what he takes to be the change of character in magic as practiced in the Middle Ages as opposed to the Renaissance: |
| - | ==Medieval and Renaissance== | + | :"Only an obstinate prejudice about this period could blind us to a certain change which comes over the merely literary texts as we pass from the Middle Ages to the sixteenth century. In medieval story there is, in one sense, plenty of “magic”. Merlin does this or that “by his subtilty”, [[Sir Gawain and the Green Knight|Bercilak]] resumes his severed head. But all these passages have unmistakably the note of “faerie” about them. But in Spenser, Marlowe, Chapman, and Shakespeare the subject is treated quite differently. “He to his studie goes”; books are opened, terrible words pronounced, souls imperilled. The medieval author seems to write for a public to whom magic, like knight-errantry, is part of the furniture of romance: the Elizabethan, for a public who feel that it might be going on in the next street. [...] Neglect of this point has produced strange readings of ''[[The Tempest]]'', which is in reality [...] Shakespeare’s play on ''[[magic|magia]]'' as ''[[Macbeth]]'' is his play on ''[[goeteia]]''" (p. 8) |
| - | :''[[Renaissance magic]]'' | + | |
| - | The first grimoires appear in the High Middle Ages, growing out of earlier traditions, notably of medieval [[Jewish mysticism]], which continued traditions dating back to [[Late Antiquity]]. Thus, the 13th century [[Sefer Raziel Ha-Malakh]] is significantly based on the [[Sefer Ha-Razim]] (ca. 4th or 5th century), which is in turn influenced by Hellenistic [[Greek magical papyri]]. | + | ==Baroque period== |
| + | Study of the occult arts was intellectually respectable in the Renaissance, and remained so far into 17th century (cf. [[Isaac Newton's occult studies]], [[Baroque philosophy]]). At the peak of the [[witch trials]], there was a certain danger to be associated with [[witchcraft]] or [[sorcery]], and most learned authors take pains to clearly renounce the practice of forbidden arts. Thus, Agrippa while admitting that [[natural magic]] is the highest form of natural philosophy unambiguously rejects all forms of [[ceremonial magic]] ([[goetia]] or [[necromancy]]). Indeed, the keen interest taken by intellectual circles in occult topics provided one driving force that enabled the witchhunts to endure beyond the Renaissance and into the 18th century. As the intellectual mainstream in the early 18th century ceased to believe in witchcraft, the witch trials subsided almost instantaneously. | ||
| - | Notable 13th to 17th century grimoires include: | + | ==List of authors== |
| + | Renaissance authors writing on occult or magical topics include: | ||
| - | * The Secret Grimoire of [[Turiel]] (16th century) | + | ;Late Middle Ages to early Renaissance |
| - | *The [[Picatrix]], or, ''Ghâyat al-Hakîm fi'l-sihr''; also known as ''The Aim of the Sage'' (13th century) | + | *[[Johannes Hartlieb]] (ca. 1400–1468) |
| - | *''Liber Iuratus'', or, [[The Sworn Book of Honorius|the ''Sworn Book of Honorius'']] (13th century) | + | *[[Marsilio Ficino]] (1433-1499) |
| - | *[[Sefer Raziel Ha-Malakh]] ''Liber Razielis Archangeli'' (13th century) | + | *[[Thomas Norton (alchemist)|Thomas Norton]] (1433-1513) |
| - | *[[The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abra-Melin the Mage|The ''Book of the Sacred Magic of Abra-Melin the Mage'']] (1450s) | + | *[[Johann Georg Faust]] (ca. 1480-1540) |
| - | *The so-called [[Munich Handbook]] (15th century) | + | ;Renaissance and Reformation |
| - | *''[[Libri tres de occulta philosophia]]'' by [[Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa]] (1531) | + | *[[Leonardo da Vinci]] (1452–1519) |
| - | *[[The Greater Key of Solomon|The ''Greater Key of Solomon'']] (16th century) | + | *[[Pico della Mirandola]] (1463-1494) |
| - | *[[Pseudomonarchia Daemonum]] (16th century) | + | *[[Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa]] (1486-1535) |
| - | *The ''Lemegeton'', or, [[the Lesser Key of Solomon|the ''Lesser Key of Solomon'']] (17th century) | + | *[[Paracelsus]] (1493-1541) |
| + | *[[Georg Pictorius]] (c. 1500-1569) | ||
| + | *[[Nostradamus]] (1503–1566) | ||
| + | *[[Johann Weyer]] (1516–1588) | ||
| + | *[[Thomas Charnock]] (1524-1581) | ||
| + | *[[Judah Loew ben Bezalel]] (1525-1609) | ||
| + | *[[John Dee (mathematician)|John Dee]] (1527-1608) | ||
| + | *[[Edward Kelley]] (1555-1597) | ||
| + | ;Baroque period | ||
| + | *[[Michael Sendivogius]] (1566 - 1636) | ||
| + | *[[Tommaso Campanella]] (1568-1639) | ||
| + | *[[Jan Baptist van Helmont]] (1577-1644) | ||
| + | *[[Franz Kessler]] (1580-1650) | ||
| + | *[[Adrian von Mynsicht]] (1603–1638) | ||
| + | *[[Sir Kenelm Digby]] (1603–1665) | ||
| + | *[[Johann Friedrich Schweitzer]] (1625-1709) | ||
| + | *[[Isaac Newton]] (1643–1727), see [[Isaac Newton's occult studies]] | ||
| - | The [[Voynich manuscript]] has never been deciphered, and is difficult to date, but may also qualify as a 15th century grimoire. | + | ==See also== |
| + | *[[Alchemy]] | ||
| + | *[[Kabbalistic astrology]] | ||
| + | *''[[Hieroglyphica]]'' (discovered 1422) | ||
| + | *''[[Natural Magic]]'' (1558) | ||
| + | *''[[The Book of Abramelin]]'' | ||
| + | *''[[Key of Solomon]]'' | ||
| + | *[[Character (word)]] | ||
| + | *[[Baroque philosophy]] | ||
| + | *[[History of science in the Renaissance]] | ||
| + | *[[Continuity thesis]] | ||
| + | *[[Scientific revolution]] | ||
| + | *[[History of magic]] | ||
| - | ==18th to 19th century== | ||
| - | *[[The Black Pullet|''The Black Pullet'']] (18th century) | ||
| - | *[[Grand Grimoire|''Le Grand Grimoire'']] (19th century, allegedly 1522) | ||
| - | *[[Grimoirium Verum|''Grimoirium Verum'']] (18th century) | ||
| - | *[[Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses]] (1700s - 1849) | ||
| - | |||
| - | In the late 19th century, several of these texts (including the Abra-Melin text and the [[Key of Solomon]]) were reclaimed by para-[[Masonic]] magical organizations such as the [[Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn]] and the [[Ordo Templi Orientis]]. | ||
| - | |||
| - | Many false or poorly translated grimoires have been circulated since the 19th century (many original texts are in French or Latin, and are quite rare); however, faithful editions are available for most of the above titles. | ||
| - | |||
| - | ==20th century to present== | ||
| - | A modern grimoire is the ''[[Simon Necronomicon]]'', named after a fictional book of magic in the stories of author [[H. P. Lovecraft]], and inspired by [[Babylonian mythology]] and the ''[[Ars Goetia]]'', a section in the ''Lesser Key of Solomon'' which concerns the summoning of demons. The ''Azoëtia'' of [[Andrew D. Chumbley]] has been described as a modern grimoire. | ||
| - | |||
| - | The [[Neopagan]] religion of [[Wicca]] publicly appeared in the 1940s, and [[Gerald Gardner]] introduced the [[Book of Shadows]] as a Wiccan Grimoire. | ||
| - | |||
| - | ===Popular culture=== | ||
| - | The term "grimoire" commonly serves as an alternative name for a spell-book or tome of magical knowledge in such genres as [[fantasy fiction]]. The most famous fictional grimoire is the ''[[Necronomicon]],'' a creation of the author H. P. Lovecraft. It was first referenced in his story "[[The Hound]]" and subsequently made appearances in many of his stories. Other authors such as [[August Derleth]] and [[Clark Ashton Smith]] have also cited it in their works with Lovecraft's approval. Many readers and others have believed it to be a real work, with booksellers and librarians receiving many requests for the fictional tome. Pranksters have even listed it in rare book catalogues, including one who surreptitiously slipped an entry into the [[Yale University]] Library [[card catalog]]. ([[L. Sprague de Camp]], ''[[Literary Swordsmen and Sorcerers]]'') Several authors have also published books titled Necronomicon, though none have been endorsed by Lovecraft himself. | ||
| - | |||
| - | In the hit musical and bestselling book ''[[Wicked]]'' by [[Gregory Maguire]], Elphaba (The Wicked Witch Of The West) came to owning a "Grimmerie", which held spells. | ||
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Revision as of 09:12, 22 November 2009
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Renaissance humanism (15th and 16th century) saw a resurgence in hermeticism and Neo-Platonic varieties of ceremonial magic. The Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution, on the other hand, saw the rise of scientism, in such forms as the substitution of chemistry for alchemy, the dethronement of the Ptolemaic theory of the universe assumed by astrology, the development of the germ theory of disease, that restricted the scope of applied magic and threatened the belief systems it relied on.
Contents |
Artes magicae
The seven artes magicae or artes prohibitae, arts prohibited by canon law, as expounded by Johannes Hartlieb in 1456, their sevenfold partition reflecting that of the artes liberales and artes mechanicae, were:
- nigromancy ("black magic", demonology, by popular etymology, from necromancy)
- geomancy
- hydromancy
- aeromancy
- pyromancy
- chiromancy
- scapulimancy
The division between the four "elemental" disciplines (viz., geomancy, hydromancy, aeromancy, pyromancy) is somewhat contrived. Chiromancy is the divination from a subject's palms as practiced by the gypsies (at the time recently arrived in Europe), and scapulimancy is the divination from animal bones, in particular shoulder blades as practiced in peasant superstition. Nigromancy contrasts with this as scholarly "high magic" derived from High Medieval grimoires such as the Picatrix or the Liber Rasielis.
Renaissance occultism
Both bourgeoisie and nobility in the 15th and 16th century showed great fascination with these arts, which exerted an exotic charm by their ascription to Arabic, Jewish, Gypsy and Egyptian sources. There was great uncertainty in distinguishing practices of vain superstition, blasphemous occultism, and perfectly sound scholarly knowledge or pious ritual. The intellectual and spiritual tensions erupted in the Early Modern witch craze, further re-inforced by the turmoils of the Protestant Reformation, especially in Germany, England, and Scotland.
C. S. Lewis in his 1954 English Literature in the Sixteenth Century, Excluding Drama differentiates what he takes to be the change of character in magic as practiced in the Middle Ages as opposed to the Renaissance:
- "Only an obstinate prejudice about this period could blind us to a certain change which comes over the merely literary texts as we pass from the Middle Ages to the sixteenth century. In medieval story there is, in one sense, plenty of “magic”. Merlin does this or that “by his subtilty”, Bercilak resumes his severed head. But all these passages have unmistakably the note of “faerie” about them. But in Spenser, Marlowe, Chapman, and Shakespeare the subject is treated quite differently. “He to his studie goes”; books are opened, terrible words pronounced, souls imperilled. The medieval author seems to write for a public to whom magic, like knight-errantry, is part of the furniture of romance: the Elizabethan, for a public who feel that it might be going on in the next street. [...] Neglect of this point has produced strange readings of The Tempest, which is in reality [...] Shakespeare’s play on magia as Macbeth is his play on goeteia" (p. 8)
Baroque period
Study of the occult arts was intellectually respectable in the Renaissance, and remained so far into 17th century (cf. Isaac Newton's occult studies, Baroque philosophy). At the peak of the witch trials, there was a certain danger to be associated with witchcraft or sorcery, and most learned authors take pains to clearly renounce the practice of forbidden arts. Thus, Agrippa while admitting that natural magic is the highest form of natural philosophy unambiguously rejects all forms of ceremonial magic (goetia or necromancy). Indeed, the keen interest taken by intellectual circles in occult topics provided one driving force that enabled the witchhunts to endure beyond the Renaissance and into the 18th century. As the intellectual mainstream in the early 18th century ceased to believe in witchcraft, the witch trials subsided almost instantaneously.
List of authors
Renaissance authors writing on occult or magical topics include:
- Late Middle Ages to early Renaissance
- Johannes Hartlieb (ca. 1400–1468)
- Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499)
- Thomas Norton (1433-1513)
- Johann Georg Faust (ca. 1480-1540)
- Renaissance and Reformation
- Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519)
- Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494)
- Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (1486-1535)
- Paracelsus (1493-1541)
- Georg Pictorius (c. 1500-1569)
- Nostradamus (1503–1566)
- Johann Weyer (1516–1588)
- Thomas Charnock (1524-1581)
- Judah Loew ben Bezalel (1525-1609)
- John Dee (1527-1608)
- Edward Kelley (1555-1597)
- Baroque period
- Michael Sendivogius (1566 - 1636)
- Tommaso Campanella (1568-1639)
- Jan Baptist van Helmont (1577-1644)
- Franz Kessler (1580-1650)
- Adrian von Mynsicht (1603–1638)
- Sir Kenelm Digby (1603–1665)
- Johann Friedrich Schweitzer (1625-1709)
- Isaac Newton (1643–1727), see Isaac Newton's occult studies
See also
- Alchemy
- Kabbalistic astrology
- Hieroglyphica (discovered 1422)
- Natural Magic (1558)
- The Book of Abramelin
- Key of Solomon
- Character (word)
- Baroque philosophy
- History of science in the Renaissance
- Continuity thesis
- Scientific revolution
- History of magic
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Renaissance magic" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
