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		<title>Agrippa and the Magic Squares</title>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[David Rankine]]></dc:creator>
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					<description><![CDATA[<p>A sigil could be described as a pictographic representation of a name or specific intent.  The sigil representing a spiritual creature can act as a gateway for the energy of that creature to manifest, a technique which finds its most dramatic modern expression perhaps in the vevers of Voodoo, although it is appropriate too for the Planetary Intelligences and Spirits detailed by Agrippa. Although the creation of sigils on the kameas is, as far as we know, first documented in Agrippa, the kameas by themselves were being used for magick prior to this and were not created by Agrippa as </p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://occult-study.com/agrippa-and-the-magic-squares/">Agrippa and the Magic Squares</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://occult-study.com">Occult-Study</a>.</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Three-Books-of-Occult-Philosophy-Henry-Cornelius-Agrippa-Donald-Tyson-Edition-1-eBook-PDF.bmp?x59011"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-5137" src="https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Three-Books-of-Occult-Philosophy-Henry-Cornelius-Agrippa-Donald-Tyson-Edition-1-eBook-PDF.bmp?x59011" alt="" width="445" height="458" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><div class="message_box note"><p>Note: The following article has been published with the author&#8217;s approval. The original article was published in <em>Howlings</em> (ed. Grey) (2008) Scarlet Imprint, Brighton, now out of print.</p></div></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">A <a href="https://occult-study.com/magick-sigils/">sigil</a> could be described as a pictographic representation of a name or specific intent.  The sigil representing a spiritual creature can act as a gateway for the energy of that creature to manifest, a technique which finds its most dramatic modern expression perhaps in the vevers of Voodoo, although it is appropriate too for the Planetary Intelligences and Spirits detailed by Agrippa.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Although the creation of sigils on the kameas is, as far as we know, first documented in Agrippa,<a href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1">[1]</a> the kameas by themselves were being used for magick prior to this and were not created by Agrippa as has been suggested.  The kameas were inscribed on planetary <a href="https://occult-study.com/amulets-and-talismans/">amulets and talismans</a> made of thin sheets of the planetary metals and used for a wide variety of purposes.  A manuscript entitled <em>“The Book of Angels, Rings, Characters &amp; Images of the Planets: attributed to Osbern Bokenham”</em>, dating to the period 1441-45 on planetary magick makes specific reference to use of the kameas in talismanic magick in this manner.  This MSS is contained in Cambridge MS Dd.xi.45, between herbal and medical texts, and all written in the same hand.<a href="#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2">[2]</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Novotny attributes Agrippa’s source for use of the kameas to the short piece <em>“A treatise on magic squares”</em> possibly written by Manuel Moschopolos,<a href="#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3">[3]</a> which was bound in with a fifteenth century copy of the <a href="https://occult-study.com/the-classical-grimoires/#page-part-picatrix">Picatrix</a> in Cracow.<a href="#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4">[4]</a>  Agrippa’s exposure to the kameas was probably through his teacher Abbot Johannes Trithemius, who we know possessed a copy of the Picatrix as well as an extremely impressive array of grimoires.<a href="#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5">[5]</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">However we must not discount the Kabbalistic use of magick squares as the possible source for Trithemius and Agrippa.  The famous Kabbalist Rabbi Joseph Tzayach (1505-1573) documents their use in a number of his works,<a href="#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6">[6]</a> continuing a Kabbalistic tradition which goes back some centuries.  Significantly Tzayach lists the kameas for the classical planets as used by Agrippa, in the 3-9 range, but also adds the 10-20 range (omitting 15) for the Sephiroth from Kether to Malkuth.  It may have been Abraham ben Meir ibn Ezra (1090-1167), a Jewish philosopher who translated many Arab works into Hebrew, and who had a fascination for magick squares and numbers, who spread their use in his travels across Europe from Spain to Italy.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The earliest known magick square was the Chinese Lo Shu, a 3&#215;3 square better known to us as the Saturn kamea, which can be dated to the 1<sup>st</sup> century CE.  The idea of magick squares may have been transmitted from China through India to the Arab world.  The <em>Rasa’il</em> (Encylopaedia), composed around 990 CE by a group of Arab scholars lists the magic squares from 3&#215;3 through to 9&#215;9 (i.e. the classical seven).</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Magic_Square_Lo_Shu.svg_.png?x59011"><img decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-5141" src="https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Magic_Square_Lo_Shu.svg_.png?x59011" alt="" width="219" height="219" srcset="https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Magic_Square_Lo_Shu.svg_.png 900w, https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Magic_Square_Lo_Shu.svg_-150x150.png 150w, https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Magic_Square_Lo_Shu.svg_-300x300.png 300w, https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Magic_Square_Lo_Shu.svg_-768x768.png 768w, https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Magic_Square_Lo_Shu.svg_-48x48.png 48w, https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Magic_Square_Lo_Shu.svg_-250x250.png 250w, https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Magic_Square_Lo_Shu.svg_-550x550.png 550w, https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Magic_Square_Lo_Shu.svg_-800x800.png 800w, https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Magic_Square_Lo_Shu.svg_-180x180.png 180w, https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Magic_Square_Lo_Shu.svg_-500x500.png 500w" sizes="(max-width: 219px) 100vw, 219px" /></a>(<span class="mw-mmv-title">Modern representation of the <i>Lo Shu</i> square as a magic square</span> &#8211; <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lo_Shu_Square#/media/File:Magic_Square_Lo_Shu.svg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Source</a>)</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">At this stage we must still speculate on routes of transmission, though it is clear magick squares had been used for many centuries by several traditions prior to Agrippa.  As was often the case, the Renaissance magicians described how the kameas worked in a somewhat romanticized manner:</p>
<blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><em>“The Magi of old framed certain Tables distributed to the seven planets.  They called them sacred containing great virtues of heavenly numbers, by the Ideas of a divine soul, by a reason impressed on the Soul of the World in heavenly things, and the sweet harmony of those heavenly things, according to the proportion of the effigies, signifying together the Intelligences more than mundane, which cannot otherwise be expressed than by the notes of numbers and characters.  For material numbers and figures can do nothing in the mysteries of hidden things unless represented by numbers and formal figures as they are governed and informed by the Intelligences and Divine numerations, which unite the extremes of matter and spirit, to the will of the soul elevated by a great affection of the operator in celestial virtue, receiving power from God, by the Soul of the Universe, and the observations of celestial constellations, unto a matter applied to a form convenient, by disposed mediums in the skill and science magical.”</em><a href="#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7">[7]</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Returning to Agrippa, and the technique he used, the Hebrew names of beings such as the Planetary Intelligences and Planetary Spirits were transcribed onto the kameas, the sigil being formed by drawing lines joining the squares corresponding to the numerical values of the letters in sequence.  The numbers attributed to the letters were used according to the range of numbers within the kamea.  If the letter had a higher number attributed to it than existed in the kamea, the number was dropped to the highest number available in the Aiq Beker table.  As the largest kamea is that of the Moon, which has the number range 1-81, any letter with a numerical value over 80 would always be reduced.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The Aiq Beker table is also known as the Qabalah of Nine Chambers.  The name Aiq Beker comes from the attribution of the letters to the first two chambers, hence AIQ (Aleph, Yod, Qoph) BKR (Beth, Kaph, Resh).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The Aiq Beker “Qabalah of Nine Chambers”</p>
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="139">1</p>
<p>Aleph (A: 1)</p>
<p>Yod (I, Y: 10)</p>
<p>Qoph (Q: 100)</td>
<td width="132">2</p>
<p>Beth (B: 2)</p>
<p>Kaph (K: 20)</p>
<p>Resh (R: 200)</td>
<td width="132">3</p>
<p>Gimel (G: 3)</p>
<p>Lamed (L: 30)</p>
<p>Shin (Sh: 300)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="139">4</p>
<p>Daleth (D: 4)</p>
<p>Mem (M: 40)</p>
<p>Tav (Th: 400)</td>
<td width="132">5</p>
<p>He (H, E: 5)</p>
<p>Nun (N: 50)</p>
<p>Final Kaph (K: 500)</td>
<td width="132">6</p>
<p>Vav (V, O, U: 6)</p>
<p>Samekh (S: 60)</p>
<p>Final Mem (M: 600)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="139">7</p>
<p>Zain (Z: 7)</p>
<p>Ayin (Aa, O, Ngh: 70)</p>
<p>Final Nun (N: 700)</td>
<td width="132">8</p>
<p>Cheth (Ch: 8)</p>
<p>Peh (P, Ph: 80)</p>
<p>Final Peh (P, Ph: 800)</td>
<td width="132">9</p>
<p>Teth (T: 9)</p>
<p>Tzaddi (Tz: 90)</p>
<p>Final Tzaddi (Tz: 900)</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Examples are the best way to illustrate how this principle works when applied correctly.  The Planetary Intelligence of Saturn is Agiel.  When this name is attributed numerically the sequence is 1(A), 3(G), 1(I), 1(A), 3(L).  Because the name is drawn on the planetary kamea for Saturn, which only contains the number range of 1-9, I with a numerical value of 10 is reduced to 1, and L with a numerical value of 30 is reduced to 3.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">However if we now take the Planetary Intelligence of Venus, Kedemel, this is drawn on the Venus kamea with a number range of 1-49.  Kedemel has the numerical attributions of 100(Q), 4(D), 40(M), 1(A), 30(L).  The 100 is dropped to 10 because the number 100 is not found in the kamea, but the 40 and 30 are not reduced because they exist in the kamea.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Where the number attributed to the first letter is placed in the kamea is marked with a small circle in the centre of the number square.  From this circle a straight line is drawn to the centre of the square for the second number, and so on until the last number is reached.  This final end point is marked by either a small perpendicular bar or another circle.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">If a word begins with two letters with the same numerical value, a bifurcation like a curvy m may be used, with the line to the next square drawn from the centre of the bifurcation.  When two consecutive letters within the word have the same numerical value, a small loop is drawn, with additional loops for each additional repetition of the same numerical value.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">When a word begins and ends in the same square of the kamea, the sigil is sometimes connected so there is no apparent beginning or end.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/The_Aiq_Beker_Regardie.png?x59011"><img decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-5142" src="https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/The_Aiq_Beker_Regardie.png?x59011" alt="" width="553" height="333" srcset="https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/The_Aiq_Beker_Regardie.png 553w, https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/The_Aiq_Beker_Regardie-300x181.png 300w, https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/The_Aiq_Beker_Regardie-250x151.png 250w, https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/The_Aiq_Beker_Regardie-550x331.png 550w, https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/The_Aiq_Beker_Regardie-299x180.png 299w, https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/The_Aiq_Beker_Regardie-498x300.png 498w" sizes="(max-width: 553px) 100vw, 553px" /></a>(Excerpt from Israel Regardie&#8217;s &#8220;A Garden of Pomegranates&#8221;)</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Confusingly, in the first source for this technique, Agrippa’s <em><a href="https://occult-study.com/the-classical-grimoires/#page-part-three-books">Three Books of Occult Philosophy</a></em>, Agrippa himself does not seem to always stick to these principles in the construction of the sigils for the Planetary Intelligences and Spirits.  For instance where a word contains the letters IA together, which is common in names of spiritual creatures, the numerical values of the letters, I=10 and A=1, are often added to make 11, instead of using the squares for 10 and 1.  Likewise he sometimes combines other letters with no apparent reason, and does not always reduce a number to the highest value, e.g. reducing 200 to 2 instead of 20 when there is a 20 in the kamea.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Since Agrippa’s work, the tendency has been to reproduce his sigils without any explanation.  For this reason I will refer to all the sigils which demonstrate inconsistencies, for the reader to redraw for themselves.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Martial Planetary Intelligence: Graphiel (GRAPhIAL)</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">G+R+A+Ph+I+A+L</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">3+200+1+80+10+1+30 = 325</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The kamea contains the range 1-25, so 80 is reduced to 8 and 30 to 3; 200 is reduced to 2 rather than 20 for no clear reason.  The 10+1 of IA are combined to 11 and the square for 11 used.  As the word begins and ends on a 3 the sigil is closed at this square.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Martial Planetary Spirit: Bartzabel (BRTzBAL)</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">B+R+Tz+B+A+L</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">2+200+90+2+1+30 = 325</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The kamea contains the range 1-25, so 90 is reduced to 9 and 30 to 3; 200 is reduced to 2 rather than 20 for no clear reason.  The two 2s at the beginning of the name are indicated by the double loop.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Solar Planetary Intelligence: Nakhiel (NKIAL)</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">N+K+I+A+L</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">50+20+10+1+30 = 111</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The kamea contains the range 1-36, so 50 is reduced to 5.  The I and A are not combined, and for no clear reason 30 is reduced to 3 despite being in the kamea.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Solar Planetary Spirit: Sorath (SVRTh)</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">S+V+R+Th</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">60+6+200+400 = 666</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The kamea contains the range 1-36, so 400 is reduced to 4, and 60 to 6; 200 is reduced to 2 rather than 20 for no clear reason.  The two 6s together at the beginning of the name are indicated by the double loop.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Venereal Planetary Intelligence: Hagiel (HGIAL)</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">H+G+I+A+L</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">5+3+10+1+30 = 49</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The kamea contains the range 1-49, so you would expect no reductions.  However 30 is reduced to 3.  The 10+1 of IA are combined to 11 and the square for 11 used with a double loop, which is not used elsewhere.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Mercurial Planetary Intelligence: Tiriel (TIRIAL)</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">TIRIAL</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">9+10+200+10+1+30 = 260</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The kamea contains the range 1-64, so 200 is reduced to 20.  The 10+1 of IA are combined to 11 and the square for 11 used, rather than using the squares for 10 and 1.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Lunar Planetary Intelligence of Intelligences: Malkah be-Tharshisim ve-ad Be-Ruachoth Shechalim (MLKA BThRShIThIM AaD BRVCh ShChQIM)</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">MLKA BThRShIThIM AaD BRVCh ShChQIM</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">40+30+20+1 2+400+200+300+10+400+10+600 70+4 2+200+6+8 300+8+100+10+600 = 3321</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The kamea contains the range 1-81, so 600 is reduced to 60, 400 to 40, 300 to 30, 200 to 20, and 100 to 10.  In the first word the 20 (K) and 1 (A) are combined to make 21 and this square used instead of 20 and 1 for no clear reason.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Lunar Planetary Spirit: Chasmodai (ChShMVDAI)</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Ch+Sh+M=V+D=A+I</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">8+300+40+6+4+1+10 = 369</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The kamea contains the range 1-81, so 300 is reduced to 30.  This 30 is then combined with the 40 (M) to produce 70 as a combined total and that square used instead of 30 and 40.  There is no obvious reason for this.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Lunar Planetary Spirit of Spirits: Schad Barschemoth ha-Shartathan (ShDBRShHMAaTh ShRThThN)</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Sh+D  B+R+Sh+H+M+Aa+Th     Sh+R+Th+Th+N</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">300+4  2+200+300+5+40+70+400 300+200+400+400+700 = 3321</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The kamea contains the range 1-81, so 700 is reduced to 70, 400 to 40, 300 to 30 and 200 to 20.  The 300 (Sh) reduced to 30 in the second word is added to the following 5 (H) to make 35 as a combined total and that square used instead of 30 and 5, for no obvious reason.  The loop from 40-70-40 is also unexplained, as there is no reason for it not to be straight lines.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">By the 17<sup>th</sup> century the sigils drawn off the kameas were already well established, as can be seen by the following quote from Sloane MSS 3821.</p>
<blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><em>“There are Seven Intelligences or Spirits, of light, who are Celestially Dignified, by nature, Angelical &amp; Benevolent, whose names are to be Collected, &amp; Characters Drawn from the forementioned tables </em>[i.e. the kameas]<em>; with the names of God, Governing them, by the force, Influence, Virtue, &amp; Mystical, &amp; Secret, Efficacy, whereof, them good demons, are powerfully moved, &amp; to be Called forth, to Visible Appearance, whose Names are as followeth.”</em><a href="#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8"><sup>[8]</sup></a></p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;">In looking at Agrippa’s influence, we should also remember that many other magicians have worked with different types of sigils since then (remembering that Agrippa describes reduction sigilisation in his <em>Three Books</em> as well). A fine example of this prevalence is to be found in the 18<sup>th</sup> century Sloane MSS 3822, which contains the following prayer (reproduced verbatim):</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><em>A Prayer before the putting of any Sigil<a href="#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9"><strong>[9]</strong></a></em></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><em>By Sir Thomas Myddleton</em></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><em> </em></p>
<blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><em>“O Almighty Lord and everlasting God, by whose power both the heavens and the Earth with all things therein contained were made, by whose providence all things both in heaven &amp; Earth are governed Who givest virtue to every Creature, that thou hast made as to plants, stones, herbs, &amp; all for the use of man (who in thee doth live, move, &amp; hath his being) yea &amp; to words, prayers, signs &amp; sigils dost give especial virtues, &amp; especially to thy own great Names, for expelling of evil spirits &amp; healing diseases, give thy special blessing unto these sigils which in thy Name we do apply unto this thy Servant, let those virtues equal the virtue of Gideon’s Sword that vanquished the Philistines, of  Judith that cut off the Babylonian’s head, the strength of Sampson’s arms, the strength of David; let his prayers that made them (who bear a place in the Celestial Choir) be now heard in remembrance, &amp; let our weak prayers, have access unto thy throne of Grace, &amp; so for prayer with thy Sacred Majesty that these Sigils may receive that virtue from thee, that was humbly supplicated at the making of them, and Let this thy Servant find &amp; feel the effectual workings of them, to the Recovering of health both of body &amp; mind, &amp; preserving from the Like or any other evil, both of body &amp; mind hereafter, &amp; grant this O merciful father for Jesus Christ his Sake in whose blessed Name we do humbly &amp; heartily beg it, of thee, in that prayer which he hath taught us.</em></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><em> </em></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><em>Take a good time agreeable to the Sigil you will put on.”</em></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p></blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;">So having looked deeper into the sources of Agrippa’s work, I hope this will inspire further work with the Planetary Intelligences and Planetary Spirits he detailed.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Bibliography &#8211; MSS</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Cambridge MS Dd.xi.45</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Harley MS 6482</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Jagiellonian MS 753</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Sloane MSS 3821</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Sloane MSS 3822</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong> </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Bibliography &#8211; Published Sources</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Agrippa, Cornelius, <em>Three Books of Occult Philosophy</em>, 2005, Llewellyn</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Couliano, Ioan P., <em>Eros and Magic in the Renaissance</em>, 1987, University of Chicago Press</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Fanger, Claire (ed), <em>Conjuring Spirits: Texts and Traditions of Medieval Ritual Magic</em>, 1998, Sutton Publishing Ltd</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Kaplan, Aryeh, <em>Meditation and Kabbalah</em>, 1982, Weiser</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Nowotny, Karl Anton, <em>The Construction of Certain Seals and Characters in the Work of Agrippa of Nettesheim</em>, 1957, Warburg Institute</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Thorndike, Lynn, <em>A History of Magic and Experimental Science</em>, 1953, Columbia University Press</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1">[1]</a> “Three Books of Occult Philosophy”, Cornelius Agrippa, 1508-09 (date of probably first drafting).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2">[2]</a> For easy reference see the essay on “The Book of Angels, Rings, Characters and Images of the Planets” by Juris Lidaka in the excellent “Conjuring Spirits” edited by Claire Fanger</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3">[3]</a> Jagiellonian MS 753, circa 1315 CE.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4">[4]</a> Codex 793, Cracow.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5">[5]</a> See “Eros and Magic in the Renaissance”, Ioan Couliano, p167.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6">[6]</a> E.g. <em>Shoshan Yesod Olam</em> and <em>Toledot Adam</em>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7">[7]</a> Harley MS 6482, Of the Little Tables of the Planets and what Divine Names, Intelligences and Demons Belong to these Tables</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8">[8]</a> Sloane MSS 3821</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9">[9]</a> Sloane MSS 3822, fo 35, 1739?</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><a href="https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/712px-Albrecht_Dürer_-_Melencolia_I_-_Google_Art_Project__AGDdr3EHmNGyA.jpg?x59011"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-5138" src="https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/712px-Albrecht_Dürer_-_Melencolia_I_-_Google_Art_Project__AGDdr3EHmNGyA.jpg?x59011" alt="" width="712" height="900" srcset="https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/712px-Albrecht_Dürer_-_Melencolia_I_-_Google_Art_Project__AGDdr3EHmNGyA.jpg 712w, https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/712px-Albrecht_Dürer_-_Melencolia_I_-_Google_Art_Project__AGDdr3EHmNGyA-237x300.jpg 237w, https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/712px-Albrecht_Dürer_-_Melencolia_I_-_Google_Art_Project__AGDdr3EHmNGyA-250x316.jpg 250w, https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/712px-Albrecht_Dürer_-_Melencolia_I_-_Google_Art_Project__AGDdr3EHmNGyA-550x695.jpg 550w, https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/712px-Albrecht_Dürer_-_Melencolia_I_-_Google_Art_Project__AGDdr3EHmNGyA-142x180.jpg 142w, https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/712px-Albrecht_Dürer_-_Melencolia_I_-_Google_Art_Project__AGDdr3EHmNGyA-396x500.jpg 396w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 712px) 100vw, 712px" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">(Melancolia, Albrecht Durer, 1514, incorporating the Jupiter kamea)</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://occult-study.com/agrippa-and-the-magic-squares/">Agrippa and the Magic Squares</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://occult-study.com">Occult-Study</a>.</p>
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		<title>Murder and Magic in France – Negative Uses of the Grimoire of Pope Honorius</title>
		<link>https://occult-study.com/murder-and-magic-in-france-negative-uses-of-the-grimoire-of-pope-honorius/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[David Rankine]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 23 Jun 2018 11:22:10 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Magic(k)]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://occult-study.com/?p=5071</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>(Source) &#160; &#160; The Grimoire of Pope Honorius is a significant seventeenth century French grimoire with a selection of Book of Secrets charms attached to it.  In combining these two strands of practice, it continued the tradition found in earlier manuscripts where this practice is seen regularly. The word grimoire is derived from the root grammar, and is normally used to represent a ‘grammar’ of magic, or workbook of information and techniques. By contrast, Books of Secrets were collections of simple charms using common herbs or household objects, often combined with biblical quotes. The books or manuscripts commonly known as </p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://occult-study.com/murder-and-magic-in-france-negative-uses-of-the-grimoire-of-pope-honorius/">Murder and Magic in France – Negative Uses of the Grimoire of Pope Honorius</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://occult-study.com">Occult-Study</a>.</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/grimoire-of-pope-honorius-00.jpg?x59011"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-5072" src="https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/grimoire-of-pope-honorius-00-1024x733.jpg?x59011" alt="" width="620" height="444" srcset="https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/grimoire-of-pope-honorius-00-1024x733.jpg 1024w, https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/grimoire-of-pope-honorius-00-300x215.jpg 300w, https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/grimoire-of-pope-honorius-00-768x550.jpg 768w, https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/grimoire-of-pope-honorius-00-140x100.jpg 140w, https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/grimoire-of-pope-honorius-00-250x179.jpg 250w, https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/grimoire-of-pope-honorius-00-550x394.jpg 550w, https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/grimoire-of-pope-honorius-00-800x572.jpg 800w, https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/grimoire-of-pope-honorius-00-252x180.jpg 252w, https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/grimoire-of-pope-honorius-00-419x300.jpg 419w, https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/grimoire-of-pope-honorius-00-699x500.jpg 699w, https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/grimoire-of-pope-honorius-00-210x150.jpg 210w, https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/grimoire-of-pope-honorius-00-400x285.jpg 400w, https://occult-study.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/grimoire-of-pope-honorius-00.jpg 1192w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px" /></a>(<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grimoire_of_Pope_Honorius" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Source</a>)</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><div class="message_box note"><p>Note: The following article has been published with the author&#8217;s approval. The original article can be found at <a href="https://davidrankine.com/2018/06/03/murder-and-magic-in-france-negative-uses-of-the-grimoire-of-pope-honorius/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://davidrankine.com/2018/06/03/murder-and-magic-in-france-negative-uses-of-the-grimoire-of-pope-honorius/</a></p></div></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The <i>Grimoire of Pope Honorius</i> is a significant seventeenth century French grimoire with a selection of Book of Secrets charms attached to it.  In combining these two strands of practice, it continued the tradition found in earlier manuscripts where this practice is seen regularly. The word grimoire is derived from the root grammar, and is normally used to represent a <i>‘grammar’</i> of magic, or workbook of information and techniques. By contrast, Books of Secrets were collections of simple charms using common herbs or household objects, often combined with biblical quotes.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The books or manuscripts commonly known as grimoires were a European phenomena, usually written in the period from the thirteenth to the late eighteenth century.  The countries which dominated the Grimoire tradition were England, France, Italy and Germany, with the so-called <i>‘black magic’</i> grimoires from the end of this period being almost entirely French and Italian.  C.J.S. Thompson (1927:256) noted this saying,</p>
<blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><i>“During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, several small handbooks were printed and circulated in France and Italy professing to record the true magical ritual.”</i></p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The <i>Grimoire of Pope Honorius</i> has never really received the recognition it deserves as arguably the first of the French <i>‘black magic’</i> grimoires, which are characterised by all being published as <i>Bibliothèque Bleue de Troyes</i> (Blue Library of Troyes) works.  These widely distributed extremely cheap paperback editions were prevalent across France from the seventeenth to the mid-nineteenth century, and were so called due to the blue sugar paper they were wrapped in.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Despite the tendency to misdate books to attribute greater age to them, we know that there was at least one edition of the <i>Grimoire of Pope Honorius</i> published in 1670, as reference was made to it being in the possession of the infamous French sorceress and poisoner <a href="https://occult-study.com/black-mass/#page-part-la-voisin">La Voisin</a> in 1679.  The first occurrences of other works in this genre are significantly later, thus we see e.g. the <a href="https://occult-study.com/the-classical-grimoires/#page-part-grimoirium-verum"><i>Grimorium Verum</i></a> (1817, not the spurious 1517 date on the cover), <a href="https://occult-study.com/the-classical-grimoires/#page-part-dragon-rouge"><i>Le Grand Grimoire/Le Dragon Rouge</i></a> (1750, and mentioned in the 1760 edition of the <i>Grimoire of Pope Honorius</i>) and <i>Le Dragon Noir</i> (date uncertain, published 1887).  It is interesting to note that if the 1629 publication date for the <i>Grimoire of Pope Honorius</i> given by Davis (1998:xv), and quoted by Gardner (1959:98) referencing the American anthropologist Charles Godfrey Leland (1824-1903) is correct, it also predates the first known <i>Lemegeton</i> (1641).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">We can speculate that the <i>Grimoire of Pope Honorius</i> does have earlier roots, considering other works named after Honorius exist which predate it by centuries.  The Dominican inquisitor Nicholas Eymericus (1320-99) listed a work called Honorius the Necromancer’s <i>Treasury of Necromancy</i> in his <i>Directory for Inquisitors</i> (1376) as one of those he publicly burned (Kieckhefer, 2001:157).  Mesler (2012:134) suggests that this refers to the <a href="https://occult-study.com/the-classical-grimoires/#page-part-juratus"><i>Sworn Book of Honorius</i></a>, rather than being a different work, but the evidence is lacking for a conclusion either way.  The tendency to burn such works as became public has removed many possible sources, as zealous judges and church officials were keen to burn any such necromantic or demonic work <i>“so that it becomes dust, and so that from it another copy can never be made” </i>(Brucker, 1963:19).  Waite (1911:89) also lists a work entitled <i>Honorii Papae adversus tenebrarum principem et ejus angelos conjurationes ex originale romae servato</i> (<i>[The grimoire] of Pope Honorius against the Prince of Darkness and his angels, conjurations preserved [?] from the Roman original</i>), which he states was published in Rome in 1529, that he had seen referenced but never actually been able to get hold of.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The <i>Enchiridion of Pope Leo III</i> is probably older than the <i>Grimoire of Pope Honorius</i>, although the early date of 1523 is questionable and I have been unable to find any supporting evidence for its existence before 1584. The Book of Secrets section of the <i>Grimoire of Pope Honorius</i> refers to the <i>Enchiridion of Pope Leo III</i> in several places, indicating it was certainly available before 1670, and not the later 1749 date sometimes quoted.  The <i>Enchiridion</i> is not a <i>‘black magic’</i> text, focusing as it does entirely on the Psalms, prayers and charms.  Several of the charms in the <i>Enchiridion of Pope Leo III</i> are shared with the Secrets text which comprises the second half of the <i>Grimoire of Pope Honorius</i>, and the charms in this work also refer to the <i>Enchiridion</i> several times.  Another <i>Bibliothèque Bleue</i> book often classed with these works is <i>Le Petit Albert</i> (1702), which is however more accurately a Book of Secrets style text.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Eliphas Levi’s (1810-1875) comments in his writings clearly added to the notoriety of this work, which he also called the <i>Constitution of Honorius</i> after the title of one of its sub-sections, stating that <i>“A man capable of evoking the devil, according to the rites of the Grimoire of Honorius, is so far on the road to evil that he is inclined to all kinds of hallucinations and falsehoods.” </i>(Waite, 1897:479) However, the religious Levi’s negative views of the <i>Grimoire of Pope Honorius</i> clearly seem to have been coloured by his own experiences, not so much of the content, but rather of its perceived effect on an unbalanced mind.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">In his work <i>The Key of the Mysteries</i>, Levi devoted eleven pages to recounting his experiences regarding the murder of the archbishop of Paris, Marie-Dominique-Auguste Sibour (1792-1857), and the role that the <i>Grimoire of Pope Honorius</i> played in the murder.  Levi recounts that he met a young ecclesiastic at the house of a friend and had serious forebodings about the stranger.  The young Priest, Jean-Louis Verger (1826-1857), was described by Levi as, <i>“a young and slim man; he had an arched and pointed nose, with dull blue eyes … His mouth was sensual and quarrelsome; his manners were affable, his voice soft, and his speech sometimes a little embarrassed”</i>. (Levi 1959:121)</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Verger had been sent to Levi by a book-dealer, and was desperate to obtain a copy of the <i>Grimoire of Pope Honorius</i>.  Levi disparaged the book as worthless, and his cheiromancer friend Desbarroles, who was also present, offered to read Verger’s palm.  The cheiromantic act was revealing, as it suggested that Verger was a dangerous individual who could easily become a religious fanatic, if he lived much longer, for <i>“the line of life was short and broken, there were crosses in the centre of the hand, and stars upon the mount of the moon”</i>. (Levi 1959:122)</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">As he departed, the young Priest ominously declared that they would hear him spoken of before long.  The lady who had been their host subsequently revealed that prior to their arrival Verger had revealed his attempted evocation of the devil using a popular grimoire, and his desire to see the devil, who did not appear despite a number of phenomena, including <i>“a whirlwind seemed to shake the vicarage; the rafts groaned, the wainscoting cracked, the doors shook, the windows opened with a crash, and whistlings were heard in every corner of the house”</i>.(Levi 1959:123) It is perhaps surprising that Verger did not go to an outdoor site such as a forest or ruin as is often advised in the grimoires, rather than trying to call the devil to manifest inside a church, but this may reflect on the state of mind of the Priest!</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">January 1857 started badly for Eliphas Levi, with nightmares on the nights of the 1st and 2nd about being called to see his dying father (who had died some years previously).  On the 3rd January, Levi went to attend the mass for the feast of St Geneviève, patron saint of Paris (and interestingly, one of the few saints mentioned in the charms in the <i>Grimoire of Pope Honorius</i>).  As the procession arrived, Jean-Louis Verger stabbed archbishop Sibour in the heart with a large Catalan knife crying <i>“No more goddesses! Away with goddesses!”</i>  This bizarre statement again seems to reflect his unbalanced mental state.  Verger was seized and imprisoned, and after being very disruptive during his trial, was executed by guillotine on 30th January 1857.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The information which came to light after his death shed some light on the disturbed mindset of Jean-Louis Verger.  He had been banned from the priesthood after a series of failed parish positions. His hostility to archbishop Sibour seems to have stemmed from the archbishop’s dismissal of Verger’s accusations of homosexual advances from his superior Abbé Legrand.  He also attacked the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, ecclesiastical discipline and clerical celibacy. (Nash 1990:2751)</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Some weeks later Levi again met the book-dealer who had sent the young Priest to him, and the book-dealer informed him that he had sold his last copy of the <i>Grimoire of Pope Honorius</i> to Verger.  The notoriety and popularity of the <i>Grimoire of Pope Honorius</i> had endured for at least one hundred and fifty years at this point, Davies (2009:96) notes that,</p>
<blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><i>“From the records the Clavicule of Solomon emerges as the most influential grimoire amongst the Parisian mages … The Grimoire du Pape Honorius was the next most popular magic book. In 1701 we find a diabolist doctor named Aubert de Saint-Etienne boasting that he possessed copies of both grimoires.”</i></p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Another significant owner of the <i>Grimoire of Pope Honorius</i> was <a href="https://occult-study.com/black-mass/#page-part-la-voisin">Catherine La Voisin</a>, the infamous sorceress and poisoner who was involved in the <em>Affair of the Poisons</em> which scandalised the French royal court in 1679.  La Voisin, along with her employer, one of King Louis XIV’s mistresses, Madame de Mountespan, played the part of altar for <a href="https://occult-study.com/black-mass/">black masses</a> performed by Abbé Guiborg, a renegade Catholic Priest.  Guiborg had a large collection of grimoires, and additionally <i>“several grimoires were found amongst the papers of … La Voisin, amongst them The Book of the Conjurations of Pope Honorius, which contained a series of spells for gambling.” </i>(Davies, 2009:92)</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Levi’s experiences clearly coloured his opinion of the <i>Grimoire of Pope Honorius</i>, as he also vilified it in <i>Transcendental Magic</i>, and recounted a disparaging tale of a workman and his experiences with it in <i>The Key of the Mysteries</i>.  Both Levi’s and Waite’s negative comments about the <i>Grimoire of Pope Honorius</i> are indicative of the attitude found in the writings of occultists of the nineteenth and early twentieth century’s, as seen by Thompson’s comments (1927:256) about the <i>‘black magic’</i> grimoires that, <i>“all these little treatises are badly printed on poor paper and evidently written by men who had but little knowledge of the subject.”</i></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Through its different editions, its influence on other grimoires and on magical traditions in the last three centuries, it is clear that the <i>Grimoire of Pope Honorius</i> is actually one of the more significant grimoires.  <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Grimoire-Pope-Honorius-PB/dp/1905297653" target="_blank" rel="noopener">My work on the <i>Grimoire of Pope Honorius</i></a> seeks to redress the balance and demonstrate the versatility and significance of this grimoire, cutting past outdated misperceptions of a negative viewpoint coloured by some bad press to a viewpoint which reflects more accurately the position of the <i>Grimoire of Pope Honorius</i> in the development of magic since the seventeenth century.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><b>Bibliography</b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Anon (1909) <i>Le Dragon Noir Ou Les Forces Infernales Soumises à L’homme</i>. Paris: Librairie Générale Des Sciences Occultes</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Boudet, Jean-Patrice (2003) <i>Les who’s who démonologiques de la Renaissance et leurs ancêtres médiévaux</i>. In <i>Médiévales</i> 44:117-140</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Ch’ien, Rineta (trans), &amp; Sullivan, Matthew (1998) <i>The Great Grimoire of Pope Honorius</i>. Washington: Trident Books</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Davies, Owen (2009) <i>Grimoires: A History of Magic Books</i>. Oxford: Oxford University Press</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">De Givery, E.G. (1931) <i>Sorcery, Magic and Alchemy</i>. London: George G. Harrap &amp; Co. Ltd</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Dumas, F.R. (2008) <i>Grimoires et Rituels Magiques</i>. Paris: Le Pre aux Clercs</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Eamon, William (1994) <i>Science and the Secrets of Nature: Books of Secrets in Medieval and Early Modern Culture</i>. Princeton: Princeton University Press</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Fanger, Claire (ed) (1998) <i>Conjuring Spirits: Texts and Traditions of Medieval Ritual Magic.</i> Stroud: Sutton Publishing Ltd</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Hedegård, Gösta (2002) <i>Liber Iuratus Honorii</i>. Stockholm: Almquist &amp; Wiksell International</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Kieckhefer, Richard (2001) <i>Magic in the Middle Ages</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Lecouteux, Claude (2002) <i>Le Livres des Grimoires</i>. Paris: Editions Imago</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Levi, Eliphas (1913) <i>The History of Magic</i>. London: William Rider &amp; Son</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Levi, Eliphas (1959) <i>The Key of the Mysteries</i>. London: Rider &amp; Co.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Mollenauer, Lynn Wood (2007) <i>Strange Revelations: Magic, Poison, and Sacrilege in Louis XIV’s France</i>. Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Nash, J.R. (1990) <i>Encyclopedia of World Crime Vol IV S-Z Supplements</i>. Illinois: CrimeBooks Inc</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Shah, Idries (1969) <i>The Secret Lore of Magic</i>. London: Frederick Muller Ltd</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Skinner, Stephen &amp; Rankine, David (2007) <i>The Goetia of Dr Rudd</i>. Singapore: Golden Hoard Press</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Taillepied, Noël (1588) <i>Traicté de l’apparition des esprits</i>. Paris: G Bichon</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Thompson, C.J.S. (1927) <i>Mysteries and Secrets of Magic</i>. London: John Lane</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Thorndike, Lynn (1923) <i>A History of Magical and Experimental Science Vol 2</i>. New York: Columbia University Press</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Waite, A.E. (1911) <i>The Book of Ceremonial Magic</i>. London: William Rider &amp; Son</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Waite, A.E. (1886) <i>The Mysteries of Magic: A Digest of the Writings of Eliphas Levi</i>. London: George Redway</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://occult-study.com/murder-and-magic-in-france-negative-uses-of-the-grimoire-of-pope-honorius/">Murder and Magic in France – Negative Uses of the Grimoire of Pope Honorius</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://occult-study.com">Occult-Study</a>.</p>
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