Societas Magica - SMN Fall 2008 Issue 20

7/30/2019 Societas Magica - SMN Fall 2008 Issue 20

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Issue 20 Fa 2008

Theses demag a

Marco PasiUniversity of Amsterdam

ur ng t e rst con erence o t e Soc etas Mag ca, e ast Juneat t e Un vers ty o Water oo, I presente t e o ow ng t eses as acu m nat on o my paper on t e Ita an ant ropo og st an stor anof religions Ernesto de Martino (1908-1965). The paper exploredsome met o o og ca pro ems re ate to t e stor ca stu y omag c as t ey cou e g g te t roug an exam nat on o e

art nos wor . T e t eses were meant to e a way o summar z ngmy theoretical and methodological thoughts on the study of magicon the basis of my reading of de Martino. They are therefore heavilyn uence y s eas, part cu ar y as t ey concern t e concept

o t e ant mag ca po em c as a un amenta eature o westerncu ture.

T eses e mag a s o course a s y re erence to G or ano Brunoswork on magic bearing the same title. During the discussion thato owe my paper, someone suggeste t at I cou a so ave

ca e t em Conc us ones, n re erence to P co e a M ran o asown amous 900 art c es on y twenty-s x o w c were n actspecifically devoted to magic). I thought, however, that my aim wasnot really to present conclusions, but rather starting points for a

Newletter editors welcome responses to Marco Pasis heses de magia. Please send responses eithern the body of an email (if brief) or as an attached file in MS Word format (for longer comments,

specially if they involve diacritics) to [email protected]. Responses received in time will be

published in Newsletter issue 21 (Spring 2009).


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age ocietas Magica Newsletter Fall 2008

scuss on among spec a sts n t estu y o mag c.

Bruno wrote ty-s x t eses;I ave contente myse w tten. There were nine when Ipresente t em n Water oo, ut

I ave ec e to a a new oneto ma e my argument c earerand more complete. However, Iave starte t e num er ng rom

0, so t at t e ast one w st enum er 9. Eac t es s s o owey a certa n num er o su -

theses that should illustrate andexp a n t e ma n po nt. Some ot e arguments scusse ere aa rea y een presente , ut not

so systematically, in my doctoralssertat on,La notion de magie

ans e courant occu tiste en

Ang eterre (1875-1947, e en ein 2004 at the cole Pratiquedes Hautes tudes, Paris. Ana stract o t e ssertat on asappeare n t e Societas MagicaNews etter 13, W nter 2005),but the dissertation itself is still

unpu s e .Being painfully aware thata ser ous ograp y onmag c wou reac monstrousproport ons, I ave m te mybibliographical references here tot e essent a .

F na y, I ma e no part cu ar c a mto or g na ty w t my t eses.Most o t e po nts I am ma ngwill appear to some readersalmost trivial, while a few oft em w per aps e seen as morepro emat c or controvers a . W atI am present ng ere s part y aprecipitation of ideas that have

een common enoug n recent

sc o ar y researc on mag c,part y a recap tu at on o my ownt eoret ca re ect ons on t e stu yo mag c, w c ave occup e mymind in the last ten years.

0. The study of magic is not thesame t ng as t e stu y o t e

concept o mag c.

0.1. One s ou a ways e

wary o wor s t at preten to

study magic as such. In these

works, magic is often presented

as an o ject w ose existence

is a rea y ta en or grante ,

ecause it is easi y iscerni e

in the fabric of history, and its

i entity can e escri e y

means o a simp e e nition1

However, t ere is no meaning u

istory of magic without a

istorica pro ematization o t e

concept o magic. Wit out t is

pro ematization, t e comp ex

ways in w ic t e concept or

rather the concepts of magic

ave ta en s ape an ave

een trans orme in istory are

o scure rat er t an c ari e .

0.2. The study of magic should

egin with this historical

pro ematization o t e

concept o magic, ut s ou

ot en t ere. It is essentia to

nderstand what people meant

y magic in different historical

perio s, ut t e stu y o magic

cannot e carrie out on y rom

he perspective of intellectualistory. It should obviously also

inc u e a stu y o t e practices,

o t e socia e aviors, an

o t e e ie s t at ave een

istorically associated with the

concept o magic2.

. Mag c s a western concept.Stu y ng t e story o mag cmeans stu y ng t e story owestern cu ture.

1.1. No one serious y isputes

the fact that the concept of

magic, owever one wants to

un erstan or e ne it, asoriginate an eve ope in

western culture, just like its

ideologically cognate concept

o re igion. T is remains true

in epen ent y o ow roa y (or

narrow y we want to e ne t e

cultural and geographical space

o t e West. Etymo ogica y, t e

wor erives rom a particu ar

c ass o Persian priests (an

ethnic element was probably

also involved in the term), whose

name was trans ate in ancient

Gree as magoi. It is in ancient

Greece t at, rom t is noun,

the term mageia was derived,

w ic serve increasing y to

i enti y not w at a person was

(an t ere ore er et nic origin

or social function), but what

a person did. In identifyingmageia as a particu ar set o

practices an e aviors, t e

process o conceptua ization o

magic in western culture began3.

T e su sequent istory o t e

concept inc u es o course many

comp ex eve opments, w ic

take place in Greek, Roman and

other Mediterranean cultures,

an in a t ree Me iterranean

monot eistic re igions, Ju aism,Christianity, and Islam. All these

developments belong to the same

cu tura istory y way o mutua

in uences, w ic can e exp ore

an un erstoo istorica y.

1.2. T e secon sentence may

Theses contd


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ageoc etas ag ca ews etter a

Theses contd

e read just as a corollary of the

rst one, ut its meaning goes

eyon a simp e extension o it.

In act, it is meant to emp asize

he importance of the study of

magic for the understanding

o t e ways in w ic western

cu ture as s ape its own

i entity. T is is urt er exp aine

under point 5.

2. The scholarly study of magiccan eve op on y t roug au stor ca awareness o t e

or g ns an t e eve opmentof this concept. This meanscontextualizing the ways in whicht s concept as een use n t epast ot on an em c an an et c

eve .

2.1. T e istorica stu y o

a concept, or of a cluster of

concepts, can be carried out

on y wit in a roa er stu y

o t e cu ture in w ic t is

concept, or c uster o concepts,

has originated and developed.

agic as consistent y eena pro ematic presence in

western cu ture. It is essentia

o understandwhy it has beenso. In order to do that, it is

important to stu y t e socia ,

po itica , re igious, an more

genera y i eo ogica , unctions

hat magic has fulfilled in

western cu ture. Processes o

exc usion an o i entity- ui ing

ave een ma e possi e t roughe use of magic as a specific

category4.

2.2. T ese processes ave ta en

p ace not on y among e ievers

an opponents o magic, ut a so

among t e sc o ars stu ying it.

contd on page 4

W en we ecome aware o t e

i eo ogica iases t at can i e

e in sc o ar y e nitions o

magic, we understand that these

efinitions belong to the history

o t e concept o magic as we ,

an o not transcen it. As

sc o ars, we can ecome aware

of these biases and begin tory avoiding them only when

we ave a su cient istorica

now e ge o t e i eo ogica

functions and of the social

processes mentioned in 2.15.

. Magic is not a single object, buta comp ex o stor ca p enomenat at are constant y mo e y t e

stor ca processes w c t ey go

through.

3.1. The biggest problem in

rying to give a simple definition

o magic app ica e to any

istorica materia is t at t e

concept o magic as een use

istorically in different ways,

in or er to per orm i erent

unctions epen ing on t e

istorica context. I magic as

een used in order to carry

out processes o exc usion ( or

instance o certain practices,

e ie s, or socia groups ,

e o ject o t ese exc usions

as varied in time and space.

T ere ave een so many

epistemo ogica s i ts an

ruptures in t e istory o western

culture that it is hard to imagine

a single definition being ableo capture suc a comp ex

p enomenon.

4. Nevert e ess, t s comp exs ows some aspects o cont nu tyand consistency that have to beeterm ne an stu e .

4.1. I our istorica

pro ematization o t e concept

o magic ma es it evi ent t at

magic is not a single, elementary

object that can be easily defined,

o we en up wit an integra

econstruction t at ma es magic

isso ve a toget er? S ou

there not be apars construenso owing t epars estruens o

t e istorica pro ematization?

As sai a ove (0.2 , t e stu y o

magic cannot be just intellectual,

that is, limited to the study of

t e i erent istorica concepts

re ate to magic, an s ou

a so inc u e aspects suc as

practices and beliefs. But even

this would not be sufficient. Thestu y o magic must a so ave

an am ition to i enti y patterns

and continuities, which can

only make a history of magic

a meaning u project in t e rst

p ace6

5. T e story o mag c n westerncu ture, an per aps even westernculture as a whole, cannot be fully

un erstoo t e p enomenono ant mag ca po em c s notta en nto account an t oroug ynvestigated.

5.1. Some aut ors ave

suggested that at least one

pattern in t e istory o

magic exists, an t at it is t e

T e Soc etas Mag caebsite has a new domain:

ww.societasmagica.org

Please update your links.

Announcement


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phenomenon of antimagical

po emic. Magic was orn in

ancient Greece as a term wit

po emica un ertones, an t e

stigma attac e to t e wor as

een a permanent feature of its

su sequent istory7.

5.2. In its istory, western cu ture

as consistent y use magic

as a conceptua space w ere

ideas, beliefs, behaviors, and/or

practices that were considered as

unaccepta e wou e t rown.

T ese i eas, e ie s, e aviors,

an or practices wou t ere ore

ecome identified with a single

category o exc usion, ca e

magic.

5.3. Creating t is category o

exc usion was an essentia part

of the process by which western

culture has defined its identity

roug out t e centuries. By

exc u ing w at t ey i not

want to e or o, westerners

have defined, implicitly and by

contrast, w at t ey wante to

e or o. C oices were ma e,

in excluding certain things and

accepting ot ers, w ic ave

iven western cu ture its speci c,

individual shape. For this

reason, understanding the history

o (t e concept o magic o ers a

ey to un erstan t e istory o

western cu ture as a w o e.

5.4. Antimagica po emic is

certainly a fundamental pattern

in t e istory o magic, ut is

ot necessari y t e on y one.

Ot er patterns s ou e soug t,

an possi y i enti e . T ey

may be more specific, and not

app ica e to t e w o e o t e

istorica eve opment o magic,

ut t ey are e p u nevert e ess

o understand certain aspects of

it. One examp e among ot ers

may e t e communication wit

on- uman entities in or er to

o tain now e ge an or power.

Another may be the manipulation

o an invisi e, immateria

su stance in or er to ac ieve

materia e ects.

5.5. O ant ropo ogica an

sociological definitions of magic,

Theses contd dated and out of fashion as

t ey may seem to e to ay, may

sti e use u or an istorica

understanding of magic, because

they may help us identify further

patterns. An examp e may e

James G. Frazers e nition,

ase on t e i ea o sympat etic

magic8. The problem withthese definitions has been that

t ey o ten ar itrari y ma e one

o t ese speci c patterns an

absolute discriminating factor

for a general definition of magic.

See a so 8.5.

. For t s reason, n or erto un erstan t e stor cacomp ex ty o mag c, t s essent a

to be aware of its dual, perhapseven a ect ca , aspect. T e

story o mag c nc u es n actot pos t ve an negat ve

att tu es. T e ormer e ong toauthors who have propoundeda pos t ve concept o mag c aspart o a representat on o t e rwor v ews; t e atter e ong toauthors who have condemned

mag c as angerous, c t,

For more information about the Societas Magica see our website at http://www.societasmagica.org

The Societas Magica invites proposals for essays to run in futureissues of the newsletter.

e are looking for short essays (1500-2500 words) announcing new developments deriving fromesearch in the study and teaching of magic and its related

opics. We would be especially interested to see lead articleson modern magic, or periods other than medieval.

We are also looking for smaller pieces for our notes and queriescolumn. News about dissertations in progress or completed,manuscript discoveries, or other such items are all welcomed.

Please contact Kathryn Laity: [email protected]


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Theses contd

ne ect ve, or preposterous n awor : unaccepta e).

6.1. It is o vious t at magic,

espite its consistent use as

a category of exclusion by

aut oritative socia actors,

as een seen as a positivese -i enti ying category y

many persons in the history of

western cu ture. T at w ic

was perceive as unaccepta e

y some, as een seen not

on y as accepta e, ut even

as desirable, by others. Those

w o ave supporte a positive

perception o magic ave o ten

p ace t emse ves in a situation

of tension and conflict with their

cultural and social environment.

6.2. A sound history of magic

s ou ocus on ot i ea -

ypica camps. Popu ar

istories o magic ave o ten

focused only on those who have

i enti e t emse ves positive y

wit magic9. However, one

cannot write a istory o magic

where magicians are the only

protagonists, and where their

i eas are not contraste wit t e

cu tura environment in w ic

ey ave operate . T ose w o

have opposed magic (thereby

a so conceptua izing it are just

as important or a istorica

stu y o magic as t ose w o ave

defended it or have claimed to

elieve in and practice it. Plinye E er an Augustine are just

as important or t e istory o

magic as Marsi io Ficino an

Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa.

7. Magic has to be considered asan stor ca pro em t at covers contd on page 7

t e story o western cu tureas a w o e an spans rom tseg nn ngs to our ay. For t s

reason mag c as to e stu eand understood ideally in its entire

stor ca comp ex ty, an not yocus ng on y on s ng e per o s.

.1. T is is a ca to specia istsin t e istory o magic not to

remain confined in a given

istorical period, but to try to be

ami iar wit t e eve opments o

magic in ot er perio s as we .

Know e ge o ot er perio s can

sometimes throw light on aspects

o t e perio on w ic ones own

researc ocuses.

.2. I it is accepte t ate searc or patterns an

continuities, and not only

ruptures and differences, is a

egitimate aspect o researc on

magic, t en it ecomes c ear w y

it is important to now at east

he general lines of developments

in perio s t at o not e ong to

our e o specia ization. No

pattern can emerge y ocusing

arrowly on single periods or

ocal contexts.

. Studying magic in cultures thatare not western means pro ect nga western concept on cu tures t ator g na y o not possess t.

8.1. T is is one o t e most

important acquisitions of a

econstructionist approach to the

stu y o magic. Magic as eenconsi ere y generations o

sc o ars, wor ing especia y rom

anthropological, ethnological,

an socio ogica perspectives,

as a universa e ement o uman

cu ture. However, i one accepts

he points above, it becomes

clear that magic has served to

circumscri e a speci c area

wit in western cu ture, in

order to identify, isolate, and

often repress, beliefs, ideas,

e aviors, an or practices t at

were perceive as i ering rom

t e norm. T e socia unction

of this process has its specificistory in western cu ture,

w ic cannot e automatica y

transpose to ot er cu tures.

What was perceived in western

culture as dangerous, illicit,

eviant, an t ere y e ne

as magic, was not necessari y

perceive in t e same way in

other cultures. As a consequence,

t e particu ar conceptua spacet at was create in western

cu ture t roug t e category

of magic did not necessarily

exist elsewhere. Denying this

pro em or ignoring it ea s

easi y to t e projection o t is

conceptua space to cu tures t at

have not produced this space

autonomous y t roug t eir

oca cu tura ynamic. T is

is t e source o universa isticdiscourses on magic10.

8.2. It is not a single belief, idea,

practice and/or behavior that

ma es magic speci c to western

cu ture, ut t e way in w ic

a t ose e ements ave een

combined together in specific

patterns, in order to fulfill a

speci c unction.

8.3. I magic cannot e i enti e

on y y certain e ie s, i eas,

practices, an or e aviors

(as in old anthropological or

socio ogica e nitions , ut

a so y its socia or i eo ogica


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T e rst Soc etas Mag cacon erence prove a great success,

ot aca em ca y an soc a y. Itssma sca e, ts campus ocat onw c prevente t e part c pantsrom s pp ng out o sess ons an

into local tourist attractions), andthe healthy mixture of seasonedscholars, recent recipients of theP D, an gra uate stu ents, wereamong t e ma or actors w censure t s success.

But more than anything else,t was t e t emat c un ty an

common nterests w c ma ea t e sess ons nterest ng ant oug t-provo ng. For someone

e myse , w t a ac grounn anc ent story an a eeper

now e ge o anc ent anme eva Jew s mag c, t s was

an opportun ty to ear nterest ngpapers on ssues w t w c Ialready was at least partly familiar(including the biblical stories ofE a an E s a, ate-ant queNeop aton sm, an C r st anKa a a ), an on top cs w cwere ent re y new to me nc u ngmo ern pagan sm, t e wor s oErnesto e Mart no, an Descartes

reams). Moreover, a t esessions were conducted in trulyacademic spirit, with incisivecomments and lively discussionsut no acr mon ous c er ng, an

t e soc a events at east t ose Inot m ss ecause o my own

et- ag!) were c aracter ze y a

Participant Retrospectivere axe an r en y atmosp ere.

T us, t e on y mprovementcou suggest, or t e next

con erence o t e Soc etas Mag ca,wou e to try to attract moresc o ars wor ng on non-Westernmag c, nc u ng t e Anc entNear East, India, China, andother regions and periods. Suchan opening up of our intellectual

or zons w urt er enr c a t epart c pants n t s con erence, ans e even more g t on t e cross-cu tura s m ar t es an erenceso t e mag ca texts an pract ceswe a n so nterest ng.

G eon Bo aTe -Av v Un vers ty

Assem ng orty- ve sc o arsfrom seven countries, six provincesan seven states, t e con erence

Mag c: Front ers an Boun ar es(held 11-15 June 2008 at theUn vers ty o Water oos REVCon erence Centre) c e o w ta broad, conceptual keynote talk ont e Copt c mag c o ate ant qu tyy Pro essor Marv n Meyer

(Chapman University) whichset t e stage or t e rest o t econ erence. Equa y um nat ng

were Thursday evenings keynotepresentat on y Pro essor R c arK ec e er Nort westernUniversity), who presented his

n ngs on t e geograp ca

concentrat on o w tc tr a s nthe late 15th-century, and TanyaLu rmann Stan or Un vers ty),

w o treate con erence part c pantsto an overview of her fieldwork onpeop es re at ve recept veness tomyst ca exper ences.

Brav ng Water oos somet messt ng eat, part c pants earrigorous and enlighteningpapers arrange accor ng to aroug c rono og ca conceptuaorder. Highlights ranged fromPro essor G eon Bo a TeAv v Un vers ty) present ng sexploration of 140,000 fragmentsrom t e Cam r ge Un vers ty

rarys Gen za co ect onfor magical texts, to Dr Marco

as s Un vers ty o Amster am)

presentat on o n ne T eses onagic which both summarized

t e genera t rust o t e con erencean prov e a unct onadefinition of magic: essentially a

estern concept w c cant eapp e to ot er cu tures w t outsignificantly altering its semanticspace. We are p ease to present anexpan e vers on o Pas s T eses

e Magia as the lead article in thisssue o t e news etter.

avid PorrecaUn vers ty o Water oo

Magic: Frontiers and BoundariesOrganizer Retrospective


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Members of the Societas Magicaare ent t e to a 20% scount onall books in the Magic in Historyser es put out y Pennsy van aState University Press. Mentiont at you are a Soc etas Mag camem er w en or er ng oo s

by phone (800-326-9180) or fax877-778-2665 . T ese te ep one

numbers work from the US andCana a.

20% Discount

unction in t e speci c context

o a particu ar cu ture, t en it

ecomes clear why the cultural

specificity of magic cannot be

easi y renounce in avor o

universa istic app ications.

8.4. T is oes not mean,owever, t at e ie s, i eas,

practices and/or behaviors

associated with magic in western

cu ture cannot e compare to

simi ar e ie s, i eas, practices,

an or e aviors in ot er

cultures. But one thing is to

compare t ese i erent e ements,

anot er to assume t at t ey a

e ong to a sing e category.

Combining these elements

oget er in ways t at e ong to

e western conceptua ization

o magic wi te us more a out

our own cu ture t an a out t e

culture we want to compare it

o. T is wi e, in act, an act o

projection.

8.5. I t e universa istic c aim o

genera e nitions o magic is

abandoned, these definitions can

o ten o er interesting insig t into

e patterns o t e eve opment

o magic in t e istory o western

cu ture. See a so 5.5.

9. T e sc o ar y stu y o mag cmay be ideally interdisciplinary,ut ts oun at on must necessar ye stor ca .

9.1. Ant ropo ogy, socio ogy,psyc o ogy, an cognitive

science can help us understand

many aspects of the ways in

w ic magic as ecome suc a

signi cant presence in western

cu ture (see or instance 5.4 .

But it is history that should study

e ways in w ic t e concept o

magic as ta en s ape. Wit out

is istorica awareness, we

will always tend to use magic as

an easily definable, potentially

niversa category, instea o

e resu t o cu ture-speci c

i eo ogica con icts t at are sti

urking behind our simplisticefinitions11.

Endnotes

Even great classics such as LynnThorndikesHistory of Magic andExperimental Science (8 vv., NewYor : Co um a Un vers ty Press,1923-1958), are not exempt fromthis problem.2 An example of a sophisticated

approach that combines thestor ca pro emat zat on o t e

concept with such an integralstudy of the phenomena associatedwith it in a given period is RichardKieckhefer, agic in the MiddleAges Cam r ge: Cam r geUniversity Press, 1989).3 On the formation of the conceptof magic in ancient Greece seeFritz Graf, agic in the Ancient

Wor Cam r ge, MA: HarvarUniversity Press, 1999); WalterBurkert,Da Omero ai Magi. Laradizione orientale nella cultura

greca (Venezia: Marsilio, 1999) (asar as I am aware t ere s no Eng s

edition of this book); MatthewDickie, agic and Magicians inhe Greco-Roman World(London

/ New York: Routledge, 2001).On t e percept on o t e Pers anmagoi in Greek culture, see Albert

de Jong, Traditions of the Magi.Zoroastrianism in Greek and Latin

Litterature (Leiden / New York /K n: Br , 1997 .

The general importance ofan historical awareness andcontextualization of the conceptualtools used by scholars, particularly

heses contd w en ea ng w t pro emat ccategories such as magic, isemphasized by Ernesto de Martinoin all of his works, and is consonantwith the particular historicisttra t on to w c e e onge . Itwill suffice to mention here thework by de Martino that is mostrelevant for our purpose:

agia ecivilt (Milano: Garzanti, 1962).More recent y, a s m ar ca to ahistorical awareness of the originsof the concept of magic has alsobeen made, among others, byRandall Styers in his fundamental

a ing Magic. Re igion, Magic,

and Science in the Modern World

(Oxford / New York: OxfordUniversity Press, 2004). However,whereas Styers focuses only on

t e mo ern per o , e Mart nosdiscussion takes the wholehistory of western culture intoconsideration.

Again, de Martino, agia ecivi t an Styers, a ing Magicare essential here. They both showto what extent the theories and thecontd on page 8


8/8


definitions of magic that have beengiven by scholars in the last centuryand a half often express ideologicalpresuppos t ons w ose u t mateorigin can be found in theologicaldiscourses about magic.6 This is perhaps the weak point of

Styers, aking Magic. He works aea t y econstruct on o t e termmagic, but seems to leave thematter there. Once we know thatmagic has been used as a categoryof exclusion in western culture, andt at sc o ars w t t e r s mp st c,a-historical definitions are noexception to this rule, is all we needto know about magic already there?

The actual expression antimagicalpo em c po em ca ant mag ca sused by de Martino in his agia ecivilt, p. 6.8 The reference here of course

s to Frazers amous e n t onof sympathetic magic that canbe found in the third chapter ofhis Golden Bough (in the 1922Macmillan edition). A usefulsurvey o sc o ar y t eor es omagic can be found in GrahamCunningham,Religion and magic.

Approaches and Theories(New

York: New York University Press,1999 . Ot er mportant cr t casurveys can be found in Edward E.Evans-Pritchards classic, Theoriesof Primitive Religion (Oxford:Clarendon Press, 1965); and inStan ey Jeyara a am a , agic,Science, Religion, and the Scope of

Rationality (Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press, 1990).9 Just one example from the many

t at cou e g ven: Kurt Se gman,The History of Magic and the

Occult(New York: Harmony

oo s, 1975 .Apart from the aforementioned

de Martino and Styers, one of themost significant advocates of adeconstructionist approach to

mag c as een Jonat an Z. Sm t .See for instance his Trading

laces in Marvin Meyer and Paulirecki (eds.),

ncient Magic andRitual Power(Leiden / New York / n: E. J. Br , 1995 , 13-27.Recent attempts at reviving a

scholarly discourse on magic froman anthropological perspectiveshow all the weaknesses that deriverom an nsu c ent stor ca

problematization of the concept.See for instance the collection ofessays edited by Birgit Meyer and

eter Pels, agic and Modernity.

Interfaces of Revelation andConcealment(Stanford: StanfordUniversity Press, 2003).

Theses contd

Notes an

uer es

Critical Edition In

rogressKathryn LaFevers EvansIndependent ScholarChickasaw Nation

Transcription, translation,and commentary of JacquesLefvre dtapless De

agia naturali, On Naturalag c

A Rena ssance uman st at t eUn vers ty o Par s, JacquesLefvre dtaples (1455-1536)

pu s e extens ve y, yet ora most 500 years t e so e comp eteextant manuscript of Lefvres493 unpu s e treat seDeagia natura i rema ne

unedited. It has been preservedy Bo em ans n w at s now t e

Researc L rary n O omouc,

Czech Republic. Its exhumationur ng our mo ern era egan w tau O. Kr ste ers m -20t -

century microfilm copy of it, nowarc ve at Co um a Un vers ty.

am wor ng on a cr t ca e t on

o De Magia natura i Boo s I-VIand intend to publish it in threevo umes. T e rst vo ume wnc u e an ntro uct on cover ng

the historical background oft e wor an e te vers on omy 2006 Masters t es s w cdemonstrated that despite Lefvrescon emnat on o mag c ater onn s career, t e natura mag c o

Christian Kabbalah and numbersym o sm rema ne centra toe vres teac ngs t roug out s

ife), followed by Book II as theey to t s treat se. T e secon

vo ume w e compr se oooks I & III; the third volume ofoo s IV, V & VI.

Societas Magica - SMN Fall 2008 Issue 20

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