Alchemists and Philosophers
History of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries - The General Uniformity of Their Opinions - The Celebrated Gilles De Laval and His Infamous Practices.
It would be impossible in a work of this limited nature to cite all the names, much less the opinions, of that numerous class distinguished either as Alchemists, Rosicruicians, Astrologers, or Philosophers, who formed the ranks of Mysticism during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Amongst the most distinguished of these ill-understood classes, were Nostradamus, a celebrated astronomer, and an expert Astrologer; Paracelsus, an excellent Physician and a scholar, who either accidentally, or as the result of research, discovered those truths concerning mineral and animal magnetism which Mesmer subsequently reduced to a system; Van Helmont, a truly prophetic person, but one who cultivated his gifts of Seership by the study and practice of magical arts; Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas, Artephius, Arnold de Villeneuve, Raymond Lulli, Roger Bacon, Nicholas Flammel, George Ripley, and many other practical chemists, who perceived the possibilities of Alchemy, and who distinguished themselves from the thirteenth to the eighteenth centuries in writing on this subject and awakening the terror of the ignorant, and the denunciations of the bigoted.
In the early part of the fifteenth century, the study of Alchemy and the practices of Magic became at once famous and infamous, through the influence of the celebrated Gilles de Laval, a marshal of France, whose wealth, unbridled luxury and shameless debaucheries led him to the practices of magical art, for the sake of administering to the vilest of passions, and the replenishment of his exhausted coffers, drained by his unparalleled extravagance. As this monster in human form supplied to the fiction mongers of later times the original of the famous drama of "Blue Beard," some idea may be formed of the vast notoriety to which his crimes attained.
Neither the historical facts, nor the exaggerated tales which combined to render the name of Marshal de Retz memorable through all time, belong to this record; it is enough to add that the magical practices to which he resorted in aid of his unholy purposes, contributed greatly to deepen the horror with which this art was regarded - especially in an age too ignorant and priest-ridden to distinguish the nature of occult science from its worst abuse.
It was during the fifteenth century that Henry Cornelius Agrippa flourished, an adept in physical science, scholarly attainments, as well as occult art, which made him the honored officer of Kings and Princes, the friend, adviser and Physician of Queens and Princesses, and the Paragon of Magicians, in all ages. It is from a compendium of his occult practices that we are enabled to present our readers in the following section with a complete Arbatel of Magic, or full directions for the performance of those curious rites in which Agrippa and many of his contemporaries claimed to be able to control the legions of Planetary Spirits.
It must be remembered that this distinguished Knight and great Adept was a devout Roman Catholic, hence he employed those sacred names, garments and forms, which belonged to his Church, just in the same manner as the Arabians, Greeks, Chaldeans and Egyptians employed the names and formulae of belief peculiar to their time in their magical rites. Let it be borne in mind, however, that such features of each system are but the exoteric forms in which the esoteric principles are wrapped up. They have no real potency beyond the satisfaction they procure to pious minds, that they are engaged in no ceremonials displeasing to their Gods, or contrary to their forms of worship.
Provided always that the magician is duly prepared by fasting, abstinence, prayer, and contemplation - provided that his magnetism is potent and his will all-powerful - the spirits will obey and answer him, whether he conjures them in the name of Buddha, Osiris, Christ or Mahomet. The true potency resides in the quantity and quality of the Astral fluid, by which the operator furnishes means for the use of the spirits, and the power of the will, by which he compels beings less potent than himself to obey him. With these premises we shall only add, that after a careful study of the occult works of Cornelius Agrippa, we found it wholly impossible to reduce their quaint and involved style to the comprehension of the nineteenth century reader, without infringing upon the integrity of the text. Happily for our purpose, the same idea occurred to a distinguished philosopher said to have been a pupil of the great Agrippa's - one who, with much more perspicuity of style, undertakes to reduce the magical elements of his renowned prototype into much plainer language. As there is not the slightest shadow of difference between the systems of Agrippa and Abano, except in the superior clearness of the latter's style, and as both were translated into English in 1664 by the same scholarly editor, Robert Turner, of London, England, we select Abano's version as the one which cannot fail to prove the most acceptable to our readers.
All the signs, sigils, names of angels, etc., have been faithfully copied with the utmost care.
Comments
This short supplement lists some of the early Alchemists and Magicians that the author seemed most enamored with. He spent quite a bit of time writing about Henry Cornelius Agrippa, and the following paragraph seemed quite interesting to me:'
"It must be remembered that this distinguished Knight and great Adept was a devout Roman Catholic, hence he employed those sacred names, garments and forms, which belonged to his Church, just in the same manner as the Arabians, Greeks, Chaldeans and Egyptians employed the names and formulae of belief peculiar to their time in their magical rites. Let it be borne in mind, however, that such features of each system are but the exoteric forms in which the esoteric principles are wrapped up. They have no real potency beyond the satisfaction they procure to pious minds, that they are engaged in no ceremonials displeasing to their Gods, or contrary to their forms of worship."
The idea that the FORM of worship or of performing magic is not as important as the intent and the substance is quite a profound statement from an author who had previously been telling us how difficult it was to perform magic, and how one must follow the directions precisely and without wavering. "Provided always that the magician is duly prepared by fasting, abstinence, prayer, and contemplation - provided that his magnetism is potent and his will all-powerful - the spirits will obey and answer him, whether he conjures them in the name of Buddha, Osiris, Christ or Mahomet. "
"Do what thou wilt, shall be the whole of the law?" The all powerful will idea of Crowley's could have had its origins in the ideas of this author and others like him at the time. An interesting thought....
Posted by: Mikki | September 5, 2004 03:37 PM