More magic history

_Elsa_

“Let’s take it a step further,” says the magician…..

‘Astrology and Astronomy - The works of Ptolemy mostly concerned math, science, astrology, and astronomy. His most important contributions were in the fields of math and science. However, he compiled a great deal of information on astrology and astronomy, considering it a very valid science, and placing much more emphasis on the stars than Seneca.

In Ptolemy’s study of astrology, he believed that each planet, all of which affect the entire world, are affected by four basic elemental qualities; heat, cold, dryness, and moisture. Ptolemy said that each of these qualities are either good or evil, with heat, and dryness being good, and cold and moisture being evil. Note Ptolemy’s elemental ideas don’t correspond directly with Earth, Air, Fire, and Water, but there are similarities, and in ancient times there was also a focus on tying each element to a moral judgment.

Natural Magic - Pliny’s Natural Magic is an ancient encyclopedia covering many topics including magic and astrology. His overall attitudes toward magic are rather complicated to determine because his writings were more or less moral judgments on the times he lived in. However, in mentioning magic, Pliny relates it to the study of medicine and considers magicians to have taken medicine the farthest and into the most detail.

Pliny felt that astrology and magic were closely related and he briefly mentioned divination by thunder. Unlike Ptolemy, most of his criticisms on magic tend to be based on an intellectual basis more than on morals.

Medicine and Magic - The works of Galen, probably the most prominent physician in Roman times, often misunderstood, misinterpreted, and neglected, concentrated mostly on medicine and he felt that there were no real seekers of the truth left in the world. However, he also included his views on magic in his writings.

Galen agreed with Ptolemy’s theory on the four elements and believed to some extent in divination. Galen’s views included very little on astrology. He was accused of practicing magic in his medical practice, though he denied such accusations.

Hermetic Tradition - The most important ideas about magic used by the Renaissance Magus came from the Hermetic Tradition of magic. Works by Hermes Trismegistus concerning magic centered on astrology and the occult sciences. Hermetic magic revolved around the idea of a system of the All, with everything in the universe in relationship. With the proper knowledge, of plants, stones, metals, animals, and images relating to the planets and God, one could create a link with this system by means of sympathetic magic. The Hermetic magic was mostly of a talismanic sort, creating talismans in order to link into the power of the All.

The Picatrix, based on Hermetic tradition, was a work on sympathetic and astral magic. It went along with the Hermetic ideas of making and using talismans to bring spiritus from the heavens into the materia of the talisman, thus harnessing its power.’ (Source)

Neither of the guys had any idea how complex magic can be. Yeti asks if he has more to share with them.

Let’s continue - History of magic continued…

Start at the beginning – Yeti and Chewy learn all about magic