INVISIBILIA DEI

A Collection of Hermetic, Mystical,

and Anti-Magical Works
by
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa

Translated by Dan Attrell

Introduced by Justin Sledge

Detroit, 2024
 Copyright © 2024 Esoterica Publications. All rights reserved.

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First E-Book Edition, 2024.

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 “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio,
than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

- Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act I Scene V

“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now
I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”

- I Corinthians 13:12
Contents

Introduction ......................................................................................... i
Translator’s Notes ........................................................................... xxii
Oration, held in Pavia during the reading of Hermes
Trismegistus, On the Power and Wisdom of God (1515) ............. 1
On the Threefold Way of Knowing God (1515-1516) ................. 41
CHAPTER I ................................................................................... 43
CHAPTER II ................................................................................. 53
CHAPTER III ................................................................................ 57
CHAPTER IV................................................................................ 79
CHAPTER V ................................................................................. 95
CHAPTER VI.............................................................................. 151
Epistles .............................................................................................. 157
To the Venerable Father Aurelius of Aquapendente, Master of
Sacred Theology of the Augustinian Order (1527) ................ 157
To the Same Aurelius of Aquapendente (1527) ..................... 163
To a Certain Friend at the King’s Court (1528) ..................... 171
Critique or Retraction on Magic from His Declamation on the
Vanity of the Sciences and the Excellence of the Word of God
(1533) ................................................................................................ 191
ON MAGIC IN GENERAL ....................................................... 191
ON NATURAL MAGIC............................................................ 193
ON MATHEMATICAL MAGIC ............................................. 203
 ON WITCHCRAFT ................................................................... 205
ON GOETIA AND NECROMANCY ..................................... 213
ON THEURGY ........................................................................... 223
ON CABALA .............................................................................. 227
ON TRICKERY........................................................................... 243
Bibliography .................................................................................... 250
 Acknowledgements
The completion of a translation project such as this could not have
been possible without the invaluable contributions of numerous
researchers, archivists, patrons, friends, and family members. We
would like to extend our deepest gratitude to all those whose
support and guidance have been instrumental in bringing this
work to fruition.

First and foremost, we are profoundly grateful to the many

scholars whose decades of tireless research have significantly
influenced and enhanced our project. In particular, we wish to
thank Vittoria Perrone Compagni for her extensive and insightful
research on Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa’s life and works. Her
critical editions and scholarly analyses, especially on the Three
Books of Occult Philosophy and the Threefold Way of Knowing
God, have been indispensable resources that have greatly informed
our understanding and interpretation of Agrippa’s writings. We
also wish to acknowledge Brian P. Copenhaver for his seminal
studies and translations of the Corpus Hermeticum as well as his
more recent work on Giovanni Pico della Mirandola. His various
projects have greatly enriched our comprehension of the esoteric
and philosophical traditions that underpin Agrippa’s thought,
providing essential context for this work of Renaissance
intellectual history. Moreover, we are also indebted to Wouter J.
Hanegraaff from the Centre for History of Hermetic Philosophy
and Related Currents at the University of Amsterdam for his
paradigm-shifting research into the Hermetic tradition,
particularly his studies on the Christian Hermeticism of Lodovico
Lazzarelli and his book Esotericism in the Academy: Rejected
Knowledge in Western Culture (2012). His demonstration of how
Agrippa’s chief concerns were with something “better than magic”
has provided us with a critical perspective that has significantly
shaped the direction of this collection.

Additionally, we are grateful to David Porreca and Brett

Bartlett for their assistance in navigating certain particularly
challenging passages in the Latin texts. Their expertise and
insightful feedback have been instrumental in ensuring the
accuracy and fidelity of the translations presented herein. Any
remaining inaccuracies, oversights, and infelicities are entirely our
own.

Acknowledgement is also due to the Internet Archive and the

digitizers at Google Books for providing access to numerous
manuscripts and early printed texts. Their extensive collections
have been indispensable in the realization of this work, allowing
us to consult rare and vital sources that would have otherwise been
inaccessible.

Finally, heartfelt thanks go out to our patrons and supporters

whose generous donations have made this endeavor possible.
Your support has been a source of inspiration and encouragement
throughout this journey. Special thanks must also go out to the
participants of the Summer 2024 Agrippa seminar. It has been a
pleasure learning with you all. Last but not least, we would like to
express our deepest gratitude to our families for their unending
patience, love, and support. Your understanding and
encouragement have sustained us through the long hours and
challenges of this project.
 i

Introduction

Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim (1486-1535?) is often

presented as a paradoxical figure. On the one hand, he was
famously the author of the De occulta philosophia libri tres (or The
Three Books on Occult Philosophy), a comprehensive treatise of
magical theory and practice oriented towards mystical
illumination and unity with the divine, first published in
manuscript form in 1510, but not finalized and put into print until
1533. On the other hand, he was also the author of a polemical
treatise entitled De incertitudine et vanitate scientiarum et artium
atque excellentia verbi Dei declamatio invectiva (On the
Uncertainty and Vanity of the Arts and Sciences: An Invective
Declamation), a sustained attack on virtually all domains of
human knowledge – including the occult philosophy – composed
in 1526 and printed in 1530. Among practicing magicians and
occultists, he is hailed as one of the great systematizers of arcane
knowledge in the history of Western Esotericism. For anti-
occultists, such as the Dutch theologian Martin Del Rio SJ (1551-
1608), he was little more than a Faustian character, a necromancer
doomed to perdition. 1 In the humanist tradition, his skeptical
invectives brought low any pretension of certainly attained either
by sense experience or by traditional scholastic dialectic. In light
of this mixed reception, one is often forced to choose an Agrippa:
either the occultist or the skeptic, while promptly ignoring, or
explaining the other away.

1
Hanegraaff, Esotericism and the Academy, p. 87-88.
ii

Nevertheless, in more recent decades, important scholarship

led by Paola Zambelli, Charles Nauert, Vittoria Perrone-
Compagni, Marc van der Poel, Wouter Hanegraaff, and others has
offered us valuable insights that have served to uncover the deeper
unity and continuity within Agrippa’s thought, thereby shedding
light on this paradox. According to their more nuanced and
integrated interpretation, it would appear that Agrippa’s
mysticism was bound up with a kind of skepticism, and that his
skepticism, in turn, was an extension of his mysticism, placing his
thought very much in the tradition of apophatic (or ‘negative’)
mystical theology and ‘learned ignorance’ reaching back through
Nicholas of Cusa, Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, and
Augustine. Perceptions of this apparent paradox, however, were
not merely born out of a lack of modern, reliable editions of his
two principal works – and the cursory readings of those that are
available – but also from (1) Agrippa’s own tendency to obfuscate
his actual positions by scattering his true opinions throughout his
writings, and (2) a general tendency in his readership of ignoring
the handful of philosophically substantial works he composed
between 1510 and 1526. It is our hope, therefore, that this volume
will serve as a small corrective to this latter issue, chiefly by making
some of these texts available in an English translation for the first
time, as well as by making the oft-neglected epilogue to the 1533
Three Books of Occult Philosophy available to a modern audience.

Educated at Cologne, Agrippa informs us that he learned

astrology from his parents and was exposed to both the Lullian
philosophy and the Albertian strand of scholasticism in his early
 iii

years. 2 This exposure to various Latin philosophical traditions

primed him for what would later evolve into a deep interest in a
wide range of esoteric topics from alchemy to ceremonial magic.
From his earliest correspondence it is evident that Agrippa had
managed to find himself a like-minded circle of friends and
colleagues interested in natural magic, Jewish mysticism, and
Hermetic philosophy. Their excitement was the product of a
broader Renaissance trend, sparked only a few decades earlier by
the work of Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499) and Giovanni Pico della
Mirandola (1463-1494), which centered on a primordial wisdom
tradition or prisca theologia believed to have originated from the
secret teachings of such venerable ancient sages as Moses,
Zoroaster, Orpheus, Pythagoras, Plato, and perhaps most
importantly, the Egyptian Hermes Trismegistus. According to this
perennialist tradition, the philosophy of the Greeks, the Cabala of
the ancient Hebrews, and the Corpus Hermeticum of the ancient
Egyptians were central to the recovery of the most ancient – and
therefore the most pure and true – forms of divine wisdom
intuited by all the greatest sages of antiquity. Agrippa’s profound
insights into these topics eventually led him to lecture on them
publicly, transforming him from a mere scholar of the arcane into
a kind of zealous missionary for his occult philosophy.
Unsurprisingly, like Pico and Ficino before him, he faced
resistance from Church authorities. In 1509, his lectures on
Johannes Reuchlin’s De verbo mirifico (On the Wonder-Working
Word) were met with accusations of judaizing – a damnable
heresy – and charges of promoting the “most criminal,

2
Agrippa, Epistolae, 1.23 (in Operum pars posterior, p. 702-3).
iv

condemned, and prohibited art of Cabala.” 3 Agrippa defended

himself against such accusations with little success, marking the
beginning of a pattern that would repeat itself again and again
throughout his life.

By this time, however, Agrippa had also begun composing

what would become the first draft of his (in)famous De occulta
philosophia libri tres, the manuscript of which still miraculously
survives. In April of 1510 he presented his magical magnum opus
to the Benedictine abbot Johannes Trithemius, one of the most
learned men north of the Alps, if not in all of Europe. The 1510
draft delves into topics of magic, divine illumination, and the
highest achievable state for mankind: supreme, eternal, and
unbounded peace and joy (or felicitas) via union with God.
Trithemius praised the young scholar, who was still in his early
twenties, but advised him to be cautious, suggesting he focus his
energies more on metaphysics than on magic. In the end, Agrippa
did not entirely heed this warning. The 1510 draft, however, did
call for a general reformation of magical practice along
Neoplatonic, Cabalistic, and Hermetic lines – drawing heavily on
the Florentine Platonism of his forerunners and on recently
rediscovered Hermetica.

This reformed magic, according to Agrippa, would ultimately

serve the goals of divine illumination and the attainment of that
mystical self-annihilation in God so eloquently discussed in Pico
della Mirandola’s famous 1486 Oratio (so-called ‘On the Dignity of

3
Agrippa, Oratio in praelectione convivii Platonis (in Operum pars pos-
terior, p. 1073).
 v

Man’). He outlined how this reformed magic would operate across

three realms: terrestrial, celestial, and divine (or ‘supercelestial’),
incorporating a wealth of classical and contemporary wisdom into
his vision. Although the three books were uneven in length – with
the third book being particularly cursory in the 1510 draft –
Agrippa’s initial development of his occult philosophy marked a
truly innovative and bold moment in Renaissance thought and
spirituality. And, despite his so-called ‘skeptical turn’ by the
Summer of 1526, Agrippa greatly expanded the work, nearly
doubling its contents before its definitive publication in 1533. This
expansion, perhaps influenced by Trithemius’ earlier advice, is
most evident in Book III, where Agrippa substantially developed
both his focus on practical Cabalistic magic and its underlying
philosophy of divine illuminism and eternal felicitas.

But it is here that we must sharpen our focus on Agrippa’s

philosophical and spiritual development. As previously noted, a
common understanding of the arc of Agrippa’s thought suggests:
(1) a youthful fascination with the occult sciences, followed by (2)
a mature turn toward skepticism, and then either (3a) a regression
back into superstition, or (3b) a pragmatic, properly disclaimed,
and financially motivated decision to publish the Three Books
before an unauthorized edition could appear. 4 The latter was
certainly a real possibility, since one only needs to recall how
Ficino’s unfinished draft of the Corpus Hermeticum was pirated
and printed without his consent to produce the 1471 Treviso

4
See, e.g., Blau, The Christian Interpretation of the Cabala, p. 85: “Thus,
for a brief period in his life the skeptic was uppermost in him; both before
and after this period he was the credulous philosopher of magic.”
vi

edition, an unauthorized publication with wide reaching

consequences. In any case, this arc of Agrippa’s intellectual and
spiritual development is too simplistic to be entirely accurate.
After presenting the Three Books to Trithemius in 1510, he only
deepened his engagement with arcane topics, particularly those of
a Cabalistic and Hermetic nature, during his time in Italy from
1511 to 1518. Two of the six works translated in this volume date
from this period. The first is his oration introducing a series of
lectures on the Hermetic Pimander (i.e., the Corpus Hermeticum)
given at Pavia through 1512 and 1515, which were fatefully cut
short by the Battle of Marignano in September 1515.

The extant oration which comes down to us in Agrippa’s

Operum pars posterior (c. 1600) seems at a first glance to be as
much an apologia by a blood-stained soldier for lecturing on
philosophy and Scripture as it is an exploration of Hermes’
historicity. However, Agrippa does here reveal his sustained
interest in mystical illumination and a rather radical
interpretation of the Pimander. He carried forward a long-
standing tradition, originating in the Islamicate world and likely
passed down through alchemical or astrological works, in which
the antediluvian patriarch Enoch was identified with the first of
three sages named Hermes. Enoch, along with Elijah, are the only
ancient Biblical sages said to have ascended to heaven without
experiencing physical death. Moreover, Enoch had long been
associated with a vast body of angelic knowledge, both exoteric
and esoteric. Throughout the Middle Ages, similar legends had
come to surround Hermes, making his identification with Enoch
a natural, if not unsurprising revelation. In this way, the venerable
 vii

Hermes was rescued from paganism and credited with spreading

the arts, letters, philosophy, and law to both the Egyptians and the
Greeks, and thereby, to the whole world.

Indeed, Agrippa went even further, arguing that the Corpus

Hermeticum was itself a divine revelation, conveying metaphysical
truths, religious piety, and moral law. Drawing closely on the
Hermetic Christianity developed by the poet Lodovico Lazzarelli
– who was, in fact, the first recorded man in history to refer to
himself as a “hermetist/hermeticist” 5 – Agrippa identified the
Pimander, or “mind of divine power,” with none other than his
“crucified Lord JESUS Christ of Nazareth.” 6 Thus, not only was
Hermes identified with Enoch, but the revelation of Hermetic
doctrine was also understood as a kind of pre-incarnational
theophany, pre-dating both the Mosaic Law and the Gospel. This
identification, more so than any of his other comments on the
Pimander in the extant lecture, reveal Agrippa’s desire to
harmonize primeval Hermetic wisdom with orthodox Christian
doctrine, presenting them as one continuous, unfolding revelation
of God’s providence through history. In this view, the Corpus
Hermeticum was to be conceived as Holy Scripture, pre-dating the

5
Lazzarelli, Crater Hermetis, 4.1 (Hanegraaff and Bouthoorn, Lodovico
Lazzarelli, p. 173): “Christianus ego sum, Pontane, et hermeticum simul
esse non pudet: si enim praecepta eius consideraveris, a Christiana
confirmabis non abhorrere doctrina” [“I am a Christian, Pontano, but I
am not ashamed to be an hermetist as well. If you would study his teach-
ings, you would find that they do not clash with Christian doctrine”].
6
Lazzarelli, Crater Hermetis, 1.1 and 30.4 (Hanegraaff and Bouthoorn,
Lodovico Lazzarelli, p. 167 and 263).
viii

Mosaic Old Testament and, at least in part, directly inspired by

Christ himself.

In his 1515/6 Oratio in praelectione convivii Platonis, Agrippa

lectured on the topic of love, a popular subject of Renaissance
rhetoric, having been especially influenced by Ficino’s De amore,
a commentary on Plato’s Symposium written in the wake of his
famous translation projects. 7 Therein Agrippa developed a
theology of love very much in keeping with an enduring tradition
set out by Paul, Augustine, and Bernard of Clairvaux’s Sermones
super Cantica canticorum. In these sometimes aphoristic, even
staccato sentiments, the divine, as pure love itself, can only be
known through faith, culminating in a mystical union of agapic
theosis: “et haec est summa hominum foelicitas, Deum scilicet
fieri,” 8 Agrippa provocatively concludes. This oration, again rich

7
For an English translation, see Jayne Sears, Commentary on Plato’s Sym-
posium on Love. See also Devereux, “The Textual History of Ficino’s De
Amore,” 173-82. Also relevant is Pico della Mirandola’s vernacular Com-
mentary on a Poem of Platonic Love, trans. Douglas Carmichael (Lan-
ham: University Press of America, 1986), large portions of which were
reused in composing his 1489 Heptaplus which blended Platonic and
Cabalistic themes into a single commentary on the creation story con-
tained in the book of Genesis. In this commentary, Pico wrote plainly
that: “...la felicità non è altro che pervenire al suo sommo bene e ultimo
fine, e quell medesimo è ultimo fine d’ogni cosa che è suo primo
principio.” [“Felicitas is nothing other than reaching one’s highest good
and ultimate end, and that same ultimate end of all things is their first
principle”], an idea that lay at the foundations of Agrippa’s mystical phi-
losophy.
8
I.e., “And this is the supreme happiness of humans, namely, to become
God.”
 ix

with historical and scriptural references, reveals Agrippa’s

deepening exploration of mystical union with the divine as
felicitas, the same ultimate goal for mankind he had outlined in
the 1510 Three Books of Occult Philosophy. Agrippa’s fragmentary
Dialogus de homine offers us further insight into his religious
anthropology, continuing the themes of humanity’s alienation
from the divine in the Fall and the need for reunion with God
through both exoteric and esoteric avenues. His most systematic
work of this period, however, would address precisely how human
beings could fully come to know God in this lifetime.

The De triplici ratione cognoscendi Deum (On the Threefold

Way of Knowing God), composed during this Italian period but re-
worked and expanded before its publication in 1529, represents
the clearest exposition of Agrippa’s religious epistemology. In this
work, he eloquently built upon the following threefold division of
the soul first presented in the Three Books of Occult Philosophy:

1. Mens: the divine spark and the means by which illumina-

tion occurs. This element returns to the divine following
death.
2. Ratio: the seat of the intellect which becomes either di-
vinely illuminated or corrupted in life by the lower re-
gions of the base sense. It can achieve felicitas in this life-
time and can depart for heaven following the death of
the body.
3. Idolum: the seat of dialectical cognition, imagination,
and sense perception. It perishes at death and can doom
the ratio.
x

Here, Agrippa sets his theory of the soul into a broader temporal
framework in which pure and immediate knowledge of the divine
is revealed through the course of world history. To be sure,
however, knowledge for Agrippa is not merely ‘justified, true
belief’ but rather an encounter with the divine through the mind’s
agency ultimately underwritten by a radical trust (fides) in God’s
grace and love. Agrippa’s epistemology is one of truth as obtained
by spiritual/mental communion with the divine, not by assenting
to propositions which correspond to states of affairs. He
maintained, therefore, that human history – like all perfect things,
which consist of a beginning, middle, and end – could be divided
into three phases: a time before the Law, a time governed by Law,
and a time in which the Law was fulfilled.

Mankind’s earliest attempt to know the divine was through

nature, extrapolating knowledge of the Creator from the study of
created things. Even in the absence of divine revelation, this
method of knowing God was sufficient enough for man to develop
not only a sense of reverence – a core Hermetic virtue – but also a
sense of justice and piety. On account of divine grace, even pagan
ceremonies and sacrifices offered up to the divine before the
coming of the Law were acceptable in the sight of God, like the
shadows of a perfect righteousness yet to be revealed. This first
epoch was, of course, merely preparatory. The religion of sacrifice
had been inscribed into the hearts of men because man was made
in the image of God, who would ultimately sacrifice a part of
Himself to show His love for all creation.

Nevertheless, this first method of knowing God served only

to pave the way for a second and superior way: the Mosaic Law,
 xi

revealed directly by God to man on Mount Sinai, which itself had

both an exoteric and an esoteric dimension. The exoteric aspect
was the straightforward practice of the Law revealed to all, while
the esoteric was the Cabala, revealed only to the wise. In time,
however, this form of knowing God also proved to be inadequate
as the Law became fossilized into a series of empty, formal rituals,
and its true meaning degenerated under Jewish stewardship. The
final and supreme means of knowing God, then, arose only at long
last through the revelation of the Gospel, by which God had made
Himself known to man through His incarnation, living example,
sacrifice, and resurrection in the person of Jesus Christ.

But even this ‘way of knowing’ had both exoteric and esoteric
dimensions. The exoteric dimensions were represented by creedal
orthodoxy and the sacramental life of the Catholic Church, which
were unto themselves sufficient for salvation. The esoteric
dimensions, however, informed especially by Hermetic and
Cabalistic teachings – albeit understood Christologically – opened
the way to a spiritual understanding of the Gospel which pointed
to the possibility of experiencing divine rapture and felicitas not
merely following the death of the body, but in this very life. This
very much continues Agrippa’s project of generating an active
mysticism whereby the aspirant reaches for the divine as opposed
to a tradition of more passive mysticism whereby the aspirant was
a mere recipient of mystical experience.

The Threefold Way of Knowing God is not only Agrippa’s

most detailed exposition of his philosophy’s culminating point,
but it also presents Agrippa at his most Hermetic. While virtually
every page contains meaningful references to Scripture, they are
xii

equally replete with allusions and quotations from the Corpus

Hermeticum, the Asclepius, Ficino’s pseudo-Dionysian Platonism,
Pico’s Cabala, and Lazzarelli’s Hermetic Christianity. As such, it
would not be an exaggeration to regard it as one of the most
explicit works of Renaissance Hermeticism. In spite of all this, in
his blistering attacks on dialectical reasoning – specifically the
logic-chopping syllogistic machinery associated with scholastic
philosophy, which he and other humanists famously critiqued –
we can already see the skepticism of Agrippa’s 1526 De
incertitudine et vanitate scientiarum taking shape throughout the
text. Here he spares no invective, heaping scorn upon the “sophists
of God” whose attempts to know the divine through logical,
syllogistic deduction are not just misguided, but satanic. Agrippa
forcefully asserts that the dialectical reasoning of the schoolmen
was invented by the devil himself, and that scholastic philosophy
– once perhaps useful for combating heresy – has now
degenerated into a cacophony of human opinions that ironically
undermine religious truth. This skeptical attitude towards
dialectical reasoning as a means of knowing God, however, stems
from his commitment to a mystical knowledge, made only
possible by faith (fides) and divine illumination, rather than from
a generalized philosophical skepticism, such as the kind associated
with Pyrrho and his school. 9 For Agrippa, skepticism and

9
Perrone Compagni, “Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim,” in
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy notes: “The usual compilation
of discordant opinions of philosophers was partly shaped by texts of the
ancient skeptics; but for the most part Agrippa made use of more recent
sources: Ficino, Reuchlin, and Francesco Giorgio Veneto. There are no
 xiii

mysticism are intertwined in the unity of true knowledge,

grounded in trust of the divine and the illumination of the mind
and soul by God alone.

Agrippa’s distrust of truth derived solely from dialectical

reasoning continued to find expression in his 1518 De originali
peccato (On Original Sin), where Adam is said to represent faith,
Eve ‘free reason’ (ratio libera), and the snake sensuality. In
Agrippa’s esoteric interpretation of the Fall narrative in Genesis,
the snake uses casuistry to convince Eve to eat of the fruit of
sensuality. Eve, in turn, uses similar logic to override Adam’s faith,
with the original sin being the corruption of sexuality into mere
carnal desire, a perversion of divine love into fornicatio. Here,
Agrippa’s emphasis on divine love, as opposed to mere carnal
fornication, and on knowing the divine through faith rather than
through dialectical reasoning, is made explicit. But it would not be
until the summer of 1526, following the fiasco of Agrippa’s time at
the court of Louise of Savoy in France, that he would compose his
De incertitudine et vanitate scientiarum.

Before turning to the De incertitudine, however, it is worth

noticing what is conspicuously absent from Agrippa’s works of

quotations from Gianfrancesco Pico’s Examen vanitatis doctrinae gen-

tium, the first detailed reading of the work of Sextus Empiricus. This sig-
nificant omission suggests that Agrippa did not agree with the skeptical
fideism expressed by Gianfrancesco. De vanitate did not, in fact, question
the human ability to know causes. Rather, it questioned the capacity of
Aristotelian epistemology to account for the nature of things.” Cf.
Hanegraaff, Esotericism and the Academy, p. 81-82 and Nauert, Agrippa
and the Crisis of Renaissance Thought, p. 148-152.
xiv

this period. In the surviving writings from 1510 to 1526 – a span

of roughly 16 years – there is a striking silence on the subject of
magic. Aside from a single mention in De triplici ratione, where it
is mentioned in passing alongside Cabala (i.e., “the holy name of
Cabala came into suspicion, just as also happened to the sacred
name of magic, both of which have become suspect, both of which
have been profaned”), Agrippa says little about magic during this
time. While this statement still reflects his 1510 view that the name
and practice of magic had been contaminated – implying the
existence of a once pure form – Agrippa is otherwise virtually
silent on the topic. The reasons for this silence can only be
speculated upon. Perhaps under the influence of John Colet,
Agrippa downplayed the centrality of magic in his thought.
Perhaps he was simply heeding Trithemius’ advice to be more
circumspect, as much of his output during this period consisted of
public orations and lectures. And perhaps, when considered
alongside De incertitudine and the epistolary evidence of 1527-
1528, we might conclude that while Agrippa extended his skeptical
critique to magical practice, his final stance fell short of a complete
disavowal of the occult arts.

To delve deeper into this speculative vein, we must turn to

the De incertitudine, particularly the chapters and letters Agrippa
ultimately appended as an epilogue to his 1533 Three Books of
Occult Philosophy. Exactly what inspired Agrippa to publish his
declamatio invectiva remains unclear. Whether it was driven by a
bout of melancholy, an outburst of rage in regards to his failures
at court, the broader humanist trend toward skepticism, or a
proto-Protestant expression of fideism, the De incertitudine, when
 xv

set against The Three Books of 1533, has long perplexed students
of Agrippa. But the paradox between the two texts is more
apparent than real. Beneath the skeptical critique lie Agrippa’s
most fundamental tenets: knowledge derived solely from reason,
without divine illumination, is at best deficient and at worst
destructive. And, as Agrippa argued in 1526, such unilluminated
reason has led to a world where sophistry masquerades as wisdom,
the arts and sciences are deployed for human corruption and vice
rather than for flourishing and piety, and even Christian salvation
has been swallowed up by satanic dialectics, a ceremonial life
stripped of spiritual power, and superstitions propped up by
demonic trickery. In essence, the De incertitudine is simply the
negative reflection or shadow cast by much of what Agrippa had
already written. It is also Agrippa’s singular work of social
criticism.

Rather than focusing on the substance, methods, and goals of

a Christian life built on trust in the divine (fides), which seeks to
understand the cosmos in pursuit of illumination and the
experience of felicitas in this life, Agrippa confronts a world that
operates in stark opposition. De incertitudine is by no means a
disavowal of his core concerns – faith, understanding,
illumination, and felicitas – but rather an indictment of religion,
society, the arts, sciences, and occultism when they function
without or against these lofty means and goals. Though often
interpreted as a devastating tidal wave of criticism from which
only the most naive profession of ignorance survives, the De
incertitudine is far more nuanced. Agrippa was neither a Pyrrho
nor a proto-Hume. The goal of this sage was not the suspension of
xvi

judgment resulting in ataraxia, nor a radical challenge to the

limits of knowledge, whether metaphysical or otherwise. Instead,
Agrippa sought to bear witness to the flawed state of the world,
society, and religion, with the hope of their reform and
restoration. This vision was grounded in the time-honored
tradition of docta ignorantia (“learned ignorance”), a tradition
that was not undermined by the alleged skeptical catastrophe
represented by the De incertitudine, but rather supported by
Agrippa’s deeper mystical commitments.

This approach also extends to Agrippa’s discussions of the

occult arts. Just as he moved from discipline to discipline,
diagnosing the sorry state of affairs in each before separating the
wheat from the chaff, Agrippa applied the same method to various
branches of the occult arts. The Lullian art, divination, astrology,
natural magic, witchcraft, goetia, necromancy, alchemy, and
Cabala are all more or less subjected to a similar critique: they can
be redeemed if built upon a foundation of faithful understanding
(fides as ‘fundamentum rationis’) and practiced with a mind
rightly guided by reverence and divine illumination, with the goal
of advancing the human flourishing, dignity, and true success. On
one hand, arts like goetia, necromancy, and witchcraft
(veneficium) should be rejected outright given that they only lead
to sinister ends. On the other hand, arts like natural magic,
theurgy, alchemy, and Cabala do contain elements which can be
salvaged – though admittedly Agrippa focuses little on these
elements in the De incertitudine. The challenge, as he presents it,
is to discern what is living from what is dead within these
practices. Often, Agrippa’s silence is telling, if we allow it to speak.
 xvii

In the chapter on Cabala, for instance, he heaps scorn on the use

of ‘arithmancy’ (or notarikon) to generate metaphysical truths
through scriptural manipulation. Yet he passes over – like an angel
of death – any discussion Cabala’s other dimensions, such as
speculative cosmology (e.g., the emanations of the divine in the
sefirot) or the “higher contemplations of divine and angelic virtues
[and] sacred names.” Indeed, these are precisely some of the
elements Agrippa would later add to the 1533 edition of De occulta
philosophia libri tres which were largely absent from the 1510
draft.

The totalizing scope and effect of Agrippa’s skepticism in De

incertitudine has, in my view, been misunderstood and overstated.
His skeptical assault is grounded in the same core values found in
his earlier occult, Hermetic, and mystical works. In fact, it is
precisely the magical, Hermetic, and Cabalistic elements that are
most expanded from the 1510 to the 1533 editions of the De
occulta philosophia libri tres. If the De incertitudine induces
totalizing skepticism in some readers, it clearly did not have that
effect on Agrippa himself, whose alchemical practice and
expansion of his occult philosophy continued steadily through the
late 1520s.

So what are we to make of 1) the epistles, 2) the selected

chapters from the De incertitudine, and 3) the famous retraction
included as the epilogue to the 1533 edition of De occulta
philosophia libri tres? These were neither printed in Vittoria
Perrone Compagni’s critical edition nor included in recent
xviii

English translations by Eric Purdue and Paul Summers Young. 10

We have, therefore, included a translation of this epilogue in this
volume. These texts are important because they provide insight
into the perilous context of Agrippa’s work and may represent his
ultimate intellectual stance on the significance of the occult
philosophy as we have them. The context is fairly well known:
Agrippa attempted to bring the greatly expanded De occulta
philosophia to print in late 1532 but was interrupted by the
inquisition at Cologne. However, with the intercession of his ally
Hermann of Wied, the Archbishop-Elector of Cologne, the
complete first edition was finished in July of 1533. Exactly why
Agrippa and/or the printer Johannes Soter decided to append the
three epistles along with eight chapters from De incertitudine is
unclear. The obvious function would be to provide both Agrippa
and Soter with some degree of plausible deniability, given the
inquisition’s scrutiny. At a superficial glance, the epilogue may
appear to support such subterfuge. Nevertheless, as is evident
from the chapters from De incertitudine, Agrippa did not cast all
the occult arts into the outer darkness of his skepticism.

If Agrippa is somewhat dissimulating about the extent of his

rejection of the occult arts in certain chapters of De incertitudine,
he is far less so in the three epistles. Composed in 1527 and 1528,
these letters offer a clearer window into his actual stance on occult
philosophy after the skeptical assault of 1526. All three letters
reveal a central Agrippan theme: that inner divine illumination is
the key to true magic, with magic itself serving as a propaedeutic

10
They do, however, appear in the unreliable English translation of
1651 by “J.F.”
 xix

to the bliss of perfect communion with the divine, or felicitas. In

his epistle to Father Aurelius, Agrippa states that he would gladly
discuss these matters in person, as such secrets are meant to be
transmitted orally. He also notes, however, that once his De
occulta philosophia libri tres are published, the key to its
understanding would be reserved for an elite few, a claim he would
reiterate in the 1533 edition. This is interesting because in a
subsequent letter to the same recipient, dated November 9, 1527,
Agrippa sorely admitted that he himself had never experienced
such divine illumination and was unlikely to ever do so, having
lived a life “consecrated as a soldier by human blood, almost
always a courtier, bound by the bond of the flesh to a most dear
wife… and wholly driven astray by the flesh.” Instead, he tragically
presented himself as a doorman, like a common carnival barker,
pointing the way to others but never entering himself.

The final letter, written in Paris on February 13, 1528, finds

Agrippa lambasting a would-be German wizard who had gained
some degree of favor at court. Here, Agrippa denounced the same
magical practices he had opposed 18 years earlier: magical flight,
finding buried treasure, divining the future, compelling love,
curing disease, and all other manner of feats typically associated
with the ‘grimoire magic’ that Agrippa – following Ficino, Pico,
and Reuchlin – had sought a decisive break with. In a preview of
his 1533 stance, he offered a damning litany of historical
charlatans, false prophets, and diabolical sorcerers. His final
warning in the letter is telling: “I think I have now said enough on
this matter, for I do not wish to pursue it further, lest perhaps the
xx

malice of the subject at hand might push the pen where it ought
not to go.”

July of 1533 saw the completion of the printing of Agrippa’s

De occulta philosophia libri tres. Small variations in the first
edition remain as ghostly scars left by the temporary interdict of
the inquisition. After mid-1533, Agrippa’s correspondences – one
of our few sources for biographical information – dried up, and
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim passed on into the
realm of legend and history. His legacy is decidedly mixed.
Misinterpretations of De incertitudine made him an inspiration
for later humanist skeptics, such as Michel de Montaigne, while
misreadings of De occulta philosophia libri tres made him a target
for demonologists like the Jesuit theologian Martin del Rio. How
widely, let alone how deeply, Agrippa’s works were read in the
centuries that followed remains debatable. The magical
reformation he inherited from Ficino, Pico, Lazzarelli, and
Reuchlin ultimately amounted to little in the centuries marked by
religious reform and scientific revolution. Spurious works of spirit
conjuration were pseudepigraphically attributed to him, and even
his Opera Posthuma is filled with the very kind of medieval magic
that Agrippa sought to discard. The 19th and 20th-century occult
revival, spurred by works like Francis Barrett’s The Magus and
culminating with the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, placed
his occult philosophy into a magical canon alongside texts like the
Lesser Key of Solomon, works that likely would have offended him
at best. To this day, no modern edition of his complete works has
been produced. If, as Wouter Hanegraaff suggests, ‘Western
 xxi

Esotericism’ is to be understood as the “dustbin of history” 11 – a

towering heap of knowledge unceremoniously rejected by
Enlightenment philosophes – then Agrippa stands as its most
exemplary figure.

Thankfully, the tide is turning and the 20th and 21st centuries
have seen renewed interest in Agrippa. He is undoubtedly a
philosopher who deserves a prominent place in the canon of
Western intellectual and spiritual history. This volume was
inspired by the interest of participants in my recent seminar on
Agrippa’s occult philosophy. It serves as an intellectual
placeholder for an eventual academic publication of Agrippa’s
complete works. But, with the publication of the more Hermetic
works from the Italian period, along with the epilogue material of
the 1533 De occulta philosophia libri tres, I hope this volume bears
witness to the fundamental unity of Agrippa’s thought, and I hope
it inspires continued interest in a philosopher whose occult
philosophy and deep skepticism were ultimately aimed at
magnifying human dignity, illumination, and felicitas. May his
merit inspire us.

Justin Sledge
Detroit, October 2024

11
Hanegraaff, Esotericism and the Academy, p. 128.
xxii

Translator’s Notes

The works presented in this volume have been organized in

chronological order to help demonstrate the development of
Agrippa’s thought from about 1515 to 1533, the year in which he
published the completed version of his De occulta philosophia,
albeit not without reservations due to the controversial nature of
its content. This period marks a significant phase in Agrippa’s
intellectual journey, during which his ideas on magic and
philosophy evolved, taking on a more skeptical stance towards
both magic and scholasticism, coupled with a turn towards a
deeper commitment to Christian mystical theology. By presenting
his works in this manner, our aim has been to provide a more
nuanced understanding of Agrippa’s intellectual trajectory from
youth to adulthood, highlighting the complexities and shifts that
defined his contributions to Renaissance and Reformation-era
philosophy.

Although I have transcribed and translated both the Pavian

Oratio de potestate et sapientia Dei (1515) and the De triplici
ratione cognoscendi Deum (1515-1516) directly from the c. 1600
Operum pars posterior (p. 1073-1083 and p. 480-501 respectively),
I have for the sake of consistency introduced the same paragraph
divisions devised by Vittoria Perrone Compagni in her 2005
Polistampa edition entitled Ermetismo e Cristianesimo in Agrippa:
Il De triplici ratione cognoscendi Deum. 12 I am indebted to her
many notes and some of the corrections she made by comparing
various printed editions of this text, though I have made no

12
Elsewhere, paragraph divisions are my own.
 xxiii

attempt here to reproduce her critical edition. The Latin we

present is simply as it appears in the Operum pars posterior, with
expanded abbreviations and some minor corrections where
necessary. Wherever possible I attempted to give all my references
to modern English translations rather than Early Modern printed
editions, as Perrone Compagni has done. This was done not only
to add value for English readers and researchers, but to showcase
the recent progress that has been made in the anglosphere
regarding the study of Renaissance Hermeticism over the decades
since the publication of Dame Frances Yates’ Giordano Bruno and
the Hermetic Tradition (1964).

For the Epistolae and the Censura sive retractatio de magia ex

sua declamatione de vanitate scientiarum et excellentia verbi dei, I
transcribed and translated the Latin as it is contained in the 1533
Köln edition of De Occulta Philosophia libri tres from the
collection of Carl Jung.

In terms of translation style, I have attempted to sail a middle

course between the Scylla of slavish literalism and the Charybdis
of poetic flights of fancy. My aim has been to produce a translation
that faithfully conveys the original meaning and nuances of
Agrippa’s text while ensuring that it remains accessible and
engaging to modern readers, without sinking too deeply into the
mire of archaisms and affectations. I have, to the best of my
abilities, avoided taking excessive liberties that could distort the
author’s intent or introducing interpretations not present in the
source material (which we have provided in facing pages). By
balancing fidelity with readability, I hope to present Agrippa’s
works in a way that honors his poetic genius and intellectual
xxiv

legacy, and makes his insight and breadth of learning available to

a 21st-century audience.

Where Agrippa relied on the works of other authors, such as

Marsilio Ficino, Lodovico Lazzarelli, Paolo Riccio, and Pico della
Mirandola, I have supplied references and full quotations in
translation to the original works with marginal notes. Given that
my own translation of the Hermetic Asclepius (in partnership with
David Porreca and Brett Bartlett, based on Matteo Stefani’s 2019
critical edition) is still forthcoming at the time of this publication
in the Fall of 2024, quotations of the Latin Asclepius (and the
Corpus Hermeticum) provided in the footnotes have mostly been
drawn from Brian Copenhaver’s Hermetica (1992). Note,
however, that quotations from the Corpus Hermeticum provided
by Copenhaver are based on Greek texts edited by Arthur Darby
Nock (and translated by André Jean Festugière), not on the Latin
translations that were available to Agrippa himself. As such, some
minor discrepancies may arise between my own translation of
Agrippa’s Latin in the main body of the text and the English
passages cited in the notes, though I believe these variations
should not impede the overall coherence and understanding of the
work. It is my hope that this translation opens up new avenues for
understanding Renaissance Hermeticism and inspires further
exploration into the rich tapestry of Agrippa’s esoteric and
mystical thought.

Dan Attrell
University of Waterloo, 2024
 0

Oratio, habita Pavia in praelectione Hermetis

Trismegisti, de potestate et sapientia Dei,
Anno MDXV

Considerans Illustrissime Marchio, praestantissimi Patres,

ornatissimique viri, varios humanarum rerum tumultus, simul
atque duram novercalis fortunae sortem, qua per integrum nunc
triennii curriculum bellorum armorumque im[1074]plicitus
negotiis usque fatigatus sum, diu et multum cogitavi
argumentaque multa in pectus institui, ac multis modis egomet
mecum eam rem disputavi, quanam ratione quove consilio et ope
post procellosum illum, utrasque praetergressus Scyllas,
sanguinolenti maris transitum feliciorem denuo nancisci possem
vitae portum. Occurrebant mihi magnopere necessarium esse
fungi munere aliquo, et eo potissimum, quod plurimum
honestatis nec minus fungi in se contineat. Atque id repperi nunc
tale quidem, quod cum decore peragere possum, quodque a mea
professione atque militia non est alienum.
 1

Oration, held in Pavia during the reading of

Hermes Trismegistus, On the Power and
Wisdom of God (1515)

Considering, O most illustrious Marquis, O most excellent Fa-

thers, O most distinguished men, the various tumults of human
affairs, and the harsh lot of a malevolent fortune, by which I have
been worn out for the whole course of a three year period, tangled
up in the business of wars and arms, I have long and deeply re-
flected and devised many arguments within my heart, and I have
debated this matter with myself in many ways, by what means or
with what plan and work, after passing through that stormy,
bloody sea, and having escaped both Scyllas, I might again obtain
a more fortunate port of life. 13 It occurred to me that it was greatly
necessary to perform some duty, and chiefly that which contains
in itself the most honor and no less duty. And I found it to be
something indeed, which I can perform with decorum, and which
is not alien to my profession and military service.

13
Here Agrippa opens his oration in good humanist style with a meta-
phor drawn from Book 12 of Homer’s Odyssey, wherein Odysseus and
his crew are forced to navigate between Scylla, a six-headed monster, and
Charybdis, a deadly whirlpool. By referring to “both Scyllas,” Agrippa
likens his struggles as a soldier to the perilous wanderings of Odysseus
on his return from the Trojan War, and the “fortunate port of life” to
Odysseus’ long-awaited return to Ithaca, symbolizing his hoped-for
peace in God (felicitas).
2

Abditiora videlicet sublimioris divinaeque Philosophiae mysteria

in florentissimo hoc Gymnasio vobis et reserare et interpretari.
Nam cum ab ineunte aetate multijugis literis eruditus, coelestium
influxu divinoque genio ab ingenio naturali corroboratus rerum
secretissimarum naturam, ipsiusque naturae ordinem
spectaculum omnium amoenissimum contemplatus sim, nihil
magis ad me attinere arbitror, quam ut sacrosanctam hanc
amplexus Philosophiam, ducem me praestem iis, qui ea maxime
eruditione sunt digni, ut in Tycinensi Gymnasio optimi quique
adolescentes nostro munere atque opera, depromptis ex nostris
thesauris novis atque veteribus sacrae illius Philosophiae fructus
intellectuque consequantur.

Sed vereor hic (consummatissimi adjutores) ne qua fortassis

animum vestrum subeat indignatio ac me non modo arrogantiae,
praesumptionis ac insolentiae, verum, etiam temeritatis vitio
arguatis, quod ipse ego ut homo sic in natione barbarus, exercitio
hactenus miles, habitu exotico, hanc Cathedram conscendere,
atque in tam cruda et immatura aetate tanta vobis et ea praesertim
polliceri audeam, quae prae rerum magnitudine gravissimum alias
ac maturum inveteratumque Doctorem expectant.
 3

Namely, to unlock and interpret for you the more hidden myster-
ies of the higher and divine philosophy in this most flourishing
school. For, having been educated from my youth in all kinds of
literature, strengthened by the influence of the heavens and by a
divine genius from an innate talent, I have contemplated the na-
ture of the most secret matters, and the order of nature itself, the
most beautiful spectacle of all. I consider nothing more pertinent
to me than to embrace this sacred philosophy, to put myself for-
ward as a guide to those who are especially worthy of this educa-
tion, so that every noble youth in the Ticinian school might,
through our service and work, attain the fruits of that sacred phi-
losophy, drawn out from our treasures, new and old, and from our
understanding.

But I fear here (most accomplished assistants) that perhaps

some indignation might arise in your minds, and that you may
accuse me not only of arrogance, presumption, and insolence, but
even of the vice of rashness, because I, as a man who is thus a bar-
barian by origin, a soldier by practice up till now, with a foreign
appearance, dare to ascend this chair and promise you such great
things – especially at such an unripe and immature age 14 – things
which, due to their greatness, usually demand a most serious, ma-
ture, and inveterate doctor.

14
Agrippa was born on September 14, 1486, making him around 29 years
of age at the time he composed this oration.
4

Verum cum ad vestri intellectus perspicaciam et

promptitudinem, et ad vestram erga studia optima diligentiam
atque constantiam me converto, meamque haud ignaviter alias
exercitatam et legendi et interpretandi consuetudinem cum his
confero, nihil prorsus erit quod in hac re vel de capacitate vestra,
vel de ingenio meo diffidam. Neque vero junior ipsa aetas
prohibet, quin possemus aeque bene vel meliuscule interdum
quam seniores aliquid discernere: siquidem non aetate sed ingenio
inspirationeque provenit intelligentia: neque enim numerus
annorum et multitudo dierum dant scientiam, sed ingenium
coelitus infusum, ac spiritus Domini sapientiam praestat etiam
parvulis quod in libro Job ple[1075]risque rationibus attestatur
Helius filius Barachielis Buzitius. Quod si exempla quaeritis,
Samuel cum esset pusillus, accepit Spiritum Domini; Salomon
quoque et Josias in juventute acceperunt sapientiam, et Daniel per
duodecim annorum, Spiritu S. repletus est, et Paulus Apostolus
non vult Timothei juventutem contemni. Et Jeremias audivit a
Domino, noli dicere quia juvenis sum ego.
 5

However, when I turn to the clarity and promptness of your

intellect, and to your diligence and constancy in the finest pur-
suits, and compare my not idly exercised habit of reading and in-
terpreting with these, there will be nothing at all in this matter that
I might distrust either about your capacity, or about my talent.
Nor indeed does youth itself prevent us from being able to discern
something equally well or sometimes a little better than the elders:
since intelligence comes not from age but from talent and inspira-
tion 15: for neither the number of years and the multitude of days
give knowledge, but talent poured down from heaven, and the
spirit of the Lord grants wisdom even to little ones, as testified in
the book of Job in many ways by Elihu, the son of Barachel the
Buzite. 16 But if you seek examples, Samuel when he was small, re-
ceived the Spirit of the Lord; Solomon and Josiah also in their
youth received wisdom; and Daniel was filled with the Holy Spirit
at the age of twelve; and the Apostle Paul does not wish the youth
of Timothy to be despised. 17 And Jeremiah heard from the Lord,
“do not

15
Agrippa’s focus on the topic of heavenly illumination here echoes sen-
timents already found in the 1510 juvenile draft of the Three Books of
Occult Philosophy.
16
Job 32:7-9: “For I hoped that greater age would speak, and that a mul-
titude of years would teach wisdom. But, as I see, there is a spirit in men,
and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth understanding. They that are
aged are not the wise men, neither do the ancients understand judg-
ment.”
17
I Samuel 3:10; I Kings 3:7; 2 Chronicles 34:1-2; Daniel 1:17; I Timothy
4:12.
6

Et Ignatius ad Magnesianam Ecclesiam scribens ait, non longi

temporis sunt sapientes neque senes sciunt prudentiam, sed
spiritus ipse, qui est in hominibus.

Neque etiam mireris Marchio Illustris Joannes Gonzaga

strenuissimus militum Dux, quod cum me proximis his annis
foelicissimis Caesareis castris militibus praefectum cognosceres,
nunc me sacrarum literarum praepositum pulpito cernas. Neque
etiam vos candidissimi auditores deterreat ipsum militis
cruentum nomen, eo quod Plato ipse ethnicus et Dionysius
Christianus severiter praecipiant, sacra nonnisi a sacris viris
contrectari debere. Unde me quispiam tanquam humano
sanguine, in quo juxta Mose verbum, jam non semel manus
nostras consecravimus, pollutum, iccirco perinde ac prophanum
respuendum fore existimet. Nulla vos tam sinistra infensaque
opinio vel fascinet vel seducat. An nescitis apud veteres poetas ac
philosophos Palladem atque Bellonam unam ac eandem literarum
militiaeque deam extitisse?
 7

say that I am a child.” 18 And Ignatius, writing to the Magnesian

Church, said: “It is not they that are aged who are wise, nor do old
men know prudence, but the spirit itself, which is in men.” 19

Nor indeed, most illustrious Marquis John Gonzaga, most

valiant leader of soldiers, should you wonder that, although in re-
cent years you knew me as a prefect of soldiers in our most fortu-
nate imperial camp, you now see me presiding over sacred litera-
ture from the pulpit. Nor indeed should the very reputation of a
blood-stained soldier deter you, most fair listeners, given that
Plato – himself a pagan – and Dionysius the Christian, strictly
command that sacred things ought to be handled only by sacred
men. 20 Hence, let no one consider me, polluted as I am with hu-
man blood, in which, according to the word of Moses, we have
consecrated our hands more than once, to be rejected as profane
for this reason. 21 Let no such sinister and hostile opinion fascinate
or seduce you. Do you not know that among the ancient poets and
philosophers, Pallas and Bellona were regarded as one and the
same goddess of letters and war? We have examples

18
Jeremiah 1:7.
19
Cf. Job 32:7-9.
20
Prior to holding his post at the University of Pavia, Agrippa had been
working in Italy primarily as a diplomat in the service of Maximilian I.
He did, however, see combat in the mysterious Spanish expedition of
1508 where he and some friends successfully extracted peasants who had
taken a fortified position near Barcelona. The details of this adventure
remain unknown.
21
Cf. Numbers 31:19-24.
8

Habemus praestantissimorum virorum exempla, qui ob hoc

ipsum divinis laudibus praecipue celebrata sunt, quod utrisque et
militiae et literarum studiis claruerunt. Non dico nunc
Demosthenem illum, qui ut extitit strenuus orator, tam erat
ignavus miles. Vix enim conspectis hostibus abjecto clypeo in
fugam se turpiter convertit: sed invictos Catones, Curios, Fabios,
Decios, Scipiones, innumerosque alios tam Latinorum quam
Graecorum Duces: Prae ceteris vero Julium illum Caesarem et
Christianae Reipublicae augustum, Carolum cognomento
Magnum: qui utrique utrisque sic operam navarunt, ut discerni
non queat, utro magis valuerint.

Possem hujuscemodi multos adducere, sed cum non sit

praesentis intentionis meae velle laudare militiam, satis erit si hoc
vos commoneam, Christum ipsum Centurionem militum sic
extulisse, ut diceret, se non invenisse majorem fidem in Israël. Et
Propheta ipse ob hoc singulares Deo agit gratias: Quia docet
manus ejus ad praelium et digitos ejus ad bellum. Jacob item
Patriarcha benedicens filio suo Judae, ajebat:
 9

of the most outstanding men, who for this very reason have been
especially celebrated with divine praises, because they distin-
guished themselves in both military and literary pursuits. Now I
speak not of that Demosthenes, who, as much as he was a vigorous
orator, was also a cowardly soldier. 22 For, scarcely having seen his
enemies, he shamefully turned to flight after throwing away his
shield: rather, I speak of the invincible Catos, Curii, Fabii, Decii,
Scipios, and countless others, as much of the leaders of the Latins
as of the Greeks. Above all, however, I speak of that Julius Caesar
and the Augustus of the Christian Republic, Charlemagne by
name: both of whom so devoted themselves to both pursuits, that
it cannot be discerned in which they excelled more.

I could bring forth many more examples of this kind, but

since it is not the intention of my present purpose to praise the
military, it will suffice if I remind you of this: Christ Himself so
extolled a centurion of soldiers that he said he had not found
greater faith in Israel. 23 And the Prophet himself gives special
thanks to God for this: because He teaches his hands to fight and
his fingers to war. 24 Jacob likewise, blessing his son Judah, said:

22
Here in bringing up the Greek orator Demosthenes, Agrippa makes
use of a classic rhetorical device known as praeteritio (or paralipsis,
‘omission’). While claiming he will not speak of Demosthenes’ military
failure, he effectively highlights it, thus contrasting him with the more
heroic figures from Roman myth and history.
23
Matthew 8:10; Luke 7:9.
24
Psalm 144:1 (Vulg. 143:1).
10

Manus tuae in cervicibus inimicorum tuorum. Est enim militia

divina benedictio divinumque institutum, ut in Machabaeorum
hi[1076]storia sacrae nobis literae tradunt. Ubi Jeremias Propheta
Domini visus est extendisse dexteram suam, strenuoque militi
Judae Machabaeo aureum gladium porrexisse inquiens: Accipe
gladium sanctum, munus a Deo, in quo concides adversarios
populi mei. Quo verbo et me consecravit invictissimus Imperator
meus, dum adolescentior et quasi puer adhuc accepto e manu sua
gladio, haud sine foelici fortunatoque Martis successu miles
insigniebar.

Sed ut semel finiam et ad animi institutum redeam.

Augustinus in libro de verbo Domini, et Gregorius scribens
universis Neapolitanorum militibus, ipseque Decretorum
Compilator Gratianus, ex illorum aliorumque sanctorum Patrum
testimoniis unamiter concludunt, Militiam nulli imputari in
peccatum, neminemque propter militiam a sacris Ordinibus
debere repelli. Nec refert cui quis militet, etiamsi infideli, dum
modo fidem et reverentiam impleat militia; nam et David militavit
Achis Regi Philistinorum, et multi fideles atque sancti Diocletiano
et Juliano aliisque
 11

“Your hands will be on the necks of your enemies.” 25 For the mil-
itary is a divine blessing and a divine institution, as the sacred let-
ters tell us in the history of the Maccabees. Where Jeremiah, the
Prophet of the Lord, was seen to extend his right hand and present
a golden sword to the valiant soldier Judas Maccabeus, saying:
“Take this holy sword, a gift from God, with which you will strike
down the adversaries of my people.” 26 With these words my most
invincible Emperor also consecrated me, when, as a younger man
and almost still a boy, having received a sword from his hand, I
was marked as a soldier not without the happy and fortunate as-
cension of Mars.

But to finish and return to my intention: Augustine in the

book on the word of the Lord, and Gregory writing to all the sol-
diers of Naples, and Gratian himself, compiler of the Decretum,
from the testimonies of these and other holy Fathers, unanimously
conclude that military service should be imputed to no one as a
sin, and no one should be rejected from holy orders on account of
military service. 27 Nor does it matter whom one serves, even if it
be an infidel, as long as one maintains faith and reverence in their
military service; for David also served King Achish of the Philis-
tines, and many faithful men are read to have served Diocletian,
Julian, and other

25
Genesis 49:8.
26
II Maccabees 15:16.
27
Augustine, De civitate Dei, 19.12-15 argues that wars can be just under
certain circumstances, and military service is not inherently sinful.
12

ethnicis Caesaribus militiasse leguntur, fide semper incolumi et

laudata. Ne itaque nos inter prophanos connumeremur, catholica
Canonum sanctio, divinumque militiae institutum, sacrarumque
attrectatio literarum nos excusant: Siquidem et Lactantio
Firmiano placet eos qui sacras literas docent, haud secus atque
quibus Antistitum manus impositae sunt Sacerdotes sacros
existimari debere. Quin et milites ipsi a Psalmista sancti dicuntur,
inquiente: Utique gloria haec est omnibus sanctis ejus.
Exultationes Dei in gutture eorum, et gladii ancipites in manibus
eorum, ad faciendam vindictam in nationibus, increpationes in
populis. Ad alligandos reges eorum in compedibus, et nobiles
eorum in manicis ferreis.

Quod si quem vestrum scandalizet, barbarum hominem in

Lizeto gymnasio bonas literas interpretari, is sciat barbaros etiam
homines esse rationales, et frui coelo, atque linguae nostrae
Mercurium, pectorique nostro Saturnum, quorum ille
interpretandi, hic arcanae contemplationis autor, foelici coelorum
dono non defuisse. Quod si quem insuetum scholis militare sagum
transversum agit, respondet illi Plutarchus. Non, inquiens,
Philosophum facit promissior barba et vestis pertrita, nec idem
Isiacos linostoliae: et quod vulgo dicitur proverbium:
 13

pagan Caesars, always with unblemished and praised faith. 28

Therefore, let us not be numbered among the profane; the sanc-
tion of Catholic canons, the divine institution of the military, and
the handling of sacred letters excuse us: since Lactantius Firmi-
anus also agrees that those who teach sacred letters ought to be
regarded as sacred priests, just as those upon whom the hands of
bishops have been laid. Indeed, even soldiers themselves are called
saints by the Psalmist, who says: “This is the glory of all his saints.
The high praises of God shall be in their throats, and two-edged
swords in their hands, to execute vengeance upon the nations,
chastisements among the peoples. To bind their kings in fetters,
and their nobles in manacles of iron.” 29

But if any of you are scandalized that a barbarian man inter-

prets good literature in the Lizeto school, let him know that bar-
barian men are also rational, enjoy the blessings of heaven, and
have Mercury for our tongue and Saturn for our heart, of whom
the former is the author of interpretation, the latter of arcane con-
templation, and that the fortunate gift of the heavens has not been
lacking to them. But if the military cloak is unsettling to anyone
unfamiliar with the schools, Plutarch responds to him. “A longer
beard and worn-out clothes do not make a philosopher,” he says,
“nor do linen garments make a worshipper of Isis.” 30 And as the
proverb commonly

28
I Samuel 27:1-12.
29
Psalm 149:5-8.
30
Plutarch, De Iside et Osiride, 3.
14

Habitus Monachum non perficit: neque enim plantam cortex

facit, sed vegetalis natura: neque jumenta corium, sed sensibilis
anima: nec humani corporis habitus sapientem, sed coelestis ratio
spiritalisque intelligentia. Aedepol multa sunt auditores, quae
efficacissimis rationibus [1077] ad susceptam provinciam
prosequendam nos adhortantur, et admonent adjuvantque Amici
scilicet qui innumeris in me collatis beneficiis, magnum mihi ad
coepta prosequenda stimulum adhibent, quibus eo ipso morem
gerendum duximus.

Compellit me etiam Evangelica religio, ne erga Deum

hominesque ingratus esse convincar, talentum quoque mihi
concreditum suffodere videar, atque lumen sub modio
abscondere, ne denique mihi, quae ficulneae, maledictio
contingat, quae fructum suum non dedit in tempore suo. Itaque
juxta verbum libri Sapientiae, quae sine fictione didici, sine invidia
communico, et honestatem eorum non abscondo.
 15

says: “The habit does not make the monk.” For it is not the bark
that makes the plant, but the vegetable nature; nor the hide that
makes the beasts of burden, but the animal and sensitive soul; nor
is it the habit of the human body that makes the wise man, but the
heavenly reason and spiritual intelligence. 31 By Pollux, there are
many things, listeners, which, with the most compelling reasons,
encourage, advise, and assist us in pursuing the task we have un-
dertaken – namely my friends, who, through countless benefits be-
stowed upon me, give me great incentive to pursue my undertak-
ings, to whom we have thought it proper to show deference in this
very manner.

The evangelical religion also compels me, lest I be convicted

of ingratitude towards God and men, lest I appear to bury the tal-
ent entrusted to me, and to hide the light under a bushel, and lest
finally the curse of the fig tree that did not give its fruit in its own
time befall me. Therefore, according to the word of the book of
Wisdom, what I have learned without deceit, I share without envy,
and their riches I do not hide. 32

31
Cf. Pico della Mirandola, Oratio (Copenhaver, Oration, p. 86-87): “For
it is not the bark that makes a plant but dull and unfeeling nature; not the
hide that makes a beast of burden but a brutal and sensual soul; not a
spherical body but right reason that makes a heavenly orb; not removing
the body but spiritual intelligence that makes an angel.” Note, however,
how Agrippa modifies this quote to make his own point about man ra-
ther than angels and heavenly orbs.
32
Wisdom 7:13.
16

Alliciunt me insuper haud parum patria, urbs, locus, tempus,

otium, tranquillitas, atque post tot bella, pax atque libertas, quae
omnia nobis Illustrissimus atque invictissimus de hostibus
triumphator Hercules Maximilianus Sforita Mediolani Dux
octavus, singulari sua virtute ac sapientia conciliat, continet et
adauget. Qua de re Deum immortalem oramus, ut cum perpetuo
foelicem fortunatum faciat, egregiasque ejus laudes Celsitudinis,
fortunae, virtutis, ingenii, rerum gestarum gerendarumque in
memoriam seculorum omnium conservet et augmentet, ut omnia
denique ei ex desiderio optimi animi sui, quo nocere nemini,
prodesse vero omnibus velit, prospere glorioseque succedant.
Deberem etiam nunc splendidiss. Joannes Gonzaga, tuis
amplissimis virtutibus congruenter congratulari, atque condignas
meritasque illis contribuere laudes: Tua strenue gesta,
sapientissime consulta, promptissime ad inventa in medium
denarrare, si sermonum unda sensuumque flamma mihi hi
suppeteret: in aliud autem tempus haec reservabimus, nullaque
unquam abolebit oblivio.

Atque nunc unde digressus sum redibo, et quod propositum

meum sit in hanc suscepta provincia id paucis verbis aperiam.
Animus est, Hermetis Trismegisti Dialogos de Sapientia et
potestate divina inscriptos, interpretari: quocirca prius nunc de
Hermete ipso Trismegisto, cujus testimoniorum prae caeteris uti
institutum est, ut quis quantusque fuerit, et quo
 17

Moreover, my fatherland, city, place, time, leisure, tranquility,

and, after so many wars, peace and liberty entice me greatly, all of
which the most illustrious and invincible conqueror of enemies,
Hercules Maximilian Sforza, eighth Duke of Milan, by his singular
virtue and wisdom, secures, maintains, and augments for us. For
this reason, we pray to the immortal God that He make him per-
petually happy and fortunate, and preserve and increase the ex-
traordinary praises of his highness, fortune, virtue, talent, and
deeds accomplished and to be accomplished, for the memory of
all ages, so that finally everything may succeed for him prosper-
ously and gloriously according to the desire of his excellent spirit,
by which he wishes to harm no one but to benefit all. I also ought
now, most splendid John Gonzaga, to suitably congratulate your
most ample virtues and bestow upon them the due and deserved
praises: to narrate your vigorous deeds, most wise counsels, and
most prompt inventions to the public, if the flood of words and
flame of thoughts were at hand for me: but we will reserve these
for another time, and no forgetfulness will ever erase them.

And now I will return from where I digressed, and I will re-
veal in a few words what my purpose is in this undertaken prov-
ince. My intention is to interpret the dialogues of Hermes Trisme-
gistus entitled On the Wisdom and Power of God: therefore, first
we will now say a few words about Hermes Trismegistus himself,
whose testimony is intended to be used above others, so that it may
be known who and how great he was, and in
18

tempore floruerit, dignoscatur, pauca dicemus: deinde quae in

Dialogis, quos explanare intendimus, dogmata contineantur, brevi
argumento docebimus. Legimus itaque apud Moysen magnum
illum Hebraeorum legislatorem atque Principem, in suo Geneseos
libro Abrahamum ipsum Judaeorum Patriarcham mortua uxore
sua Sara, plures ex pellicibus filios suscepisse: Inter quos erat
nomine Mydan. Is genuit filium Enoch nomine, qui ob
interpretandi scien[1078]tiam, qua clarus habebatur, appellatus
est Hermes sive Mercurius, quod uterque interprete sonat. Is
itaque noster est Hermes, qui apud Hebraeos Enoch vocatus,
Abrahae ex Mydan filio nepos. Cujus rei gravis juxta ac fidus testis
est autorque peregrinus. Rab Abraham de Avenazre in volumine
suo Astrologico. Adstipulatur ei quod scribit Eusebius libro suo de
temporibus. Cum esset Isaac Abrahae filius 80 annorum. Jacob
vero ex Isaac Abrahae nepos annorum 20. Osyrim apud Graecos
inter Deos relatum, eodemque tempore floruisse apud Aegyptios
alium Abrahae nepotem Enoch nomine. Accedunt adhaec quae
recitat Diodorus Siculus de antiquorum gestis. Praeterea
Lactantius et alii plerique antiquitatum scriptores testantur, eo
tempore quo vixit Osyris, floruisse Mercurium, qui postea vocatus
est Trismegistus: Osyris namque ingenti exercitu orbem
peragrans, ut homines ab agresti rudique vita ad cultiorem
nitidioremque reduceret, Aegypti regno rerumque omnium cura
Isidi uxori relicto, adjunxit ei Mercurium,
 19

what time he flourished; thereafter we will briefly explain the doc-

trines contained in the dialogues that we intend to expound. Thus,
according to Moses in his book of Genesis, we read that that great
legislator and prince of the Hebrews, Abraham himself, the patri-
arch of the Jews, after the death of his wife Sarah, had many sons
from concubines: among whom one was Midian by name. He be-
got a son named Enoch, who on account of his knowledge of in-
terpretation, by which he was renowned, was called Hermes or
Mercurius, for both names mean interpreter. Thus, our Hermes,
who among the Hebrews was called Enoch, was the grandson of
Abraham through Midian’s son. A serious and reliable witness
and author of this matter is the foreign Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra
in his book on astrology. Eusebius agrees with this in what he
writes in his book De temporibus. When Isaac, the son of Abra-
ham, was 80 years old, and Jacob, the grandson of Abraham from
Isaac, was 20 years old, Osiris was numbered among the gods by
the Greeks, and at the same time, another descendant of Abraham,
named Enoch, flourished among the Egyptians. They add to this
what Diodorus Siculus says in his De antiquorum gestis [fabulosis].
Moreover, Lactantius and several other writers of antiquities tes-
tify that at the time Osiris lived, a Mercurius flourished, who was
later called Trismegistus. For Osiris, traveling the world with a
huge army to lead men from a rustic and crude life to a more cul-
tivated and refined one, left the kingdom of Egypt and all matters
of concern to his wife Isis, and he appointed Mercurius to
20

cujus consilio in rebus agendis uteretur, quandoquidem prudentia

ac sanctitate caeteros mortales antecelleret.

Hunc ferunt interemisse Argum, Aegyptiis leges et literas

dedisse, verba in ordinem redegisse, multisque indidisse rebus
nomina, isque apud Aegyptios primus astrorum observator,
syderum cursus certis numeris descripsit, primusque numerorum,
rationum vocumque harmonias adinvenit. Palestrae quoque ad
exercendas corporis vires, Medicinae insuper ac lyrae repertore
ferunt, atque oleae plantam, non, quod Graeci fabulantur, a
Minerva, sed ab eo repertam. Ipse etiam Graecis interpretandi
scientiam contulit, ac primus inter philosophos a physicis ac
mathematibus disciplinis ad divinorum contemplationem
conscendit. Primus qui omnem sapientiae semitam perscrutatus
oratione licet modica immensa tamen sententiis de vera sapientia
scripsit. Primus omnium de majestate Dei, de ordine spirituum,
de animarum naturis sapientissime disseruit. Primus itaque
theologiae appellatus est autor et inventor: ferturque universalia
sacrorum complexus conscripsisse viginti sex millia, quingenta et
viginti quinque librorum volumina, in quibus admiranda arcana,
secretissimique mysteria ac stupenda pandit oracula: non enim ut
philosophus duntaxat locutus est, verum etiam ut propheta multa
praesagivit. Nam priscae religionis ruinam, novae fidei ortum,
Christi adventum, futurum judicium, mortuorum
resurrectionem, renovationem saeculi,
 21

her, whose counsel she used in her political affairs, since he sur-
passed other mortals in prudence and holiness.

They say that he killed Argus, gave laws and letters to the
Egyptians, arranged words in order, and gave names to many
things. He was the first observer of the stars among the Egyptians;
he described the courses of the constellations with precise num-
bers; and he first discovered the harmonies of numbers, propor-
tions, and sounds. They also say he was the inventor of the gym-
nasium for exercising the strengths of the body, as well as of med-
icine and the lyre, and that the olive plant was discovered by him,
not by Minerva as the Greeks say in their myths. He also conferred
his knowledge of interpretation on the Greeks, and he was the first
among philosophers to ascend from physical and mathematical
disciplines to the contemplation of divine matters. He was the first
to explore every path of wisdom and, although with modest
speech, he wrote immeasurably profound thoughts about true wis-
dom. He was the first of all to speak most wisely about the majesty
of God, the order of spirits, and the nature of souls. Therefore, he
was called the first author and inventor of theology, and it is said
that he composed twenty-six thousand five hundred and twenty-
five volumes of sacred books, in which he reveals marvelous se-
crets, the most secret mysteries, and astonishing oracles. For he
spoke not only as a philosopher but also presaged many things as
a prophet. He foresaw and foretold the ruin of the ancient religion,
the rise of a new faith, the coming of Christ, the future judgment,
the resurrection of the dead, the renewal of the world,
22

beatorum gloriam, peccatorum tormenta praevidit atque

praedixit. Qua de causa ambigit Augustinus peritiane syderum, an
revelatione spirituum illa [1079] cognoverit: Lactantius ipsum
inter sybillas ac prophetas connumerare non dubitat.

Hic itaque Mercurius noster, ut acumine intelligentiae

philosophos omnes excessit, ita sacerdos perinde constitutus
sanctimonia vitae, divinorumque cultu universis sacerdotibus
praestitit: Unde in tanta hominum veneratione habitus est, ut post
Osyridem ab Aegyptiis Rex appellaretur. Mos enim illis erat, quod
et Plato recitat, ex philosophorum numero sacerdotes, ex
sacerdotum coetu regem sibi deligere. Regiam itaque dignitatem
adeptus Mercurius, constitutione legum, administratione regni ac
gestorum magnitudine, caeterorum regum gloriam obscuravit,
unde merito Trismegistus, hoc est, ter maximus nuncupatus est,
quoniam maximus et sapientissimus philosophus, maximus ac
religiosissimus sacerdos, maximus ac gloriosissimus rex extiterit,
quapropter pro suae virtutis admiratione divinos honores populus
illi consecravit. Tunc pro Deo habitus in coelos relatus,
planetarum imus prae caeteris ingenii ac scientiarum largitor,
 23

the glory of the blessed, and the torments of sinners. For this rea-
son, Augustine wavers on whether Hermes knew those things by
knowledge of the stars or by the revelation of spirits; and Lactan-
tius has no doubt in counting him among the sibyls and the proph-
ets.

Thus, this Mercurius of ours, as he surpassed all philosophers

in the acumen of intelligence, so, being established as a priest, he
excelled all priests in the sanctity of his life and in his worship of
the divine. Hence, he was held in such great veneration among
men that after Osiris, he was called King by the Egyptians. For it
was their custom, as Plato also recounts, to choose priests from the
number of philosophers, and a king from the assembly of priests.
Thus, having attained royal dignity, Mercurius, by the constitu-
tion of laws, administration of the kingdom, and the greatness of
his deeds, eclipsed the glory of other kings, whence he was rightly
called Trismegistus, that is, the thrice-great, since he was the great-
est and wisest philosopher, the greatest and most religious priest,
and the greatest and most glorious king. Therefore, out of admi-
ration for his virtue, the people consecrated divine honors to
him. 33 Then, being regarded as a god, he was taken up into the
heavens and was considered the most generous of the planets in
ingenuity and the sciences,

33
On the origin of the ‘Three Hermes’ motif, see Burnett, “The Legend
of the Three Hermes,” p. 231-234 and van Bladel, “Sources of the Legend
of Hermes,” p. 285-293 and The Arabic Hermes, p. 121-161. See also
Campanelli, “Marsilio Ficino’s Portrait of Hermes Trismegistus,” p. 53-
71 for how Ficino (and thereby Agrippa) became familiar with the myth.
24

illius nomine insignitus, templa numinis sui erecta quam plurima.

Nomen ejus proprium ob reverentiam quandam vulgo ac

temere effari vetitum. Primus anni mensis penes Aegyptios suo
nomini dedicatus. Oppidum quoque ab eo conditum extat, quod
in hunc usque diem Hermopolis, hoc est Mercurii civitas,
appellatur. Narrat etiam de ipso Chalcidius moribundum illum
astantes his verbis allocutum. Hactenus filii pulsus a patria vixi
peregrinus et exul, nunc vero incolumis patriam repeto. Cumque
post paulum temporis solutis corporis vinculis a vobis discessero,
nequaquam me tanquam mortuum lugeatis, nam ad illam
optimam beatamque civitatem regredior, ad quam universi cives
per mortis corruptionem venturi sunt. Ibi namque Deus solus est,
summus princeps, qui cives suos replet suavitate mirifica. Sed de
autore haec hactenus.

De opere illius modo dicamus. Ejus titulus est Pimander, sive

de sapientia et potestate Dei. Est autem liber iste elegantia,
sermonis refertissimus, copia sententiarum gravissimus, plenus
gratiae et decoris, plenus sapientiae et mysteriorum. Continet
enim in se vetustissimae Theologiae profundissima mysteria, ac
utriusque Philosophiae latentia arcana, quae omnia non tam
continet quam explicat: Docet enim nos quis
 25

Many temples were erected in his name to his divine presence.

His proper name was forbidden to be spoken commonly and

recklessly out of a certain reverence. The first month of the year
among the Egyptians was dedicated to his name. There also exists
a city founded by him, which to this day is called Hermopolis, that
is, the city of Mercurius. 34 Calcidius also tells about him, that when
he was dying, he addressed those standing by with these words:
“Up to now, my sons, I have lived as an exile and wanderer, driven
from my fatherland; but now unharmed I return to my fatherland.
And when after a short time I depart from you, having loosened
the bonds of the body, do not mourn for me as if dead, for I return
to that most excellent and blessed city, to which all citizens are go-
ing to come through the corruption of death. For there alone is
God, the highest Prince, who fills his citizens with wondrous
sweetness.” But thus far about the author.

Let us now speak about his work. Its title is Pimander, or On

the Wisdom and Power of God. Indeed this book is brimming with
elegance in speech, rich in weighty thoughts, full of grace and
beauty, full of wisdom and mysteries. For it contains within itself
the profoundest mysteries of the most ancient theology and the
hidden secrets of both philosophies, all of which it not only con-
tains but also explains. For it teaches us who

34
Cf. Picatrix 4.3.1 (Attrell and Porreca, Picatrix, p. 233) which dis-
cusses the founding of the city of Adocentyn (el-Ashmunein or Her-
mopolis).
26

Deus, quis mundus, quid mens, quid uterque daemon, quid

anima, quis providentiae ordo, quae et unde fati necessitas, quae
naturae lex, quod hominum phas, quae religio, quae sacra
instituta, ritus, phana, observationes sacraque mysteria, instruit
[1080] nos praeterea de cognitione sui ipsius, de ascensu
intellectus, de arcanis precibus, de divino connubio, deque
regenerationis sacramento, atque ut paucis cuncta complectar,
docet nos rite scire atque callere leges divinorum, phas sacrorum,
jusque religionum, et quo pacto foelicitatem religione divina
debeamus adipisci, quoque pacto mentem nostram, qua sola
veritatem apprehendere possumus, rite debeamus excolere.

Ea enim est magorum sapientumque vulgata sententia. Quod

nisi mens atque animus bene valuerint, corpus ipsum bene valere
non posse: tunc autem hominem vere sanum esse, quando anima
et corpus ita copulantur et inter se conveniunt, ut firmitas mentis
corporis viribus non sit inferior. Firmam autem robustamque
mentem, per quam sine fallacia mirabilia et cognoscimus et
operamur, quomodo possimus adipisci, ipse nos Mercurii
Pimander edocet. Quae omnia vobis, ut autoris verba id
expostulant, partim theologice, partim philosophice, partim
dialectico rhetoricoque more enucleabimus, enumerantes
scripturas, auctoritates, sententias, opiniones, exempla et
experientias ad rem ipsam pertinentes: Sacrorum denique
canonum civiliumque legum sanctiones dum dabitur occasio,
haud impertinenter adducentes.
 27

God is, what the world is, what the mind is, what each demon is,
what the soul is, what the order of providence is, what and whence
the necessity of fate is, what the law of nature is, what the divine
law of men is, what religion is, what sacred institutions, rites, tem-
ples, sacred observances, and mysteries are. It further instructs us
about the knowledge of oneself, the ascent of the intellect, the se-
cret prayers, the divine union, and the sacrament of regeneration.
And to summarize everything briefly, it teaches us to know rightly
and be skilled in the laws of the divine, the obligations of the sa-
cred, the law of religions, and how we ought to obtain happiness
through divine religion, and how we ought rightly to cultivate our
mind, by which alone we can apprehend the truth.

For it is a commonly held opinion among magicians and

sages that, unless the mind and soul are in good health, the body
itself cannot be in good health; moreover, a man is truly healthy
when the soul and body are so united and in agreement with each
other that the firmness of the mind is not inferior to the strength
of the body. How we can attain a firm and robust mind, through
which without deception we can both know and accomplish mar-
velous things, Mercurius’s Pimander himself teaches us. All these
things we will explain to you, as the words of the author require,
partly theologically, partly philosophically, partly in a dialectical
and rhetorical manner, enumerating scriptures, authorities, aph-
orisms, opinions, examples, and experiences pertinent to the mat-
ter itself: finally, as occasion permits, we will not inappropriately
introduce the sanctions of sacred canons
28

Ignoscat mihi utriusque philosophiae ac medicinarum facultas,

ignoscat mihi sacrae theologiae schola, ignoscat mihi veneranda
canonum sanctio, legumque reverenda majestas, si quaedam
aliquando suorum dogmatum paradoxa interpretari
discernereque conabor. Nam etsi scio harum rerum in hoc
gymnasio in immensum me excellentiores doctores ordinariosque
lectores haberi, nullum illis facturum me arbitror injuriam, sed
operam illis accommodaturum, si cum illis hujusmodi
doctrinarum fructus in alios divisero: Multa siquidem illorum et
scio et intelligo, et memini, polliceorque vobis effecturum me totis
viribus, ut nihil sit in suscepta materia tam difficile, tam
intricatum, tam obscurum, tamque arduum cuicumque facultati
aut scientiae ea traditio consonet, quod me interprete non
assequamini omnes, intelligentia, favente nobis ipso ter maximi
Mercurii Pimandro mente divinae potentiae Domino videlicet
nostro JESU Christo Nazareno crucifixo, qui verus pimander, qui
magni consilii Angelus vero mentis lumine illustrat: quem verum
Deum et verum hominem, regenerationis autorem confitemur,
futurique patrem seculi judicem expectamus.
 29

and civil laws. Let the faculty of both philosophy and medicine
forgive me, let the school of sacred theology forgive me, let the
venerable sanction of the canons and the revered majesty of the
laws forgive me, if at times I attempt to interpret and discern some
paradoxes of their teachings. For even though I know that in this
school I have far superior doctors and ordinary readers of these
subjects, I believe I will do them no injury but will rather accom-
modate them by distributing the fruits of such teachings among
others: for I indeed know, understand, and remember many of
them, and I promise you that I will exert myself with all my
strength so that there will be nothing in the subject matter under-
taken that is so difficult, so intricate, so obscure, or so arduous –
regardless of which faculty or science it concerns – that you will
not all achieve understanding, with me as your interpreter, by the
favor of Pimander himself, the mind of divine power, of the
Thrice-Great Mercurius, namely, our crucified Lord JESUS Christ
of Nazareth, who is the true Pimander, who, as the Angel of Great
Counsel, illuminates with the true light of mind: whom we confess
as true God and true man, the author of regeneration, and await
as the judge of the future age. 35

35
This section, and most notably the identification of Pimander with
Christ, is an echo of Lodovico Lazzarelli, Crater Hermetis, 1.1 and 30.4
(Hanegraaff and Bouthoorn, Lodovico Lazzarelli, p. 167 and 263). The
identification between Pimander (or in Greek Poimandres) with the
“mind of divine power” (or “mind of sovereignty”) is drawn from Corpus
Hermeticum 1.2 (Copenhaver, Hermetica, p. 1) and 13.15 (Copenhaver,
Hermetica, p. 52).
30

Vos igitur illustrissimi candidissimique viri, vos qui virtutem

colitis, vos ad mea tantum dicta aures adhibete, animosque
inten[1081]dite vestros: Contra, qui sanctas leges contemnitis,
hinc vos effugite, et procul hinc miseri, proculite profani. Vos
autem qui divina amatis, quiquere rerum arcanarum estis
percupidi, et circa abditioris philosophiae symbola, ac mirabilium
Dei operum reconditas vires, plenissimaque mysteriorum antiqui
seculi traditiones curiosi estis exploratores, vos inquam adeste
foeliciter, divinaque Pymandri mysteria attento animo audite.
Conabor quippe vobis cum Trismegisto scientiae decorem
enunciare, ostendamque vobis quae ratio sit consequendi
intelligentiae lumen, sapientiaeque sermones auribus vestris
infundam, quod dum abs me agitur, vos quaeso attenti sitis, atque
sicut auribus ita et animis verba nostra excipite, nostrosque
labores silentio, animadvertentia, diligentia ac constantia vestra
remunerate.
 31

Therefore, you most fair and illustrious men, you who culti-
vate virtue, lend your ears to my words and apply your minds: on
the contrary, you who despise the holy laws, flee from here, and
far away, O wretches, away ye profane! But you who love the di-
vine, who are desirous of the secrets of things, and who are curious
explorers around the symbols of deeper philosophy, and the hid-
den powers of the wondrous works of God, and the most complete
traditions of the mysteries of the ancient world, you, I say, come
happily, and listen with attentive mind to the divine mysteries of
Pimander. For I will endeavor to explain to you the beauty of
knowledge with Trismegistus; I will show you what the reason is
for attaining the light of understanding; I will pour the words of
wisdom into your ears, which while it is being done by me, I ask
that you be attentive, and to receive our words with both ears and
minds, and reward our labors with your silence, attention, dili-
gence, and constancy.
32

PROTESTATIO

Verum quia circa divina saepe solet humana decipi consideratio,

et nos quidem non Dii sed homines sumus, nec humani quicquam
nobis abesse putamus, nullo pacto vos latere volo, palamque coram
te illustrissime Joannes Gonzaga coram vobis venerabilibus ac Deo
amabilibus cum scholae tum Ecclesiasticis Patribus, coram
omnibus vobis clarissimis auditoribus, coram serpentibus terrae,
volatilibus coeli, piscibus maris et universis pecoribus campi,
coram coelo terraque protestor, quod quaecunque abs me uspiam
dicta scriptave sunt, atque in posterum dicentur scribenturque, his
nolo quenquam plus assentiri, quod et ego ipse facio, quam ab
Ecclesia Catholica fideliumque choro, ac sacro episcoporum
collegio, ejusque capite summo Pontifice comprobatui: quibus
omnia dicta mea et dicenda, scripta ac scribenda subjicio, et
omnibus ejus negotii censendi et judicandi potestatem habentibus,
paratissimus semper ab illis et a quovis melius sentiente, fraterna
Christianaque charitate erudiri et corrigi, et stare cujuslibet melius
sentientis et intelligentis sententiae. Quae quemadmodum vobis
nunc dico, ita in omnibus lectionibus meis ac lectionum partibus,
lecturis, dictis, scriptis, dicendis ac scribendis quibusque meis,
repetita esse volo, atque ea sic coram Deo et omni creatura
protestor.
 33

TESTIMONY

But because human judgment is often deceived concerning divine

matters, and we are indeed not gods but men, nor do we think
anything human to be foreign to us, 36 I by no means wish to hide
anything from you. Publicly, before you, most illustrious John
Gonzaga, before you Fathers of both the school and the Church,
venerable and beloved by God, before all of you, most distin-
guished listeners, before the serpents of the earth, the birds of the
sky, the fish of the sea, and all the beasts of the field, before heaven
and earth, I testify that whatever has been said or written by me
anywhere, and whatever will be said or written in the future, I do
not wish anyone to assent to more than I do myself, except as ap-
proved by the Catholic Church and the assembly of the faithful,
and by the sacred college of bishops, and its supreme head, the
Pope. To these I submit all my words and writings, past and future,
and I am always most willing to be taught and corrected by them
or by anyone who has better judgment, in fraternal and Christian
love, and to abide by the judgment of anyone who thinks and un-
derstands better. Just as I say these things to you now, so I wish
them to be repeated in all my lectures and the parts of my lectures,
in whatever I have said, written, or will say or write. And this I
testify before God and every creature.

36
An allusion to Terence’s famous line 77 from the play The Self-Tor-
mentor, preserved in Cicero, De legibus, 1.33 and De officiis, 1.29-30:
“homo sum: humani nil a me alienum puto.”
34

CENSURA

Reliquum adhuc superest unum, quod silentio praeterundum

minime censeo. Idque diligenter quaeso advertite. [1082] Tria
potissimum in usu sunt penes scholasticos differendi genera:
Unum a Stoicis ac Peripateticis plurimum exercitatum, qui
videlicet proposita re vel quaestione aliqua, alterum aut certam
ejus partem disputando defendunt atque adprobant, reliquasque
circa hanc opiniones confutantes. Alterum apud Academicos ac
Socraticos usitatum, qui in medium adducta reliqua vel
quaestione, diversas ad id quod investigatur sententias
rationesque adferentes, illisque pluribus praepositis et ad rem
ipsam invicem collatis, quod ex his verisimilius probabiliusque
visum fuerit, id eligunt atque adfirmant: Hos utroque modos in
lectionibus nostris observare intendimus. Tertium vero differendi
genus Scepticorum est, quos penes nihil certum est quod
sequantur, sed omnia illis indifferentia sunt, ideoque de omnibus
in utranque partem disputant, et quae naturae ordine disjuncta
distinctaque sunt permiscent atque confundunt. Et perinde ac
gigantes montibus montes accumulantes, bellum contra Deos
gerere videntur, dum aliquot instructi syllogismis, homines rixosi
ac meretriculis loquatiores, incunctanter audent quavis de re cum
quovis linguam conferre: litigiosis enim quibusdam altercationum
capitiunculis ac sophismatum jaculis armari, omnium
disciplinarum etiam sacrarum literarum fores se posse diffringere
et penetrare arbitrantur:
 35

CRITIQUE

There remains one further matter, which I think should by no

means be passed over in silence. I ask you, therefore, to give me
your attention diligently. There are three kinds of disputation
chiefly in use among the scholastics: one kind, extensively prac-
ticed by the Stoics and Peripatetics, involves proposing a topic or
a certain quaestio, defending and approving one side or a particu-
lar aspect of it through disputation, while refuting the remaining
opinions on the subject. The other kind is customary among the
Academicians and Socratics, who, when a question or matter is
brought forward, present various opinions and reasons regarding
the issue under investigation, and after setting these out and com-
paring them with each other, choose and affirm what seems most
plausible and probable from among them. We intend to observe
both of these methods in our lectures. The third method of dispu-
tation, however, belongs to the Skeptics, who hold nothing as cer-
tain in what they follow, and everything is all the same to them.
Therefore, they argue on both sides of every issue, and they mix
up and confuse things which are distinct and separate by the order
of nature. And just as giants who stack mountains upon moun-
tains, they seem to wage war against the gods, while, equipped
with a few syllogisms, these quarrelsome men, more talkative than
harlots, unhesitatingly dare to argue with anyone about anything.
For armed with certain contentious quibbles and the darts of
sophisms, they think they can batter down and penetrate the doors
of all disciplines, and even Holy Scripture.
36

atque hi a quibusque consummatis Philosophis ac Theologis

aspernantur respuunturque.

Horum scientiam Jacobus Apostolus appellat terrenam,

animalem, diabolicam: Paulus segregatus gentium doctor in suis
ad Titum, Timotheum Epistolis, stultam et vanam inutiles et
contentiosam vocat. Super quo scribens Hieronymus: Dialectici,
inquit, solent argumentationibus retia obtendere et vagam
rethoricae libertatem syllogismorum spineta concludere, in ea
totos dies ac noctes conterentes, ut vel interrogent vel
respondeant, vel dent propositionem vel accipiant, assumant,
confirment atque concludant, quos quidem contentiosos vocat
Apostolus. Haec Hieronymus. Sed et multa contra eos loquuntur
Gregorius Nazianzenus in libro secundo de Theologia, et Urbanus
Papa scribens: Antiochenis, et beatus Athanasius in epistola quae
Encyclion dicitur ad Aegypti et Libyae Episcopos. Divus item
Ambrosius in libro de Trinitate, et multi alii sancti patres, quorum
verba brevitatis causa adducere obmitto. Ex quorum dictis
Gratianus Decretista .XXX[VII].d Nonne [et] Legimus. Et XXIV.
quaest. II. cap. Transferunt contra hos argumentatores constituit.
[1083] Sed et leges civiles codicis de summa Trinitate lege III,
frenum illis injiciunt.
 37

Such people are despised and rejected by all accomplished philos-

ophers and theologians.

The apostle James calls the knowledge of such people earthly,

sensual, and diabolical. 37 Paul, the appointed teacher of the Gen-
tiles, in his letters to Titus and Timothy, calls it foolish, vain, use-
less, and contentious. 38 Writing on this, Jerome says: “The dialec-
ticians are accustomed to set snares with arguments and to confine
the free spirit of rhetoric within thickets of syllogisms, spending
entire days and nights either asking questions or answering them,
whether putting forward propositions or listening to them, assum-
ing, confirming, and drawing conclusions; these are indeed the
contentious ones that the Apostle speaks of.” 39 So says Jerome. But
Gregory Nazianzus, in his second book On Theology, and Pope
Urban, writing to the Antiochians, and blessed Athanasius in an
encyclical letter to the bishops of Egypt and Libya, also speak
much against them. St. Ambrose, too, in his book On the Trinity,
and many other holy Fathers, whose words I omit for the sake of
brevity, have spoken against them. From their words, Gratian, the
author of the Decretum, issues decrees against these arguers in part
1, decree 3[7], c. “Nonne” [and] “Legimus,” and in part 2, c. 24, q.
2, c. “Transferunt.” But the civil code also puts restraints on them
in the third law on the most Holy Trinity.

37
James 3:15.
38
Titus 3:9 and Timothy 2:16, 23.
39
Jerome, On Titus, 3.9.
38

Quemadmodum itaque argumentatores isti a quibusque

splendidissimis philosophis, sanctissimis theologis ac celeberrimis
utriusque iurisperitisis repelluntur, sic etiam illos a nostris
lectionibus quam longe abesse volumus: nullius equidem vel
argumenta vel quaestiones in cathedra recipere intendimus.

Verum, ne doctorum virorum judicium vereri videar, neque

etiam discipulorum meorum ingenio, contra id quod pollicitus
sum: non velle satisfacere videar, atque ne quis aestimet nos
responsionis penuria declinare certamen, iccirco cuicunque vel
circa autoris verba, vel circa testimonia per nos adducta vel aliter
recitata seu exposita quippiam exigere vel contradicere libuerit,
huic in fine lectionis verbo vel scripto id agere licebit; cui ad
singula verba et sententias in subsequenti lectione abunde
respondentes satisfaciemus. Quod si incommodum id erit, scripta
scriptis referemus. Fecerunt sic veteres theologi, ex Graecis
Origenes, Basilius, Athanasius, Cyrillus, Didymus, Eusebius,
Chrysostomus, Nazianzenus: ex Latinis Tertullianus, Ruffinus,
Hieronymus, Augustinus, et illorum plures aliis qui quidem sancti
viri nihil magis odere unquam quam verbosam illam
contentionem, in qua plus stomacho quam ratione certatur, plus
ad vanam linguae ac memoriae gloriam, quam ad pervestigandam
veritatem: neque vere aliud moliuntur disceptatores isti, quam ut
Pharisaica hypocrisi circum veniant hominem, donec capiant in
verbo. Quod si quis ante istos verbo non labatur, hunc, juxta
sententiam Jacobi Apostoli, oportebit esse perfectissimum.
 39

Consequently, just as these arguers are repelled by every one

of the most illustrious philosophers, the most blessed theologians,
and the most celebrated experts in both civil and canon law, so too
do we wish them to keep far away from our lectures. Indeed, we
do not intend to admit the arguments or questions of any such
person into our lecture hall. 40

However, lest I appear to disregard the judgment of learned

men, or seem unwilling to satisfy the curiosity of my students
against what I have promised, or lest anyone think that we are
avoiding debate due to an inability to answer, I therefore allow an-
yone who wishes to question or contradict anything – whether re-
garding the words of the author, the testimonies we have brought
forth, or those otherwise cited or explained – to do so at the end
of the lecture, either verbally or in writing. We will then fully ad-
dress and satisfy these queries in the following lecture, responding
satisfactorily to every word and opinion. If that proves inconven-
ient, we will respond to writings with writings. The ancient theo-
logians did this, such as Origen, Basil, Athanasius, Cyril, Didymus,
Eusebius, Chrysostom, and Nazianzus among the Greeks, and
Tertullian, Rufinus, Jerome, Augustine, and many others among
the Latins. For these holy men loathed nothing more than that ver-
bose contention in which there is more anger than reason, more
pursuit of the vain glory of speech and memory than of the truth.
For indeed, these disputers aim at nothing other than to ensnare
man with Pharisaic hypocrisy until they catch him in his words.
Hence, if someone does not falter in their words before them, that
man, according to the apostle James, must be perfect.

40
See Van Der Poel, Cornelius Agrippa: The Humanist Theologian and
his Declamations, p. 65-72 for a discussion of this passage. These last
two sentences have been amended in accordance with his n. 20 on p. 66.
40

De triplici ratione cognoscendi Deum

Si genus inquiras verum mortale potentem

Nosse Deum, cuius diceris effigies,

Hoc lege quod mira struxit Cornelius arte,

Cuius et ingenium nobile cudit opus.

Te prius ut noscas, prudens hortatur, et addit

Noscere tu possis qua ratione Deum.

Illustrissimo excellentissimoque sacri Romani imperii principi ac

vicario, Guilelmo Palaeologo, Marchioni Montisferrati, domino
suo beneficentissimo, Henricus Cornelius Agrippa beatitudinem
perpetuam exoptat.
 41

On the Threefold Way of Knowing God

(1515-1516)

If thou, mortal race, wouldst seek the truth,

To know the mighty God, of whom thou art said to be an image,

Read what Cornelius constructed with wondrous skill,

And whose noble work his genius forged.

Wisely he urges thee first to know thyself,

And adds by what means thou canst also know God.

To the most illustrious and excellent prince of the Holy Roman

Empire and vicar, William Palaeologus, Marquis of Montferrat,
his most beneficent lord, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa wishes
perpetual blessedness. 41

41
Perrone Compagni, Ermetismo e Cristianesimo, p. 5 aptly sets the stage
for this text as follows [translated from the Italian]: “After the defeat of
the Swiss troops at Marignano (September 13-14, 1515), which had
opened the way to Milan for Francis I, Cornelius Agrippa, tied to the
imperial party, was forced to abandon his position at the University of
Pavia and leave the city. He found a place at the court of the Marquis of
Montferrat, William IX Palaeologus. To his new patron, Agrippa
promptly dedicated these two works, the dialogue De homine and De
triplici ratione cognoscendi Deum. Both writings were already in
circulation by 1516.” While this work was dedicated to William
Palaeologus in 1516, Perrone Compagni speculates that it was likely
composed in large part at an earlier date, and was not published until
1529 in a refined and expanded form.
42

CAPUT I

Aeternitatis Dominus universorum principium, medium et finis

et renovatio, fons pietatis et origo justitiae, pater et bonum, ipse
omnipotens Deus, bonissima (ut ita loquar) sua voluntate propter
infinitam gloriam suam creavit omnia bona, ut omnia eum
glorificent, et sancte incorrupteque agant quae ad illius honorem
pertinent, statuitque omnibus praescriptum certis limitibus finem,
pulchrumque ordinem, quem transgredi prohibuit. Haec erat
voluntas Dei in creatis, creavitque Deus angelos, coelum, stellas,
elementa, vegetabilia et animantia quadru[481]pedia, reptilia,
aquatica, simul atque volantia, et horum omnium principem et
finem,
 43

CHAPTER I

The Lord of Eternity, the beginning, middle, end and renewal of

all things, the source of piety and origin of justice, the Father and
the Good, the Almighty God, by His most excellent will (if I may
say so), created all good things for the sake of His infinite glory, so
that all might glorify Him, and do in a holy and incorrupt manner
the things that pertain to His honor. 42 He established for all things
a prescribed end within certain limits and a beautiful order, which
He forbade them to transgress. 43 This was the will of God in crea-
tion. He created the angels, the heavens, the stars, the elements,
plants, and living creatures – quadrupeds, reptiles, fish, and birds 44
– and the prince and culmination of all these, man, He

42
The work begins with an impressive flourish of rhetoric, filled with
references and allusions to a wide range of Hermetic texts. For “The Lord
of Eternity,” see Asclepius 10 (Copenhaver, Hermetica, p. 72); for “the
beginning, middle, end and renewal of all things,” cf. Corpus Hermeticum
3.1 (Copenhaver, Hermetica, p. 13) and Asclepius 30 (Copenhaver,
Hermetica, p. 85); for the “origin of justice,” see Augustine, Confessiones,
4.3.4; for “the Father and the Good,” see Corpus Hermeticum 10.1-2
(Copenhaver, Hermetica, p. 30).
43
Cf. Job 14:5.
44
Corpus Hermeticum 3.3 (Copenhaver, Hermetica, p. 13): “Through his
own power, each god sent forth what was assigned to him. And the beasts
came to be – four-footed, crawling, water-dwelling, winged – and every
germinating seed and grass and every flowering plant…”
44

hominem ad imaginem suam, eique tanquam filio congratulatus

est.

Tunc in primis angelica natura non contenta sublimitate sua,

ambitiose appetens altiora, ex oppositio se locans contra Deum
dixit: In caelum ascendam, super astra Dei exaltabo solium meum,
sedebo in monte testamenti, in lateribus aquilonis; ascendam
super altitudinem nubium et similis ero altissimo. Hujus
ambitionis princeps fuit Satan, hic primus transgressor voluntatis
divinae, ob tantam superbiam et injustitiam e coelo pulsus, et
deiectus est in hanc vallem contagiosam, ubi ex hinc misere degit
cum odioso suo exercitu, omnibus infensus, suamque ipsius
iustitiam in creatura Dei propagare non cessat, in tanta superbia
pertinaciter subsistens, neque vult proprium peccatum agnoscere,
sed Deum ipsum non cessat assidue de peccato suo criminari.
Hinc Graece diabolus nuncupatur, hoc est, criminator. Ab hoc
incoepit omnis injustitia, iniquitas, malitia, mors, deformitas, et ex
eo procedit omne malum, et nihil nisi malum.

Homo autem, creatus in terra et positus in paradyso ut

divinae obsequeretur voluntati, ex quo sapientia simul et vita
perpetua donatus erat, petitus a diabolo infesta tentatione, quem
auscultans, similiter divinae voluntatis transgressor effectus est.
 45

created in His own image. 45 Then He rejoiced over him as a father

rejoices over his son. 46

But at first, the angelic nature, not content with its own ex-
alted status and ambitiously desiring greater heights, opposed it-
self to God and said: “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my
throne above the stars of God; I will sit on the mount of the cove-
nant, on the sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of
the clouds; I will be like the Most High.” 47 The leader of this am-
bition was Satan, the first transgressor of divine will. On account
of such pride and injustice, he was cast out of heaven and thrown
down into this corrupt valley, where he now dwells wretchedly
with his hateful army, hostile to all, and he does not cease to spread
his own justice within God’s creation. Persisting obstinately in
such great pride, he refuses to acknowledge his own sin, but in-
stead, never ceases to accuse God Himself of his own sin. Hence,
he is called diabolus in Greek, that is, “the accuser.” From him
originated all injustice, iniquity, malice, death, deformity, and
from him proceeds every evil, and nothing but evil.

But man, created on earth and placed in paradise that he

should obey the divine will – from which he was endowed with
both wisdom and eternal life – was assailed by the devil’s harmful
temptation, and by listening to him,

45
Genesis 1:27.
46
Corpus Hermeticum 1.12 (Copenhaver, Hermetica, p. 3): “Mind, the
father of all, who is life and light, gave birth to a man like himself whom
he loved as his own child.”
47
Isaiah 14:13-14.
46

Quare etiam ipse pulsus ex hoc delitiarum horto in hanc vallem

miseriae, ignorantiae, mortique factus est obnoxius, omni hora
moriens, et negligens, cumque neglecta Dei notitia, apertus est
fons peccatorum, profluxerunt scelera, elapsi sunt socii
tenebrarum, homoque, Deum ignorans, a Deo ignoratus est.
Deique notitiam relinquens, a Deo relictus est (ut ait Apostolus
Paulus) in propria desideria, in passiones ignominiae, et in
reprobum sensum, corruptusque et abominabilis factus est in
omnibus studiis suis.

Vides modo quoniam ignorantia Dei omnium malorum fons

est, et origo omnium peccatorum, et scelerum radix, ac lignum
interitus, summaque impietas et iniustitia, per quam omnia vitia
convalescunt et augentur. Haec animam ipsam pervertit,
corrumpit naturam, subvertit hominem, ipsumque
ignominiosissimis peccatis implicat,
 47

likewise became a transgressor of the divine will. Therefore, he too

was driven from this garden of delights into this valley of misery,
made subject to ignorance and death, dying every hour, and be-
coming neglectful; and with the knowledge of God neglected, a
wellspring of sins was opened up, crimes flowed forth, the com-
panions of darkness fell away, and man, ignorant of God, was ig-
nored by God. 48 Abandoning the knowledge of God, he was aban-
doned by God (as the Apostle Paul says) to his own desires, to de-
grading passions, and to a reprobate mind, and he became corrupt
and abominable in all his pursuits. 49

You see now how ignorance of God is the source of all evils,
the origin of all sins, the root of wicked deeds, the tree of destruc-
tion, and the height of impiety and injustice, through which all
vices gain strength and increase. This ignorance of God perverts
the soul itself, corrupts nature, subverts man, and entangles him
in the

48
Genesis 3:9-24; Lazzarelli, Crater Hermetis, 14.2 (Hanegraaff and
Bouthoorn, Lodovico Lazzarelli, p. 209): “For as long as the pure rays of
wisdom shine into the soul, by which we perceive God and His powers,
no messenger of lies will enter the understanding, but all such will be
forced out towards the place of purgation. But when through the increas-
ing distance from the essential One the dim light of our mind is made
weaker, the companions of darkness seize the opportunity and couple
with the effeminate and broken passions, that Moses calls the daughters
of men.”
49
Romans 1:24-28.
48

corpus ipsum in omnem deformitatem naturaeque contumeliam

demergit, in quibus et anima simul madens suffocatur,
transformanturque homines in naturam ferarum, moresque
beluarum, pejora quoque quam bruta saepe patiuntur. Unde
praecipitantur in turpes sensuum illecebras, in lethiferas
peccatorum sordes, corruunt in omne flagitium, et in naturae
per[482]versionem, subiiciunturque cupiditatum imperio, ad
quarum expletionem (ut inquit Hermes) ardenti quodam impetu
perferuntur, rituque ferarum immoderato et irascuntur et
cupiunt, quodque deterius est, nec finem imponunt libidini ullum,
nec malorum inveniunt passionumque terminum, quae omnia
Paulus in epistola ad Romanos clare edocet: hinc immundi
spiritus, ultores scelerum, in tam nefariam labuntur animam,
eamque flagellis verberant peccatorum, et violenta poena ad
omnia peccatorum genera trahunt, raptant, compellunt ad neces,
ad rapinas, ad libidines, et ad cuncta per quae delinquunt homines,
vulnerantque eam insanabilibus vitiis, quae eisdem vitiata
tanquam venenis infecta tumescit. Quod dolens Hermes
 49

most shameful sins; it sinks the body into every deformity and af-
front to nature, in which the soul, drunk, is simultaneously suffo-
cated, and men are transformed into the nature of wild animals
and the manners of beasts, and often suffer worse than brutes.
Hence they are driven to the vile allurements of the senses, fall into
the deadly filth of sins, and plunge into all manner of disgrace and
into the perversion of nature, becoming subject to the rule of their
desires, towards the fulfillment of which (as Hermes says) they are
carried with a certain burning impulse, and in the manner of wild
beasts, they both rage and desire immoderately, and what is worse,
they neither set any limit to their lust nor find any end to their evils
and passions. 50 Paul clearly teaches all this in his Epistle to the Ro-
mans: hence unclean spirits, avengers of wicked deeds, slip into
such a nefarious soul, scourging it with the whips of sins, and drag-
ging it with violent punishment to all kinds of sins. They force,
compel, and drive it to murder, rapine, lust, and all things by
which men transgress. They wound it with incurable vices, by
which, being corrupted, it swells as if infected by poisons. Lament-
ing this, Hermes

50
Asclepius 7 (Copenhaver, Hermetica, p. 70): “Not all have gained true
understanding, Asclepius. They are deceived, pursuing, on rash impulse
and without due consideration of reason, an image that begets malice in
their minds and transforms the best of living things into a beastly nature
with brutal habits.”
50

exclamat: Fit deorum ab hominibus dolenda secessio. Soli

nocentes remanent angeli, qui humanitati commixti, ad omnia
audaciae mala miseros manu injecta compellunt, in bella, in
rapinas, in fraudes, et in omnia quae sunt animarum naturae
contraria. Et alibi inquit: Permittitur daemonis ultoris arbitrio,
qui, ignis acumen incutiens, sensus affligit magisque ad patranda
scelera armat, ut turpioris culpae reus, acriori supplicio sit
obnoxius, eumque sine ulla intermissione ad insanabiles
concupiscentias inflammat. Vides modo quod qui Deum ignorant,
a Deo ignorantur, et qui Dei notitiam relinquunt, a Deo
relinquuntur.
 51

exclaims: “a lamentable departure of the gods from men ensues.

Only harmful angels remain, who, having mingled with humanity,
take possession of the wretches and impel them to all ills of reck-
lessness – into war, into plunder, into deceit, and into all things
that are contrary to the nature of souls.” 51 Elsewhere he says: “it is
permitted to the avenging demon to act at will, who, inflicting the
sharpness of fire, torments the senses and more fully arms them to
commit crimes, so that being guilty of baser faults, they are subject
to harsher punishments, inflaming them without any respite to in-
curable desires.” 52 You see now how those who are ignorant of
God are ignored by God, and those who abandon the knowledge
of God are abandoned by God.

51
Asclepius 25 (Copenhaver, Hermetica, p. 82): “How mournful when the
gods withdraw from mankind! Only the baleful angels remain to mingle
with humans, seizing the wretches and driving them to every outrageous
crime – war, looting, trickery and all that is contrary to the nature of
souls.”
52
Corpus Hermeticum 1.23 (Copenhaver, Hermetica, p. 5): “But from
these I remain distant – the thoughtless and evil and wicked and envious
and greedy and violent and irreverent – giving way to the avenging de-
mon who [wounds the evil person], assailing him sensibly with the pierc-
ing fire and thus arming him the better for lawless deeds so that greater
vengeance may befall him. Such a person does not cease longing after
insatiable appetites, struggling in the darkness without satisfaction.
[This] tortures him and makes the fire grow upon him all the more.”
52

CAPUT II

Omnium itaque rerum cognoscere et amare principium ipsum

omnium creatorem Deum, haec summa pietas, haec summa
justitia, haec summa sapientia, summaque hominis felicitas est.
Clamat ad nos Deus de coelo, de monte sancto suo:
Contemplamini creaturas, audite angelos, auscultate filium
meum, ut pii et justi sitis. Ecce, hi sunt tres libri cognitionis Dei,
quos misit Deus in hunc mundum hominibus.

Primum librum creaturarum praepositum gentibus, qui sub

lege naturae vivebant, qui habuerunt philosophos doctos per
sensibiles creaturas, cognoveruntque Deum per illas,
quemadmodum inquit Paulus: Invisibilia Dei per ea quae facta
sunt intellecta conspiciuntur.

Secundo misit Deus librum legis et eloquiorum, quem dedit

Judaei, annuncians verbum suum Jacob, justitias et judicia sua
populo Israël. Non fecit taliter omni nationi, et judicia sua non
manifestavit eis: Ipsi enim supra philosophos habebant prophetas
edoctos per spirituales et an[483]gelicas creaturas, et cognoverunt
Deum per illas. Unde ait illis Stephanus protomartyr:
 53

CHAPTER II

Therefore, to know and love God Himself, the beginning of all

things, the Creator of all, this is the highest piety, this the highest
justice, this the highest wisdom, and the highest happiness of man.
God cries out to us from heaven, from His holy mountain: “con-
template creation, listen to the angels, heed my Son, so that you
may be pious and just.” Behold, these are the three books of the
knowledge of God, which God has sent into this world for men.

The first book, the book of creation, was presented to the na-
tions who lived under the law of nature, who had philosophers
learned in sensible creatures, and knew God through them, just as
Paul says: “The invisible things of God are understood and seen
through the things that are made.” 53

Secondly, God sent the book of the law and decrees, which
He gave to the Jews, announcing His word to Jacob, and His stat-
utes and judgments to the people of Israel. He has not done so with
any other nation, and His judgments He has not revealed to them;
for they had the prophets, learned beyond philosophers, through
spiritual and angelic creatures, and they knew God through them.
Hence, Stephen the protomartyr said to them: “you

53
Romans 1:20.
54

Qui accepistis legem in dispositione angelorum. Et Dionysius ait:

propheticam divinamque visionem gloriosos Hebraeorum vates
adeptos esse, per medias coelestes virtutes. Unde tradit universa
cabalistarum schola potiorem legis intentionem solum versari
circa angelicum chorum, sublimem vero et ineffabilem essentiae
trinitatem, adusque Messiae adventum incognitam fore.

Ultimo igitur misit nobis Deus tertium librum scilicet librum

Evangelii datum Christianis, qui cognovimus Deum per ipsum
Dei filium, patri coaeternum, factum hominem, Dominum
nostrum Jesum Christum. Unde inquit Paulus, novissime diebus
istis locutus est nobis Deus in Filio suo, quem constituit haeredem
universorum, per quem fecit omnia, habemusque doctores
Apostolos, doctos a filio Dei Jesu Christo.
 55

received the law as ordained by the angels.” 54 And Dionysius said:

“the glorious prophets of the Hebrews attained divine prophecy
and vision by means of heavenly powers.” 55 Hence, the entire
school of the Cabalists teaches that the higher intention of the Law
revolves solely around the angelic choir, but also that the sublime
and ineffable trinity of essence was to remain unknown until the
coming of the Messiah. 56

Finally, therefore, God sent us the third book, namely, the

book of the Gospel given to Christians, by which we know God
through the Son of God Himself, coeternal with the Father, made
man, our Lord Jesus Christ. Hence Paul says: “in these last days,
God has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all
things, through whom He made all things,” 57 and we have as
teachers the Apostles, who were taught by the Son of God, Jesus
Christ.

54
Acts 7:53.
55
Dionysius, De Coelesti Hierarchia, 4.3: “But our illustrious fathers were
initiated into these divine visions, through the mediation of the heavenly
powers.”
56
Riccio, Isagoge, 17r.
57
Hebrews 1:2.
56

CAPUT III

Nunc ergo singula pertractemus, et primo videamus quomodo

cognoscatur Deus per creaturas. Sed non intelligamus, hic ita nos
Deum cognoscere posse, ut qualis ipse sit in extrema ac solitaria
sui ipsius a rebus separatione, ac in seipsum retractatione, ac quae
sit ejus substantia in profundissimo suae divinitatis recessu
dignoscamus. Hoc enim impossibile est, et super omnem
intellectum incomprehensibile. Ideo ait Apostolus, Deum habitare
lucem inaccessibilem. Et Propheta inquit, Posuit tenebras
latibulum suum. Et Joannes ait, Deum nemo vidit, nec videre
potest. Et Dionysius dicit: Porro ipsa divina, cujusmodi in suo
principio suaque sede sint, nullus sensus attingit, nulla substantia,
nullaque scientia penetrat; denique sive supersubstantialie illud
occultum, sive Deum aut vitam, sive
 57

CHAPTER III

Now, therefore, let us examine each point in detail, and first let us
consider how God is known through creation. But let us not un-
derstand this to mean that we can know God in such a way that
we can discern what He is like in His ultimate and solitary separa-
tion from things, in His withdrawal into Himself, and what His
substance is in the deepest recesses of His divinity. This indeed is
impossible and incomprehensible beyond all understanding. 58
Therefore, the Apostle says that God dwells in unapproachable
light. 59 And the Prophet [David] says: “He made darkness His hid-
ing place.” 60 And John says: “no one has seen God, nor can any-
one.” And Dionysius states: “moreover, the divine itself, in its own
principle and its own seat, is beyond the reach of any sense, any
substance, or any knowledge. Finally, whether we call it that super-
substantial hiddenness, or God, or life, or

58
Lazzarelli, Crater Hermetis, 19.3 (Hanegraaff and Bouthoorn, Lodovico
Lazzarelli, p. 224-225): “So I do not say here that we should be able to
know God in His transcendent being, in His all-encompassing enclosure
of Himself within Himself, or as He is in the extreme and solitary
retractedness of the profoundest depth and darkness of His divine being
[cf. Dionysius, De Mystica Theologia, 1.997A], or that we could know
what is His essence: that is exceedingly difficult, indeed impossible, for
the human intellect cannot reach that high.”
59
I Timothy 6:16.
60
Psalm 18:11 (Vulg. 17:12).
58

substantiam, sive lucem seu Verbum appellemus, nihil

intelligimus aliud quam ex eo emanantes in nos participationes
atque virtutes, quibus assumamur in Deum et quae nobis vel
substantiam vel vitam vel sapientiam largiuntur. Cognoscimus
itaque Deum per participationes quasdam ab eo emanantes in ea
quae creata sunt, quas non intelligentes per quandam, ut ita dicam,
reflexionem Deum cognoscimus; vel ut inquit Hermes: Contingit
nobis hominibus, ut quasi per caliginem ea quae in coelo sunt
videamus, quantum possibile est per conditionem sensus humani.
Haec autem intentio pervidendi tantis bonis [484] angustissima
est, latissima vero cum viderit felicitate conscientiae.

Itaque in creaturis propter participationem quandam Dei,

Deus ipse suspicari et perscrutari potest: Deus enim per singula
creata ubique splendet. Et omnibus se libenter ostendit (ut inquit
Mercurius) non ubi sit loco,
 59

substance, or light, or word, we understand nothing other than the

participations and qualities that emanate from it into us, which
draw us towards God and grant us either substance, or life, or wis-
dom.” 61 Thus, we know God through certain participations that
emanate from Him into created things, which, though we do not
fully comprehend them, we recognize God through a kind of re-
flection, so to speak. Or, as Hermes says: “it happens for us men
that we see the things that are in heaven as though through a fog,
to the extent that it is possible through the condition of human
sense. Our focus for perceiving such good things, however, is quite
limited, but once it has perceived them, it becomes boundless by
the felicity of its knowledge.” 62

Thus, in creatures, God Himself can be apprehended and in-

vestigated, due to a certain participation in God: for God shines
forth everywhere through each created thing. 63 And He willingly
shows Himself to all (as Mercurius says), “not in terms of where
He is located,

61
Dionysius, De Divinis Nominibus, 2.8.645A.
62
Asclepius 32 (Copenhaver, Hermetica, p. 87): “And thus it comes about
that we humans see the things that are in heaven as if through a mist, to
the extent that we can, given the condition of human consciousness.
When it comes to seeing great things, our concentration is quite con-
fined, but once it has seen, the happiness of our awareness is vast.”
63
Corpus Hermeticum 5.2 (Copenhaver, Hermetica, p. 18): “For the lord,
who is ungrudging, is seen through the entire cosmos.”
60

nec qualis sit qualitate, nec quantus quantitate, sed hominem sola
intelligentia mentis illuminans. Et alibi inquit: Deus omnia ob eam
causam fabricavit, ut eum per singula cerneres. Haec Dei bonitas,
haec ejus virtus est, illum fulgere per omnia. Nihil est vel in
incorporeis etiam invisibile. Mens ipsa intellectione videtur; Deus
autem in oratione conspicitur. Unde alibi inquit Mercurius:
Denique cum Deum videre volueris, suscipe Solem, fili, respice
Lunae cursus, suscipe syderum motus reliquorum. Quis
perpetuum horum servat ordinem? Quis mensuram singulis
motionis assignat? Quis trahit mundi machinam? Quis hoc utitur
instrumento? Quis mare suis finibus circumscripsit? Quis terrae
pondus sisit ac librat in medio?
 61

nor in terms of what kind He is in quality, nor how great He is in

quantity, but by illuminating man through the intelligence of the
mind alone.” 64 And elsewhere he says: “God made all things for
this reason, that you might see Him through every being. This is
the goodness of God, this is His power, that He shines through all
things. Nothing is unseen, even among incorporeal beings. Mind
itself is seen in [the act of] understanding, but God is seen in [the
act of] praying.” 65 Hence Mercurius says elsewhere: “finally, when
you wish to see God, look upon the Sun, my son, consider the
course of the Moon, observe the movements of the other stars.
Who maintains the perpetual order of these things? Who assigns
to each its measure of movement? Who drives the machine of the
world? Who uses this instrument? Who circumscribed the sea
with its limits? Who set the weight of earth and balances it in the
middle?

64
Asclepius 29 (Copenhaver, Hermetica, p. 84): “For the father and
master of all, who alone is all, shows himself freely to all – not where as
in a place nor how as through some quality nor how much as in a quantity
but by illuminating people with the understanding that comes only
through mind.”
65
Corpus Hermeticum 11.22 (Copenhaver, Hermetica, p. 42): “This is the
goodness of god, this is his excellence: that he is visible through all things.
For nothing is unseen, not even among the incorporeals. Mind is seen in
the act of understanding, god in the act of making.” Note that Perrone
Compagni, Ermetismo e Cristianesimo, p. 108 correctly has “Deus autem
in operatione conspicitur” [God is seen in the act of making] not
“oratione” [in the act of praying].
62

Certe est aliquis horum author et Dominus. Unde etiam Dionysius

ait: Forte id veraciter dicemus, nos Deum non ex ipsius natura
cognoscere, id quippe ignotum omnemque superat rationem ac
sensum, sed ex creaturarum omnium ordinatissima dispositione,
ab ipso producta, ut imagines quasdam ac similitudines
divinorum ipsius exemplarium prae se ferente, ad id quod omnia
transcendit via et ordine pro viribus scandimus.

Eo usque ascenderunt philosophi gentium ex sola

apprehensione creaturarum, hoc est intelligentia sua cuncta
complexi quae creata sunt in terra, in aquis, in elementis, in coelo,
et quae praeter ea super coelum sunt.
 63

Surely there is someone who is their author and Lord.” 66 Hence,

Dionysius also says: “perhaps we might truthfully say that we do
not know God by His nature, for that is unknown and surpasses
all reason and sense, but by the most orderly arrangement of all
created things produced by Him, which, bearing the images and
likenesses of His divine exemplars, we gradually ascend, according
to our strengths, to that which transcends all.” 67

The philosophers of the nations have ascended thus far by the

mere apprehension of creatures, that is, by their intelligence com-
prehending all things that are created on earth, in the waters, in
the elements, in the heavens, and those things which are beyond
the heavens. 68

66
Corpus Hermeticum 5.3-4 (Copenhaver, Hermetica, p. 18-19): “If you
want to see god, consider the sun, consider the circuit of the moon,
consider the order of the stars. Who keeps this order? [...] Who
determined the direction and the size of the circuit for each of them?
Who owns this instrument, this [guardian of the] bear, the one that turns
around itself and carries the whole cosmos with it? Who set limits to the
sea? Who settled the earth in place? There is someone, Tat, who is maker
and master of all this.”
67
Dionysius, De Divinis Nominibus, 7.3.869C-872A. Note that this whole
paragraph draws closely and extensively from Lodovico Lazzarelli,
Crater Hermetis, 9.4 (Hanegraaff and Bouthoorn, Lodovico Lazzarelli, p.
193).
68
Corpus Hermeticum 4.5 (Copenhaver, Hermetica, p. 16): “But those
who participate in the gift that comes from god, O Tat, are immortal
rather than mortal if one compares their deeds, for in a mind of their own
they have comprehended all – things on earth, things in heaven and even
what lies beyond heaven.”
64

Tandem pervenerunt ad primum motorem, et rerum omnium

principium, intellectuque viderunt Deum omnipotentem, unum,
aeternum, Creatorem omnium, ac summum bonum, sempiternam
quoque ejus virtutem, et divinitatem, bonitatem, sapientiam,
veritatem, justitiam, pulchritudinem, etc., quae vocat Paulus
invisibilia Dei. Viderunt enim Deum in coelo et in terra, in igne,
in aqua, in Spiritu, in animalibus, in arboribus, in omni corpore, et
in omnibus creaturis, quemadmodum canit Lucanus:

Iupiter est quodcunque vides, quodcunque movetur.

Virgilius quoque inter pecora cecinit:

Iovis omnia plena.

Hinc Hermes ait: Homo effectus est divinorum operum

contemplator; quae profecto, dum admiraretur,
 65

At last they came to the prime mover and the principle of all
things, and with their intellect, they perceived God Almighty – the
one, eternal, Creator of all, and the highest good – along with His
eternal power and divinity, goodness, wisdom, truth, justice,
beauty, etc., which Paul calls “the invisible things of God.” 69 For
they saw God in heaven and on earth, in fire, in water, in the Spirit,
in animals, in trees, in every body, and in all creatures 70, just as
Lucan sings:

Jupiter is whatever you see, whatever moves. 71

Virgil also sang among the flocks:

All things are full of Jove. 72

Hence, Hermes says: “Man was made a contemplator of divine

works, which, so long as he gazed upon them with

69
Romans 1:20.
70
Corpus Hermeticum 13.11 (Copenhaver, Hermetica, p. 51): “Since god
has made me tranquil, father, I no longer picture things with the sight of
my eyes but with the mental energy that comes through the powers. I am
in heaven, in earth, in water, in air; I am in animals and in plants; in the
womb, before the womb, after the womb; everywhere.”
71
Note that Agrippa here has quodcunque movetur (lit. “whatever is
moved”), but Lucan, De bello civili, 9.578 has quodcunque moveris
(“wherever you move”). Cf. Pico della Mirandola, Heptaplus, 7.Proem
where both these lines of Lucan and Virgil’s poetry first appeared to-
gether.
72
Virgil, Eclogae, 3.
66

autorem illorum [485] cognovit. Facile enim et complete (prout

humana sustinet promptitudo) Deum noscit qui mente facile
singula ejus opera cernit. Omnis itaque homo potest Deum
cognoscere, si velit.

Propterea inexcusabilis est homo ignorans Deum, et omnis

qui, animam suam in corpus demergens, Deum se posse
cognoscere diffidit. Sed absit haec impietas, recurre in te ipsum,
emergas ex corpore, nihil supponas in te impossibile, confidas et
intelliges, velis et consequeris. Sic denique Deum cognosces, si
non diffidas
 67

wonder, he assuredly recognized their author.” 73 For indeed, any-

one who easily perceives each of His works with a ready mind
knows God easily and completely (as far as human alacrity al-
lows). 74 Therefore, every man can know God, if they will it.

Hence, the man who is ignorant of God is inexcusable, and

anyone who, drowning their soul in the body, doubts that they can
know God. 75 But let this impiety be far from us – return into your-
self, emerge from the body, suppose nothing impossible within
you, have confidence, and you will understand; will it and you will
attain it. 76 Thus, you will know God if you do not doubt

73
Corpus Hermeticum 4.2 (Copenhaver, Hermetica, p. 15): “The man
became a spectator of god’s work. He looked at it in astonishment and
recognized its maker.”
74
Cf. Riccio, Isagoge, 5r.
75
Romans 1:20; Corpus Hermeticum 11.21 (Copenhaver, Hermetica, p.
42): “But if you shut your soul up in the body and abase it and say, ‘I
understand nothing, I can do nothing; I fear the sea, I cannot go up to
heaven; I do not know what I was, I do not know what I will be,’ then
what have you to do with god? While you are evil and a lover of the body,
you can understand none of the things that are beautiful and good.”
76
Corpus Hermeticum 13.7 (Copenhaver, Hermetica, p. 50): “May it not
be so, my child. Draw it to you, and it will come. Wish it, and it happens.”
Corpus Hermeticum 11.20 (Copenhaver, Hermetica, p. 41): “Make
yourself grow to immeasurable immensity, outleap all body, outstrip all
time, become eternity and you will understand god. Having conceived
that nothing is impossible to you, consider yourself immortal and able to
understand everything, all art, all learning, the temper of every living
thing. Go higher than every height and lower than every depth. Collect
in yourself all the sensations of what has been made, of fire and water,
dry and wet; be everywhere at once, on land, in the sea, in heaven; be not
yet born, be in the womb, be young, old, dead, beyond death. And when
68

de te ipso. Humanus enim animus (ut ait Hermes) omnia capit,

omnia penetrat, elementis velocitate miscetur, acumine mentis in
maris profunditatem descendit, omnia illi lucent, non coelum
videtur altissimum, quasi enim ex proximo sagacitate omni
intuetur. Intentionem animi ejus nulla aeris caligo confundit; non
densitas terrae operam ejus impedit; non aquae altitudo profunda
despectum ejus obtundit. Et alibi: Praecipito (inquit) animae tuae,
quae citius quam praecipies, evolabit. Jubeto ut transeat in
oceanum, illa priusquam jusseris, ibi erit, inde ubi nunc est,
nequaquam discedens. Jubeto iterum ut in coelum volet, nullis
pennis egebit, nihil ejus obstabit

you have understood all these at once – times, places, things, qualities,
quantities – then you can understand god.”
 69

yourself. 77 For the human mind, as Hermes says, comprehends all

things, penetrates all things, “mingles with the elements by its
swiftness, plumbs the depths of the sea with its sharpness of mind;
all things are illuminated 78 for it, heaven does not seem exceed-
ingly high, for with all sagacity it perceives everything as if it were
near. No fog of air clouds the focus of [man’s] mind; no density of
earth impedes its work; no profound depth of water dulls its
gaze.” 79 And elsewhere he says: “command your soul, which will
take flight more quickly than you can command it. Order it to
cross the ocean, and before you give the order, it will be there,
never departing from where it is now. Command it again to fly to
the heavens, and it will not lack wings; nothing will obstruct its

77
Corpus Hermeticum 11.21 (Copenhaver, Hermetica, p. 42): “To be
ignorant of the divine is the ultimate vice, but to be able to know, to will
and to hope is the [straight and] easy way leading to the good.” Cf.
Lazzarelli, Crater Hermetis, 21.4 (Hanegraaff and Bouthoorn, Lodovico
Lazzarelli, p. 231).
78
Note that the correct Latin for Asclepius 6 according to Matteo Stefani’s
2019 critical edition is omnia illi licent (“To him [i.e., man] all things are
permitted”) rather than Agrippa’s omnia illi lucent (“All things are
illuminated for it”) which can be found in some manuscripts.
79
Asclepius 6 (Copenhaver, Hermetica, 70): “He cultivates the earth; he
swiftly mixes into the elements; he plumbs the depths of the sea in the
keenness of his mind. Everything is permitted him: heaven itself seems
not too high, for he measures it in his clever thinking as if it were nearby.
No misty air dims the concentration of his thought; no thick earth
obstructs his work; no abysmal deep of water blocks his lofty view. He is
everything, and he is everywhere.”
70

cursui, non Solis incendium, non aetheris amplitudo, non vertigo

coelorum, non syderum reliquorum corpora, quin omnia
penetrans ad supremum usque corpus transcendat. Quin etiam si
volueris globos omnes transcendere coelorum, quodque superius
est investigare, id quoque tibi licebit. Adverte modo quanta sit
animae potestas, quanta virtus, quanta celeritas.

Propterea inexcusabilis est homo ignorans Deum. Magis

autem ille qui cognoscens Deum quoquo modo, eundem non colit
neque veneratur. Haec enim odiosissima est et inexcusabilis
impietas, quam Paulus improperans gentibus ait ita: ut sint
inexcusabiles; quia cum cognovissent Deum, non sicut Deum
glorificaverunt, aut gratias egerunt. Philosophi namque gentium,
cognoscentes
 71

course, neither the burning of the Sun, nor the vastness of the ae-
ther, nor the whirling of the heavens, nor of the bodies of the other
stars, but penetrating all things, it will transcend even the highest
body. But if you wish to transcend all the spheres of the heavens
and investigate what is above them, this too will be permitted to
you.” 80 Consider now how great the soul’s power is, how great its
virtue, how great its swiftness.

Therefore, the man who is ignorant of God is inexcusable.

But more so is the one who, in any way knowing God, does not
worship or venerate Him. 81 For this is the most hateful and inex-
cusable impiety, which Paul, reproaching the nations, expresses
thus: “so that they are without excuse; because, when they knew
God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were they thankful.” 82
For the philosophers of the nations, knowledgeable in

80
Corpus Hermeticum 11.19 (Copenhaver, Hermetica, p. 41): “Command
your soul to travel to India, and it will be there faster than your com-
mand. Command it to cross over to the ocean, and again it will quickly
be there, not as having passed from place to place but simply as being
there. Command it even to fly up to heaven, and it will not lack wings.
Nothing will hinder it, not the fire of the sun, nor the aether, nor the swirl
nor the bodies of the other stars. Cutting through them all, it will fly to
the utmost body. But if you wish to break through the universe itself and
look upon the things outside (if, indeed, there is anything outside the
cosmos), it is within your power.”
81
Cf. Ficino, De Christiana religione, 4 (Attrell, Bartlett, and Porreca,
Marsilio Ficino: On the Christian Religion, p. 53-54).
82
Romans 1:20-21.
72

varias disciplinas, arithmeticam, musicam, geometriam,

astronomiam, physicam, metaphysicam, dialecticam, et caeteras,
cognoveruntque scientia sua unum solum ac verum Deum. Sed
impii et ingrati de tanto beneficio, a pura sanctaque cognitione
aversi, falsam quandam ejus imaginem temeraria cognitione, nulla
vera ratione inspecta, sequentes ipsum non ut unum solum ac
verum Deum coluerunt, nec gratias illi, quod illos divinitatis suae
agnoscendae illustravit lumine, reddiderunt. Quare omnes illi
impietatis injustitiaeque et ingratitudinis condemnabuntur, juxta
verba Pauli dicentis: Revelatur [486] enim ira Dei de coelo super
omnem impietatem et injustitiam hominum.

Impietas namque peccatum est erga Deum, injustitia erga

homines: extrema autem impietas est non cognoscere Deum. Ex
impietate intemperantia, et haec injustitiae fundamentum.
Intemperantiam vero dicimus depravationem voluntatis ex sopore
rationis ortam, affectu sensuali nimium dominante, ubi
 73

various disciplines – arithmetic, music, geometry, astronomy,

physics, metaphysics, dialectic, etc. – came to know, with their sci-
ence, the one sole and true God. 83 Yet, being impious and ungrate-
ful for such a great benefit, they turned away from pure and holy
knowledge. 84 Following a false image of Him with reckless under-
standing, having examined no true reason, they did not worship
Him as the one sole and true God, nor did they give thanks to Him
for having enlightened them with the light of recognizing His di-
vinity. Therefore, all those philosophers will be condemned for
their impiety, injustice, and ingratitude, according to the words of
Paul, who says: “for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven
against all impiety and injustice of men.” 85

For impiety is a sin against God, and injustice is a sin against

men; but the greatest impiety is not knowing God. From impiety
comes intemperance, and this is the foundation of injustice. In-
deed, we say intemperance is the corruption of the will arising
from the sleep of reason, with excessive sensual desire dominating,
where,

83
Asclepius 12-13 (Copenhaver, Hermetica, p. 74): “What is it that the
many do to make philosophy incomprehensible? How do they obscure it
in the multiplicity of their reasoning?” “In this way, Asclepius: by com-
bining it through ingenious argument with various branches of study
that are not comprehensible – arithmētikē and music and geometry.”
84
Asclepius 14 (Copenhaver, Hermetica, p. 74): “the people who will
come after us, deceived by the ingenuity of sophists, will be estranged
from the true, pure and holy philosophy.”
85
Romans 1:18.
74

videlicet sopita ratione, ad imperium sensuum omnia aguntur.

Unde haec sterilis anima dicitur, nullum fructum bonum
producens in tempore suo, et haec est animae summa impietas,
sterilem esse, de qua ait Mercurius: Impietas accidit illi, qui absque
filiis e vita discedit, qua de causa daemonibus post obitum dat
poenas. Sed frustra cognoscimus Deum, nisi illum rite colamus, et
legitime cum hominibus vivamus. Unde inquit Hermes: Certamen
religiosae pietatis est recognoscere Deum, injuriam inferre
nemini: quod etiam praecipit Christus, dicens:
 75

with reason being put to sleep, everything is done under the com-
mand of the senses. 86 Hence, this soul is called barren, bearing no
good fruit in its time, and this is the greatest impiety of the soul:
to be barren. 87 Concerning this, Mercurius says: “Impiety befalls
the one who departs from life without children, for which reason
he suffers punishment from demons after death.” 88 But it is in vain
to know God unless we worship Him properly and live with men
justly. Therefore, Hermes says: “The struggle of religious piety is
to know God and harm no one,” 89 which Christ also commands,
saying:

86
Ficino, Theologia Platonica, 18.10.6 (Allen and Hankins, Platonic
Theology, p. 186-189): “The intemperate man is the one in whom the
reason has been lulled to sleep or depraved by the dominance of excessive
passions, and where all things are given over to the sway of the phantasy,
and where the reason does not oppose desire.”
87
Cf. Matthew 7:16-20, Mark 11:12-14, and Luke 13:6-9.
88
Corpus Hermeticum 2.17 (Copenhaver, Hermetica, p. 12): “Prudent
people… regard the making of children as a duty in life to be taken most
seriously and greatly revered, and should any human being pass away
childless, they see it as the worst misfortune and irreverence. After death
such a person suffers retribution from demons. This is his punishment:
the soul of the childless one is sentenced to a body that has neither a
man’s nature nor a woman’s – a thing accursed under the sun. Most
assuredly then, Asclepius, you should never congratulate a childless
person. On the contrary, show pity for his calamity, knowing what
punishment awaits him.”
89
Corpus Hermeticum 2.18 (Copenhaver, Hermetica, p. 34): “Knowing
the divine and doing wrong to no person is the fight of reverence.”
76

Dilige Dominum Deum tuum, proximum tuum sicut te ipsum.

Haec duo praecepta ad salutem necessaria sunt, suntque fons
omnis boni: horum primum pietatis, alterum justitiae est. E
contrario impietas et injustitia omnium malorum radix sunt, super
quae revelatur ira Dei de coelo super illos, qui veritatem Dei in illis
polluunt, violantque, et hi sunt qui Deum in cognitione non
amant, et in scientia sua non frutificant, qui in sapientia sua non
religiosi sunt, et in prudentia sua non prosunt hominibus.

Sed nunc consequentur de secundaria cognitione Dei, quae

est per librum legis, dicamus.
 77

“love the Lord your God, and your neighbor as yourself.” 90 These
two commandments are necessary for salvation and are the source
of all good: of these the first is piety, the second, justice. Con-
versely, impiety and injustice are the root of all evils, upon which
the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against those who pol-
lute and violate the truth of God within themselves. 91 These are
the ones who do not love God in their minds and do not bear fruit
in their knowledge, who are not religious in their wisdom, and
who do not benefit mankind in their prudence.

But now, let us speak about the second kind of knowledge of

God, which is through the book of the law.

90
Luke 10:27; cf. Deuteronomy 6:5 and 10:12; Matthew 19:19; Romans
13:9.
91
Romans 1:18.
78

CAPUT IV

Secundus liber datus est Judaeis, liber legis, palam positus, et liber
eloquiorum solis sapientibus traditus. Ipsi enim primi fuerunt,
quibus cum multifariam Deus per angelos suos locutus est, et
quibus data fuerunt oracula et arcana Dei, sicut ait Psalmista: Non
fecit taliter omni nationi, et judicia sua non manifestavit illis.
Constat autem ex sententiis Hebraeorum magistrorum, etiam et
Christianorum doctorum, Moysen ipsum, magnum Hebraeorum
legislatorem, praeter legem illam quam Deus dedit illi in monte
Syna, quam ille quinque libris scriptam contentamque reliquit,
revelatam quoque fuisse eidem Moysi ab ipso Deo veram legis
expositionem, cum manifestatione omnium mysteriorum et
secretorum, quae sub cortice et rudi facie verborum legis
continentur. Unde legitur [487] Deus dixisse ad Esdram: Revelans
revelatus sum super rubum et locutus sum Moysi, quando populus
meus serviebat in Aegypto, et misi eum, et adduxi eum super
montem Syna, et detinebam eum apud me diebus multis, et narravi
illi mirabilia multa, et ostendi ei temporum secreta et finem, et
praecepi ei dicens: Haec in palam facies verba, et haec abscondes.
 79

CHAPTER IV

The second book was given to the Jews, the book of the law, openly
presented, and the book of the oracles, entrusted only to the wise.
For they were the first to whom God spoke in many ways through
His angels, and to whom the oracles and secrets of God were given,
as the Psalmist says: “He has not dealt so with any nation, and His
judgments He has not made known to them.” 92 It is well estab-
lished by the teachings of Hebrew masters, as well as by Christian
doctors, that Moses, the great lawgiver of the Hebrews, besides
that law which God gave him on Mount Sinai and which he left
written and contained in five books, was also revealed by God the
true interpretation of the law, with the manifestation of all the
mysteries and secrets that are contained beneath the outer shell
and rough surface of the law’s words. Hence, it is read that God
said to Ezra: “I revealed myself in the bush and spoke to Moses
when my people were serving in Egypt, and I sent him and
brought him to Mount Sinai, and I kept him with me for many
days, and I told him many wondrous things, and I showed him the
secrets of times and their end, and I commanded him, saying:
‘These words you shall make public, and these you shall hide.’” 93

92
Psalm 147:20 (Vulg. 147:9).
93
IV Ezra 14:3-6. This and the following paragraph draw extensively
from Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Apologia, 26v-27r, a work which the
young Prince of Concord had written in 1487 to defend the orthodoxy of
his 900 Conclusiones in the face of condemnations led by the Thomist
Dominican Bishop Pedro Garcia. In his Apologia, Pico relied on this pas-
sage in IV Ezra to legitimize his interest in Cabala in the eyes of the Cath-
olic Church. See also Copenhaver, Oration, p. 133-135.
80

Constat itaque Moysen in monte duplicem legem, videlicet,

literalem et spiritualem accepisse, et juxta praeceptum Dei
utramque populo Judaico communicasse, illam videlicet scriptam
vulgo palam statuisse, alteram vero solum septuaginta sapientibus
communicasse, nec scriptis, nec ut ipsi scriberent, sed viva voce,
et ut quisque eorum ordine perpetuo suis successoribus viva voce
revelarent. Propter quam vivae vocis successivam traditionem
dicta est scientia eloquiorum, quam Hebraei vocant Cabalam,
propter receptionem tanquam haereditario jure unius ab altero.
Cui sententiae correspondet etiam illud Hilarii in expositione
Psalmi Quare fremuerunt gentes, ubi dicit Hilarius fuisse a Moyse
institutum, in omni synagoga septuaginta esse seniores, quibus
Moyses, praeter legem quam literis condidisset, secretiora
mysteria intimavit. Et juxta hunc sensum exponit splendidissimus
theologus Origenes illud dictum Pauli: Quia credita sunt illis
eloquia Dei, scilicet praeter literalem legem Judaeis datam, etiam
aliam fuisse spiritualem, quam Paulus vocat eloquia Dei:
recentiores Hebraei Cabalam dicunt, quae omnium divinarum
humanarumque rerum cognitionem in allegorico sensu legis
Mosaicae comprehendit. Quod etiam Paulus confirmat, ubi dicit:
Judaeos habere
 81

It is therefore established that Moses received a twofold law

on the mountain, namely, the literal and the spiritual, and accord-
ing to the command of God, he communicated both to the Jewish
people. He set forth the literal law openly in writing to the com-
mon people, but the other, he communicated only to seventy wise
men, neither in writing nor so that they might write it down, but
orally, and so that each of them would reveal it to their successors
orally in perpetual succession. Because of this successive oral tra-
dition, this knowledge is called the science of the oracles, which
the Hebrews call Cabala, on account of the reception, as if by he-
reditary right, from one to another. This view is supported by Hil-
ary in his commentary on the Psalm “why do the nations rage?” 94
where Hilary says that it was instituted by Moses that in every syn-
agogue there should be seventy elders, to whom Moses, besides the
law that he had established in writing, revealed more secret mys-
teries. The illustrious theologian Origen, following this under-
standing, explains Paul’s statement that “the oracles of God were
entrusted to them,” 95 meaning that besides the literal law given to
the Jews, there was also another spiritual one, which Paul calls “the
oracles of God.” The more recent Hebrews call it Cabala, which
comprehends the knowledge of all divine and human things in the
allegorical sense of the Mosaic law. Paul also confirms this when
he says that the Jews have

94
Psalm 2:1.
95
Romans 3:2.
82

formam scientiae et veritatis in lege. Et Rabbi Moyses in secundo

tractatu Morae inquit, totam legis sollicitudinem in hoc consistere,
ut veridicas sententias de Deo angelicisque choris doceat, quibus
edocti homines etiam ipsum mundum in suo ordine cognoscant.

Principalis itaque eruditio Cabalae prophetica est et illorum

cognoscibilium, quae de Deo angelisque intelligi possunt. Hinc
multiformia tam Dei quam angelorum sacra nomina invocanda
edocet, variosque corporeos actus enumerat, quibus homines,
tanquam similes facti diis conformando se divinis per quosdam
gradus, ad aeterna patris lumina transcendunt, quibus repleti Dei
cognitionem ultra naturae morem assequuntur, magis enim
operantur invocata sacra nomina in mentem nostram illis rite
expositam, quam corpus quodvis accedens ad aliud corpus
operatur in illud, ceu ignis in stuppam. Habet praeterea lex
Hebraica etiam hoc divinitatis, ut praeter [488]
 83

“the form of knowledge and of truth in the law.” 96 And Rabbi Mo-
ses, in the second tractate of the Guide for the Perplexed, says that
the whole concern of the law consists in this: that it teaches true
doctrines about God and the angelic choirs, by which men, having
been instructed, may also come to know the world itself in its or-
der.

Therefore, the principal teaching of the Cabala is prophetic

and concerns those knowable things that can be understood about
God and the angels. Hence, it teaches the invocation of the multi-
form sacred names of both God and the angels and enumerates
the different corporeal actions by which men, becoming like gods
and conforming themselves to divine things through certain steps,
transcend to the eternal lights of the Father. Being filled with these
lights, they attain knowledge of God beyond the normal order of
nature. For the sacred names, when invoked correctly, influence
our minds more powerfully than any physical body acting upon
another body, like fire upon flax. 97 Furthermore, the Hebrew law
also possesses this divine quality, that besides

96
Romans 2:20.
97
This paragraph draws extensively from the converso Paolo Riccio, Isa-
goge, 5r-5v, 12v, 13r, 17v. According to Charles Nauert, Agrippa and the
Crisis of Renaissance Thought, p. 41: “[Paola Zambelli] suggests that
Agrippa must have known Paolo Ricci [1480-1541], the converted Jew
who was an important religious controversialist and translator of the
cabalistic Sha’are Orah and of a part of the Talmudic literature. But alt-
hough Agrippa certainly did know some of this Ricci’s translations, it is
not so certain that he knew the man himself. Ricci, a native of Germany,
had left Pavia by 1514 to settle in Augsburg; and by 1516 he was serving
as a physician to the Emperor Maximilian.”
84

Dei angelicaque nomina multiformia ibi latitantia, etiam ne

elementum ullum transeat sine prophetico aliquo mysterio,
quorum revolutione juxta regulas Cabalistarum saepe stupenda
panduntur oracula. Unde ait Rabi Moyses secundo Morae divina
nomina propheticaeque verba, transposito literarum ordine
aliisque insolitis signaculis, saepe grandia sapientiae divinae
oracula decernere. Quod etiam alter Moyses Gerundinus in
exordio Geneseos, et tota Cabalistarum Schola confirmat, majores
siquidem et propinquiores virtutes Dei sunt in divinis nominibus
propheticisque characteribus quam in quovis corpore mundi. Ideo
Dionysius nos illorum veneratione et contemplatione facilius ad
Deum Patrem ascendere, suique splendoris plus quam ex rerum
naturalium et creaturarum intuitu participes effici. Et nos de hac
materia late et profunde scripsimus in libro de occulta
philosophia, eo loco ubi de mysteriis et caeremoniis occultarum
operationum tractatur.
 85

the many hidden names of God and the angels that lie within it,
not even a single element passes without some prophetic mystery,
of which by revolution according to the rules of the Cabalists,
astounding oracles are often revealed. 98 Hence Rabbi Moses says
in the second book of the Guide for the Perplexed that divine
names and prophetic words, when the order of letters is trans-
posed or other unusual signs are used, often produce great oracles
of divine wisdom. This is also confirmed by the other Moses
[Nachmanides] of Girona at the beginning of his Genesis com-
mentary, as well as by the entire school of the Cabalists, who assert
that the powers of God are greater and more at hand in divine
names and prophetic characters than in any worldly body. There-
fore, Dionysius says that through the veneration and contempla-
tion of these, we ascend more easily to God the Father and partic-
ipate more fully in His splendor than we do through the contem-
plation of natural things and creatures. We ourselves have written
extensively and deeply on this subject in our book On Occult Phi-
losophy, in the section where we discuss the mysteries and cere-
monies of occult

98
Cf. Pico della Mirandola, Conclusiones, 28.33 (in Farmer, Syncretism
and the West, p. 358-359): “There are no letters in the whole Law which
in their forms, conjunctions, separations, crookedness, straightness, de-
fect, excess, smallness, largeness, crowning, closure, openness, and order,
do not reveal the secrets of the ten numerations” [i.e. sephirot]. For the
attribution of this passage to Menahem Recanati see Wirszubski, Pico
della Mirandola’s Encounter with Jewish Mysticism, p. 45.
86

Sed satis est hic nobis scire Judaeorum cognitionem de Deo multo
fuisse sublimiorem et perfectiorem per legem, quam gentium per
creaturas. Non tamen potuerunt nisi umbratilem quandam de Deo
cognitionem habere. Veram autem et perfectam Dei cognitionem
(ut tota Cabalistarum schola testatur) reservatam fuisse ad
adventum Messiae, qui tandem venit, Dominus noster Jesus
Christus, in quo perfecta sunt et perficiuntur omnia.

Sed redeamus ad Cabalam, quae est lex spiritualis, latens sub

verbis legis literalis, quae sola viva voce tradebatur ab uno ad
alterum. Haec lex spiritualis, post restitutionem Judaeorum a
Babylonica captivitate per Cyrum regem Persarum, et instaurato
templo sub Zorobabel per Esdram (qui tunc Judaicae ecclesiae
praefectus erat) in synodo convocatis sapientibus ut afferret
unusquisque in medium quae de legis mysteriis memoriter teneret,
adhibitis notariis, primum scriptis mandata est, et in septuaginta
volumina (tot enim in synodo illo erant sapientes) redacta est.
 87

operations. 99 But it is enough here for us to know that the

knowledge of God among the Jews was much higher and more
perfect through the law than among the pagans through creation.
Nevertheless, they could only have a shadowy knowledge of
God. 100 The true and perfect knowledge of God (as the entire
school of the Cabalists testifies) was reserved for the coming of the
Messiah, who came at last – our Lord Jesus Christ – in whom all
things are perfected and brought to completion.

But let us return to the Cabala, which is the spiritual law hid-
ing beneath the words of the literal law, and was transmitted orally
from one to another. This spiritual law, after the restoration of the
Jews from the Babylonian captivity by Cyrus, king of the Persians,
and the rebuilding of the temple under Zerubbabel 101 by Ezra (who
was then the head of the Jewish assembly), was first committed to
writing by wise men who were called together at a synod to bring
forth what each had memorized concerning the mysteries of the
law. Then, after the scribes were summoned, it was compiled into
seventy volumes (for there were seventy wise men at that

99
In Book III of the Three Books of Occult Philosophy, composed in 1510
though not published until 1533. Agrippa would greatly expand this
book, especially as his knowledge of Cabala grew greatly in the Italian
period.
100
Hebrews 10:1.
101
I.e. the Jewish governor of Judah for the Persian Empire who began to
rebuild the Temple of Solomon in the 6th century.
88

De quibus ita loquitur Esdras: Exactis quadraginta diebus,

loquutus est altissimus dicens: Priora quae scripsisti in palam
pone, legant digni et indigni; novissimos autem septuaginta libros
conservabis, ut tradas eos sapientibus de populo, quorum corda
scis posse capere et servare secreta haec: in his enim est vena
intellectus, sapientiae fons, et scientiae flumen. Continet enim lex
ipsa ineffabilem de supersubstantiali deitate theologiam, de
intelligibilibus angelicisque formis exactam metaphysicam, de
mundo corporeo rebusque naturalibus firmissimam
philosophiam. Atque hinc venit in usum, ut apud [489]
recentiores Hebraeos etiam quaeque occultior et abditior, vel quae
circa mirabilium effectuum secretas operationes versatur scientia,
Cabala nuncupetur. Unde factum est ut etiam illi, qui secreto
quodam foedere, pacto, et conventione cum daemonibus inita,
stupenda facta jactitabant, quo improbitatem sui execrandi
artificii superstitionisque tegerent, honestiori nomine Cabalistas
sese vocitarunt. Hinc tandem Cabalae sanctum nomen in
suspicionem venit, quemadmodum et sacrum magiae nomen,
utrumque suspectum est, utrumque prophanatum est, juxta vetus
proverbium, quo dicitur: sacra
 89

synod). 102 Concerning these, Ezra speaks thus: “after forty days
were completed, the Most High spoke, saying: ‘publish openly the
first things that you wrote down, so that the worthy and the un-
worthy may read them; but these last seventy books you shall keep
and deliver only to the wise among the people, whose hearts you
know are capable of comprehending and preserving these secrets:
for in these books is the vein of understanding, the fountain of
wisdom, and the river of knowledge.” 103 Indeed, the Law itself con-
tains an ineffable theology concerning the supersubstantial deity,
the precise metaphysics concerning intelligible and angelic forms,
and the most solid philosophy concerning the corporeal world and
natural things. And hence it has come into use, that among the
later Hebrews, even the more occult and hidden knowledge, or
that which deals with the secret operations of miraculous effects,
is called Cabala. Hence it has come about that even those who
boasted of astonishing deeds through a certain secret covenant,
pact, and agreement made with demons began to call themselves
Cabalists under a more respectable name in order to conceal the
wickedness of their execrable art and superstition. Thus, the holy
name of Cabala came into suspicion, just as also happened to the
sacred name of magic, both of which have become suspect, both
of which have been profaned, according to the old proverb: “sa-
cred

102
This whole paragraph draws closely from Pico della Mirandola’s
Oratio (Copenhaver, Oration, p. 133-135).
103
IV Ezra 12:38.
90

prophanantur quoniam a prophanis usurpantur.

Habebant itaque Judaei legem scriptam ad vulgus publicatam;

habebant etiam eloquia Dei, scilicet altissimae divinitatis arcana
mysteria, sub cortice verborum scriptae legis latitantia, solis
sapientibus tradita, quae non licuit in vulgus prodere. Mysteria
enim tanta divinitate plenissima stultae plebi communicare quid
aliud esset, quam sanctum dare canibus, quod etiam Christus ipse
in Evangelio suo vetuit.

Qui promissus per legem et desideratus in lege, tandem

opportuno tempore venit adimpletor et perfector legis,
quemadmodum ipse inquit: non enim veni solvere legem, sed
adimplere. Erat enim tota lex in tres partes divisa: vel erant
umbratiles figurae futurae lucis, vel sermones prophetici futurae
veritatis, vel praecepta vivendi futurae perfectionis. Quod si solum
literalem sensum legis apprehendas,
 91

things are profaned when appropriated by the profane.” 104

The Jews, therefore, had a written law made public to the

common people; they also had the utterances of God, namely, the
mysteries of the highest divinity, hidden beneath the outer shell of
the words of the written law, which were entrusted only to the wise
and were not permitted to be revealed to the common people. 105
For to communicate to the foolish masses such mysteries filled to
the brim with divinity would be nothing other than to give what is
holy to dogs, which even Christ Himself forbade in His Gospel. 106

He who was promised by the law and desired in the law, fi-
nally came at the appointed time as the fulfiller and perfecter of
the law, as He Himself said: “I have not come to abolish the law,
but to fulfill it.” 107 For the entire law was divided into three parts:
either they were shadowy figures of the future light, or prophetic
words of future truth, or commandments of living for future per-
fection. But if you grasp only the literal sense of the law,

104
Cf. Matthew 7:6.
105
Pico della Mirandola, Oratio (Copenhaver, Oration, p. 131).
106
Matthew 7:6-7; Asclepius 1: Tractatum autem tota numinis maiestate
plenissimum irreligiose mentis est multorum conscientie publicare (“For it
is the sign of an irreligious mind to divulge to the knowledge of the
masses a discussion filled to the brim with the whole majesty of the divine
presence”; cf. Copenhaver, Hermetica, p. 67).
107
Matthew 5:18.
92

absque spiritu futurae lucis, veritatis, et perfectionis, nihil erit lege

magis ridiculum, et anilis fabulae, milesiique sermonis magis
simillimum. Porro venit Christus sol justitiae, vera lux, clarissima
veritas, vera vitae perfectio omnibus hominibus, qui credunt in
nomine ejus. Ipse adimplevit legem, ut ammodo non sit opus lege,
nec ammodo cognoscimus Deum in caligine creaturarum, neque
in umbra legis Judaicae, sed in lumine fidei Jesu Christi, qui est
vera cognitio, sapientia Patris, intellectus hominis, in quo, ut
inquit Paulus, recapitulantur omnia, et quae in coelis, et quae in
terris sunt.

Ideo nunc consequenter dicamus de ultima et perfecta Dei

cognitione, quae est per Evangelium Christi Jesu Domini nostri.
 93

without the spirit of the future light, truth, and perfection, nothing
will be more ridiculous than the law, and more like an old wives’
tale or Milesian fable. 108 However, Christ came as the sun of jus-
tice, the true light, the clearest truth, the true perfection of life for
all men who believe in His name. 109 He fulfilled the law so that
from now on there is no longer a need for the law, nor do we now
know God in the gloom of creatures, nor in the shadow of the Jew-
ish law, but in the light of faith in Jesus Christ, who is true
knowledge, the wisdom of the Father, and the understanding of
man, in whom, as Paul says, all things are recapitulated, both those
in heaven and those on earth. 110

Therefore, let us now speak consequently of the ultimate and

perfect knowledge of God, which is through the Gospel of our
Lord Jesus Christ.

108
Pico della Mirandola, Heptaplus, 7.Proem (Wallis, Miller, Carmichael,
On the Dignity of Man; On Being and the One; Heptaplus, p. 147);
Apuleius, Metamorphoses, 1.1.
109
John 1:13.
110
Ephesians 1:10.
94

CAPUT V

Omne studium amorque sapientiae ex Spiritu sancto est per

Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum. Ipsa vera sapientia Dei
cognitio est, illustratio mentis, voluntatis correctio, appetitioque
rectae rationis, quaedam vitae certa lex, sanctificans [490] animam
hominis, Deo disponens viam, quid agendum, quid omittendum
demonstrans; quam nos sapientiam alio vocabulo theologiam
vocamus. Haec sapientia veraque Dei cognitio, imo contactus
quidam Dei essentialis melior quam cognitio, traditur divinitus in
Evangelio. Neque enim Deus ipse sine Evangelio vere cognoscitur,
neque Evangelium absque divina gratia vere intelligitur.
Manifestum enim est, ea quae ex Deo tradita sunt non nisi ex Deo
intelligi posse, sicut ait Propheta: In lumine tuo videbimus lumen:
quam lucem Trismegistus Mercurius mentem vocat divinae
essentiae, lucem ipsam exorientem Deo.

Intellectus tamen noster, nisi per mentem illuminetur

divinam, ab errore non est immunis et frustra laborat in
 95

CHAPTER V

All study and love of wisdom come from the Holy Spirit through
our Lord Jesus Christ. True wisdom is knowledge of God, the en-
lightenment of the mind, the correction of the will, and the desire
for right reason. It is a certain law of life, sanctifying the soul of
man, directing the way to God, showing what should and what
should not be done. This wisdom, which we also call by another
name, theology, is true knowledge of God, or rather, a sort of es-
sential contact with God that is better than knowledge. This wis-
dom is divinely imparted in the Gospel. Indeed, God cannot truly
be known without the Gospel, nor can the Gospel be truly under-
stood without divine grace. For it is evident that the teachings of
God can only be understood through God, as the Prophet says: “in
your light, we see light.” 111 Hermes Trismegistus calls this light ‘the
mind of the divine essence,’ the very light that arises from God. 112

However, our intellect, unless it is illuminated by the divine

mind, is not immune from error and labors in vain concerning

111
Psalm 36:9 (Vulg. 35:10)
112
Corpus Hermeticum 1.6 (Copenhaver, Hermetica, p. 2): “‘I am the light
you saw, mind, your god,’ [Poimandres] said, who existed before the wa-
tery nature that appeared out of darkness. The lightgiving word who
comes from mind is the son of god’”). Cf. Lazzarelli, Crater Hermetis, 5.2
(Hanegraaff and Bouthoorn, Lodovico Lazzarelli, p. 175-177).
96

divinis. Unde Paulus ait: Non sumus sufficientes aliquid cogitare

ex nobis, sed sufficientia nostra ex Deo est, quem invocandum, ad
quem orandum in omni rerum principio, maxime tamen in
theologia, id fore agendum sacer praecipit Dionysius. Dixit etiam
ipsa veritas Christus: Petite et dabitur vobis, pulsate et aperietur
vobis, quaerite et invenietis, videlicet quaerendo in fide, firmiter
credendo: credere enim (ut ait Hermes) ipsum intelligere est.
Petendo denique in spe cum firma et indubia expectatione,
laudando et adorando Jesum Christum, a quo tam divinissima
cognitio in animam nostram descendit, ut nos spiritus sui illustret
lumine. Pulsantes autem operatione charitatis cum vigiliis et
jejuniis, et ardenti desiderio in omni vita cum imitatione Jesu
Christi, quemadmodum inquit Joannes: qui dicit se manere in
Christo debet,
 97

divine matters. 113 Hence Paul says: “we are not sufficient to think
anything of ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God,” 114 whom
we must invoke and pray to at the beginning of all things, but es-
pecially in theology, as the holy Dionysius commands. 115 Christ
Himself, who is the Truth, also said: “ask, and it will be given to
you; knock, and it will be opened to you; seek, and you will find,” 116
that is, by seeking in faith and firmly believing – “for to believe,”
as Hermes says, “is to understand” 117 – and finally, by asking with
hope, with firm and unwavering expectation, praising and adoring
Jesus Christ, from whom such divine knowledge descends into our
soul, that He might illuminate us with the light of His spirit. We
knock, however, by the work of charity with vigils and fasts, and
by a burning desire throughout life, in imitation of Jesus Christ.
As John says: “he who says he abides in Christ ought himself also

113
Reuchlin, De verbo mirifico, 1: Intellectus nisi per mentem illuminetur,
ab errore non est immunis. [“The intellect, unless it is illuminated by
mind, is not free from error.”]
114
II Corinthians 3:5.
115
Lazzarelli, Crater Hermetis, 5.2 (Hanegraaff and Bouthoorn, Lodovico
Lazzarelli, p. 175-177); Dionysius, De Divinis Nominibus, 3.1.680D.
116
Matthew 7:7 and Luke 11:9.
117
Corpus Hermeticum 9.10 (Copenhaver, Hermetica, p. 29): “To under-
stand is to believe, and not to believe is not to understand.”
98

sicut ille ambulavit, et ipse ambulare. Quam Paulus vocat fidem,

quae per dilectionem operatur.

Idcirco frustra currunt, quicunque litigiosis quibusque

disputationibus divina prosequuntur et sophismatum muniti
ambagibus ac dialecticis praestigiis sacrarum litterarum fores se
diffringere posse putant. Semper quaerunt magna disputantes,
nihil tamen inveniunt, quia semet ipsos amittunt (ut ait Paulus)
semper discentes et nunquam ad scientiam veritatis pervenientes.
Hinc idem Paulus praecipit Corinthiis, ut obediant et firmiter
perstent in fide, et caveant ne decipiantur per dialecticam et
philosophiam, quae sunt inanes fallaciae, et inventa hominum, et
secundum elementa hujus mundi corruptibilis: cujus cognitio
omnis est a sensibus, ex quibus ratio omnem suam capit
cognitionis materiam discurrendo, componendo, dividendo et
colligendo universales propositiones ex experimentis. Deus autem
et Jesus Christus
 99

to walk just as He walked.” 118 Paul calls this “the faith that works
through love.” 119

And so they run around in vain, those who pursue the divine
through contentious disputes and think they can force open the
doors of sacred scripture, armed with the intricacies of sophisms
and the tricks of dialectics. 120 They are always seeking, disputing
over great matters, but find nothing, for they lose themselves, as
Paul says, “always learning and never able to come to the
knowledge of the truth.” 121 Hence, Paul likewise orders the Corin-
thians to obey and firmly stand in faith, and to beware lest they be
deceived by dialectic and philosophy, which are empty deceits, in-
ventions of men, and in accord with the elements of this corrupti-
ble world. 122 All knowledge of this world comes from the senses,
from which reason derives all its material for knowledge by rea-
soning, combining, dividing, and drawing universal propositions
from experiences. But God and Jesus Christ

118
I John 2:6.
119
Galatians 5:6.
120
Cf. Lazzarelli, Crater Hermetis, 11.4 (Hanegraaff and Bouthoorn, Lod-
ovico Lazzarelli, p. 199): “So she who is said to be calling out in front of
her house wants to be reputed wise even though she knows nothing at
all, because she is striving after the wisdom of the flesh. Therefore she
cries out in public and holds disputations in the squares, armed with
tricky sophisms; but he who speaks as a sophist is hateful, and will be
thwarted in all things. He does not receive God’s grace, for he is bereaved
of all wisdom, as we read in Ecclesiasticus.”
121
II Timothy 3:7.
122
I Corinthians 16:13; Colossians 2:8.
100

supra mundum est, et creator mundi super omnes [491] naturas,

qualitates, figuras, numeros, ordines, actiones, atque (ut ait
Dionysius) supra omnem sermonem, positionem, ablationem,
super omnem affirmationem et negationem, supra etiam illos
supramundanos angelos et pennas ventorum, qui ascendit super
Cherubim, et posuit nubem latibulum suum, qui est Rex regum, et
Dominus dominantium, tum eorum quae sunt, tum eorum quae
non sunt, qui inclinavit coelos, et descendit sicut pluvia in vellus,
et in se assumpsit naturam humanam, et in ea inter homines factus
est mirificus et admirabilis in omnibus operibus suis potentia sua
supernaturali et divina.

Ad illum igitur vere cognoscendum dialectica et philosophia

nequeunt ascendere, impeditae ratione, quae est inimica sanctae
fidei. Unde ait Gregorius Nazianzenus libro secundo de
 101

are above the world and are the Creator of the world, “above all
natures, qualities, figures, numbers, orders, actions,” and, as Dio-
nysius says, “above all speech, position, negation, and affirma-
tion,” 123 even above those supermundane angels and the “wings of
the winds,” 124 who “rises above the Cherubim” and “has made the
cloud His hiding place,” 125 who is the “King of kings and Lord of
lords,” 126 both of what exists and what does not exist, who “bowed
the heavens” 127 and “came down like rain upon the fleece,” 128 and
took upon Himself human nature and, in it, was made wondrous
and admirable in all His works among men by His supernatural
and divine power.

Therefore, dialectic and philosophy are not able to ascend to

the true knowledge of God because they are hindered by reason,
which is an enemy of holy faith. Hence, Gregory Nazianzus says
in his second book On

123
Lazzarelli, Crater Hermetis, 20.1 (Hanegraaff and Bouthoorn, Lodo-
vico Lazzarelli, p. 227): “As God is an incomprehensible intellect that is
beyond anything, as Dionysius says in his Mystical Theology [De Mystica
Theologia, 2.1000B and 5.1048B], inexpressible beyond any speech, be-
yond any determination or exclusion, affirmation or negation, we should
firmly believe and simply profess that God is One in His Trinity and
Three in His Unity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”
124
Psalm 104:3 (Vulg. 103:3).
125
Psalm 18:11-12 (Vulg. 17:11-12).
126
I Timothy 6:15.
127
Psalm 18:9 (Vulg. 17:10).
128
Psalm 72:6 (Vulg. 71:6).
102

theologia: Quid enim tum suspicaberis divinum esse, si omnino

logicis credis speculationibus? Aut ad quid te ratio inducet
violenta sive examinata, tu qui gloriaris circa immensa? Fides ergo,
omni cognitione praestantior, quatenus non inanibus
commentationibus, sed divinae revelationi tota innititur, a primo
lumine immediate descendens, sola potest ea quae supra mundum
sunt apprehendere. Ipsa enim mundi exordium intelligit (ut ait
Paulus: Fide intelligimus aptata esse secula verbo Dei) et supra
statutae naturae limites ascendit, spaciaturque in illo latissimo
campo, in ipso autore naturae. In hac fide Paulus dicit se accepisse
apostolatum et praedicare Deum. Et scribens ad Corinthios ait:
Praedicatio mea non est in persuasionibus humanae sapientiae,
sed in ostensionibus spiritus et veritatis fidei Jesu Christi. Sola
enim fides instrumentum est medium, qua sola possumus Deum
cognoscere, et ut ajunt Platonici, qua sola ad Deum accedimus,
divinamque nanciscimur protectionem ac virtutem.
 103

Theology: “what, then, will you suppose to be divine if you entirely

trust logical speculations? Or to what will impetuous or cautious
reasoning lead you – you who boast in immeasurable things?” 129
Faith, therefore, is superior to all knowledge, insofar as it relies not
on vain speculations but entirely on divine revelation, descending
immediately from the first light, and it alone is able to grasp the
things that are above the world. 130 For faith alone comprehends
the origin of the world (as Paul says: “by faith, we understand that
the ages were framed by the word of God” 131) and ascends beyond
the limits established by nature, wandering in that vast expanse, in
the author of nature Himself. In this faith, Paul says he received
his apostleship and preached God. 132 And writing to the Corinthi-
ans, he says: “my preaching is not in the persuasive arguments of
human wisdom, but in the demonstration of the spirit and truth”
of the faith of Jesus Christ. 133 For faith alone is the intermediate
instrument by which we can know God, and, as the Platonists say,
by which alone we approach God and obtain His divine protection
and power. 134

129
Gregory of Nazianzus, Oratio, 28.32C.
130
Here we see the kind of mystical skepticism Agrippa put on full display
in De incertitudine et vanitate scientiarum et artium already taking shape.
131
Hebrews 11:3.
132
Romans 1:5.
133
I Corinthians 2:4.
134
Ficino, De Christiana religione, 37 (Attrell, Bartlett, and Porreca,
Marsilio Ficino: On the Christian Religion, p. 219): “Faith, as Aristotle
posits, is the foundation of knowledge, and by faith alone, as the
Platonists prove, we draw nearer to God.”
104

Sed videamus quae anima, quando et quomodo potest libere

uti hoc instrumento. Certe nulla, nisi illa quae quando tota rationis
intentione ascendendo in mentem, caput suum supremam ejus
portionem, tota in eam convertitur: sicut quandoque ob
inferiorum et sensibilium rerum amorem tota vertitur in
phantasiam. Scimus utique humanam mentem superni vultus
imaginem nobisque inscriptum lumen existere, quae de veritatis
fonte migrans, sola veritatem capit et amplectitur: sed
phantasmatum turbines eam (non quidem in se, sed in nobis)
adeo obumbrant, distrahunt, dissipant, dispergunt, quo vix
veritatis angustissimam portam intrare valeat. Anima itaque
nostra, carne inclusa corruptibili nimioque ejus demersa
commercio, nisi viam carnis superaverit fueritque pristinam
naturam sortita evaserit[492]que mens pura, quasi par angelo,
frustra laborat in divinis.
 105

But let us see which soul, when and how it is able to use this
instrument freely. Certainly none, except that which, when as-
cending with complete focus of reason into the mind, turns its
head – its highest part – completely toward it: just as, at other
times, due to the love of lower and sensible things, it turns entirely
towards the phantasy. 135 We know, in any case, that the human
mind is the image of a higher countenance and a light inscribed
within us; it alone, flowing from the source of truth, grasps and
embraces the truth. But the whirlwinds of phantasms obscure, di-
vert, disorder, and disperse it – not in itself, but in us – such that
it scarcely manages to enter the narrowest gate of truth. 136 Thus,
our soul, enclosed in flesh subject to corruption and weighed
down by excessive commerce with it, labors fruitlessly in divine
matters unless it overcomes the way of the flesh, regains its origi-
nal nature, and returns to being a pure mind, almost identical to
an

135
Ficino, Theologia Platonica, 13.4 (Allen and Hankins, Platonic
Theology, p. 200-201): “To what is all this leading? That we might
understand that it is possible for man’s soul to be turned at times towards
mind, its head, by the total concentration of its reason, just as it is turned
at other times towards the phantasy, as we have already said, and towards
the reason.”
136
Riccio, Isagoge, 15v-16r: “I surely know that human reason has within
it the light of a higher countenance inscribed within us, which, flowing
from the source of truth, grasps and embraces the truth. But the
whirlwind of phantasms does not obscure this in itself, but rather in us,
distracting and scattering it so greatly that it scarcely manages to enter
the narrow gate of truth.”
106

Sed quae anima haec est, nisi quae indubia spe et superni numinis
desiderio phantasiam silere jubet, et quae veram fidem firmiter
amplexa, assuetis rationis naturalis discursibus ammodo non
confidit, et quae ardenti amore adhaerens Deo, sola vivit mente,
evasit angelus, capit toto pectore Deum? Unde illud Hieremiae: In
hoc glorietur, qui gloriatur, scire me.
 107

angel. 137 But what soul can this be except one that, hoping without
doubt and desiring the divine presence, commands the phantasy
to keep silent, firmly embraces true faith, no longer trusts in the
customary discursive process of natural reason, but, adhering to
God with a burning love, lives by mind alone, becomes an angel,
and grasps God with its whole heart? 138 Hence the words of Jere-
miah: “let him who boasts, boast in this, that he knows me.” 139

137
Cf. Asclepius 7 (Cf. Copenhaver, Hermetica, p. 70): “For man is the
only twofold animal: one part of him is simple, which is, as the Greeks
say, ousiōdēs, which we call ‘a form of divine similitude’; the other part,
however, is fourfold, which the Greeks call hylicos and we call ‘worldly’,
and from it the body is made and by it is covered that which in man we
have already said is divine, in which the divinity of a pure mind,
concealed alone with its kindred (that is, the senses of a pure mind), rests
with itself, as though enclosed within the wall of the body”; Plato,
Phaedrus, 62b: “Now the doctrine that is taught in secret about this
matter, that we men are in a kind of prison and must not set ourselves
free or run away, seems to me to be weighty and not easy to understand”;
Plato, Cratylus, 400c: “they think [the soul] has the body as an enclosure
to keep it safe, like a prison, and this is, as the name itself denotes, the
safe for the soul, until the penalty is paid”.
138
Ficino, Theologia Platonica, 13.4 (Allen and Hankins, Platonic
Theology, p. 200-201): “Which soul does this? It is the one which orders
the phantasy to be silent and which, burning with desire too for supernal
divinity, does not trust itself to the customary discursiveness of the
reason natural to it, but lives in the mind alone, issues as an angel, and
takes God into its whole heart.”
139
Jeremiah 9:23.
108

Hinc Zoroastes vetustissimus philosophus: anima (inquit)

hominis Deum quodammodo contrahit in se ipsam, quando nihil
retinens mortale, tota divinis haustibus inebriatur; et tunc quoque
talis anima saepe exultat in corporis harmoniam, quando scilicet
post contemplationem rediens ad corporalia officia, producit in
his fructus fidei, cibum justitiae. Ideo hujusmodi animam Joannes
ait nasci iterum ex Deo, siquidem Dei summi lumen –
quemadmodum radius Solis, corpus attenuans sursumque trahens
et in igneam convertens naturam – per mentes angelicas usque ad
animam nostram defluens, instigat quotidie animam carni
immersam, ut denudata ab omni carnalitate deponat omnes
potentias operationesque animales et rationales, ac sola mente
vivens, spe decora, fide directa, amore flagrans, tota ad Deum
conversa, et in Deo foecundata, Deo regenerante, fiat Dei filius
pariatque novum Immanuel.
 109

Hence Zoroaster, the most ancient philosopher, says: “the soul of

man, in a certain way, contains God within itself when, retaining
nothing mortal, it is entirely intoxicated with divine draughts”;
and “then also” such a soul often “exults in the harmony of the
body,” when, having returned from contemplation to bodily du-
ties, it produces in them the fruits of faith, the food of justice. 140
For this reason, John says that such a soul “is born again of
God,” 141 because the supreme light of God – just as a ray of the
sun, attenuating a body, draws it upward and transforms it into a
fiery nature – flows down through the angelic minds to our soul,
unceasingly urges the soul immersed in flesh to strip away all car-
nality, to lay aside all animal and rational powers and operations,
and, living by mind alone, adorned with hope, directed by faith,
inflamed by love, turned wholly toward God and made fruitful in
God, with God regenerating it, to become a child of God and to
bring forth a new Immanuel. 142

140
Ficino, Theologia Platonica, 13.4 (Allen and Hankins, Platonic
Theology, p. 200-201): “Zoroaster signifies this when he says: ‘In a way
the human soul contracts God into itself when, retaining nothing mortal,
it becomes utterly inebriated on the draughts divine. Then it exults too
in the body’s harmony.’”
141
John 3:3-5.
142
Ficino, Theologia Platonica, 13.4 (Allen and Hankins, Platonic
Theology, p. 200-201): “The theology of the divine John says that such a
soul is born again from God. For the influence of God on high, flowing
down through the angelic minds to man’s soul, daily moves the soul,
immersed as it is in the body, to cast off its fleshly clothing, to lay aside
its own soul-powers and activities, and instead of a soul to become an
angel. Similarly, the sun’s ray disperses the mists and draws them
upwards and converts them into the fiery nature. He who commits
himself entirely to this inspiration ceases to be a soul and becomes, being
110

Et talis anima, quoties dimissis actionibus in se ipsam

regreditur et ad aeternum Deum contemplandum se flectit, tunc
nullo amplius terrenorum impetu torpens, sed Patre luminum
fulta, ad sublimem divinae cognitionis ascendit apicem, ubi
propheticis oraculis continuo impletur, saepe etiam ad miracula
perpetranda Dei instrumentum elegitur. Cujus orationes etiam
circa publicas mundi ipsius mutationes non fiunt irritae,
quemadmodum Jacobus nos admonet, dicens: Helias homo erat
similis nobis, et passibilis, et orans oravit ut non plueret super
terram, et non pluit annos tres, menses sex; et rursum oravit, et
coelum dedit pluviam, et terra dedit fructum suum.

reborn from God, a son of God, an angel. Thus Plato in the Timaeus calls
theologians the sons of God”; Riccio, Isagoge, 4v: “For if you adorn with
such a conception the chaste and undefiled maiden who is with you, you
will indeed have in the womb and will give birth to a son, Immanuel.” Cf.
Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew 1:23.
 111

And such a soul, whenever it returns into itself, having with-

drawn from its actions, and turns itself to the contemplation of the
eternal God, no longer numbed by the desire of earthly things but
supported by the Father of lights, ascends to the lofty peak of di-
vine knowledge, where it is continuously filled with prophetic or-
acles and frequently chosen for the performance of miracles as an
instrument of God. 143 The prayers of such a soul are not in vain,
even when they concern the public vicissitudes of the world itself,
just as James reminds us, saying: “Elijah was a man like us, and
subject to the same passions, and he prayed earnestly that it might
not rain on the earth, and it did not rain for three years and six
months; and again he prayed, and heaven gave rain, and the earth
brought forth her fruit.” 144

143
Ficino, Theologia Platonica, 13.5 (Allen and Hankins, Platonic Theol-
ogy, p. 216-217): “But God has foreseen that such a soul is going to exist
and exist as such not only because of supernal aid but also because of its
own will, a will which acts freely precisely when, having set actions aside,
it turns to contemplating and loving itself and its origin”; Riccio, Isagoge,
16r; for the “Father of lights” see James 1:17.
144
Ficino, Theologia Platonica, 13.5 (Allen and Hankins, Platonic Theol-
ogy, p. 216-217): “God also selects such a soul to perform miracles. Even
when the prayers of this soul concern the public vicissitudes of the world,
they are not in vain it is asserted by Avicenna in his Metaphysics and by
Proclus and Iamblichus”; James 5:17-18.
112

O magnum miraculum homo, praecipue autem homo

Christianus, qui in mundo constitutus, ea quae supra mundum
sunt ipsiusque mundi autorem cognoscit, tum in eo ipso inferiora
quaeque cernit et intelligit: non solum ea quae sunt et quae
fuerunt, sed et illa quae non sunt et quae ventura sunt. Magnum
certe miraculum est homo Christianus, qui in mundo constitutus,
supra mundum dominatur operationesque similes effecit ipsi
Creatori mundi; quae opera vulgo miracula appellantur, quorum
omnium radix et fundamentum fides est in Jesum Christum.
 113

O a great miracle is man 145 – especially the Christian man –

who, being placed in the world, knows the things that are above
the world, and the author of the world itself, and in the same world
perceives and understands lower things: not only those that are
and those that have been, but also those that are not and those that
will come. 146 Indeed, a great miracle is the Christian man who,
having been placed in the world, rules over the world and per-
forms works similar to those of the world’s Creator. These works
are commonly called miracles, the root and foundation of which
is faith in Jesus Christ. 147 Through

145
Asclepius 6 (Copenhaver, Hermetica, p. 69): “Because of this,
Asclepius, a human being is a great wonder, a living thing to be
worshipped and honored: for he changes his nature into a god’s, as if he
were a god; he knows the demonic kind inasmuch as he recognizes that
he originated among them; he despises the part of him that is human
nature, having put his trust in the divinity of his other part”; cf. Pico della
Mirandola, Oratio (Copenhaver, Oration, p. 81).
146
Reuchlin, De verbo mirifico, 2.c2r: “But come, Capnion: teach us about
the wonder-working word… by which we are placed in nature above
nature, as you were saying, so that we might be able to perform miracles:
whether this is done by foreseeing (as in prophecies), or by directly
accomplishing things whose natural cause is commonly unknown, and
which even the most experienced men regard as worthy of wonder.”
147
Cf. Ficino, Theologia Platonica, 13.4 (Allen and Hankins, Platonic
Theology, p. 182-183): “Not only in forming and shaping matter through
the rational principle of art, as we said, does the human mind appropriate
for itself the divine right; it does so too through [its] sovereignty in
transmuting the species of things. The resulting work is called a miracle,
not because it is the supernatural work of our soul when it becomes God’s
instrument, but because it induces wonder, being a mighty event and one
that happens rarely.”
114

Per hanc solam efficitur homo idem aliquid [493] cum Deo
eademque potestate fruitur, quemadmodum Christus pollicitus
est, dicens: Amen dico vobis, qui credit in me, opera quae ego
facio, ipse faciet et majora horum faciet, quia ego vado ad Patrem.
Et quicquid rogaverit Patrem in nomine meo, ego faciam: et
quicquid rogaverit me, ego faciam, ut glorificetur Pater in Filio. Et
alibi ait: Si habueritis fidem sicut granum sinapis, et dixeritis huic
monti, jacta te ultra mare, fiet. Propterea dico vobis, quicquid
petentes oraveritis, credite quia accipietis, et fiet vobis. Hinc est
quod homines vere Christiani, ac Deo devoti, loquuntur linguis,
praedicant futura, imperant elementis, pellunt nebulas, citant
pluvias, praecipiunt ventis, avertunt tempestates, sanant aegrotos,
illuminant caecos, curant claudos, mundant leprosos, ejiciunt
daemonia, saepe suscitant mortuos, et hujusmodi. Sic prophetae,
sic apostoli, sic multi sancti pontifices, sacerdotes, doctores,
ceterique viri Dei maximis claruere clarentque potentiis.
 115

this faith alone, man becomes a thing identical with God and en-
joys the same power, as Christ promised, saying: “Amen, I say to
you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and
greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father. And
whatever he asks the Father in my name, I will do it; and whatever
he asks me, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the
Son.” 148 And elsewhere He says: “if you have faith as a grain of
mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘cast yourself into the
sea,’ and it will move. Therefore I say to you, whatever you ask in
prayer, believe that you will receive it, and it will be yours.” 149
Hence it is that Christian men, especially those devoted to God,
truly speak in tongues, foretell the future, command the elements,
dispel the clouds, summon the rain, command the winds, avert
storms, heal the sick, give sight to the blind, cure the lame, cleanse
lepers, cast out demons, raise the dead often, and do things of this
sort. 150 Thus have the prophets, the apostles, and many holy pon-
tiffs, priests, doctors, and other men of God shone and continue
to shine with the greatest powers. 151

148
John 14:12-14.
149
Matthew 17:19 and 21:21; Mark 11:23-24.
150
Ficino, Theologia Platonica, 13.4 (Allen and Hankins, Platonic
Theology, p. 182-183): “Hence we are in awe when souls of men dedicated
to God command the elements, rouse winds, compel clouds to rain,
dispel mists, cure the diseases of human bodies, and so on.”
151
Lazzarelli, Crater Hermetis, 20.5 (Hanegraaff and Bouthoorn, Lodo-
vico Lazzarelli, p. 229): “Thus Moses, thus Joshua, thus Elijah, thus the
other prophets and holy men of God shone with the greatest powers.”
116

Maxime ergo concedens est illa potestas illos qui perfectiores

in fide, quibus Paulus solum se dicit narrare sapientiam et
segregatim praedicare Evangelium. Habet enim etiam
Evangelium, quemadmodum Lex Mosaica, aliud in cortice
propositum imbecillioribus, aliud in medulla, quod segregatim
revelatum est perfectis, sicut de illis loquitur Paulus ad Hebraeos,
vocans haec lac infantium, et elementa exordii sermonum Dei, illa
autem nuncupat solidum cibum, sermonem justitiae, et perfectam
Christi doctrinam, inquiens: Si ferri vultis ad perfectam Christi
doctrinam, omittendus est sermo inchoationis, in quo videlicet
tractatur de principiis et fundamentis divinae sapientiae quae sunt
de poenitentia ab operibus mortuis, de baptismate, de
sacramentis, de impositione manuum et de autoritate absolvendi,
de resurrectione mortuorum, et judicio aeterno, et ejusmodi, quae
omnia habentur in cortice Evangelii et in scholis tractantur a
scholasticis theologis, et in problemata disputanda et discutienda
deducuntur. Illa autem pertinentia ad meliorem sapientiam et
perfectam doctrinam, videlicet quod sit donum coeleste, et manna
absconditum, quod nemo scit nisi qui accipit, et quod sit bonum
Dei verbum, melius illo quod foris vulgo traditur in parabolis,
 117

Therefore, that power is especially fitting for those who are

more perfect in faith; to them alone Paul claims to reveal wisdom
and to preach the Gospel separately. 152 For the Gospel also, just
like the Mosaic Law, has one meaning that is superficial, intended
for the weaker, and another meaning that is internal, revealed sep-
arately to the perfect – just as Paul explains to the Hebrews, where
he calls the former “milk for infants” and “the rudiments of the
words of God,” while he labels the latter “solid food,” “the word of
righteousness,” and “the perfect doctrine of Christ.” He says: “if
you wish to be led to the perfection of Christ’s doctrine, you must
leave behind the elementary teaching, in which are discussed the
principles and foundations of divine wisdom which concern re-
pentance from dead works, baptism, the sacraments, the laying on
of hands and the authority of absolution, the resurrection of the
dead, and eternal judgment,” and the like, all of which are con-
tained in the outer shell of the Gospel and are handled in the
schools by scholastic theologians, and are reduced to problems for
disputing and discussing. However, that knowledge which per-
tains to a higher wisdom and perfect doctrine – namely, what the
“heavenly gift” 153 is, and the “hidden manna,” 154 which no one
knows except the one who receives it, and what “the goodness of
the word of God is,” 155 better than that which is openly transmitted
to the common people in parables,

152
I Corinthians 2:6-7.
153
Hebrews 6:4.
154
Revelation 2:17.
155
Hebrews 6:5.
118

quodque mysterium regni Dei datum nosse solis secretioribus

discipulis, et quae virtutes seculi futuri, quae origo et finis animae,
et ministeria angelicorum spirituum, quae conditio et qualitas
illius immensae gloriae et felicitatis, quam expectamus, quam nec
oculus vidit, nec auris audivit, nec in cor hominis ascendit: haec
omnia continentur [494] in medulla et nucleo Evangelii et non nisi
perfectioribus cognita sunt, quibus data est scientia potestatum et
virtutum, miraculorum et prophetiae, et caetera, quae homines
propriis viribus indagare non possunt, nisi qui subjecti fuerint
virtuti Spiritus Sancti.

Qui ob hoc ad principatum in Ecclesia gerendum eliguntur et

deputantur, ut ipsi, illuminati in fide, cognoscentes voluntatem
Dei, instructi per Evangelium, juxta verba Pauli, sint duces
caecorum, lumen eorum qui in tenebris sunt, eruditores
insipientium, magistri infantium, habentes formam scientiae et
veritatis in Evangelio, cujusmodi sunt in Ecclesia pontifices,
episcopi, praelati, doctores, et quibus cura animarum et aedificatio
Ecclesiae commissa est, ad quos Paulus scribens ait: Qui loquitur
linguis, non
 119

and what “the mystery of the Kingdom of God” 156 is, given to be
known only to the more secret disciples, and what the virtues of
the future age are, what the origin and end of the soul are, and the
ministries of angelic spirits, and what the condition and quality of
that immense glory and happiness is, which we await, which “no
eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor has entered into the heart of
man” 157 – all these are contained within the marrow and kernel of
the Gospel and are known only to the more perfect, to whom the
knowledge of powers and virtues, of miracles and prophecy, and
other such things, has been given: things which men cannot inves-
tigate by their own strength, unless they have been subjected to the
power of the Holy Spirit. 158

Those who are chosen and appointed to hold authority in the

Church are chosen for this reason: that they, being enlightened in
the faith, knowing the will of God, and instructed by the Gospel,
might be – according to the words of Paul – “guides to the blind,
a light to those who are in darkness, instructors of the foolish,
teachers of infants, having the form of knowledge and truth” 159 in
the Gospel. In the Church, such are the pontiffs, bishops, prelates,
doctors, and those to whom the care of souls and the edification
of the Church has been entrusted, to whom Paul writes, saying:
“he who speaks in tongues does not

156
Luke 8:10; Matthew 13:11.
157
I Corinthians 2:9.
158
Hebrews 6:1-4; this paragraph draws closely and extensively from
Francesco Giorgi, De harmonia mundi, 2.5.9.
159
Romans 2:19-20.
120

hominibus loquitur, sed Deo, nemo enim audit; spiritus autem

loquitur mysteria. Nam qui prophetat hominibus loquitur ad
aedificationem et exhortationem et consolationem. Qui loquitur
lingua semet ipsum aedificat, qui autem prophetat, Ecclesiam Dei
aedificat. Et sequitur ibidem: Linguae in signum sunt, non
fidelibus, sed infidelibus; prophetiae autem non infidelibus, sed
fidelibus. Si ergo conveniat universa Ecclesia in unum, et omnes
linguis loquantur, intret autem idiota infidelis, nonne dicet, quid
insanitis? Si autem omnes prophetent, intret autem quis infidelis
vel idiota, convincitur ab omnibus, dijudicatur ab omnibus:
occulta enim cordis ejus manifesta sunt; et ita cadens in faciem,
adorabit Deum, pronuncians quia vere Deus in vobis sit. Et
tandem concludit: si quis videtur propheta esse aut spiritualis,
cognoscet quae scribo vobis, quia Domini sunt mandata: si quis
autem ignorat, ignorabitur. Ecce, Apostolus haec non ut
consilium, sed divinum mandatum ac praeceptum proponit.
Quare si pontifices, praelati, et doctores nostri divinae sapientiae
propheticum spiritum non habuerint et admirandam eorum in
Ecclesia professionem alicujus divinae potestatis effectu non
comprobaverint, certe illorum spiritus mentis lumine hebet et fide
in Christum debilis est, et languet carne supra spiritum nimium
dominante. Quamobrem omnes
 121

speak to men but to God, for no one hears him; but by the spirit
he speaks mysteries. But he who prophesies speaks to men for
their edification, exhortation, and consolation. He who speaks in
tongues edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the Church
of God.” 160 And there it follows: “tongues are a sign not for believ-
ers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers
but for believers. If therefore the whole Church comes together in
one place, and all speak in tongues, and an unlearned man or un-
believer enters, will they not say that you are mad? But if all proph-
esy, and an unbeliever or unlearned man enters, he is convinced
by all, judged by all: for the secrets of his heart are revealed; and
so, falling on his face, he will worship God, declaring that God is
truly among you.” 161 And finally he concludes: “if anyone consid-
ers himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that
the things I write to you are the commandments of the Lord. But
if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant.” 162 Behold, the Apostle
proposes these things not as advice, but as a divine mandate and
commandment. Therefore, if our pontiffs, prelates, and doctors do
not possess the prophetic spirit of divine wisdom and fail to
demonstrate their noble office in the Church by manifesting some
divine power, then surely their spirit is weak in the light of mind
and in their faith in Christ, and they languish under an excessive
dominance of the flesh over the spirit. For this reason, all

160
I Corinthians 14:2-4.
161
I Corinthians 14:22-25.
162
I Corinthians 14:37-38.
122

illi, tanquam steriles animae, impietatis et injustitiae a Deo

judicabuntur atque condemnabuntur.

En habes modo qualem esse oporteat, qui Dei cognitionem

assequi cupit et qui vere dici mereatur theologus, qui cum Deo
loqui desiderat, et in lege ejus meditari die ac nocte. Sic namque
Johannes Evangelista a Dionysio Theologus cognominatus est, a
divina scilicet locutione.

Sed sunt quidam alii, qui linguis loquuntur, humanis scientiis

inflati, [495] imo qui vita et linga de Deo mentiri non erubescunt,
qui suo spiritu omnem Scripturam ad sua mendacia
impudentissime torquent ac mysteria divina ad humanae rationis
methodum exigunt; inventisque capitibus suis glossis sacrilegis
adulterato verbo Dei, sua portenta stabiliunt ac sanctum
theologiae nomen furto et rapina sibi temere usurpant solisque
operam dant contentionibus et rixosis disputationibus, de quibus
Paulus scribit ad Philippenses, dicens: Quidam propter invidiam
et contentionem, quidam autem propter bonam voluntatem
Christum praedicant. Et hi contentiosi sunt argumentatores isti,
qui Dei notitiam argumentis et quaestionibus insequuntur, de
quibus ait Psalmista: Corrupti sunt et abominabiles facti sunt in
 123

these, as barren souls, will be judged and condemned by God as

guilty of impiety and injustice.

Now you know how one ought to be who longs to attain the
knowledge of God, and who truly deserves to be called a theolo-
gian – one who wishes to speak with God and to meditate on His
law day and night. 163 For thus it is that John the Evangelist was
given the name ‘the Theologian’ by Dionysius, namely, on account
of his divine discourse. 164

But there are certain others who, inflated by human sciences,

speak in tongues, indeed who do not blush to lie about God both
in their lives and in their speech. They shamelessly twist all Scrip-
ture to fit their lies according to their own spirit, and they force
divine mysteries according to the method of human reason. With
sacrilegious glosses devised by their own minds, they adulterate
the word of God and establish their own monstrosities. They
rashly usurp the holy name of theology by theft and plunder, ded-
icating themselves solely to disputes and contentious arguments,
about which Paul writes to the Philippians, saying: “some indeed
preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of good
will.” 165 And these contentious ones are those argumentative peo-
ple who pursue the knowledge of God with arguments and ques-
tions, of whom the Psalmist says: “they are corrupt and have be-
come abominable in their

163
Psalm 1:2.
164
Dionysius, Epistle, 10.1117A.
165
Philippians 1:15.
124

studiis suis. Et Judas apostolus ait: Hi autem quaecunque quidem

ignorant, blasphemant; quacumque autem naturaliter tanquam
muta animalia norunt, in his corrumpuntur. Quos iterum
alloquitur Esaias dicens: Sapientia tua et scientia tua ex ea ipsa
decepit te; defecisti in multitudine consiliorum tuorum.

Carnalis enim est et mundana omnis doctrina ipsorum, gens

ambitiosa, arrogans, confidens suis ingeniis, arbitrans se suis
viribus Deum posse cognoscere et in omni re veritatem posse
invenire, nec posse aliquid in sermonem venire, de quo non in
utramque partem disertissime possint disputare, et probabilem
sententiam proferre; populi astuti, abundantes alienis literis, ac
simul artificiosa quadam dialectica freti, insolentes: cum nihil
omnino sciant, cupiunt docti videri; ideo disputant palam in
gymnasiis, sophismatum roborati diverticulis, dicentes et
arbitrantes se esse sapientes. Sed his deliramentis ac versatilis
ingenii versutiis miserabiliter decepti, quod putant sibi esse
subsidio est illis impedimento, et evanescunt in cogitationibus
suis, et traduntur a Deo in reprobum sensum; quo putant se
maxime videre, et
 125

ways.” 166 And the apostle Jude says: “these people blaspheme
whatever they do not know; and whatever they understand natu-
rally, like dumb animals, in these they are corrupted.” 167 To these
Isaiah speaks again, saying: “your wisdom and your knowledge,
they have deceived you; you have been worn out in the multitude
of your counsels.” 168

Indeed, their doctrine is entirely carnal and worldly – an am-

bitious, arrogant race, confident in their own ingenuity, convinced
that they can know God by their own strengths and can find truth
in everything; convinced that there is no argument that can arise
in a discussion about which they cannot argue most eloquently on
both sides and offer a plausible opinion. They are a cunning peo-
ple, rich in the learning of others, and at the same time, insolent,
relying on a certain artificial dialectic: though they know abso-
lutely nothing, they yearn to appear learned. Therefore, they de-
bate publicly in schools, emboldened by the snares of sophistry,
declaring and believing themselves to be wise. But miserably de-
ceived by these delirious fantasies and the tricks of their shifting
ingenuity, what they consider to be their support is actually their
hindrance: they become vain in their thoughts, and are given over
by God to a reprobate mind. 169 Where they think they see most
clearly and

166
Psalm 14:1 (Vulg. 13:1).
167
Jude 1:10.
168
Isaiah 47:10-13.
169
Romans 1:21, 28.
126

veritatem posse invenire, eo maxime obscuratum est insipiens cor

ipsorum; quo valent apud homines, apud Deum impotentes sunt,
et dicentes se esse sapientes, stulti facti sunt. Qui enim sophistice
loquitur, odibilis est, ait Ecclesiasticus; non illi data est a Domino
gratia: omni enim sapientia defraudatus est. Maximum enim
stultitiae argumentum est se ipsum putare sapientem, de qua
sapientia dicit Apostolus: Prudentia carnis stultitia est apud
Deum. Et Salomon vocat eam mulierem stultam et clamosam,
plenam illecebris, nihil omnino scientem, cujus convivae sunt in
inferno, et qui applicabitur illi descendet ad inferos. Ideo dicit
Dominus: Perdam sapientiam sapientum,
 127

believe they can find the truth, there their foolish heart is most
darkened. 170 Where they prevail among men, they are powerless
before God, and claiming to be wise, they became fools. 171 For he
who speaks sophistically is detestable, says Ecclesiastes; to him
grace has not been given by the Lord, for he has been deprived of
all wisdom. 172 Indeed, the greatest proof of folly is to consider one-
self wise, about which the Apostle says: “the wisdom of the flesh is
foolishness with God.” 173 Solomon too calls it “a foolish and clam-
orous woman, full of allurements, who knows nothing at all,” 174
whose “companions are in hell,” and whoever associates with her
will sink into the depths. 175 Thus says the Lord: “I will destroy the
wisdom of the wise

170
Romans 1:21.
171
Romans 1:22.
172
Ecclesiastes 37:23-24; Lazzarelli, Crater Hermetis, 11.4 (Hanegraaff
and Bouthoorn, Lodovico Lazzarelli, p. 199): “But he who speaks as a
sophist is hateful, and will be thwarted in all things. He does not receive
God’s grace, for he is bereaved of all wisdom, as we read in
Ecclesiasticus.”
173
I Corinthians 3:19.
174
Proverbs 9:13; Lodovico Lazzarelli, Crater Hermetis, 10.6 (Hanegraaff
and Bouthoorn, Lodovico Lazzarelli, p. 197): “The wisdom of the flesh,
an adulterous and foreign whore, of whom the Apostle has said: ‘the
knowledge of the flesh is foolishness with God’ … He who turns towards
her will go down to the depths of hell.”
175
Proverbs 9:18; Lodovico Lazzarelli, Crater Hermetis, 10.5 (Hanegraaff
and Bouthoorn, Lodovico Lazzarelli, p. 195): “So Solomon calls divine
wisdom the tree of life and the wife of our youth; the wisdom of the flesh
and the contemplation of material things he calls a foolish and clamorous
woman, full of illicit lures, who knows nothing at all, a foreign and
adulterous whore.”
128

et prudentiam prudentum reprobabo. [496]

Vera enim sapientia non in clamosis disputationibus consistit,

sed occulitur in silentio et religione per fidem in Dominum
nostrum Jesum Christum, cujus fructus est vita aeterna: quam
Paulus vocat scientiam quae secundum pietatem est, cujus ipse
apostolatum accepit secundum fidem electorum Dei. Aliam vero
esse scientiam contentionis, de qua Titum discipulum suum
certiorem facit, sic monendo: Stultas autem quaestiones et
genealogias, et contentiones, et pugnas legis devita, sunt enim
inutiles et vanae. Super quo scribens, Hieronymus ita ait: Dialectici
et Aristoteles (qui horum princeps est) solent argumentationum
retia tendere et vagam theologiae libertatem in syllogismorum
spineta concludere. Hi ergo, qui in eos totos dies et noctes terunt
ut vel interrogent, vel respondeant, vel dent propositionem, vel
accipiant, assumant, confirment atque concludant, eos quidem
contentiosos vocant, qui ut libet non ratione, sed stomacho putant
litigandum. Si igitur illi hoc faciunt, quorum proprie ars contentio
est,
 129

and the prudence of the prudent I will reject.” 176

Indeed, true wisdom does not consist in clamorous disputes,

but is “hidden in silence” 177 and worship through the faith in our
Lord Jesus Christ, whose fruit is eternal life. Paul calls this “the
knowledge that accords with godliness,” through which he himself
received apostleship “according to the faith of God’s elect.” 178
There is, however, another kind of knowledge, that of contention,
about which he informs his disciple Titus, admonishing him thus:
“avoid foolish questions, genealogies, controversies, and polemics
about the law, for they are useless and vain.” 179 Writing on this,
Jerome says the following: “the logicians and Aristotle (who is
their leader) are accustomed to set the snares of argumentation
and to confine the free spirit of theology within thickets of syllo-
gisms. These, therefore – who spend their whole days and nights
on this, whether asking questions or answering them, whether
putting forward propositions or listening to them, assuming, con-
firming, and drawing conclusions – are called contentious, who
think that one should argue not with reason but with the stomach.
If, therefore, those whose art is contention do this,

176
I Corinthians 1:19 and Isaiah 29:14.
177
Corpus Hermeticum 13 (Copenhaver, Hermetica, p. 52-53): “It cannot
be taught; it is a secret kept in silence.”
178
Titus 1:1.
179
Titus 3:9.
130

quid debet facere Christianus, nisi omnino fugere contentiones?

Haec ille.

Itaque et nobis, si volumus vere cognoscere Deum,

postponenda est omnis turbida ratiocinatio, omnis sophistica
argumentatio, omnis dialectica inquisitio. Ratio enim et inquisitio
nonnullam subolent desperationem et diffidentiam. Fides autem
fixa et tranquilla esse debet. Ideo dicit Ambrosius in libro De
trinitate: Aufer argumenta ubi fides quaeritur, in ipsis gymnasiis
suis jam dialectica taceat, piscatoribus creditur non dialecticis.
Idem ad Gratianum de fide. Et Urbanus Papa scribens ad Carolum
ait: Non in dialectica placuit Deo salvare populum suum: Regnum
enim Dei in simplicitate fidei est, non in contentione sermonis.
Nulla enim major pestis animae quam ratiocinatio, quam
altercatio, quam disputatio de divinis, quae evertit rationem,
pervertit intellectum, dejicit fidem. Ideo Paulus illam maxime
vitandam jubet, et Jacobus appellat eam sapientiam terrenam,
animalem, et diabolicam: hinc errores, hinc dubia, hinc mendacia,
hinc haereses, hinc primum in humano genere peccatum ortum
est.
 131

what should a Christian do but flee from contentions alto-

gether?” 180 So says Jerome.

Therefore, we too, if we truly wish to know God, must set

aside all confused reasoning, all sophistical argumentation, and all
dialectical inquiry. For reasoning and inquiry often carry about
them a certain air of desperation and distrust. Faith, however,
ought to be stable and serene. Thus, Ambrose says in his book On
the Trinity: “remove arguments where faith is sought. In their own
schools, let dialectic now be silent. It is believed by fishermen, not
dialecticians.” 181 He says the same in On the Faith to Gratian. And
Pope Urban writing to Charles says: “it did not please God to save
His people through dialectic; for ‘the kingdom of God is in the
simplicity of faith, not in the contention of words.’” 182 For there is
no greater pestilence for the soul than reasoning, than altercation,
than disputation about divine matters, which destroys knowledge,
perverts understanding, and casts down faith. Paul, therefore,
commands that it be avoided as much as possible, and James calls
it “earthly, animal, and diabolical wisdom.” 183 From this spring er-
rors, doubts, lies, heresies; from this the first sin arose in mankind.

180
Jerome, On Titus, 3.9.
181
Ambrose, De fide ad Gratianum, 1.13.
182
Gianfrancesco Pico della Mirandola, De studio humanae et divinae
philosophiae, 1.3 in Opera omnia, vol. 2 (Basel: Henricpetrina, 1573), p.
11.
183
II Timothy 2:14-16, 23; James 3:15.
132

Inventor autem hujus tam pestiferae facultatis diabolus,

primus ille callidus et perniciosus sophista, quaestiunculas
proposuit, disputationes invenit, et quasi scholam aliquam
instituit. Non contentus quod se ipsum perdiderat, invenit
artificium quo et alios perderet malumque suum augeret et
propagaret. Idcirco non permittens hominem stare in simplici
fide, voluit de praeceptis Dei quaestionem proponere,
commodissimam hanc homines evertendi machinam arbitratus.
Hinc [497] sophistae instar, Evam primo aggreditur, et illam
exquistione et ratione in certamen provocat quaerens: Cur
praecepit vobis Deus, ut non comedatis ex omni ligno paradisi?
Cum quo si Eva non disputasset, decepta non fuisset. Quia vero
cum diabolo in altercationem descendit, unica falsa et sophistica
ratione decepta est, nec solum a fide jam decidit, sed et rationem
simul amisit. Hinc coepit primo verba Dei falso interpretari, unde
et mendacium commisit, simul ac de eloquiis Dei dubitare
diffidereque praesumpsit. Ita enim respondit: de fructibus
lignorum, quae sunt in Paradiso, vescimur; de fructu vero ligni,
quod est in medio Paradisi, praecepit nobis Deus
 133

The inventor of this most pestilential art, however, is the

devil. 184 That cunning and pernicious sophist was the first to pro-
pose trifling quaestiones, to invent disputations, and to establish a
kind of school, so to speak. Not content with destroying himself,
he devised a craft by which he could also destroy others and aug-
ment and propagate his own evil. Therefore, not allowing man to
remain in simple faith, he wished to propose a quaestio concerning
God’s commandments, considering this the most effective tool for
overthrowing men. Thus, in the manner of a sophist, he first ap-
proached Eve and provoked her to a contest of inquiry and rea-
soning by asking: “why did God command you not to eat from any
tree of paradise?” 185 If Eve had not disputed with him, she would
not have been deceived; but because she stooped down into an ar-
gument with the devil, she was deceived by a single false and so-
phistical reasoning, and not only did she fall from faith, but she
also lost reason at the same time. Hence she began to falsely inter-
pret the words of God, and consequently, she committed a lie as
soon as she dared to doubt and distrust what God had said. For
thus she replied: “of the fruits of the trees that are in paradise we
do eat; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of paradise,
God has commanded

184
By such a statement, Agrippa is declaring open warfare against the
proponents of Scholastic philosophy and what he believed were its insuf-
ficient means of knowledge production, i.e., the disputatio.
185
Genesis 3:1.
134

ne comederemus et ne tangeremus illud, ne forte moriamur. Ecce

quam falso interpretata est praeceptum Dei, dicendo nobis in
plurali, quod Deus soli Adae in singulari praecepit, antequam Eva
crearetur: insuper ne tangeremus, quo utrobique mentita est.
Deinde etiam dubitavit, ubi subdit, ne forte. Vides quomodo
callida illa et diabolica ex quaestionibus proposita disceptatio
decepit rationem, ratio autem dejecit fidem.

Hic fructus, haec utilitas, hic finis disputationum

sophisticarum, quae hoc tempore a recentioribus aliquot
theosophistis, ac philopompis exercentur ad omnem vanitatem.
Qui cum Aristotelem male conversum, et quaedam insuper
commentaria, tum Petrum Lombardum, quem magistrum
scientiarum vocant, ac neglecto Christi Evangelio apostolicisque
dogmatibus, tanquam totius theologiae archetypum colunt, et
nescio quae alia
 135

us not to eat and not to touch, lest perhaps we die.” 186 Behold how
falsely God’s precept was interpreted when she said “to us” in the
plural, whereas God had commanded it only to Adam, in the sin-
gular, before Eve was created; moreover, she added “not to touch,”
thus lying in both respects. She then also expressed doubt when
she added, “lest perhaps.” You see how that cunning and diaboli-
cal dispute based on proposed quaestiones deceived reason, and
reason, in turn, overthrew faith. 187

This is the fruit, this is the benefit, this is the purpose of so-
phistical disputations, which are employed in our time by some of
the more recent theosophists 188 and lovers of boastfulness, all in
vain. 189 They, having neglected the Gospel of Christ and the apos-
tolic doctrines, and having poorly understood Aristotle and cer-
tain commentaries besides, then Peter Lombard whom they call
the master of sciences 190, worship him as the archetype of all the-
ology, and who knows what other things of

186
Genesis 3:2-3.
187
This paragraph draws closely and extensively from Johannes Reuchlin,
De verbo mirifico, 2.d3r.
188
Note that when Agrippa uses the word ‘theosophists,’ it is being used
in the pejorative sense of ‘sophists of god,’ not in the positive sense used
by 19th-21st century occultists.
189
Marsilio Ficino, Epistolarum libri XII, vol. 1, p. 665: “There are many
in our age who are not lovers of wisdom (philosophi), but lovers of
boastfulness (philopompi), who arrogantly and excessively profess to
hold the Aristotelian view.”
190
Perrone Compagni, De triplici ratione cognoscendi Deum, 164
correctly has sententiarum rather than scientiarum based on the Magister
Sententiarum Peter Lombard’s authorship of the Libri Quattuor
Sententiarum (Four Books of Sentences) circa 1150.
136

illius generis viderunt. Tunc freti sophistica sua insolentia, omnia

se posse attentare, aggredi, dissolvere, et interpretari putant. Tunc
irruentes suis ineptiis, inquinamentis et blateramentis, rixosisque
disputationibus, ad quod artificium jam linguas armatas habent,
omnia quae in fide et religione simplicia, sincera, et pura sunt,
multiplicia, caliginosa, et sordida reddiderunt, omnemque
theologiam suis absurdis altercationibus, ac futili verbositate
confuderunt, conturbarunt, polluerunt, inveneruntque non
divinam nec humanam quidem, sed nescio quam suam, non dico
theologiam, sed squalidam, odiosam, cavillatoriam et diabolicam
vanitatem, humanarum opinionum, philosophicarumque
nugarum rhapsodiam.

Veram autem illam et vetustam theologiam, quae a primis

sanctis et veris Christianis emanavit, in primis a Christo, et ab
apostolis, quos sequuti ex Graecis Dionysius, cujus divinissima
scripta, sed non omnia extant; item Divus Origenes,
consumatissimus theologus, ex cujus innumeris fere scriptis ob
ae[498]mulorum depravationem, paucissima extant: item
Basilius, cognomento Magnus; Athanasius, Alexandrinus
episcopus, qui contra Arrianos tanta constantia disputavit;
Cyrillus ejusdem basilicae episcopus, qui praefuit concilio
Ephesino, cujus egregia commentaria in Joannem extant;
 137

that kind they have seen. Then, supported by their insolence in

sophistry, they think they can attempt, undertake, resolve, and in-
terpret everything. Then rushing in with their absurdities, pollu-
tions, babblings, and contentious disputations, to which art they
have now armed their tongues, they have rendered everything that
is simple, sincere, and pure in faith and religion, complex, obscure,
and sordid. They have confounded, muddied, and polluted all the-
ology with their absurd altercations and pointless verbosity, and
have invented, not a divine or even human theology, but a thing
of their own, I know not what – I do not call it ‘theology’ – but a
filthy, hateful, quibbling, and diabolical vanity, a patchwork of hu-
man opinions and philosophical trifles.

But that true and ancient theology which emanated from the
first saints and true Christians – first from Christ and the apostles,
who were followed by Dionysius from among the Greeks, whose
most divine writings, though not all, are extant; and the divine Or-
igen, the most perfect theologian, of whose nigh countless writings
very few remain due to the corruption of his rivals; and Basil, sur-
named the Great; and Athanasius, the Alexandrian bishop, who
disputed with such constancy against the Arians; and Cyril, bishop
of the same basilica, who presided over the Council of Ephesus,
whose excellent Commentaries on John are extant;
138

Didimus, cognomento Caecus, qui scripsit de processu Spiritus

sancti, quod opus Hieronymus in latinum sermonem transtulit;
Eusebius Caesariensis, qui praeparationem in Evangelicam
veritatem scripsit; multum quoque nobis in historia profuit
Joannes, cognomine Chrysostomus ob eloquentiam; item
Gregorius Nazianzenus, et plures alii; ex latinis praeterea
Cyprianus, Lactantius, Tertullianus, Ambrosius, Ruffinus,
Hieronymus, Augustinus, Leo, Gregorius, Beda, Anselmus,
Bernardus, Cassaneus, et quos illa priora tempora genuere. Hos
tam sanctos doctores, hanc inquam theologiam penitus
posthabent, repudiant, et irrident, sine quibus tamen nil recte vel
in suis queunt cognoscere.

Inventor hujus tam perniciosi magisterii fuit serpens ille,

antiquus sophista, qui decepit Evam. Hunc imitantes recentiores
quidam theosophistae, hoc seculo tanti flagitii principes, authores
et propagatores extiterunt, quos innumerabiles alii ejusdem
generis homines quotidie misere sequuntur. Hinc exorta est illa
horrida et implicata sylva, caliginosusque lucus disputationum, in
quo cum misero labore et damnabili studio, exiguo fructu assidue
laborant, non fide, non spe, non charitate Christum imitantes,
neque orationibus, jejuniis, vigiliis, petentes, quaerentes,
pulsantes, ut aperiatur illis divinae cognitionis armarium, sed
tanquam titani contra Deum belligerantes, daedalicis
sophismatum machinis sacrarum literarum ostium se posse
disrumpere arbitrantur.
 139

and Didymus, surnamed the Blind, who wrote On the Procession

of the Holy Spirit, a work which Jerome translated into the Latin
tongue; and Eusebius of Caesarea, who wrote the Preparation for
the truth of the Gospel; and much also has John, surnamed Chrys-
ostom because of his eloquence, profited us in history; and Greg-
ory of Nazianzus, and many others; and, moreover, from the Lat-
ins: Cyprian, Lactantius, Tertullian, Ambrose, Rufinus, Jerome,
Augustine, Leo, Gregory, Bede, Anselm, Bernard, Cassian, and
those whom those earlier times produced – these most holy doc-
tors and this theology, I say, they utterly disregard, reject, and
mock, but without which they are unable to rightly understand
anything even in their own studies.

The inventor of this most pernicious discipline was that ser-

pent, the ancient sophist, who deceived Eve. Following his exam-
ple, some more recent theosophists, who in this age have become
the leaders, authors, and propagators of such a great abomination,
have emerged. Countless others of the same kind miserably follow
them every day. Hence arose that horrid and tangled forest, and
that dark grove of disputes, in which they labor incessantly in mis-
erable toil and damnable study, with little fruit, imitating not
Christ in faith, hope, or love, nor seeking, asking, and knocking
with prayers, fasts, and vigils that the treasury of divine knowledge
might be opened to them, but rather, like the Titans waging war
against God, they think that they can batter down the door of the
Holy Scriptures with the Daedalian machines of their sophistry.
140

Hinc quicquid a philosopho seu theologo aliquo dictum in manus

eorum inciderit, id non resolvunt ad justa principia, sed deducunt
longius, non ad primos fontes unde manavit, sed suis ineptiis ac
ineptis distinctionibus dilacerant, dissipant, conterunt, quasi
mortario in pulverem, ut viribus omnibus prae nimia tenuitate
amissis, ante lucem et auram positum vel lenissimo vento
evanescat. Hinc illud apud eos usurpatum proverbium, quo
dicunt: unico flatu argumentum tuum dissolvam. Recte sane, vere
ac sapienter dictum; nam nihil apud eos argumentatores est quam
flatus, flauti obvians illumque discutiens. Hinc cum paulum a
gymnasiis suis abierint, sedent muti et cogitabundi, tanquam
stolidi et trunci inanimati, et tanquam ficulnea arida, non habent
quod loquantur, quod [499] fructificent, quia non sunt cum suis
condisputatoribus. Hinc natum illud apud vulgus proverbium:
Maximos quosque scholasticos maxime stultos esse solere.

Accedit ad haec alia insolentia, qua recentiores isti theologi et

canonistae, homines suae ignorantiae conscii, authoritati suae
diffidentes, timentes quia illis non credatur,
 141

Thus, whatever has been said by a philosopher or some theologian

that falls into their hands, they do not explain according to sound
principles, but deduce from it something very different, not ac-
cording to the original sources from which it flowed; rather, with
their absurdities and foolish distinctions, they chop it up, break it
apart, and grind it down into powder, like in a mortar, so that,
having lost all its strength from its excessive fineness, it vanishes
in the slightest breeze when exposed to light and air. Hence that
proverb used among them, in which they say, “I will dissolve your
argument with a single breath.” How well, truly, and wisely said!
For among these arguers there is nothing but wind blowing
against wind and dispersing it. Hence when they have left their
schools for a short while, they sit silent and thoughtful, like stupid
and lifeless logs, and like a dried-up fig tree, have nothing to say,
no fruit to bear, because they are not with their fellow disputants.
Hence that proverb was born among the common people: “the
greatest schoolmen are usually the greatest fools.” 191

Added to this is another form of arrogance by which these

recent theologians and canonists – men conscious of their own ig-
norance, unsure of their own authority, and fearful that they will
not be believed – cite

191
Note here the paronomasia, or the use of words similar in sound to
achieve a humorous effect, between scholasticos (‘schoolmen’ or ‘scho-
lastics’) and stultos (‘fools’) which is impossible to render in English
translation.
142

tam capitulatim tamque articulatim testimonia citant, in singulis

verbis et interpunctionibus occupati, neque hoc raro, neque ex
remotiore antiquitate, sed etiam ex novissimis, et suis fere
contemporaneis, suique similibus quibusque scriptoribus, et hoc
tam continue et tam assidue, jactantes se congerie illorum
testimoniorum, non ut doceant alios, sed ut ipsi memoriae laudem
aucupentur et multa legisse videantur, non considerantes, quod si
ex dictis vel scriptis suis unicuique quod suum est distribuerint,
nihil quod eorum sit remansurum. Sed illo errore et proprii
ingenii inopia vagantes, quasi rustica quaedam secta, cum ipsi
nihil sciant, nec ex se aliquid edere possint, omnia studia sua in
excerpendo et compilando consumunt. Quibus contenti, cum
nihil omnino sciant, quam aliorum laboribus et exemplis uti,
sapientiae nomen temere sibi arrogant; atque hoc consilio mirum
quam sibi placeant, quam egregie doctos se putent. Non sic
fecerunt prisci illi theologi, viri sapientia graves, authoritate
venerabiles, vita sancti, quales illi quos supra memoravimus,
fuerunt. In quorum scriptis tam simplex, tam rara invenitur
scripturarum citatio, ubicunque aliquid memorandum est, et illa
quidem ex Veteri Testamento, ex Evangeliis, ex apostolis, ex
remotiore antiquitate, nihil se jactantes, homines sane in divina
gratia solum confidentes, suae sapientiae conscii, et doctores
optimi,
 143

testimonies chapter-by-chapter or article-by-article while being

concerned with individual words and punctuation marks, and not
infrequently. Nor do they cite from writers of a more distant an-
tiquity, but from the most recent, their nigh contemporaries, very
much like themselves. And this they do so continuously and so
incessantly, boasting of their heap of testimonies, not to teach oth-
ers, but to seek praise for their own memory and to appear well-
read, not considering that if they were to distribute to each person
what belongs to him from their sayings or writings, nothing of
their own would remain. But wandering in that error and poverty
of their own genius, given that they know nothing themselves and
can produce nothing themselves, they consume all their time stud-
ying in making excerpts and compilations, like some band of brig-
ands. Content with these, since they know nothing at all, other
than how to use the labors and examples of others, they rashly ar-
rogate to themselves the name of wisdom; and with this counsel,
it is amazing how pleased they are with themselves, how excel-
lently learned they think themselves to be. Those ancient theolo-
gians – men grave in wisdom, venerable in authority, holy in life,
like those whom we mentioned above – did not behave in this way.
In their writings, the most simple and infrequent quotations of
texts are found wherever something worth remembering is men-
tioned, and indeed these are from the Old Testament, from the
Gospels, from the apostles, and from more remote antiquity, never
boasting, men truly confiding solely in divine grace, conscious of
their wisdom, and the best of
144

doctores optimi, nullorum judiciorum timentes, veraces, non

respicientes in faciem hominum. Qui ex suis thesauris nobis largiti
sunt munera, imitantes Christum, qui tamquam bonus
paterfamilias de thesauris suis protulit nova et vetera, in omnibus
verbo et opere fructificantes in hominibus fructum verae religionis
et fidei ad salutem aeternam.

Sed redeamus unde digressi sumus. Quantum namque in

divina cognitione peccant, qui exili rationis discursu Deum se
cognoscere posse praesumunt, innumera fere in eorum
traditionibus discrimina ostendunt. Nulla enim eis quaestio,
quantumcunque levis, proponitur, quam non litigiosis ratiunculis
daedalicisque labyrinthis involvant; ac sese invicem canum more,
rabidis latratibus, morsibusque condemnant, quod eorum scripta
et volumina abunde satis ostendunt. [500] Quod si juxta Aristotelis
sententiam veritatis conditio est, ut undique sibi consonet, estque
consonantia opinionum veritatis vestigium, necessario sequitur ex
opposito, id quod ubique sibi dissonat verum esse non posse. Ideo
apud istos argumentatores, et recentiores theosophistas, nec
veritas quidem ulla esse potest, nec ullum quidem veritatis
vestigium, necesseque est hanc inconditam atque portentosam nec
nisi humanarum de divinis opinionum coacervationem aliquando
mole sua ruituram.
 145

teachers, fearing no judgments, truthful, paying no regard to the

appearance of men. 192 They have bestowed gifts upon us from
their treasures, imitating Christ, who, “like a good head of house,
brought forth from his treasures things new and old,” 193 in all
things bearing fruit in word and deed among men, the fruit of true
religion and faith unto eternal salvation.

But let us return to where we digressed. Therefore, by the

nigh innumerable distinctions in their traditions, they generally
reveal how greatly they sin in divine knowledge who presume they
can know God by the feeble discourse of reason. For no question,
however trivial, is proposed to them which they do not entangle
in litigious arguments and Daedalian labyrinths. Like dogs, they
condemn each other with rabid barking and biting, as their writ-
ings and volumes clearly reveal. And if, according to Aristotle, the
nature of truth is that it is always consistent with itself, and if the
consistency of opinions is a sign of truth, it necessarily follows that
what is everywhere discordant with itself cannot be true. 194 There-
fore, among these arguers and recent theosophists, there can be no
truth at all, nor even any trace of truth, and it is inevitable that this
disordered and monstrous heap of merely human opinions about
divine matters will eventually collapse under its own weight.

192
Matthew 22:16.
193
Matthew 13:52.
194
Riccio, Isagoge, 15v.
146

Sed heu miseri, ignorantia adhuc late patet in orbe; nemo

mente pius Dei cognitionem requirit; omnes fere sumus
ignorantiam professi. eologia nova, novi doctores, doctrina
nova, nihil antiquum, nihil sanctum, nihil vere religiosum, et quod
deterius est, si qui sunt qui huic pristinae theologiae ac religioni se
dedicant, insani, ignari, irreligiosi, interdum etiam haeretici
vocantur, atque (ut inquit Hermes) odio habentur, etiam
periculum capitale in eos constituitur, contumeliis afficiuntur,
saepe vita privantur.

Attamen redire ad primos fontes et puram aquam haurire, ubi

est immaculata forma pietatis et justitiae, licebit semper et
disputare et docere, et facere, favente nobis
 147

But alas, wretched ones, ignorance still spreads widely in the

world; no one with a pious mind seeks the knowledge of God; al-
most all of us profess ignorance. New theology, new doctors, new
doctrine – nothing ancient, nothing holy, nothing truly reli-
gious. 195 And what is worse, if there are any who dedicate them-
selves to this ancient theology and religion, they are called mad-
men, ignorant, irreligious, and sometimes even heretics, and (as
Hermes says) are hated; even the threat of death is made against
them, they are subjected to insults, and are often deprived of life. 196

Nevertheless, it will always be possible to return to the first

sources and draw up the pure water where the immaculate form
of piety and justice flows, and to dispute, to teach, and to act with
the help of our

195
This is an allusion to the famous lament of Hermes in Asclepius 25
(Copenhaver, Hermetica, p. 82): “They will establish new laws, new
justice. Nothing holy, nothing reverent nor worthy of heaven or heavenly
beings will be heard of or believed in the mind.”
196
Asclepius 25 (Copenhaver, Hermetica, p. 82): “But – believe me –
whoever dedicates himself to reverence of mind will find himself facing
a capital penalty”; Corpus Hermeticum 9 (Copenhaver, Hermetica, p. 28):
“One who has come to know god, filled with all good things, has thoughts
that are divine and not like those of the multitude. This is why those who
are in knowledge do not please the multitude, nor does the multitude
please them. They appear to be mad, and they bring ridicule on
themselves. They are hated and scorned, and perhaps they may even be
murdered.”
148

Domino Deo nostro Jesu Christo Nazareno crucifixo, qui magni

consilii Angelus, vero mentes lumine illustrat, quem verum Deum
et verum hominem profitemur, ac futuri Patrem saeculi,
judicemque expectamus.
 149

crucified Lord God Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who, as the Angel of

Great Counsel, enlightens minds with true light. Him we profess
as true God and true man, and await as Father of the world to
come and judge. 197

Isaiah 9:6; Lazzarelli, Crater Hermetis, 1.1 (Hanegraaff and

197

Bouthoorn, Lodovico Lazzarelli, p. 167).

150

CAPUT VI

Quoniam igitur nunc gentes ab ipsa creaturarum conditione,

Deum primam causam omnium productricem cognoscunt, et ipsa
conditio ostendit, qui condidit eam et ipsa factura monstrat qui
fecit eam, et mundus manifestum facit qui se disposuit; Judaei
quoque in primis a protoplasti traditione: deinceps a Moyse et
prophetis eundem Deum fabricatorem coeli et terrae acceperunt,
et per legis ministerium cognoverunt; nos autem in Evangelio ab
apostolis: Qui est idem Deus super omnes Deos, et nomen ejus
super omne nomen, et hujus Verbum, naturaliter invisibile, caro
factum, in visibilem et palpabilem hominem, et usque ad mortem
humilians se, mortem autem Crucis, et eos qui in eum credunt,
similes sibi, incorruptibiles, et impassibiles futuros, et percepturos
regnum coelorum, accipimus perfectam agnitionem. Propterea
inexcusabilis est homo, qui ignorat Deum, maledictus autem, qui
illum agnoscens non veneratur, impossibile [501] enim est (ut ait
Apostolus)
 151

CHAPTER VI

Since, therefore, the nations now know God as the first cause of all
things from the very foundation of creation, and this foundation
reveals who created it, and the work itself shows who made it, and
the world makes it obvious who arranged it, and the Jews too re-
ceived the same God, Creator of heaven and earth, first of all from
the tradition of the first man, then from Moses and the prophets,
and came to know Him by means of the law, though we, through
the Gospel from the apostles, have received perfect knowledge of
Him who is the same God above all gods, and whose name is above
every name, and whose Word, naturally invisible, was made flesh,
became a visible and tangible man, humbling Himself even to
death – death on the cross – and we know that those who believe
in Him will become like Him, subject to neither corruption nor
suffering, and will receive the kingdom of heaven, therefore, man
is without excuse if he does not know God, and accursed is he who,
knowing Him, does not worship Him. 198 “For it is impossible,” as
the Apostle says,

198
Ficino, De Christiana religione, 4 (Attrell, Bartlett, and Porreca, On the
Christian Religion, p. 53-54): “Nothing displeases God more than being
despised; nothing pleases Him more than being worshipped. He
punishes more mildly those who transgress His divine laws in part but
strikes with thunder those who rebel against His authority out of
ingratitude, malice, and arrogance. Therefore, divine providence does
not at any time permit any region of the world to be utterly devoid of
every religion, though He does permit different rites of worship to be
observed in different times and places… [God] prefers to be worshipped
in whatever way, even incompetently, provided it is in keeping with
human nature, than not to be worshipped at all out of pride. Indeed, for
152

ut qui semel sunt illuminati, et gustaverunt donum coeleste, et

participes facti sunt Spiritus sancti, gustaveruntque bonum Dei
verbum virtutesque seculi venturi, et prolapsi sunt, rursum
renovari ad poenitentiam.

Nos itaque dictamine creaturarum moniti, et annunciatione

prophetarum edocti, ac praedicatione apostolorum informati,
audemus dicere: quod unus solus est verus Deus increatus,
immensus, aeternus, omnipotens, Pater, Filius, et Spiritus Sanctus,
tres quidem personae sibi invicem coaeternae et coaequales, una
tamen essentia et substantia naturaque simplex omnino, ut sic
unum Deum in Trinitate et Trinitatem in Unitate fateamur, neque
confundentes personas, neque substantiam separantes. Nam Pater
ab aeterno genuit Filium, suamque illi dedit substantiam, ac
nihilominus retinuit: Filius quoque nascendo Patris accepit
substantiam, non tamen personam propriam Patris assumpsit,
neque Pater illam in Filium transtulit, sunt enim ambo unius et
ejusdem substantiae, sed diversarum

men who are intemperate but submissive to Him to a degree, He either

corrects them like a father or at least punishes them less. As for the
impious, the utterly ungrateful, and those rebelling out of their own free
will, however, He casts them out and torments them as enemies.”
 153

“for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the
heavenly gift, have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, have
tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the world to come,
and have then fallen away, to be renewed again to penance.” 199

Thus we – instructed by the testimony of creation, taught by

the proclamation of the prophets, and informed by the preaching
of the apostles – dare to say that there is one true God, uncreated,
immeasurable, eternal, omnipotent, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
three persons, coeternal and coequal with one another, yet one es-
sence, substance, and entirely simple nature, so that we confess
one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity, neither confusing the
persons nor dividing the substance. For the Father eternally begot
the Son, and gave Him His substance, yet retained it nonetheless.
The Son also, in being begotten, received the substance of the Fa-
ther, but did not take the Father’s own person, nor did the Father
transfer it to the Son, for they are both of one and the same sub-
stance, but of different persons.

199
Hebrews 6:4.
154

personarum. Filius quoque hic licet Patri coaeternus sit ex

substantia Patris ante saecula genitus, tamen nihilominus ex
substantia Virginis in seculo natus est, et vocatum est nomen ejus
Jesus, qui est Christus, perfectus Deus, perfectus homo, ex anima
rationali et humana carne subsistens, cui nihil humanum defuit
praeter peccatum: una persona, duae naturae, ante saecula genitus
Deus sine matre, in seculo natus homo sine patre de virgine ante
et post partum incorrupta, passus in cruce mortuus est, sed in
cruce vitam illustravit, et mortem morte resolvit. Sepultus est, et
descendit ad inferos, sed animas Patrum reduxit ex inferis, et
resurrexit tertia die per virtutem propriam, et ascendit in coelos,
et misit Spiritum Sanctum Paracletum, et iterum venturus est
judicare vivos et mortuos. Ad cujus adventum omnes homines
resurrecturi sunt in carne sua propria, et reddituri sunt de factis
propriis rationem.

Haec est perfecta Dei agnitio, in qua oportet nos salvos fieri:
quam qui non agnoverit, aut agnoscentibus non crediderit, aut de
ea dubitare praesumpserit, a spe vitae et salutis aeternae alienus
est.
 155

The Son, though coeternal with the Father and begotten from the
substance of the Father before the ages, was nonetheless born in
time from the substance of the Virgin, and His name was called
Jesus, who is the Christ, perfect God, perfect man, subsisting in a
rational soul and human flesh, lacking nothing human except sin:
one person, of two natures, begotten as God before the ages with-
out a mother, born as man in time without a father from a virgin
who remained uncorrupted before and after childbirth. He suf-
fered on the cross and died, but on the cross He illuminated life,
and by His death, He destroyed death. He was buried and de-
scended to the dead, but He brought back the souls of the Fathers
from the dead, and He rose again on the third day by His own
power, ascended into heaven, and sent the Holy Spirit, the Com-
forter, and He will come again to judge the living and the dead. At
His coming, all men will rise in their own flesh, and will give an
account of their own deeds. 200

This is the perfect knowledge of God, through which we must

be saved: whoever has not recognized it, or has not believed those
who do, or has presumed to doubt it, is a stranger to the hope of
life and to eternal salvation.

200
Here Agrippa publicly affirms his orthodoxy using material drawn di-
rectly from the Athanasian creed and Reuchlin, De verbo mirifico, 3.f6v-
f7r.
156

Epistolae

Venerabili Patri Sacrae Theologiae Magistro

Aurelio ab Aquapendente Augustiniano

Henricus Cornelius Agrippa Salutem Dicit.

Ex literis quas ad me secundo huius mensis dedisti, perspexi

erga me animi tui candorem P. R. et cognovi te virum cyclice
doctum, eorumque quae adhuc in tenebris delitescunt curiosum
exploratorem. Gavisus sum ilico, atque mihi gratulor, nactum me
amicitiam talis viri, qui cum possem aliquando et genium et
ingenium excolere: teque nunc (teste hoc chirographo) inter
amicissmos recipio.

Sed heus tu qui sunt duces tui quos sequeris. Tu qui audes
irremeabilem domum intrare Dedali, atque tremendi Minois, ire
per excubias, et te committere Parcis? Qui sunt magistri tui, tu qui
versaris circa immensa, ausus conari vagum stabilem, perfidum
affidum, ac deorum omnium fugacissimum redere,
 157

Epistles

To the Venerable Father Aurelius of

Aquapendente, Master of Sacred Theology
of the Augustinian Order (1527)

Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa sends greetings.

From the letters which you sent me on the second of this

month, I have noticed the candor of your spirit towards me, most
reverend Father, and I have recognized you as a man learned in
letters, and a curious investigator of those things which still lie hid-
den in darkness. I rejoiced immediately, and I congratulated my-
self on having gained the friendship of such a man, who might, at
some time, help to cultivate both my spirit and my talent. And now
(as this letter bears witness), I count you among my closest friends.

But hey, who are the guides whom you follow? You, who dare
to enter the inescapable house of Daedalus and to pass through the
guards of fearsome Minos, committing yourself to the Fates? Who
are those teachers of yours, you who are wrapped up in immense
matters, who dares to attempt to make the wandering steadfast,
the faithless trustworthy, and the most elusive of all the
158

vel ipsa Adrastia constatiorem? Cave ne decipiare ab his qui

fuerunt decepti. Neque enim hic te dirigere poterit quantacumque
librorum lectio, quum non nisi mera aenigmata sonent. O quanta
leguntur scripta de inexpugnabili magicae artis potentia, de
prodigiosis astrologorum imaginibus, de monstrifica
alchymistarum metamorphosi, deque lapide illo benedicto, quo
Midae instar contacta aera, mox omnia in aurum argentumve
permutentur, quae omnia comperiuntur vana, ficta et falsa quoties
ad literam practicantur. Atque tamen traduntur ista,
scribunturque a magnis gravissimisque philosophis et sanctis
viris, quorum traditiones quis audebit dicere falsas? Quin imo
credere impium esset, illos data opera scripsisse mendacia.

Alius est ergo sensus quam literis traditur, isque variis

obductus mysteriis, sed hactenus a nullo magistrorum palam
explicatus, quem nescio siquis sine perito fidoque magistro sola
librorum lectione possit adsequi, nisi fuerit divino numine
illustratus quod datur paucissimis: ideoque in vacuum currunt
multi qui haec secretissima naturae arcana prosequuntur, ad
nudam lectionis seriem referentes animum. Nam inauspicato
ingenio a vero intellectu prolapsi, in [348] falsas imaginationes,
exteriorum spirituum vaframentis irretiti,
 159

gods even more constant than Adrasteia 201 herself? Beware lest
you be deceived by those who were themselves deceived. For no
amount of book reading will be able to guide you here, since they
speak nothing but pure riddles. O how many works do we read
about the invincible power of the magical arts, about the ominous
images of astrologers, about the monstrous metamorphoses of the
alchemists, and about that blessed stone, with which, like Midas,
bronze is quickly transformed into gold or silver when touched –
all of these are found to be vain, fictitious, and false whenever they
are practiced to the letter. And these things are handed down and
written by great and serious philosophers and holy men. Who
would dare to say their traditions are false? Nay, it would rather be
impious to believe that they deliberately wrote those lies.

Therefore, there is another meaning than that which is con-

veyed by the words, and it is veiled in various mysteries, but so far
not one of the masters has openly explained it. I do not know if
anyone, without an experienced and trustworthy master, can at-
tain this by the mere reading of books – unless he is illuminated
by a divine presence, which is granted to so very few. Hence, the
masses rush in vain towards these most secret mysteries of nature,
directing their minds only to the bare reading of the text. For, hav-
ing by ill-fated genius fallen from true understanding into false
imaginations, ensnared by the deceits of external spirits – those
over

201
I.e., the Greek goddess of fate or necessity.
160

illorum quorum dominari datum est, periculosi servi effecti sunt,

et ignorantes semetipsos, abeunt retro post vestigia gregum
suorum, quaerentes extra se quod intus possident. Atque hoc est
quod te nunc scire volo, quia in nobis ipsis est omnium
mirabilium effectuum operator, qui quicquid portentosi
mathematici, quicquid prodigiosi magi, quicquid invidentes
naturae persecutores alchymistae, quicquid daemonibus
deteriores malefici necromantes promittere audent, ipse novit
discernere et efficere, idque sine omni crimine, sine dei offensa,
sine religionis iniuria. In nobis inquam est ille mirandorum
operator:

Nos habitat, non tartara, sed nec sydera coeli,

Spiritus in nobis qui viget, illa facit.

Verum de his nobis quam latissime tecum conferendum esset, sed

coram: Non enim committuntur haec literis, nec scribuntur
calamo, sed spiritu spiritui, paucis sacrisque verbis infunduntur.
Idque si quando nos ad te venire contigerit.

Caeterum quos postulas libros, aliqui illorum aliquando

fuerunt penes me, sed iam non sunt: qui vero penes vos
circumferuntur libri adolescentiae meae, de Occulta philosophia
intitulati, horum priores duo in multis deficiunt, tertius totus
mancus, nec nisi scriptorum meorum epitome quoddam continet.
Sed ego totum opus, favente Domino, integrum recognitumque
aliquando
 161

whom we were given charge to rule 202 – they have become danger-
ous slaves. Ignorant of themselves, they retreat, following the
tracks of their own herds, seeking outside themselves what they
possess within. And this is what I now want you to know: the op-
erator of all wondrous effects lies within ourselves. It knows how
to discern and accomplish whatever portentous astrologers, pro-
digious magi, alchemists – the envious persecutors of nature – and
wicked necromancers worse than demons dare to promise, and all
this without any crime, without offending God, without injury to
religion. In us, I say, is that operator of wonders:

It dwells within us, not in Tartarus, nor in the stars of heaven;

All this is brought to pass by the spirit which lives in us.

But regarding these matters, we should talk about this as exten-

sively as we can, but in person. For these things are not entrusted
to letters, nor written with a pen, but are infused from spirit to
spirit with few and sacred words. And this, if ever it should happen
that we come to you.

As for the books which you request, some of them were once
in my possession, but now they are not. However, those books
from my youth which are circulated among you, entitled On Oc-
cult Philosophy, the first two of these are lacking in many respects,
and the third is entirely incomplete, containing nothing but a syn-
opsis of my writings. But I, with the Lord’s favor, will someday

202
For the authority of Christ’s followers over demons, see Matthew
10:1, 10:8; Mark 3:14-15, 6:7, 6:13; Luke 9:1, 10:17-20; Acts 8:7.
162

in lucem dabo; clave tamen operis solis amicissimis reservata,

quorum te unum esse non dubites.

Vale felicissime, e Lugduno. XXIIII. Septemb. Anno. M.D.XXVII.

Ad eundem

Ex humanissimis tuis literis (venerande pater) quasi ad speculum

animum tuum introspexi totum, illumque amplector totus,
voloque sic tibi persuasum habeas, te mihi supra quam literis
demonstrari possit gratissimum fore, altissimeque insidere animo:
me vero talem esse, qui ex abundantia cordis hoc scribam, quique
eos qui se meae amicitiae commiserunt, nulla unquam tempestate
soleam deserere. Quare ut tu vota consequaris tua, meis non
minora, ego propediem ad te veniam. Ubi cum coram dabitur
mutuas audire et reddere voces, scio amicitiam nostram
indissolubilem fore perpetuoque duraturam.

Iam vero quod ad postulatam Philosophiam attinet, te scire

volo, quod omnium rerum cognoscere opificem
 163

bring forth the whole work into the light of day, complete and re-
vised; however, the key of the work will be reserved only for my
closest friends, among whom you should not doubt yourself to be
one.

Farewell most happily, from Lyon, 24 September, in the year 1527.

To the Same Aurelius of Aquapendente

(1527)

From your most courteous letters, venerable Father, I have, as if

gazing into a looking-glass, fully observed your soul, and I em-
brace it entirely. I wish you to be assured that you are dearer to me
than can be demonstrated by letters, and that you dwell most
deeply in my heart. Indeed, I am someone who writes this from
the abundance of my heart and who is never accustomed, in any
storm whatsoever, to abandon those who have entrusted them-
selves to my friendship. Therefore, so that you may achieve your
desires – no less than mine – I will come to you very soon. When
we can hear and exchange words with each other in person, I know
our friendship will be indissoluble and will perpetually endure.

But now, regarding the Philosophy you have requested, I wish

you to know that to know the maker of
164

ipsum deum, et in illum tota similitudinis imagine (ceu essentiali

quodam contactu sive vinculo) transire, quo ipse transformeris
efficiareque deus quemadmodum de Mose ait dominus, inquiens:
Ecce ego constitui te deum Pharaonis. Haec est illa vera et summa
mirabilium operum occultissima philosophia: Clavis eius
intellectus est: quanto enim altiora intelligimus, tanto sublimiores
induimus virtutes, tantoque maiora et facilius et efficacius
operamur. Verum intellectus noster carni inclusus corruptibili,
nisi viam carnis superaverit, fueritque propriam naturam sortitus,
divinis illis virtutibus non poterit uniri (non enim nisi sibi
quamsimillibus congrediuntur) ac [348] pervidendis illis
occultissimis dei et naturae secretis, omnino inefficax est, atque
hoc opus, hic labor est, superas evadere ad auras.

Quomodo enim qui in cinere et mortali pulvere seipsum

amisit, deum ipsum inveniet? Quomodo apprehendet spiritualia
carni immersus et sanguinis? An videbit dominum homo et vivet?
Quem fructum adferet granum frumenti si prius mortuum non
fuerit? Mori enim oportet, mori inquam mundo et carni, ac
sensibus omnibus, ac toto homini animali, qui velit ad haec
secretorum penetralia ingredi, non quod corpus separetur ab
anima, sed quod
 165

all things, God himself, and to pass over into Him in the full image
of His likeness (as if by some essential contact or bond), whereby
you yourself are transformed and made God, just as the Lord said
of Moses, saying: “behold, I have appointed thee the god of Phar-
aoh.” 203 This is that true and highest most occult philosophy of
wondrous works. Its key is intellect: for the higher we understand,
the more sublime virtues we array ourselves with, and the greater
things we accomplish, more easily and more effectively. But our
intellect, enclosed in corruptible flesh, unless it overcomes the way
of the flesh and attains its own proper nature, cannot be united
with those divine virtues (for they associate only with those most
similar to themselves) and is utterly ineffective in perceiving those
most hidden secrets of God and nature. And this is the task, this is
the labor: to escape to the higher airs.

For how will someone who has lost himself in ash and mortal
dust find God Himself? How will one, immersed in flesh and
blood, grasp spiritual things? Will a man see the Lord and live? 204
What fruit will a grain of wheat bring forth if it has not first
died? 205 For it is fitting to die – to die, I say, to the world and to the
flesh, and to all the senses, and to the entire animal man – whoever
wishes to enter into these inner sanctuaries of secrets; not that the
body is separated from the soul, but that the

203
Exodus 7:1.
204
Exodus 33:20.
205
John 12:24.
166

anima relinquat corpus: de qua morte Paulus scribit

Colossensibus: Mortui estis, et vita vestra abscondita est cum
Christo. Et alibi clarius de seipso ait: Scio hominem in corpore vel
extra corpus, nescio, deus scit, raptum usque ad tertium coelum,
et quae reliqua sequuntur. Hac inquam pretiosa in conspectu
domini morte, mori oportet, quod contingit paucissimis, et forte
non semper: Nam pauci quos aequus amavit Iupiter, aut ardens
evexit ad aethera virtus, diis geniti potuere. Primum qui non ex
carne et sanguine, sed ex deo nati sunt: proxime, qui naturae
beneficio ac
 167

soul relinquishes the body. Of this death Paul writes to the Colos-
sians: “you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ.” 206 And
elsewhere he speaks more clearly about himself, saying: “I know a
man, whether in the body or outside the body, I do not know –
God knows – who was caught up to the third heaven,” 207 and what
follows. In this death, I say, precious in the sight of the Lord, it is
fitting to die – a death which happens to so very few, and perhaps
not always. 208 For few, whom fair Jupiter loved, or whom burning
virtue carried to the heavens – those born of the gods – have been
able to do so. 209 First, those who are born not of flesh and blood,
but of God; next, those who, by the benefit of nature and

206
Colossians 3:3.
207
II Corinthians 12:2.
208
Here Agrippa is referring to Psalm 116:15, “precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of his saints,” and the Binsica or ‘death of the kiss’ (mors
osculi) motif discussed by Pico della Mirandola in 900 Conclusiones 11.11
(Farmer, Syncretism and the West, p. 524-525): “The way in which
rational souls are sacrificed by the archangel to God, which is not
explained by the Cabalists, only occurs through the separation of the soul
from the body, not of the body from the soul except accidentally, as
happens in the death of the kiss…” “Modus quo rationales animae per
archangelum deo sacrificantur, qui a Cabalistis non exprimitur, non est
nisi per separationem animae a corpore, non corporis ab anima nisi per
accidens, ut contigit in morte osculi…” Cf. Maimonides, Guide for the
Perplexed, 3.51 (Friedländer, p. 390-391).
209
An allusion to classical mythology, where only select heroes and
demigods like Hercules are granted ascent to the heavens due to their
virtue or favor from the gods.
168

coelorum genethliaco dono, ad id dignificati sunt: caeteri meritis

nituntur et arte, de quibus viva vox te certiorem reddet.

Verum hoc te admonitum volo, ne circa me decipiaris, ac si

ego aliquando divinae passus, tibi ista praedicem aut tale quid
mihi arrogare velim, vel concedi posse sperem, qui hactenus
humano sanguine sacratus miles, semper fere aulicus, cum carnis
vinculo charissimae uxori alligatus, omnibusque instabilis
fortunae flatibus expositus, totusque a carne, a mundo, a
domesticis curis transversum actus, tam sublimia immortalium
deorum dona non sum adsecutus: Sed accepi me volo velut
indicem, qui ipse semper prae foribus manens, aliis quod iter
ingrediendum sit, ostendit. Caeterum de amore in te meo tu
quidem minime falleris, beneficiis meis quid debeas, non video,
quippe qui non contulerim in te quicquam, nisi quod paratus sum
dum dabitur occasio, conferre omnia.

Tu nunc felicissime Vale, e Lugduno XIX. Novemb. Anno

M.D.XXVII.
 169

the natal gift of the heavens, have been dignified for that; the rest
rely on merits and art, about whom word of mouth will inform
you.

But I wish to warn you of this, lest you be deceived about me,
as if I, having at any time experienced divine things, proclaim
these to you, or wish to arrogate such a thing to myself, or hope
that it can be granted to me – I who, up till now, consecrated as a
soldier by human blood, almost always a courtier, bound by the
bond of the flesh to a most dear wife, and exposed to all the unsta-
ble blasts of fortune, and wholly driven astray by the flesh, by the
world, by domestic cares, have not attained such sublime gifts of
the immortal gods. Nevertheless, I wish to be accepted as a guide,
who himself remains ever before the doors and shows others
which path must be entered upon. Moreover, concerning my love
towards you, you are certainly not mistaken; as for what you owe
for my benefits, I see nothing, since I have not bestowed anything
upon you, except that I am prepared, when the opportunity arises,
to bestow all things.

Now, farewell most happily, from Lyon, 19 November, in the year

1527.
170

Cuidam Amico Suo in

Aula Regis

Henricus Cornelius Agrippa cuidam amico suo in aula Regis.

Salutem dicit.

Solebant veteres aedito proverbio insignem stultitia notare

Noctuas Athenas inferre: sed non minoris stultitiae est, impietatis
autem maximae, daemones inferno addere. Scis quem dico
infernum, illam inquam scelerum scholam, quam indignatus alibi
suis coloribus egregie depinxi aulam. Sed nunquam antea tam
iusta scribendi simul et indignandi occasio data est atque nunc, si
per occupationes liceret rem pro dignitate tractare. Continere
tamen nequeo calamum, quin [349] argumentum eius tibi
exponam.

Audi nunc igitur rem stultam simul et impiam: Accersitus est

e Germania non modicis sumptibus vir quidam daemoniorum,
hoc est cacomagus, in quo potestas daemonum inhabitat, ut sicut
Iannes et Mambres resisterunt Mosi, sic iste resistat Caesari.
Persuasum est enim illis a patre mendaciorum,
 171

To a Certain Friend at the King’s Court

(1528)

Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa sends greetings to a certain friend of

his at the King’s court.

The ancients used to denote outstanding foolishness with a

well-known proverb: “to bring owls to Athens.” 210 But no less fool-
ish is it, and of the greatest impiety, to add demons to hell. You
know what I call hell – that is, that school of crimes, which, indig-
nant, I have elsewhere excellently depicted in its true colors: the
court. But never before has such a just occasion for writing and at
the same time for indignation been given as now, if my occupa-
tions allowed me to handle the matter as it deserves. Nevertheless,
I cannot restrain my pen from laying out its subject to you.

Hear now, therefore, a matter both foolish and impious: A

certain man of demons – that is, an evil sorcerer, in whom the
power of demons dwells – has been summoned to Germany at no
small expense, so that just as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses,
this man may resist Caesar. 211 For they have been persuaded by the
father of lies 212 that he is

210
I.e., γλαῦκ' εἰς Ἀθήνας. Just like “carrying coals to Newcastle,” to bring
owls to Athens is pointless, because the city already has its own, sacred
to the goddess Athena.
211
II Timothy 3:8.
212
I.e., Beelzebub, see Matthew 12:22-30; Mark 3:22; and John 8:44.
172

illum futurorum omnium praescium, arcanorum quorumcunque

consiliorum conscium, ac deliberatarum cogitationum
interpretem: tanta praeterea praeditum tu potestate, ut possit
regios pueros reducere per aëra, quemadmodum legitur Abacuc
cum suo pulmento traductus ad lacum leonum: possetque sicut
Helisaeus obsessus in Dothaim, ostendere montes plenos
equorum et curruum igneorum, exercitumque plurimum: insuper
et revelare et transferre thesauros terrae, quasque volet coget
nuptias amoresque aut dirimere: deploratos quosque curabit
morbos, stygio pharmaco, puta radicatam ethicam, confirmatam
hydropem, inossatam elephantiam, et quam

Solvere nodosam nescit medicina podagram,

Multaque praeterea quae fama obscura recondit.

Vides ubi fides eorum locata est, ubi spes reposita, qui
elementa, coelum, fata, naturam, providentiam, Deum, omnia
unius magi imperio subiicere conantur, et regni quaerunt salutem,
a publicae salutis hostibus daemonibus, dicentes in corde suo cum
Ochozia: Non est deus in Israël, eamus ad consulendum Belsebub,
 173

the knower of all futures, the confidant of every arcane counsel,

and the interpreter of deliberate thoughts. Moreover, endowed
with such great power that he can carry royal youths through the
air, just as it is read that Habakkuk, with his stew, was transported
to the lions’ den. 213 And that he could, like Elisha besieged in
Dothan, show mountains full of horses and fiery chariots, and a
vast army. 214 What is more, he can reveal and relocate the treasures
of the earth, and compel whatever marriages and loves he wishes
or dissolve them. He will cure every deplorable disease with Styg-
ian drugs, diagnose deeply-rooted consumption, advanced
dropsy, ingrained swelling, and

the knotty gout for which medicine has no cure;

and many other things which obscure rumor conceals. 215

You see where their faith has been placed, where their hope
has been set, those who try to subject the elements, the heavens,
fate, nature, providence, and God – all things – to the command
of one magician, and who seek salvation for the kingdom from de-
mons, the enemies of public well-being, saying in their hearts with
Ahaziah: “there is no God in Israel; let us go to consult Beelzebub,

213
In apocryphal additions to the Book of Daniel (i.e., the tale of ‘Bel and
the Dragon’ in Daniel 14), the prophet Habakkuk is miraculously trans-
ported by an angel to bring food to Daniel after he was cast into the lions’
den.
214
II Kings 6:15-17.
215
Ovid, Ex Ponto, 1.3.23 (Wheeler, Ex Ponto, p. 282): “tollere nodosam
nescit medicina podagram.”
174

deum Acharon. Et sicut Saul locutus ad Pythonem, ait: Philistiim

pugnant adversum me, et Dominus recessit a me, et exaudire
noluit, vocavi ergo te. Adeo ne et penes istos desperatum est de
Deo, ut requirenda censuerint auxilia daemonum? Nonne hoc est
iuxta verbum Iudae et Petri, dominum nostrum Iesum Christum
salvatorem, et qui nos redemit, deum abnegare, et superinducere
sibi celerem perditionem? Nonne thesaurizant sibi iram
indignationis domini, mittentem in eos immissiones per angelos
malos? Nonne traditi sunt in reprobum sensum, qui veritatem
arcanique consilii petunt a patre mendaciorum diabolo, et
victoriam postulant aliunde qui a domino exercituum?

Atque tamen huic tam nefario idololatriae et sacrilegiorum

artifici, audaciam praestat, quae istis tam impense favet orthodoxa
illa mater, et Christianissimi filii accommodatur autoritas, et sacris
pecuniis largiuntur munera, conviventibus etiam atque tam
nephariam operam conducentibus columnis ecclesiae, episcopis et
cardinalibus, et impietatis ministro impii applaudunt proceres,
quemadmodum operibus lupi congratulantur corvi. Quod maius
peccatum commiserunt Pharao, Balach, Saul, Achab cum sua
Iezabel? Ochozias, Nabuchodonosor, Balthassar, Sennacherib, et
caeteri cultores
 175

the god of Ekron.” 216 And just as Saul, speaking to the Pythoness,
said: “the Philistines fight against me, and the Lord has departed
from me, and does not answer; therefore, I have called upon
you.” 217 Has it come to this, that even among these people, hope in
God is so lost that they think they must seek help from demons?
Is this not, as Jude and Peter say, denying our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Savior and God who redeemed us, and to bring upon them-
selves swift destruction? Do they not store up for themselves the
wrath of the Lord’s indignation, sending upon them judgements
through evil angels? Have they not been given over to a reprobate
mind, those who seek the truth and secret counsel from the father
of lies, the devil, and ask for victory from elsewhere than from the
Lord of Hosts?

And yet, such audacity is granted to this most nefarious

craftsman of idolatry and sacrilege by that so-called orthodox
mother who so fervently supports him, and by the authority con-
ferred upon him by the most Christian sons, and gifts are lavishly
bestowed upon him with sacred funds, while the pillars of the
Church – bishops and cardinals – dine with him and support this
most wicked work. The impious princes also applaud this minister
of impiety, just as ravens congratulate the works of the wolf. What
greater sins were committed by Pharaoh, Balak, Saul, Ahab with
his Jezebel, Ahaziah, Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Sennacherib,
and the other worshippers

216
II Kings 1:16.
217
I Samuel 28:15-25.
176

Baal? Vocavit Pharao contra Mosen magos suos, et illi victi in

tertia plaga confessi sunt digitum dei: rex autem obstinatus per
decem plagas periit in mari rubro. Vocavit Balach Moabites
Balaam ariolum ut malediceret Israël, et deus ipse maledictionem
convertit in benedictionem, Balach vero maledictus est. Quid
Saulo Samuelis sui aut Pythonis profuere responsa? Nonne
confossus est in monte Gelboë: Achab et Iezabel nefariis nuptiis
coniuncti confidebant in prophetas [350] Baal, et iuxta verbum dei
egressus est spiritus mendax in ore omnium prophetarum, Achab
ascensuro in Ramod Balaad prospera promittentium, ceciditque
Achab, et Iezabel praecipitata est, et canes comederunt eos.
Corripitur Asa rex Iuda a propheta domini, quia in aegritudine sua
non quaesivit dominum, sed in artem medicorum confisus est.
Nonne maius peccatum habituri sunt, qui relinquentes deum
salvatorem, et salubres naturae vires, salutem quaerunt a Satana?

Fecit ita quondam Ochozias, proptereaque audiuit a propheta

domini, supra lectulum quem ascendisti non descendes, sed morte
morieris. Percurratur caeterorum infidelium regum series, etiam
gentilium historiae: Zoroastres,
 177

of Baal? Pharaoh summoned his magicians against Moses, and

when they were defeated in the third plague, they confessed it was
the finger of God; yet the obstinate king perished after the ten
plagues in the Red Sea. 218 Balak, king of Moab, summoned Balaam
the diviner to curse Israel, but God Himself turned the curse into
a blessing, and Balak was cursed. What did the responses from his
Samuel or the Pythoness avail Saul? Was he not pierced through
on Mount Gilboa? Ahab and Jezebel, joined in their nefarious
marriage, placed their trust in the prophets of Baal, and according
to the word of God, a lying spirit came forth in the mouth of all
the prophets, promising Ahab prosperity as he was preparing to
ascend to Ramoth-Gilead. 219 Ahab fell, Jezebel was cast down, and
the dogs ate them. Asa, king of Judah, was rebuked by the prophet
of the Lord because in his sickness, he did not seek the Lord but
trusted in the art of physicians. Will not those be guilty of a greater
sin who forsake God the Savior, and the healing powers of nature,
and seek salvation from Satan?

Ahaziah once did this, and because of it, he heard from the
prophet of the Lord: “You shall not come down from the bed upon
which you have ascended, but you will surely die.” 220 Let us con-
sider the series of other unfaithful kings, even from the histories
of the pagans: Zoroaster,

218
Exodus 14:27; Psalm 136:15.
219
I Kings 22:1-36.
220
II Kings 1:16; the reference to Ahaziah emphasizes the king’s reliance
on false gods, leading to his death as prophesied by Elijah.
178

Diotharus, Croesus, Pompeius, Pyrrhus, Crassus, Nero, Iulianus,

quid lucrati sunt in magis et divinatoribus suis, qui mentiti sunt
illis felicia? Nonne omnes ad nihilum redacti sunt, et male
perierunt in peccatis suis? Sic solent impiae illae nugae semper
perniciem suis adferre cultoribus, quibus profecto qui maxime
confidunt, maxime omnium redduntur infelicissimi. Non inficior,
sunt naturales scientiae, sunt metaphysicae artes, sunt occulta
ingenia, quibus citra dei offensionem, citra fidei et religionis
iniuriam tueri possunt regna, explorari consilia, vinci hostes, eripi
captivi, adaugeri divitiae, conciliari hominum benevolentia,
depelli aegritudines, conservari sanitas, prolongari vita, restitui
iuventutis robur. Sunt insuper sacrae religionis intercessiones,
publicae supplicationes, privatae bonorum preces, quibus non
solum iram dei flectere, sed et simul illum nobis beneficum
impetrare possumus.

Quod si praeterea ars quaedam est praescientiae et

mirandorum operum, quam Calo magiam sive Theurgiam veteres
vocant, certe haec istis nugatoribus et daemoniorum mancipiis
incognita est. Quippe explorare de futuris aut imminentibus
aliisve occultis, et quae hominibus divinitus portenduntur
veridicas sententias, atque operari opera virtutum communem
naturae consuetudinem excedentia, non nisi profundae et
perfectae doctrinae, integerrimaeque vitae ac fidei est, non
hominum levissimorum ac indoctorum. Hominibus autem
innocentibus et doctis in lege Domini,
 179

Diotharus, Croesus, Pompey, Pyrrhus, Crassus, Nero, Julian –

what did they gain from their magicians and diviners, who falsely
promised them prosperity? Did they not all come to nothing and
perish miserably in their sins? In this way, such impious trifles al-
ways bring ruin to their followers, and those who place the greatest
trust in them become the most unfortunate of all. I do not deny
that there are natural sciences, metaphysical arts, and hidden tal-
ents, which, without offending God or harming faith and religion,
can be used to defend kingdoms, uncover counsels, defeat ene-
mies, free captives, increase wealth, win human favor, drive away
sickness, preserve health, prolong life, and restore the vigor of
youth. 221 Moreover, there are intercessions of sacred religion, pub-
lic supplications, and private prayers of the good, by which not
only can we turn aside God’s wrath, but also obtain His favor and
blessings.

Moreover, if there is a certain art of foreknowledge and mi-

raculous works, which the ancients called celestial magic or the-
urgy, surely this is unknown to those triflers and slaves of demons.
Indeed, to explore the future or imminent matters, or other hid-
den things, and to provide truthful judgements about those things
divinely foretold to men, and to perform works of power that ex-
ceed the common course of nature – this belongs only to profound
and perfect knowledge, to those of the most upright life and faith,
not to the most frivolous and unlearned men. But to innocent and
learned men in the law of the Lord,

221
Cf. Attrell and Porreca, Picatrix, p. 16-26.
180

pro voto fidei servit omnis creatura, et exaudiuntur ad

quaecunque petierint. Sic Heliam corvus pavit, et ad preces eius
terra fructus retinet, coelum negat pluviam, et in impios evomit
ignes suos. Sic Helisaeo serviunt ursi, militant angeli, flumina
siccis transeuntur pedibus. Danieli posita ferocitate neglectaque
fama adblandiuntur leones: Et succensus in fornace ignis non urit
pueros. Eiusmodi sunt non cacomagorum, non goeticorum, non
daemoniorum, sed fidelium divinorumque hominum opera: non
enim daemones, sed spiritus Dei ministrant illis.

Sunt fateor aliqui, etiam in hunc diem (et forte plures) viri
sapientia graves, scientia insignes, virtutibus et potestatibus
pollentes, vita et moribus integri, prudentia invicti, etiam aetate et
robore dispositi, ut reipublicae consilio et opera plurimum possint
prodesse: sed hos aulici vestri contemnunt, ut ab instituto eorum
longe diversos, quibus pro sapientia malitia est, fraus et [351]
dolus pro consilio, astus
 181

all creation serves at the command of their faith, and they are
heard in whatever they ask. Thus, a raven fed Elijah, and at his
prayers the earth withheld its fruit, the heavens denied rain, and
upon the wicked it spewed forth its fires. 222 Thus, bears serve Eli-
sha, angels fight, and rivers are crossed with dry feet. 223 The lions,
having set aside their ferocity and fame, fawned over Daniel; and
the fire lit in the furnace does not burn the youths. 224 Such are nei-
ther the works of evil sorcerers, nor of goetic practitioners, nor of
demons, but of faithful and divine men: for it is not demons, but
the spirits of God who minister to them. 225

I admit that even today (and perhaps more than before), there
are men of great wisdom, notable for their knowledge, powerful in
virtues and abilities, upright in life and morals, invincible in pru-
dence, and even strong in age and constitution, who can greatly
benefit the state with their counsel and deeds. But your courtiers
despise these men, as being far removed from their way of think-
ing, for in their minds, malice stands in place of wisdom, fraud
and deceit in place of counsel, craftiness

222
See I Kings 17:4-6 for Elijah and the ravens; I Kings 17:1; James 5:17
for Elijah’s prayer for a three-and-a-half-year drought; and 2 Kings 1:10-
12 for fire from heaven.
223
See II Kings 2:23-24 for the bears that maul a crowd of forty-two boys
that mock Elisha for his baldness; II Kings 19:35 for the angel of the Lord
who slays eighty-five thousand Assyrians; and Exodus 14:29 for the
Hebrews crossing the Red Sea.
224
Daniel 6:1-28 and 3:1-30.
225
Cf. Matthew 4:11 and Hebrews 1:14.
182

et calliditas pro scientia, deceptio et perfidia pro prudentia est.

Regionis locum possidet superstitio, et in afflictionibus
blasphematur Deus: et quae (ut ait Apostolus) in infirmitate
perficitur fides, contemnitur: sed recurritur ad invocamenta
malorum daemonum. Bonus quisque apud eos irridetur, audax
hypocritis provehitur, veritas pro crimine est, laus et praemia
stultitiae et sceleribus reposita sunt.

O stulti et impii, qui his artibus stabilire vultis regnum,

quibus olim potentissima imperia ceciderunt funditusque eversa
sunt. De quibus vere dictum est per Hieremiam: Cecidit corona
nostra, vae quia peccavimus. Quod utinam non tam vere quam
excogitata ingeniosa forte in vos quadraret. Siquidem ille
versiculus collectis invicem numerabilibus literis. M.C.V.I. annum
exprimit M.D.XXIIII. quo iuxta vestrum calculum, rex vester apud
Papiam captus est. Nonne haec vidistis et admirati estis, quae ante
facta quam fuissent impossibilia iudicastis? Et adhuc superbistis et
obdurati estis in infelicitatibus vestris. Contemnitis prophetas, et
Dei comminationes vobis pro fabulis sunt. En prope est, et adhuc
videbitis et sentietis magnalia Dei in orbe terrarum, et collapsi in
fata contremiscetis, quia veniet super vos repente miseria
 183

and cunning in place of knowledge, and deception and treachery

in place of prudence. Superstition holds place in the land, and in
hardships, God is blasphemed; and that faith which (as the Apostle
says) is made perfect in weakness, is scorned: but recourse is made
to the invocations of evil demons. Any good man is ridiculed by
them; the reckless is promoted by hypocrites; truth is treated as a
crime; and praise and rewards are reserved for folly and wicked-
ness.

O foolish and wicked ones, who wish to stabilize your king-

dom by means of these arts, by which long ago the most powerful
empires have fallen and been utterly overthrown. Of which it was
truly said by Jeremiah: “our crown has fallen, woe to us because
we have sinned!” 226 Would that this did not apply to you as truly
as it fits by ingenious design! Indeed, that verse, when the letters
are calculated and added together, expresses the year 1524, in
which, according to your calculation, your king was captured at
Pavia. Did you not see these things and wonder at them – things
you thought impossible before they happened? And even now you
remain proud and hardened in your misfortunes. 227 You scorn the
prophets, and God’s warnings are like fables to you. Behold, it is
nigh, and soon you will see and feel the great works of God around
the whole world, and, collapsing into ruin, you will tremble at fate,
for misery will come upon you suddenly,

226
Lamentations 5:16.
227
The language here echoes Exodus 7:13-8:19 with the hardening of
Pharaoh’s heart in the face of the catastrophes brought about by the ten
plagues of Egypt.
184

quam nescitis: quo tunc fugietis? State cum incantatoribus vestris

et cum multitudine maleficiorum vestrorum, si forte quid prosint
vobis, aut possitis fieri fortiores. Nonne accersitus Germanicus
cacomagus salvabit vos, et mendaces faciet prophetas, ac
praevalebit contra iram domini, et liberabit vos a malo? Non sic
impii non sic. Nisi dominus aedificaverit et custodierit civitates et
regnum, in vanum laborant et vigilant omnes custodes eius. Solius
Dei est, non daemonum, non magorum, suspendere aut mutare
prophetarum sententiam: si vos toto corde conversi ad eius
misericordiam, vestram mutaveritis malitiam atque perfidiam. Sic
nanque Nabuchodonosor Danielis consilio peccata eleemosynis
redimens, et iniquitates in misericordiis pauperum; imminentem
Dei iram ad tempus effugit, donec in aula Babylonis voce elationis
suae rursus illam in se revocavit. Achab impiissimus cum sua
Iezabele, cui mortem per Heliam dominus nunciavit, quia
conversus est ad Deum, sanctus est iterum sermo domini ad
Heliam: Quia reveritus est Achab faciem meam, non inducam
malum in diebus eius. Ninivitae quia ex edicto regis et principum
egerunt poenitentiam ad praedicatione Ionae, ab imminenti
protinus excidio liberati sunt. Intimavit Esaias Ezechiae
sententiam, ut disponeret domui suae cito moriturus: Ille oravit et
flevit, et sanatus est, adauctis ei annis vitae quindecim: Sic enim ad
eum per eundem prophetam locutus est dominus:
 185

and you will not know from where: where then will you flee? Stand
with your enchanters and with the multitude of your sorceries, if
perhaps they might help you, or you might be made stronger. Will
your summoned German sorcerer not save you? Will he make the
prophets liars? Will he prevail against the Lord’s wrath, and de-
liver you from evil? Not so, wicked ones, not so. Unless the Lord
builds and guards our cities and our kingdom, all its guardians la-
bor and watch in vain. 228 It is God alone, not demons or magicians,
who has the power to suspend or change the will of the prophets
– if you with your whole heart turn to His mercy, and change your
wickedness and treachery. Thus, by the counsel of Daniel, Nebu-
chadnezzar redeemed his sins with alms, and his iniquities with
mercy toward the poor; he escaped the imminent wrath of God for
a time, until in the court of Babylon, by the voice of his pride, he
again called it upon himself. The most impious Ahab, with his Jez-
ebel, to whom the Lord announced death through Elijah, when he
turned to God, the word of the Lord came again to Elijah, saying:
“because Ahab has humbled himself before me, I will not bring
evil in his days.” 229 The Ninevites, because they repented at the
preaching of Jonah by the decree of the king and his nobles, were
immediately delivered from impending destruction. Isaiah an-
nounced to Hezekiah the sentence that he should set his house in
order, as he would soon die; but he prayed and wept, and was
healed, with fifteen years added to his life. For thus did the Lord
speak

228
Psalm 127:1 (Vulg. 126:1).
229
I Kings 21:29.
186

Vidi lachrymas tuas, et exaudivi orationem tuam: ecce ego

adiiciam super dies tuos quindecim annos. Insuper et de manu
regis Assyriorum eruam te, et civitatem istam, et protegam eam.
Tantum potuit conversio et oratio pii regis, ut qui pro se solo
oravit, tamen non pro se solo impetravit, sed etiam pro civitate et
populo. Solus dominus est qui salvum fecit regem, [352] et qui
sapientiam dat filio regis. Ad hunc magistrum confugere oportet,
qui quaerunt salutem, non ad magos et ariolos.

Induimini iustitiam, et timete dominum, vos qui quaeritis

felicia. Si regni firmitas quaeritur, scriptum est: Iusti
haereditabunt terram. In memoria aeterna erit iustus, et in
aeternum non commovebitur. Si securitas quaeritur: Qui timent
dominum, ab auditione mala non timebunt, sed et omnes
despicient inimicos. Si honor et opes quaeruntur: Gloria et divitiae
in domo eius. Si laus et favor: Generatio rectorum benedicetur. Si
potentia: Potens erit in terra ipse et semen eius:
 187

to him through the same prophet: “I have seen your tears and have
heard your prayer; behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.
Moreover, I will deliver you from the hand of the king of the As-
syrians, as well as this city, and I will protect it.” 230 Such was the
power of the conversion and prayer of the pious king, that alt-
hough he prayed for himself alone, he nevertheless procured favor
not only for himself but also for the city and the people. It is the
Lord alone who saved the king, and who gives wisdom to the
king’s son. It is to this master that one seeking salvation ought to
flee, not to magicians and soothsayers.

Clothe yourselves in righteousness and fear the Lord, you

who seek happiness. 231 If the stability of the kingdom is sought, it
is written: “the righteous will inherit the land.” 232 “The righteous
will be in everlasting remembrance, and he will not be moved for-
ever.” 233 If security is sought: “those who fear the Lord will not fear
bad news, but will look down upon all their enemies.” 234 If honor
and wealth are sought: “glory and riches are in his house.” 235 If
praise and favor: “the generation of the upright will be blessed.” 236
If power: “he and his seed will be mighty upon

230
II Kings 20:6.
231
Colossians 3:12; Proverbs 9:10.
232
Psalm 37:29 (Vulg. 36:29).
233
Psalm 112:6 (Vulg. 111:6).
234
Psalm 112:8 (Vulg. 111:8).
235
Psalm 112:3 (Vulg. 111:3).
236
Psalm 112:2 (Vulg. 111:2).
188

fortitudo eius exaltabitur in gloria. Si nuptiae et coniugii

prosperitas: Uxor eius sicut vitis habundans in lateribus domus, et
filii eius sicut novellae olivarum. Si corporis sanitas et robur: Non
dabit dominus sanctos suos videre corruptionem. In omnibus
denique beatus est, qui timet dominum, qui immaculatus in via,
qui non abiit in consilio impiorum, qui miseretur super egenum
et pauperem: nam in die mala liberabit eum dominus, et non
tradet eum in manu inimicorum eius: peccatores autem videbunt
et irascentur, dentibus frement et tabescent, desiderium eorum
peribit. Haec nunc admonuisse satis. Nolo enim curiosius hanc
rem prosequi, ne forte malitia subiectae materiae calamum
protrudat quo non expedit.

Vale ex Lutetia Parisiorum XIII. Februarii Anno. M. D. XXVIII.

Romano calculo.
 189

the earth; his strength will be exalted in glory.” 237 If marriage and
prosperity in wedlock: “his wife will be like a fruitful vine on the
sides of the house, and his sons like olive shoots.” 238 If health and
strength of the body: “the Lord will not allow His holy ones to see
corruption.” 239 Finally, blessed in all things is the man who fears
the Lord, who is blameless in his way, who has not walked in the
counsel of the ungodly, who has mercy upon the needy and
poor. 240 For in the day of trouble, the Lord will deliver him, and
He will not give him over into the hand of his enemies. But the
wicked will see and be enraged, they will gnash their teeth and
waste away; their desire will perish. 241 I think I have now said
enough on this matter, for I do not wish to pursue it further, lest
perhaps the malice of the subject at hand might push the pen
where it ought not to go.

Farewell from Paris, February 13, 1528, according to the Roman

calendar.

237
Psalm 112:2 (Vulg. 111:2).
238
Psalm 128:3 (Vulg. 127:3).
239
Psalm 16:10.
240
Psalm 1:1, 41:1 (Vulg. 40:1), and 112:1 (Vulg. 111:1).
241
Psalm 112:10 (Vulg. 111:10).
190

Censura sive retractatio de magia ex sua

declamatione de Vanitate scientiarum et
excellentia Verbi dei

DE MAGIA IN GENERE

Exigit etiam hic locus, ut de Magia dicamus, nam et ipsa cum

astrologia sic coniuncta atque cognata est, ut qui magiam sine
astrologia profiteatur, is nihil agat, sed tota aberret via. Suidas
magiam a Magusaeis, et nomen, et originem traxisse putat.
Communis opinio est nomen esse Persicum, cui astipulantur
Porphyrius et Apuleius, et significare eorum lingua idem quod
sacerdotem, sapientem sive philosophum. Magia itaque omnem
philosophiam, physicam, et mathematicam complexa, etiam uires
religionum illis adiungit. Hinc et goetiam et theurgiam in se
quoque continet. Qua de causa magiam plerique bifariam dividunt
in naturalem uidelicet et ceremonialem.
 191

Critique or Retraction on Magic from His

Declamation on the Vanity of the Sciences
and the Excellence of the Word of God (1533)

ON MAGIC IN GENERAL

This topic also requires us to speak about magic, for it itself is also
so closely connected and related to astrology that anyone who pro-
fesses magic without astrology accomplishes nothing and strays
completely from the path. Suidas believes that magic took both its
name and origin from the Magi. The common opinion is that the
name is Persian, which Porphyry and Apuleius support, and that
in their language, it signifies the same as priest, wise man, or phi-
losopher. Magic, therefore, having encompassed all philosophy,
physics, and mathematics, also adds to them the powers of reli-
gions. Hence, it also contains within itself both goetia and theurgy.
For this reason, many divide magic into two kinds, namely natural
and ceremonial. 242

242
Giambattista della Porta, Natural Magick, p. 1-2 draws closely and
extensively from this section of Agrippa’s De incertitudine to introduce
his own treatment of natural magic.
192

DE MAGIA NATURALI

Naturalem magiam, non aliud putant, quam naturalium

scientiarum summam potestatem, quam idcirco summum
philosophiae naturalis apicem, eiusque absolutissimam
consummationem vocant, et quae sit activa portio philosophiae
naturalis, quae naturalium [353] virtutum adminiculo, ex mutua
earum et opportuna applicatione opera edit, supra omnem
admirationis captum: qua magia Aethiopes maxime et Indi
utebantur, ubi herbarum et lapidum, et caeterorumque ad id
spectantium facultas suppetebat. Eius memimisse uolunt
Hieronymum ad Paulinum, ubi ait Apollonium Tyaneum fuisse
magum, seu philosophum, ut Pythagorici. Eius etiam generis
fuisse magos, qui Christum natum muneribus invisentes
adoraverunt, quos evangeliorum interpretes exponunt
Chaldaeorum philosophos: quales fuere Hiarchas apud
Bragmanas, Tespion apud Gymnosophistas, Budda apud
Babylonios, Numa Pompilius apud Romanos,
 193

ON NATURAL MAGIC

They consider natural magic to be nothing other than the highest

power of the natural sciences, which they therefore call the su-
preme peak of natural philosophy and its most perfect consum-
mation. It is the active part of natural philosophy, which, through
the aid of natural virtues and the mutual and timely application of
these virtues, performs works beyond all comprehension of admi-
ration. This magic was particularly used by the Ethiopians and the
Indians, where the knowledge of herbs, stones, and other related
faculties was available for this purpose. 243 It is said that Jerome
mentioned it in his letter to Paulinus, where he states that Apollo-
nius of Tyana was a magician, or rather, a philosopher, like the
Pythagoreans. 244 It is also said that the Magi, who visited the new-
born Christ with gifts and adored Him, were of this kind. 245 These
the interpreters of the Gospels explain as philosophers of the Chal-
deans. Of such kind were Hiarchas among the Brahmins, Tespion
among the Gymnosophists, Budda among the Babylonians, Numa
Pompilius among the Romans,

243
Cf. Picatrix 2.5.1 (Attrell and Porreca, Picatrix, p. 84).
244
Jerome, Letter 53.1: “Apollonius too was a traveller – the one I mean
who is called the sorcerer by ordinary people and the philosopher by such
as follow Pythagoras. He entered Persia, traversed the Caucasus and
made his way through the Albanians, the Scythians, the Massagetae, and
the richest districts of India.”
245
Matthew 2:1-12.
194

Zalmoxides apud Thracas, Abbaris apud Hyperboreos, Hermes

apud Aegyptios, Zoroastes Oromasi filius apud Persas. Nam Indi,
et Aethiopes, et Chaldaei, et Persae hac maxime praecelluere
magia: qua idcirco (ut narrat Plato in Alcibiade) imbuuntur
Persarum regum filii, ut ad mundanae reipublicae imaginem suam
et ipsi rempublicam administrare, distribuereque condiscant, et
Cicero in Divinationum libris ait, neminem apud Persas regno
potiri, qui prius magiam non didicerit.
 195

Zalmoxis among the Thracians, Abaris among the Hyperboreans,

Hermes among the Egyptians, and Zoroaster, the son of
Oromasius, among the Persians. For the Indians, Ethiopians,
Chaldeans, and Persians particularly excelled in this magic, which
is why (as Plato narrates in the Alcibiades) the sons of the kings of
the Persians are imbued with it so that they may learn to govern
and manage their republic according to the image of the world’s
republic. 246 Cicero, in his books On Divination, says that no one
among the Persians could attain the throne without first learning
magic. 247

246
Plato, Alcibiades I, 121e-122a: “When the boys are seven years old,
they are given horses and have riding lessons, and they begin to follow
the chase. And when the boy reaches fourteen years he is taken over by
the royal tutors, as they call them there: these are four men chosen as the
most highly esteemed among the Persians of mature age, namely, the
wisest one, the justest one, the most temperate one, and the bravest one.
The first of these teaches him the magian lore of Zoroaster, son of
Horomazes; and that is the worship of the gods: he teaches him also what
pertains to a king. The justest teaches him to be truthful all his life long;
the most temperate, not to be mastered by even a single pleasure, in order
that he may be accustomed to be a free man and a veritable king, who is
the master first of all that is in him, not the slave; while the bravest trains
him to be fearless and undaunted, telling him that to be daunted is to be
enslaved.”
247
Cicero, De divinatione, 1.90-91: “Among the Persians the augurs and
diviners are the magi, who assemble regularly in a sacred place for
practice and consultation, just as formerly you augurs used to do on the
Nones. Indeed, no one can become king of the Persians until he has
learned the theory and the practice of the magi.”
196

Magia itaque naturalis ea est, quae rerum omnium

naturalium atque coelestium vires contemplata, earundemque
sympathiam curiosa indagine scrutata, reconditas ac latentes in
natura potestates ita in apertum producit: inferiora superiorum
dotibus, tanquam quasdam illecebras, sic copulans, per eorum
mutuam applicationem ad invicem, ut exinde stupenda saepe
consurgant miracula, non tam arte quam natura, cui se ars ista
ministram exhibet haec operanti. Nam magi, ut naturae
accuratissimi exploratores, conducentes ea, quae a natura
praeparata sunt, applicando activa passivis, saepissime ante
tempus a natura ordinatum effectus producunt, quae vulgus putat
miracula, cum tamen naturalia opera sint, interveniente sola
temporis praeventione: ut si quis in mense Martio rosas producat,
et maturas uvas, aut satas fabas, vel petroselinum intra paucas
horas excrescere faciat in perfectam plantam, et iis maiora, ut
nubes, pluvias, tonitrua, et diversorum generum animalia, et
rerum transmutationes quam plurimas, cuiusmodi multas fecisse
se iactat Rogerius Bachon pura et naturali magia.
 197

Thus natural magic is that which, having contemplated the

forces of all natural and celestial things, and having carefully in-
vestigated their sympathy through diligent inquiry, brings forth
into the open the hidden and latent powers in nature: thus com-
bining lower things with the qualities of higher ones, as though by
certain allurements, through their mutual application to one an-
other, such that astounding miracles often arise from them, not so
much by art as by nature, to which this art presents itself as a serv-
ant to the one performing the work. For magicians, as the most
meticulous explorers of nature, by using what has been prepared
by nature, most frequently produce effects before their time or-
dained by nature by applying active things to passive ones, which
the common people believe to be miracles, although they are nat-
ural works, with only the intervention of temporal acceleration,
like if someone were to produce roses and mature grapes in the
month of March, or cause sown beans or parsley to grow into a
complete plant within a few hours, and even greater things, like
clouds, rain, thunder, various kinds of animals, and numerous
transmutations of things, of the kind which Roger Bacon boasts to
have performed with pure and natural magic.
198

Scripserunt de illius operibus Zoroastes, Hermes, Euanthes

rex Arabum, Zacharias Babylonius, Ioseph Hebraeus, Bocus,
Aaron, Zenotenus, Kirannides 248, Almadal 249, Thetel 250,
Alchindus 251, Abel, Ptolemaeus, Geber, Zahel, Nazabarub, Tebith,
Berith, Solomon, Astaphon, Hipparchus, Alcmaeon, Apollonius,
Triphon,

248
A Hermetic text, the Kyranides (Greek: Κυρανίδες), rather than an
individual. It is a compilation of magical and medical knowledge
containing information on natural remedies, magical stones, and
talismans, and was translated into Latin by Pascal the Roman during the
reign of the 12th-century Byzantine Emperor, Manuel I Komnenos.
249
Again, not an individual, but a reference to the Ars Almandal
Salomonis, a magical text containing instructions on how to build a
portable altar with four candles and a wax tablet used for summoning
spirits in the smoke of suffumigation. See Regan, “The De consecratione
lapidum: A Previously Unknown Thirteenth-Century Version of the
Liber Almandal Salomonis,” p. 277-333 and the digital edition of the Ars
Almadel by Joseph Peterson
(esotericarchives.com/solomon/almadel.htm) who writes:“ in addition
to the unique version published by Vajra Regan, two main versions are
known, distinguished as Almandal and Almadel. The former is closer to
the Arabic source, while the latter apparently represents a significant
revision and Christianization of the text.”
250
Possibly Techel, author of the Liber Sigillorum. See Ockenström and
Regan, “The Hermetic Origins of the Liber sigillorum of Techel,” p. 173-
266.
251
I.e. the 9th century Arab philosopher Al-Kindi, though in this context,
it is likely Agrippa is referring to the De radiis stellarum which is now
believed to be only pseudepigraphically attributed to Al-Kindi; see
Matton, “D’un rayonnement des grammairiens latins ou le De radiis n’est
pas d’al-Kindi,” p. 443-456.
 199

Zoroaster, Hermes, Evanthes, king of the Arabs, Zacharias

the Babylonian, Joseph the Hebrew, Bocus, Aaron, Zenotenus,
Kyranides, Almadal, Thetel, Al-Kindi, Abel, Ptolemy 252, Geber 253,
Zahel 254, Nazabarub, Tebith 255, Berith 256, Solomon, Astaphon,
Hipparchus, Alcmaeon 257, Apollonius, Triphon, and many others
wrote on works of

252
I.e., Claudius Ptolemaeus (c. 100 - c. 170 AD) was an Alexandrian
mathematician, astronomer, geographer, and astrologer, whose works
became highly influential in both the medieval Islamic world and
Europe. He is best known for his treatise on astronomy, the Almagest,
which outlined the geocentric model of the universe, as well as his
Tetrabiblos, in which he systematized the principles of Hellenistic
astrology within a natural philosophical framework. Most relevant here
is the Centiloquium, which is a collection of a hundred aphorisms of
astrological wisdom and practical insight pseudepigraphically attributed
to Ptolemy.
253
I.e., Jabir ibn Hayyan, the most influential (and mysterious) of all the
Arab alchemists.
254
A.k.a. Zehel, i.e., Sahl ibn Bishr al-Israili, an 8-9th century astrologer
and polymath whose work was translated into Latin by John of Seville in
the 12th century and from there found its way into works such as the Liber
hermetis de sex principium rerum. Possibly even the same author as
‘Techel’ mentioned earlier in the list.
255
I.e., Thabit ibn Qurra, the Sabian mathematician, physician, and
astronomer from Harrān who authored a work of astrological magic that
circulated throughout Europe as the Latin De Imaginibus.
256
Uncertain identity, but in some magical traditions, “Berith” is
associated with a demon or a spirit in the Goetia. The god Baal Berith is
also mentioned in Judges 8:33, 9:4, and 9:46.
257
I.e., Alcmaeon of Croton, the Ancient Greek natural philosopher and
alleged disciple of Pythagoras.
200

et plerique alii, quorum aliqua opera adhuc integra, et pleraque

fragmenta adhuc extant, et ad manus meas aliquando
pervenerunt. Ex recentioribus vero scripserunt in naturali magia
pauci, et illi quidem pauca, ut Albertus 258, Arnoldus de
Villanova 259, Raimundus Lullius, Bachon, et Apponus, et autor
libri, ad Alfonsum, sub Picatricis nomine editus, qui tamen una
cum naturali magia plurimum superstitionis admiscet, quod
quidem fecerunt et alii.

258
While this attribution is now doubted, Albertus Magnus was long
thought to be responsible for composing the Speculum Astronomiae in
defence of astrology as a science compatible with Christian doctrine.
Aside from this attribution, Albertus wrote many works on natural
philosophy like De re metallica, leading to his association with many
spurious alchemical and magical texts.
259
A medieval alchemist, physician, and apocalyptic thinker known to
have made use of talismanic images in his medical practice. See Picatrix
2.12.44 (Attrell and Porreca, Picatrix, 59) for the golden image of Leo he
used to treat Pope Boniface VIII’s kidney stones. Arnald’s failed
astrological predictions also earned him some opprobrium from
Giovanni Pico della Mirandola in his Disputationes adversus astrologiam
divinatricem (Opera omnia, p. 551: “Arnaldus Hispanus, nobilis quidem
medicus, sed ad superstitiones Paulo nimis propensius ex astrologica
vanitate, plerisque aliis adiectis, Antichristum nobis anno gratiae 1345
comminabatur.” [“Arnaldus of Spain, indeed a noble physician, but
somewhat too inclined to superstitions due to astrological vanity, along
with several other things, was threatening us with the Antichrist in the
year of grace 1345.”]
 201

this kind, some of whose whole works, and some fragmentary, are
extant to this day, and have at times come into my possession.
Among more recent authors, few have written on natural magic,
and those few have written little, such as Albert, Arnald of Villa-
nova, Raymond Llull 260, [Roger] Bacon 261, and [Pietro] d’Abano 262,
and the author of the book addressed to [King] Alfonso, published
under the name Picatrix, who nevertheless mixes in a great deal of
superstition with natural magic, as indeed others have also
done. 263

260
The so-called doctor illuminatus, Ramon Llull was a Majorcan
polymath and Franciscan tertiary who wrote on a great variety of
philosophical works, upon some of which Agrippa has left us
commentaries. Nevertheless, Llull was also subject to numerous
pseudepigraphically-attributed works on alchemy, magic, and Cabala
(e.g., De auditu kabbalistico; sive, ad omnes scientias introductorium, first
printed in Venice, 1518). See Blau, “Appendix B: Was Raymond Lull a
Cabalist?” in The Christian Interpretation of the Cabala, p. 117-118.
261
I.e., Roger Bacon, the 13th-century English philosopher and Franciscan
friar who produced an edited and annotated manuscript of the Latin
Secretum secretorum (or Sirr al-Asrar), a pseudo-Aristotelian ‘mirror for
princes’ which deals in part with Hermetic and magical themes. See
Roger Bacon, Secretum Secretorum, p. 1-175.
262
An Italian philosopher and physician attributed with the authorship
of such magical works as the Heptameron, a work with ritual instructions
for the conjuration of angels.
263
Authors left unglossed in this section are either unknown (e.g., Bocus,
Nazabarub, Astaphon), or known well-enough not to merit an
explanatory note (e.g., Zoroaster, Hermes, Solomon).
202

DE MAGIA MATHEMATICA

Sunt praeterea alii naturae sagacissimi aemulatores,

inquisitoresque audacissimi, qui absque naturalibus virtutibus, ex
solis mathematicis disciplin[354]is, adscitis coelorum influxibus,
sese naturae operum similia producere posse pollicentur, ut
corpora euntia vel loquentia, quae tamen non habeant virtutes
animales: qualis fuit columba Architae lignea, quae uolabat, et
statuae Mercurii, quae loquebantur: et caput aeneum ab Alberto
Magno fabricatum, quod locutum perhibent. Excelluit in istis
Boethius, vir maximus ingenii, et multiplicis eruditionis: ad quem
de istiusmodi scribens Cassiodorus: Tibi (inquit) ardua
cognoscere, et miracula monstrare propositum est: tuae artis
ingenio metalla mugiunt, Diomedes in aere gravius buccinatur,
aeneus anguis insibilat, aves simulatae sunt, et quae vocem
propriam nesciunt habere, dulcedinem cantilenae probantur
emittere, parva de illo referimus, cui coelum imitari phas est. De
istis puto artificiis dictum est, quod apud Platonem legimus in
undecimo de Legibus: Ars data est mortalibus, qua res posteriores
quasdam generarent, non quidem veritatis et divinitatis participes,
sed simulacra quaedam sibiipsis cognata deducerent: atque eo
usque progressi sunt magi homines audacissimi omnia perpetrare,
favente maxime antiquo illo et valido serpente scientiarum
pollicitatore, ut similes illi tanquam simiae, deum et naturam
aemulari conarentur.
 203

ON MATHEMATICAL MAGIC

There are, moreover, other very wise imitators and very bold
investigators of nature, who, without relying on natural powers,
promise that they can produce works similar to those of nature
using only the mathematical disciplines and the influences of the
heavens, such as moving or speaking bodies that still do not
possess animal life, like the wooden dove of Archytas that could
fly, the statues of Mercurius that could speak, and the brazen head
made by Albertus Magnus, which is said to have spoken. Boethius,
a man of great talent and diverse learning, excelled in these
matters. Writing to him about such things, Cassiodorus said: “it is
your purpose to know the difficult and to reveal marvels: through
the ingenuity of your art, metals bellow; Diomedes in brass sounds
his horn more powerfully; a brazen serpent hisses; birds are
counterfeited; and those things that do not know how to produce
their own voice are shown to emit the sweetness of song.” Here we
are merely talking about the little things done by a man for whom
it is lawful to imitate the heavens. I believe these artifices are what
we read about in the eleventh book of The Laws according to Plato:
art was given to mortals that they might create some inferior
things, not indeed participants in truth and divinity, but that they
might bring forth certain images akin to themselves. And so the
boldest of magi have advanced to the point where they attempt to
accomplish everything, aided especially by that ancient and
powerful serpent, the promiser of sciences, so that they, like apes,
would attempt to ape God and nature.
204

DE MAGIA VENEFICA

Est praeterea naturalis magiae species, quam veneficiam, sive

pharmaciam vocant, quae poculis, phyltris, variisque
veneficiorum medicamentis perficitur: cuiusmodi Democritus
confecisse legitur, quo boni felices, fortunatique filii gignantur: et
aliud, quo avium uoces rite intelligamus, sicut de Apollonio
narrant Philosostratus atque Porphyrius. Vergilius etiam de
quibusdam herbis Ponticis locutus dixit:

His ego saepe lupum fieri, et se condere sylvis

Moerim, saepe animas imis exire sepulchris,
Atque satas alio vidi traducere messis.

Et Plinius narrat, quendam Demarchum Parrhassium in sacrificio,

quod Arcades Iovi Lycaeo humana hostia faciebant, immolati
pueri exta degustasse, et in lupum se convertisse: propter quam
hominem in lupos immutationem, putat Augustinus Pani Lycaeo,
et Iovi Lycaeo nomen esse impositum. Narrat idem Augustinus,
dum esset in Italia, quasdam
 205

ON WITCHCRAFT

There is a type of natural magic, which they call witchcraft (vene-

ficium) or pharmakeia, which is accomplished through potions,
philters, and various poisonous drugs. Democritus is said to have
prepared something of this kind, by which good, happy, and for-
tunate children are born; and another, by which we might rightly
understand the calls of birds, just as Philostratus and Porphyry re-
count about Apollonius. 264 Virgil also spoke of certain Pontic
herbs and said:

By these I’ve often seen Moeris become a wolf

and hide himself in the woods; often souls I’ve seen
rise from deep graves, and crops transplanted elsewhere. 265

Pliny also recounts that a certain Damarchus of Parrhasia, during

the sacrifice that the Arcadians made to Jupiter Lycaeus with a hu-
man victim, tasted the entrails of the sacrificed boy and turned
into a wolf: Augustine thinks that the name Pan Lycaeus and Ju-
piter Lycaeus were given on account of this transformation of a
man into a wolf. 266 Augustine also recounts how, while he was in
Italy, certain

264
Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana, 4.3.
265
Here Virgil makes reference to a law in the Twelve Tables of Rome
which forbade the use of magic for transferring crops from one farmer’s
field to another’s. See Pliny, Naturalis Historia, 28.4.
266
Augustine, De civitate Dei, 18.17: “In support of this story, Varro
relates others no less incredible about that most famous sorceress Circe,
who changed the companions of Ulysses into beasts, and about the
Arcadians, who, by lot, swam across a certain pool, and were turned into
206

foeminas magas, Circes instar, dato viatoribus veneficio in caseo,

eos in iumenta vertisse: cumque portassent quae placuissent
onera, rursus in homines restituisse, idque patri cuidam
Praestantio tunc accidisse. Sed et ne quis haec putet omnino
deliramenta esse et impossibilia, is recodetur quomodo sacrae
litterae narrant, Nabuchodonosor regem mutatum in bovem, et
septem annis foeno vixisse, tandemque Dei misericordia in
hominem rediisse: cuius corpus post mortem illius filius
Euilmerodach in escam dedit vulturibus, ne quando resurgeret a
mortuis, qui iam de bestia redierat in hominem, et eiusmodi plura
de magis Pharaonis narrat Exodus. Verum de iis sive magis sive
veneficis loquitur Sapiens,

wolves there, and lived in the deserts of that region with wild beasts like
themselves. But if they never fed on human flesh for nine years, they were
restored to the human form on swimming back again through the same
pool. Finally, he expressly names one Demaenetus, who, on tasting a boy
offered up in sacrifice by the Arcadians to their god Lycaeus according
to their custom, was changed into a wolf, and, being restored to his
proper form in the tenth year, trained himself as a pugilist, and was
victorious at the Olympic games. And the same historian thinks that the
epithet Lycaeus was applied in Arcadia to Pan and Jupiter for no other
reason than this metamorphosis of men into wolves, because it was
thought it could not be wrought except by a divine power. For a wolf is
called in Greek λυκὸς, from which the name Lycaeus appears to be
formed. He says also that the Roman Luperci were as it were sprung of
the seed of these mysteries.”
 207

witch women, like Circe, gave poison in cheese to travelers, turn-

ing them into pack animals; and after they had carried what bur-
dens they pleased, they turned them back into humans again,
which happened to a certain Praestantius’ father. 267 But so that no
one thinks these are entirely delusions and impossible things, let
him remember how the sacred scriptures recount that King Neb-
uchadnezzar was transformed into an ox, and for seven years lived
on grass, and was finally turned back into a man by God’s mercy:
his son Evil-Merodach 268 fed his body to vultures after his death,
so that he might never rise from the dead, having already returned
from beast to man. The book of Exodus also recounts many such
things about Pharaoh’s magicians. Indeed, the Wise One speaks

267
Augustine, De civitate Dei, 18.18: “For a certain man called
Praestantius used to tell that it had happened to his father in his own
house, that he took that poison in a piece of cheese, and lay in his bed as
if sleeping, yet could by no means be aroused. But he said that after a few
days he as it were woke up and related the things he had suffered as if
they had been dreams, namely, that he had been made a sumpter horse,
and, along with other beasts of burden, had carried provisions for the
soldiers of what is called the Rhoetian Legion, because it was sent to
Rhoetia. And all this was found to have taken place just as he told, yet it
had seemed to him to be his own dream.” Though this story sounds
entirely fanciful, in more recent years, scopolamine and other tropane
alkaloids derived from Datura and similar solanaceous plants have been
used by prostitutes on unsuspecting johns to unwittingly clear out not
only their bank accounts of funds, but even their apartments of furniture.
268
I.e., Amel-Marduk, the third ruler of the Neo-Babylonian empire.
208

dum dicit: Exhorruisti illos deus, quia horribilia opera tibi

faciebant per medicamina. Illud praeterea vos scire volo, non
solum [355] naturalia scrutari hos magos, verum etiam ea quae
naturam comitantur, ac quodammando exuunt, ut motus,
numeros, figuras, sonos, uoces, concentus, lumina, et animi
affectus atque verba. Sic Psylli et Marsi convocabant serpentes, alii
aliis deprimentes fugabant: Sic Orpheus Argonautarum
tempestatem hymno conpescuit: et Homerus narrat Ulyssi
sanguinem uerbis restrictum: et lege duodecim tabularum iis qui
messes excantassent, poena constituta est: ut non dubium sit,
magos etiam solis verbis et affectibus, aliisque similibus, non in
seipsos modo, sed etiam in res extraneas saepe mirum aliquem
producere effectum: quae omnia non secus vim insitam in res alias
profundere, illasque ad se trahere, vel abs se repellere, seu alio
quovis modo afficere putant, quam magnes ferrum, et succinum
paleas trahunt: sive adamas, et allium magnetem ligant: sicque per
hanc rerum gradariam ac concatenatam sibi sympathiam, non
solum dona naturalia et coelestia, sed etiam intellectualia et divina
Iamblichus, Proclus, atque Synesius, ex magorum sententia,
desuper suscipi posse confirmant, quod Proclus in libro de
Sacrificio et Magia fatetur, scilicet per huiusmodi rerum
consensum, magos etiam numina evocare solitos. Ad tantam enim
quidam eorum devoluti sunt insaniam, ut ex diversis stellarum
constellationibus, per temporum intervalla,
 209

of these matters, whether of magicians or witches, when he says:

“You abhorred them, O God, because they performed terrible
deeds with drugs.” Moreover, I want you to know that these magi
not only investigate natural things but also those things that ac-
company nature, and, in a certain way, transcend it, such as mo-
tion, numbers, figures, sounds, voices, harmonies, lights, emo-
tions, and words. Thus, the Psylli and Marsi summoned serpents,
with some driving them away by suppressing others; thus Orpheus
calmed the storm for the Argonauts with a hymn; Homer relates
how Ulysses staunched blood with words; and by the law of the
Twelve Tables, a penalty was established for those who enchanted
crops. As such, there is no doubt that magicians can often produce
some wondrous effect, not only from themselves but also from ex-
ternal things, through words, emotions, and other such means
which they believe exert an inherent force on other things, draw-
ing them to themselves or repelling them, or affecting them in
some other way, just as a magnet attracts iron, or amber attracts
chaff, or as diamond and garlic binds the magnet. And thus
through this gradated and interconnected sympathy of things,
Iamblichus, Proclus, and Synesius, according to the magicians’
view, confirm that not only natural and celestial gifts but also in-
tellectual and divine ones can be received from above, as Proclus
admits in his book On Sacrifice and Magic, namely that through
such agreement of things, magicians were accustomed to summon
divine powers. Some of them, indeed, have fallen into such mad-
ness that they believe – from the various constellations of the stars,
through intervals of
210

et quadam proportionum ratione rite observatis, constructam

imaginem coelitum nutu vitae intellectusque spiritum accepturam
putent, quo consulentibus illam respondeat, et occultae veritatis
arcana revelet. Hinc patet haec naturalem magiam nonnunquam
in goetiam et theurgiam renatam, saepissime malorum
daemonum vaframentis, erroribusque, obretiri.
 211

time, and by certain proportions duly observed – that an image

they construct will receive a spirit of life and intellect by the will of
the celestials, so that it might answer those who consult it and re-
veal the secrets of hidden truth. Hence it is evident that this natural
magic sometimes transforms into goetia and theurgy, and most
often becomes entangled with the tricks and errors of evil demons.
212

DE GOETIA ET NECROMANTIA

Ceremonialis autem magiae partes sunt goetia atque theurgia.

Goetia, immundorum spirituum commerciis inauspicata, nefariae
curiositatis ritibus, illicitis carminibus, et deprecamentis
concinnata, omnium legum placitis est exterminata et execrata.
Huius generis sunt, quos necromanticos et maleficos hodie
nuncupamus.

Gens inuisa deis, maculandi callida coeli,

Quas genuit natura mali, qui sidera mundi,
Iuraque fixarum possunt peruertere rerum.
Nam nunc stare polos, et flumina mittere norunt,
Aethera sub terras adigunt, montesque revellunt.

Hi sunt ergo, qui defunctorum inclamant animas, et illi quos

veteres dicebant epodos, qui excantant pueros, et in eloquium
oraculi eliciunt, et qui daemones paredros circunferunt, quale
quidam de Socrate legimus: et qui, ut dicitur, spiritus pascunt in
vitro, per quos se prophetare mentiuntur. Et hi omnes bifariam
procedunt. Nam alii daemones malos virtute quadam maxime
divinorum nominum adiuratos, advocare et cogere student:
quippe cum omnis creatura timet, et reveretur nomen illius, qui
fecit eam, non mirum si goetici, et quique etiam infideles, pagani,
Iudaei, Saraceni, et cuiuscunque prophani colle[356]gii sive sectae
homines, divini nominis invocatione daemones adstringant. Alii
autem nefandissimi, detestando et omnibus ignibus plectendo
scelere, se
 213

ON GOETIA AND NECROMANCY

The parts of ceremonial magic are goetia and theurgy. Goetia,

inauspicious from its dealings with unclean spirits, is constructed
through the rites of unlawful curiosity, illicit incantations, and
supplications, and has been condemned and execrated by all the
decrees of law. Those of this kind are what we today call
necromancers and sorcerers.

A race hated by the gods, cunning in defiling the heavens,

whom the nature of evil has produced, who can overturn
The stars of the world and the laws of fixed things. For now they
know how to make the poles stand still, and to divert rivers,
They force the sky beneath the earth, and tear up mountains.

These are, therefore, those who call upon the souls of the dead, and
those whom the ancients called epodes, who chant over boys and
draw forth the utterance of an oracle, and who carry attendant de-
mons around, such as we read of a certain Socrates: and who, as it
is said, feed spirits in a glass, by which they falsely claim to proph-
esy. And all these proceed in two ways. For some strive to call up
and compel evil demons by a certain power, especially by the ad-
jurations of divine names: indeed, since all creation fears and re-
veres the name of the one who made it, it is no wonder if the goetic
practitioners, along with the infidels, pagans, Jews, Saracens, and
men of any profane group or sect, constrain demons by invoking
the divine name. But others, most abominable, submitting them-
selves to
214

daemonibus submittentes, illis sacrificant et adorant, idololatrae

et vilissimae deiectionis rei effecti sunt: quibus criminibus, etsi
priores non sunt obnoxii, tamen manifestis periculis se exponunt.
Nam etiam coacti daemones invigilant, semper quo errantes nos
decipiant. Ex horum vero goeticorum anagyri, profluxerunt
omnes isti tenebrarum libri, quos improbatae lectionis Ulpianus
Iurisconsultus appellat, protinusque corrumpendos esse statuit.

Cuiusmodi primus excogitasse dicitur Zabulus quidam

illicitis artibus deditus, deinde Barnabas quidam Cyprius: et hodie
adhuc confictis titulis circumferuntur libri, sub nominibus Adae,
Abelis, Enoch, Abrahae, Salomonis: item Pauli, Honorii, Cypriani,
Alberti, omae, Hieronymi, et Eboracensis cuiusdam: quorum
nugas stulte secuti sunt Alphonsus rex Castellae, Robertus
Anglicus,
 215

demons by committing a crime that is detestable and deserving of

punishment by all fires, sacrifice to them and worship them, hav-
ing become idolaters and guilty of the vilest defilement: even if
they were not previously guilty of these crimes, they nevertheless
expose themselves to manifest dangers. For even when compelled,
demons are vigilant, always deceiving us as we go astray. Indeed,
from the noxious fruits of these goetic practitioners have emerged
all those books of shadows, which Ulpian the Jurist calls “disrepu-
table reading,” and decrees that they must be destroyed immedi-
ately.

The first to have invented such things is said to have been a

certain Zabulus, devoted to illicit arts, and then a certain Barnabas
of Cyprus; and even today, books with forged titles are circulated
under the names of Adam, Abel, Enoch, Abraham, and Solomon;
likewise, under the names of Paul, Honorius, Cyprian, Albert,
Thomas, Jerome, and a certain man from York, whose nonsense
Alphonso the King of Castile 269, Robert the Englishman 270,

269
I.e., Alphonso X, “The Wise,” patron of the translation of the Arabic
astro-magical treatise, the Ghāyat al-Hakīm, into Castilian Spanish
between 1256-1258, which was soon after translated into Latin; see
Picatrix 1.1.1 (Attrell and Porreca, Picatrix, p. 37).
270
This could refer to one of two different Roberti Anglici: either the 14th-
century Dominican known for his De Magia Caeremoniali, Correctorium
Alchymiae, and De Mysteriis Secretorum among other works, or
alternatively the 13th-century astronomer known for his commentary on
Sacrobosco’s De Sphera Mundi, also credited (probably incorrectly) with
Alkindus de Judiciis ex Arabico Latinus factus per Robertum Anglicum
anno Domini 1272.
216

Bacon, et Apponus, et plerique alii deplorati ingenii homines.

Praeterea non homines modo, et sanctos, et patriarchas, et angelos
Dei tam execrabilium dogmatum fecerunt autores, sed et libros a
Raziele et Raphaele, Adami et Tobiae, angelis traditos ostentant:
qui libri tamen acutius inspicienti, suorum praeceptorum
canonem, ritum, consuetudinem, verborum et charecterum
genus, extructionis ordinem, insulsam phrasim, aperte sese
produnt, non nisi meras nugas ac imposturas continere, ac
posterioribus temporibus ab omnis antiquae magiae ignaris,
perditissimis perditionum artificibus esse conflatatos, ex
prophanis quibusdam observationibus nostrae religionis
ceremoniis permixtis insitisque, ignotis multis nominibus, et
signaculis, ut perterreant rudes et simplices, et stupori sint
insensatis, et his qui nesciunt bonas literas.

Neque tamen propterea patet has artes fabulas esse: nam nisi
re vera essent, atque per illas multa mira ac noxia fierent, non tam
arcte de illis statuissent diuinae et humanae leges, eas
exterminandas esse de terra. Cur autem goetici istis solis malis
utantur daemonibus, ea ratio est, quia boni angeli difficilie
comparent, quia Dei iussum expectant, nec nisi mundis corde et
uita sanctis hominibus congrediuntur: mali autem faciles se
exhibent ad
 217

Bacon, D’Abano, and many others of deplorable intellect foolishly

followed. Moreover, not only have they made men, saints, patri-
archs, and God’s angels into authors of such execrable doctrines,
but they also put out books supposedly handed down by Raziel
and Raphael to Adam and Tobit. However, to one who looks more
closely at these books – the rule of their teachings, the rite, the cus-
tom, the kind of words and characters, the order of construction,
and the foolish phrasing – all these openly reveal themselves to
contain nothing but pure nonsense and deceit. They were fabri-
cated in more recent times by the most corrupt of all deceivers,
who were entirely ignorant of ancient magic, and who mixed pro-
fane observations with the ceremonies of our religion, inserting
many unknown names and seals to terrify the uneducated and
simple, to astonish the senseless, and to deceive those who do not
know good literature.

Yet it does not follow that these arts are mere fables: for if they
were not real, and if through them many wondrous and harmful
things were not accomplished, divine and human laws would not
have so strictly decreed that they be eradicated from the earth. But
the reason why goetic practitioners use only these evil demons is
because good angels rarely appear, since they await the command
of God, and they do not associate except with those who are pure
in heart and holy in life: but the evil ones easily present themselves
218

invocandum, falso faventes, et divinitatem mentientes, semper

praesto, ut astu suo decipiant, ut uenerentur, ut adorentur: et quia
mulieres secretorum avidiores sunt, ac minus cautae, atque in
superstitionem proclives, faciliusque illuduntur, ideo illis se
praebent faciliores, faciuntque ingentia prodigia: cuiusmodi de
Circe, de Medea, de aliis canunt poetae: testantur Cicero, Plinius,
Seneca, Augustinus, et multi alii, tum philosophi, tum catholici
doctores et historici, ipsae etiam sacrae literae. Nam in libris
regum legimus Pythonissam mulierem, quae erat in Endor,
evocasse animam Samuelis prophetae, licet plerique
interpretentur non fuisse animam prophetae, sed malignum
spiritum, qui illius sumpserit imaginem. Tamen Hebraeorum
magistri dicunt, quod etiam Augustinus ad Simplicianum fieri
potuisse non negat, quia fuerit verus spiritus Samuelis, qui ante
completum annum a disces[357]su ex corpore facile euocari
potuit, ut prout docent goetici. Quinetiam magi, necromantici,
illud naturalibus quibusdam viribus ac uinculis fieri posse
autumant, sicut nos in libris nostris de Occulta philosophia
tractamus. Ideoque antiqui patres, rerum spiritualium periti, non
sine causa ordinauerunt, ut corpora mortuorum sepelirentur in
loco sacro, et luminibus socientur, aqua benedicta aspergantur,
thure et incenso suffumigentur, et expientur orationibus
quousque super terram extiterint.
 219

when invoked, falsely appearing to give favor, and pretending di-

vinity, always ready to deceive with their cunning, to be venerated,
and to be worshiped. 271 And because women are more eager for
secrets, less cautious, more inclined to superstition, and more eas-
ily deceived, they therefore make themselves more accessible to
demons, and perform great wonders, of the sort that poets sing
about Circe, Medea, and others, testified by Cicero, Pliny, Seneca,
Augustine, and many others, both philosophers and Catholic doc-
tors, and historians, and even by the Holy Scriptures themselves.
For in the books of Kings we read that a woman, a Pythoness, who
was in Endor, summoned the soul of the prophet Samuel, alt-
hough many interpret that it was not the soul of the prophet, but
an evil spirit who assumed his image. However, the Hebrew mas-
ters say, and even Augustine in his letter to Simplicianus does not
deny that it could have happened, that it was indeed the true spirit
of Samuel, who, before the completion of a year from his depar-
ture from the body, could easily be summoned, as the goetic prac-
titioners teach. Moreover, magi and necromancers claim that this
could be accomplished by certain natural forces and bonds, as we
discuss in our books On Occult Philosophy. Therefore, the ancient
fathers, skilled in spiritual matters, did not without reason ordain
that the bodies of the dead be buried in a sacred place, and accom-
panied by lights, sprinkled with holy water, suffumigated with
smoke and incense, and purified with prayers as long as they re-
main above the earth.

271
Cf. Augustine, De civitate Dei, Chap. 9.
220

Nam ut aiunt magistri Hebraeorum, omne corpus nostrum, et

carnale animal, et quicquid in nobis super materia carnis male
disposita innititur, relinquitur in cibum serpenti, et ut ipsi vocant
Azazeli, qui est dominus carnis et sanguinis, et princeps huius
mundi, et vocatur in Levitico princeps desertorum, cui dictum est
in Genesi: Terram comedes omnibus diebus uitae tuae. Et in Esaia:
Pulvis panis tuus. Hoc est, corpus nostrum creatum ex pulvere
terrae, quamdiu non fuerit sanctificatum, et transmutatum in
melius, ut non amplius serpentis, sed dei sit effectum, videlicet ex
carnali spirituale, iuxta verbum Pauli dicentis: Seminatur quod
animale est, et resurget quod spirituale est. Et alibi: Omnes quidem
resurgent, sed non omnes immutabuntur, quia multi remansuri
sunt in perpetuum cibum serpentis. Hanc itaque turpem et
horridam carnis materiam, ac serpentis cibum morte deponimus,
illam aliquando in meliorem sortem, et spiritualem transmutatam
reassumpturi, quod erit in resurrectione mortuorum. Et iam
factum est in his, qui primitias resurrectionis degustarunt, et multi
hoc ipsum virtute deifici spiritus in hac vita consecuti sunt, Enoch,
et Helias, et Moses, quorum corpora transmutata in naturam
spiritualem,
 221

For as the Hebrew masters say, our entire body, the carnal animal,
and whatever in us rests upon the poorly disposed matter of the
flesh, is left as food for the serpent, and as they themselves call it,
Azazel – who is the lord of flesh and blood, and the prince of this
world, and is called the prince of the desert in Leviticus, to whom
it was said in Genesis: “dust you shall eat all the days of your
life;” 272 and in Isaiah: “dust shall be your food” 273 – this means that
our body, created from the dust of the earth, as long as it is not
sanctified and transformed for the better, so that it no longer be-
longs to the serpent but to God (namely, transformed from carnal
to spiritual according to the word of Paul who says: “it is sown a
natural body, it is raised a spiritual body;” 274 and elsewhere: “all
will indeed rise, but not all will be changed,” 275 since many will
remain forever as food for the serpent), therefore, in death we cast
off this vile and horrid matter of the flesh, and food for the serpent,
so that we may one day take it up again in a better state, trans-
formed into a spiritual form, which will happen in the resurrection
of the dead. And this has already happened to those who have
tasted the first fruits of the resurrection, and many have attained
this very thing by the power of the deifying spirit: Enoch, Elijah,
and Moses, whose bodies, having been transformed into a spiritual

272
Genesis 3:14.
273
Isaiah 65:25: “The wolf and the lamb shall feed together; the lion and
the ox shall eat straw; and dust shall be the serpent’s food: they shall not
hurt nor kill in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.”
274
I Corinthians 15:44.
275
I Corinthians 15:51.
222

non uiderunt corruptionem: nec sicut caetera cadavera potestati

serpentis relicta sunt. Atque haec est illa disceptatio diaboli cum
Michaele de corpore Moysi, cuius meminit in epistola sua Iudas,
sed de Goetia et Necromantia haec satis.

DE THEURGIA

Theurgiam uero plerique putant haud illicitam, quasi haec bonis

angelis, diuinoque numine regatur, cum saepissime tamen sub dei
et angelorum nominibus malis daemonum fallaciis obstringatur:
non solum siquidem naturalibus viribus, sed etiam certis ritibus et
ceremoniis coelestes, et per illas divinas virtutes nobis conciliamus
et attrahimus: de quibus multis regulis antiqui magi editis
voluminibus pertractant. Omnium autem ceremoniarum pars
maxima, in munditia servanda consistit, primum quidem animi,
deinde etiam corporis, et eorum quae circa corpus sunt, ut in cute,
in uestibus, in habitaculis, in vasis, in utensilibus, oblationibus,
hostiis, sacrificiis, quorum munditia ad diuinorum
consuetudinem, et contuitum disponit, et in sacris summopere
efflagitatur, iuxta uerba Isaiae: Lavamini et mundi estote, et
auferte malum cogitationum vestrarum. Immunditia vero quia
aerem frequenter
 223

nature, did not see corruption, nor were they left to the power of
the serpent like other corpses. And this is that dispute between the
Devil and Michael over the body of Moses, which Jude mentions
in his epistle. 276 But this is enough about goetia and necromancy.

ON THEURGY

Many indeed believe that theurgy is not illicit, as though it were

governed by good angels and a divine presence; nevertheless, it is
most often tangled up with the deceptions of evil demons lurking
beneath the names of God and his angels: for we bring about and
attract celestial and divine virtues to ourselves not only through
natural powers, but also through certain rites and ceremonies,
concerning which many rules have been discussed thoroughly in
the volumes written by ancient magi. However, the greatest part
of all these ceremonies consists in maintaining purity, first of
mind, then also of body, and of those things around the body, such
as the skin, clothing, dwellings, vessels, utensils, offerings, victims,
and sacrifices, whose purity disposes them towards divine custom
and favor, and is greatly demanded in sacred matters, according
to the words of Isaiah: “wash yourselves and be clean, and remove
the evil of your thoughts.” 277 Indeed impurity, because it fre-
quently

276
Jude 1:9.
277
Isaiah 1:16.
224

et hominem inficit, mundissimum illum coelestium et divinorum

influxum disturbat, et mundos dei spi[358]ritus fugat. Verum
nonnunquam immundi spiritus, et deceptrices potestates, ut
venerentur et adorentur pro diis, etiam hanc munditiam
exquirunt: ideo hic maxima opus est cautela, de quibus late in
libris nostris de Occulta philosophia disseruimus. Verum de hac
theurgia, sive divinorum magia plura disputans Porphyrius,
tandem concludit theurgicis consecrationibus posse quidem
animam hominis idoneam reddi, ad susceptionem spirituum et
angelorum, ad videndos deos: reditum vero ad deum hac arte
praestari posse infitiatur omnino. Eius itaque scholae sunt, ars
Almadel, ars notoria, ars Paulina, ars revelationum, et eiusmodi
superstitionum plura, quae eo ipso sunt perniciosiora, quo
apparent imperitis diviniora.
 225

contaminates both the air and man, disturbs that most pure influ-
ence of celestial and divine powers, and drives away the pure spir-
its of God. Sometimes, however, unclean spirits and deceptive
powers, in order to be venerated and worshipped as gods, also de-
mand this purity: therefore, the utmost caution is needed here,
about which we have extensively discussed in our books On Occult
Philosophy. Indeed, Porphyry, discussing this theurgy or divine
magic more thoroughly, concludes in the end that the soul of man
can be made suitable by theurgic consecrations for the reception
of spirits and angels and for seeing the gods: however, he com-
pletely denies that a return to God can be achieved by this art.
There are schools, therefore, such as the Ars Almadel, the Ars No-
toria, the Ars Paulina, the Ars Revelationum, and many more su-
perstitions of this kind, which are all the more destructive, the
more divine they appear to the inexperienced.
226

DE CABALA

Verum occurrunt hic mihi verba Plinii, qui, est et alia inquit
magices factio, a Mose etiam num et Latopea Iudaeis pedens, quae
verba me de cabala Iudaeorum commonefaciunt, quam in monte
Sina a deo ipso Mosi datam penes Hebraeos constans opinio est,
ac deinceps per successionum gradus citra literarum monumenta,
usque in Ezrae tempora posterioribus sola viva voce tradita:
quemadmodum Pythagorica dogmata olim ab Archippo et
Lysiade, qui in Graecia Thebis scholas habuere tradebantur, in
quibus discipuli memoriter doctorum praecepta tenentes, ingenio
et memoria pro libris utebantur: sic et Iudaei quidam literas
aspernati, in memoria et observatione, ac vocali traditione hanc
collocarunt: unde cabala ab Hebraeis, quasi solo auditu unius ab
altero receptio, nuncupata est. Ars (ut fertur) pervetusta, nomen
autem non nisi recentibus temporibus apud Christianos
cognitum.

Eius vero duplicem tradunt scientiam, unam de Bresith,

quam et cosmologiam vocant, videlicet rerum creaturum
naturalium et coelestium vires explicantem, et legis bibliaeque
arcana philosophicis rationibus exponentem: quae profecto hac
ratione nihil differt a magia naturali, in qua Salomonem regem
praestitisse credimus. Legitur namque in sacris Hebraeorum
historiis, illum disputare solitum a cedro Libani,
 227

ON CABALA

But here the words of Pliny come to my mind: “there is,” he says,
“another faction of the magical art stemming from the Jews Moses
and Latopea,” which reminds me of the Cabala of the Jews, which,
according to the consistent opinion among the Hebrews, was
given to Moses by God Himself on Mount Sinai and was subse-
quently handed down orally through successive generations, with-
out the aid of written records, until the time of Ezra. Just as the
Pythagorean doctrines were once passed down by Archippus and
Lysis, who had schools in Thebes, Greece, where the students,
holding the precepts of their teachers in memory, used intellect
and memory instead of books: so too did some Jews, disdaining
written letters, place this knowledge in their memory, observation,
and oral tradition: whence it was called ‘Cabala’ by the Hebrews as
if it were a ‘reception’ from one to another by ear alone. The art
(as it is said) is very ancient, but the name was not known among
Christians until more recent times.

Nevertheless, they transmit its knowledge in two parts, one

concerning Bresith – which they also call ‘cosmology’ – explaining
the forces of natural and celestial created things, and expounding
the mysteries of the law and the Bible with philosophical reason-
ing. In this respect it differs in no way from the natural magic in
which we believe King Solomon excelled. For it is read in the sa-
cred histories of the Hebrews that he was accustomed to speak
about all manner of things from the cedar of Lebanon to
228

usque ad hyssopum, item de iumentis, volucribus, reptilibus, et

piscibus, quae omnia magicas quasdam naturae vires prae se ferre
possunt. 278 Ipse quoque inter posteriores Moyses Aegyptius, in
expositionibus suis super Pentateuchum, et plures thalmudistae
hanc insecuti sunt.

Alteram vero eius scientiam vocant de Mercava, quae est de

sublimioribus divinarum, angelicarumque, virtutum, ac sacrorum
nominum, et signaculorum contemplationibus, quaedam quasi
symbolica theologia, in qua literae, numeri, figurae, res et nomina,
et elementorum apices, ac lineae, puncta et accentus, omnia sunt
profundissimarum rerum, et magnorum arcanorum

278
Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 8.2.42: “Now the sagacity and
wisdom which God had bestowed on Solomon was so great, that he
exceeded the ancients; insomuch that he was no way inferior to the
Egyptians, who are said to have been beyond all men in understanding;
nay, indeed, it is evident that their sagacity was very much inferior to that
of the king’s. He also excelled and distinguished himself in wisdom above
those who were most eminent among the Hebrews at that time for
shrewdness… He also composed books of odes and songs a thousand
and five, of parables and similitudes three thousand; for he spake a
parable upon every sort of tree, from the hyssop to the cedar; and in like
manner also about beasts, about all sorts of living creatures, whether
upon the earth, or in the seas, or in the air; for he was not unacquainted
with any of their natures, nor omitted inquiries about them, but
described them all like a philosopher, and demonstrated his exquisite
knowledge of their several properties.”
 229

the hyssop, likewise about beasts of burden, birds, reptiles, and

fishes, all of which can bear certain magical powers of nature.
Among later interpreters, Moses the Egyptian himself, in his com-
mentaries on the Pentateuch, and most of the Talmudists have fol-
lowed this. 279

They call the other branch of this knowledge the Merkavah,

which is concerned with the higher contemplations of divine and
angelic virtues, sacred names, and seals. 280 It is a sort of symbolic
theology in which letters, numbers, figures, things and names, and
the apexes of elements, and lines, points, and accents, are all signs
of the most profound things and great secrets. 281

279
Here we have the Talmudic distinction between ma’aseh bereshit, the
“work of creation” (or, as Maimonides interpreted it, the science of
nature/Aristotelian physics/cosmology), and ma’aseh merkavah, the
“work of the chariot” (the science of divinity/Aristotelian metaphysics).
Agrippa’s immediate source for this distinction is likely Giovanni Pico
della Mirandola’s Oratio and/or Apologia.
280
Lehrich, The Language of Demons and Angels, p. 98-146; Nowotny,
“The Construction of Certain Seals and Characters in the Work of
Agrippa of Nettesheim,” p. 46-57.
281
Cf. Pico’s Conclusio 28.33 in Farmer, Syncretism and the West, p. 358-
359: “Nullae sunt litterae in tota lege quae in formis, coniunctionibus,
separationibus, tortuositate, directione, defectu, superabundantia,
minoritate, maioritate, coronatione, clausura, apertura, et ordine, decem
numerationum secreta non manifestent.” [“There are no letters in the
whole Law which in their forms, conjunctions, separations, crookedness,
straightness, defect, excess, smallness, largeness, crowning, closure,
openness, and order, do not reveal the secrets of the ten numerations”
(i.e. sephirot)]. For the attribution of this passage to Menahem Recanati
see Wirszubski, Pico della Mirandola’s Encounter with Jewish Mysticism,
p. 45.
230

significativa. Hanc rursus bifariam secant, in Arithmantiam,

videlicet quae notariacon vocatur, de angelicis virtutibus,
nominibus, signaculisque, etiam daemonum ac animarum
conditionibus tractans: atque in theomantiam, quae divinae
maiestatis mysteria, emanationes, sacraque nomina, et pentacula
scrutatur: quam qui norit, hunc aiunt admirandis pollere
virtutibus, ita quod dum velit futura omnia praesciat, toti naturae
imperet, in dae[359]mones et angelos ius habeat, et miracula
faciat. Hac putant Moysen tot signa edidisse: virgam in colubrum,
aquas in sanguinem vertisse: ranas, muscas, pediculos, locustas,
bruchos, ignem cum grandine, vesicas et tabes Aegyptiis
immisisse: primogenitum omne ab homine usque ad pecus
interemisse: suosque deducentem, mare aperuisse, fontem de
petra, coturnices de coelo produxisse: aquas amaras dulcorasse:
fulgura et nubes per diem, columnam ignis per noctem, suis
praemisse: vocem dei viventis ad populum, e coelis devocasse:
arrogantes igne, murmurantes lepra, percussisse: male merentes
subita strage, alios terrae hiatu absorptos affecisse: populum
coelesti cibo pavisse: serpentes placasse: venenatos curasse:
numerosam turbam ab infirmitate, vestes eorum a corrosione
conservasse, et hostium victricem reddidisse.
 231

This is again divided into two branches: ‘arithmancy,’ which is

called notarikon, dealing with angelic virtues, names, and signs, as
well as the conditions of demons and souls; and ‘theomancy,’
which investigates the mysteries of the divine majesty, emana-
tions, sacred names, and pentacles: they say that whoever knows
this is endowed with admirable powers, so that he can foresee all
future things, command all of nature, have authority over demons
and angels, and perform miracles. They believe that Moses per-
formed all these signs: turning a rod into a serpent, turning waters
into blood; sending frogs, flies, lice, locusts, and grasshoppers, fire
with hail, boils, and plague upon the Egyptians; killing every
firstborn from man to beast; parting the sea as he led his people;
bringing forth water from the rock, quails from the sky; sweeten-
ing bitter waters; sending before his people lightning and clouds
by day, a pillar of fire by night; calling down the voice of the living
God from the heavens to the people; striking down the arrogant
with fire, the murmurers with leprosy; afflicting the wicked with
sudden destruction, and others being swallowed by the earth;
feeding the people with heavenly food; appeasing serpents; healing
those bitten by venomous ones; preserving a large crowd from ill-
ness, their clothes from wearing out, and making them victorious
over their enemies.
232

Hac denique miraculorum arte et Iosue stare solem

praecepisse, Eliam ignem in adversarios e coelo devocasse,
puerum mortuum vita restituisse, Danielem leonum ora
perstrinxisse, tres pueros in camino aestuantis incendii
carminasse lusisse. Porro hac arte astruunt perfidi Iudaei etiam
Christum tam admiranda saepe fecisse, Salomonem quoque hanc
percalluisse, atque ex ea artem circa daemones, eorundemque
vincula, et coniurationum modos, ac contra morbos,
excantamenta tradidisse, ut autor est Iosephus.
 233

By this miraculous art, Joshua is also said to have com-

manded the sun to stand still, Elijah to have called down fire from
heaven upon his adversaries and to have restored a dead boy to
life, Daniel to have closed the mouths of lions, and the three
youths to have played unharmed in the blazing furnace. 282 More-
over, by this art, the perfidious Jews assert that Christ also often
performed such marvels, that Solomon also mastered this art, and
from it handed down knowledge about demons, their bonds, and
modes of conjuration, as well as incantations against diseases, as
Josephus reports. 283

282
Joshua 10:12-14; I Kings 18:36-38, II Kings 1:10-12, and I Kings 17:21-
22; Daniel 6:21-22 and 3:23-27.
283
Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 8.2.42: “God also enabled him
to learn that skill which expels demons, which is a science useful and
sanative to men. He composed such incantations also by which
distempers are alleviated. And he left behind him the manner of using
exorcisms, by which they drive away demons, so that they never return;
and this method of cure is of great force unto this day; for I have seen a
certain man of my own country, whose name was Eleazar, releasing
people that were demoniacal in the presence of Vespasian, and his sons,
and his captains, and the whole multitude of his soldiers. The manner of
the cure was this: He put a ring that had a foot of one of those sorts
mentioned by Solomon to the nostrils of the demoniac, after which he
drew out the demon through his nostrils; and when the man fell down
immediately, he abjured him to return into him no more, making still
mention of Solomon, and reciting the incantations which he composed.
And when Eleazar would persuade and demonstrate to the spectators
that he had such a power, he set a little way off a cup or basin full of water,
and commanded the demon, as he went out of the man, to overturn it,
and thereby to let the spectators know that he had left the man; and when
this was done, the skill and wisdom of Solomon was shown very
manifestly: for which reason it is, that all men may know the vastness of
Solomon’s abilities, and how he was beloved of God…”
234

Verum ego Deum Moysi, caeterisque prophetis multa, quae

continerentur sub cortice uerborum legis, prophano vulgo non
communicanda mysteria retexuisse, ut non dubito, sic hanc quam
iactant Hebraei cabalae artem, quam ego multo labore aliquando
scrutatus sum, non nisi meram superstitionis rapsodiam, ac
theurgicam quandam magiam agnosco: quod si (quod Iudaei
iactant) a deo profecta ad vitae perfectionem, ad hominum
salutem, ad dei cultum, ad intelligentiae ueritatem conduceret,
profecto spiritus ille veritatis, qui repudiata synagoga venit nos
docere omnem ueritatem, hanc usque in haec postrema tempora,
suam non celasset ecclesiam: quae profecto omnia novit quae sunt
dei, cuius benedictio, baptismus, caeteraque salutis sacramenta
revelata, et perfecta sunt in omni lingua. Uniuscuiusque enim
linguae par est et eadem virtus, modo par sit et eadem pietas: nec
est aliud nomen in coelis, nec in terra, in quo oporteat nos salvos
fieri, et in quo operemur virtutem, praeter unum nomen Iesu, in
quo recapitulantur, et continentur omnia.

Hinc Iudaei in divinis nominibus peritissimi, parum aut nihil

post Christum operari possunt, sicut prisci illorum patres.
 235

But as for myself, I do not doubt that the God of Moses and
the other prophets revealed many mysteries hidden beneath the
surface of the words of the law, which were not to be shared with
the profane multitude. So for this art of the Cabala, which the He-
brews boast of, and which I have for some time explored with
much effort, I recognize as nothing but a mere hodgepodge of su-
perstition and a kind of theurgical magic. For if (as the Jews boast)
it had been given by God for the perfection of life, the salvation of
men, the worship of God, and the truth of understanding, then
surely the Spirit of Truth, who came to teach us all truth after re-
jecting the synagogue, would not have concealed it from His
Church up to these recent times: a Church that indeed knows all
that is of God, whose blessing, baptism, and the other sacraments
of salvation have been revealed and perfected in every language.
For in each language there is equal and the same power, provided
that there is equal and the same piety; nor is there any other name
in heaven or on earth in which we must be saved, and in which we
work virtue, except the one name of Jesus, in whom all things are
gathered as one and contained. 284

Hence, the Jews, who are very experienced with divine names,
can accomplish little or nothing after Christ, unlike their ancient
forefathers.

284
Cf. Ephesians 1:10.
236

Quod autem experimur, et videmus huius artis (ut uocant)

revolutionibus, saepe miras magnorum mysteriorum a sacris
literis extorqueri sententias, totum hoc nihil aliud est, quam lusus
quidam allegoriarum, quos otiosi homines, in singulis literis et
punctis et numeris occupati, quod haec lingua, et scribendi ritus
facile patiuntur, pro eorum arbitrio fingunt, atque refingunt: quae
etsi nonnunquam magna sonent mysteria, nihil tamen probare,
nec evincere queunt, quin iuxta verba Gregorii eadem facilitate
contemnere liceat, qua asseruntur. Confinxit simili artificio
pleraque Rabanus monachus, sed latinis characteribus et versibus,
insertis variis imaginibus, qui quaque versus lecti, per quaelibet
superficiei ac imaginum lineamenta sacrum aliquod denuntiant
mysterium,
 237

But what we experience and see in this ‘art of revolution’ 285 (as they
call it), where miraculous interpretations of great mysteries are of-
ten extracted from the sacred letters, all this is nothing but a cer-
tain game of allegories, which idle men, obsessed with each letter,
point, and number – things that this language and writing system
easily allow – imagine and reimagine as they fancy. Even if these
sometimes sound like great mysteries, they can prove or demon-
strate nothing, for according to the words of Gregory, they can be
dismissed with the same ease with which they are asserted. Ra-
banus the monk 286 fabricated many things through a similar con-
trivance, but with Latin letters and verses, inserting various im-
ages, which, when read in any direction, proclaim some sacred
mystery

285
I.e., “the science of the revolution of the alphabet,” the very system of
letter permutations that, thanks to the Sefer Yetzirah, Cabalists believed
had been used by God to speak the world into creation. This was the same
system that sat at the root of Abraham Abulafia’s ars combinandi, a
meditation system for provoking ecstatic and prophetic states. This
lettrist tradition is distinct from the Lullian ars combinatoria used in the
Latin West for mapping out the dignitates Dei – a system with which
Agrippa was quite familiar, having written his own commentary on the
Lullian art – though Pico della Mirandola had believed them to be related
in some way as one branch of the Cabala speculativa (or the science of
shemot/divine names). See Idel, “Ramon Lull and Ecstatic Kabbalah,” p.
170-174 for a discussion of the similarities and differences between the
Llullian and Abulafian arts, and how Pico interacted with both these
systems.
286
I.e., Rabanus Maurus (c. 780-856), a Carolingian Benedictine monk.
238

de pictae illic historiae repraesentativum: quae etiam ex prophanis

literis extorque[360]ri posse nemo ignorat, qui Valeriae Probae ex
Virgilii carminibus compositas de Christo centones legerit, quae
omnia et eiusmodi sunt speculationes otiosorum hominum.

Quod autem ad miraculorum operationem attinet, neminem

vestrum puto tam stolidae cervicis, qui de iis credat aliquam haberi
artem vel scientiam. Est itaque nihil aliud haec Iudaeorum cabala,
quam perniciosissima quaedam superstitio, qua verba, et nomina,
et literas, sparsim in scriptura positas pro arbitrio suo colligunt,
dividunt, transferunt: et alterum ex altero facientes, solvunt
membra veritatis, sermones, inductiones et parabolas hinc inde ex
propriis fictionibus construentes: aptare illis volunt eloquia dei,
infamantes scripturas, et dicentes sua figmenta ex illis constare:
calumniantur legem dei, et per impudenter extortas supputationes
dictionum, syllabarum, literarum, numerorum tentant violentas et
blasphemas perfidiae suae inferre probationes.

Praeterea iis nugis inflati, ineffabilia dei mysteria, et quae sunt

supra scripturam arcana, sese invenire et scire iactant, per quae
etiam prophetare, et uirtutes et miracula sese perficere, sine
rubore, magnaque audacia mentiri non erubescunt.
 239

through the lines and features of the surface and the images, rep-
resentative of the story depicted there. No one who has read the
centos of Valeria Proba, composed from the verses of Virgil about
Christ, can deny that these things could also be extracted from
profane literature. 287 All these and similar things are the specula-
tions of idle men.

But as it pertains to the working of miracles, I do not think

any of you are such stiff-necked fools as to believe that any art or
science is involved in them. This Jewish Cabala, therefore, is noth-
ing else but a most destructive superstition, by which they gather
together, divvy up, and change words, names, and letters scattered
throughout the scripture according to their own whims. By mak-
ing one thing out of another, they dissolve the limbs of truth, con-
structing sayings, inductions, and parables here and there from
their own fictions. These they seek to adapt to the oracles of God,
defaming the scriptures, and claiming their fabrications to consist
of them. They slander the law of God and, through impudently
extorted computations of words, syllables, letters, and numbers,
they attempt to impose violent and blasphemous proofs of their
perfidy.

What is more, being puffed up with these trifles, they boast of

discovering and knowing the ineffable mysteries of God and the
secrets that are beyond scripture, through which they also claim to
prophesy and perform miracles, lying without shame and with
great audacity.

I.e., Valeria Faltonia Proba (322-370), a Roman poet and author of the
287

Cento Vergilianus de laudibus Christi.

240

Sed accidit illis, quod cani Aesopico, qui pane relicto, et umbram
eius inhians, perdidit escam: sic perfidum hoc et durae cervicis
hominum genus, semper in umbris scripturae occupatum, et circa
illas vanitates sua artificiosa, sed superstitiosa cabala impetum
faciens amittit panem vitae aeternae, et inanibus nominibus
depastum perdit verbum veritatis. Ex hoc cabalisticae
superstitionis Iudaico fermento prodierunt puto Ophitae,
Gnostici, et Valentiniani haeretici, qui ipsi quoque cum discipulis
suis Graecam quandam cabalam commentati sunt, omnia
Christianae fidei mysteria pervertentes, et haeretica pravitate ad
Graecas literas, et numeros protrahentes, ex illis construentes
corpus, quod vocant veritatis, docentes, absque illis literarum et
numerorum mysteriis non posse in evangelicis literis inveniri
veritatem, quia variae sunt, et alicubi sibi repugnantes, plenaeque
parabolis scriptae, ut videntes non videant, et audientes non
audiant, et intelligentes non intelligant, sed caecis et errantibus
iuxta suae caecitatis et erroris capacitatem propositas: latentem
vero sub illis synceram veritatem solis perfectis, non per scripta,
sed per vivae vocis successivam pronuntiationem esse creditam,
atque hanc esse illam alphabetariam arithmanticam theologiam,
quam Christus secreto manifestavit apostolis, et quam Paulus se
loqui dicit non nisi inter perfectos. Cum enim haec altissima sint
mysteria, ideo nec scripta esse, nec scribi, sed in silentio servari
apud sapientes in abscondito secum illa custodientes. Sapiens
autem apud eos nemo, nisi qui maxima haereseos monstra
fabricare novit.
 241

But they experience what happened to Aesop’s dog, who, aban-

doning his bread, lost his meal while chasing after its shadow: thus
this perfidious and stiff-necked race of men, always occupied with
the shadows of Scripture and chasing after them with their artifi-
cial but superstitious Cabala, loses the bread of eternal life and,
feeding on empty names, forfeits the word of truth. From this Jew-
ish ferment of Cabalistic superstition, I think, arose the Ophites,
Gnostics, and Valentinian heretics, who, with their disciples, de-
vised a certain Greek Cabala, perverting all the mysteries of the
Christian faith and, with heretical depravity, extending them to
Greek letters and numbers, constructing from them a body which
they call the truth, teaching that without the mysteries of these let-
ters and numbers, the truth cannot be found in the gospel writings,
because they are various, contradictory in places, and full of para-
bles, written so that seeing they do not see, and hearing they do
not hear, and understanding they do not understand, but are pre-
sented to the blind and erring according to the capacity of their
blindness and error: while the hidden, sincere truth beneath them
is believed to be entrusted only to the perfect, not through writ-
ings, but through the successive pronouncement of oral tradition,
and that this is the alphabetic and arithmetic theology which
Christ secretly revealed to the apostles, and which Paul says he
speaks only among the perfect. Since these are the highest myster-
ies, they are therefore neither written nor to be written, but to be
kept in silence by the wise, who guard them hidden within them-
selves. Among them, however, no one is considered wise except
one who knows how to fabricate the greatest monstrosities of
heresy.
242

DE PRAESTIGIIS

Sed redeamus ad magiam, cuius particula etiam est praestigiorum

artificium, hoc est illusionum, quae secundum apparentiam
tantum fiunt, quibus magi phantasmata edunt, multaque miracula
circulatoriis [361] fraudibus ludunt, et somnia immittunt, quod
non tam goeticis incantamentis, et imprecationibus,
daemonumque fallaciis, quam etiam certis fumigiorum vaporibus,
luminibus, phyltris, collyriis, alligationibus, et suspensionibus:
praeterea annulis, imaginibus, speculis, similibusque magicae artis
pharmaciis, et instrumentis, naturali caelestique virtute
perpetratur. Multa et manuum prompta subtilitate et industria
fiunt, cuiusmodi ab histrionibus et ioculatoribus quotidie fieri
videmus, quos idcirco chirosophos, hoc est, manusapientes
appellamus. Extant de hoc artificio libri praestigiorium Hermetis,
et quorundam aliorum: legimus quoque Paseten quendam
praestigiatorem refertissimum convivium hospitibus monstrare
solitum, idque cum libuit rursus evanuisse, discumbentibus
omnibus fame ac siti elusis. Numam Pompilium etiam istiusmodi
praestigiis usum legimus. Sed et doctissimum Pythagoram id
ridiculum aliquando factitasse, <ut quae collibuisset sanguine
perscriberet in speculo, quo ad plenilunialem orbem obverso,
stanti a tergo in disco lunae commonstrasse.>
 243

ON TRICKERY

But let us return to magic, of which a part is also the art of trickery,
that is, illusions, which are done only according to appearance, by
which magicians produce phantasms, mimic many miracles by the
deceptions of charlatans, and send dreams – not so much by goetic
incantations, imprecations, and the lies of demons as by certain
vapors of fumigations, lights, philters, eye salves, ligatures, and
pendants: moreover, by rings, images, mirrors, and similar charms
and instruments of magical art, it is accomplished by natural and
celestial virtue. They also do many things with a quick subtlety and
sleight of hand, of the sort we see performed daily by actors and
jugglers, whom we therefore call chirosophists, that is, ‘wise of
hand.’ There survive books on this art of tricks by Hermes and
certain other men. 288 We also read of a certain trickster named Pa-
setes, who was accustomed to show a lavish feast to his guests, and
when it pleased him, he made it disappear again, leaving all the
diners fooled by hunger and thirst. We also read that Numa Pom-
pilius used such tricks. But even the most learned Pythagoras is
said to have engaged in this absurd practice at one time: he would
write in blood whatever he wished on a mirror, and, turning it to-
wards the full moon, he would show it to someone standing be-
hind him, making it appear in the disk of the moon.

288
E.g., Thabit ibn Qurra’s Liber prestigiorum translated by Adelard of
Bath in the 12th century.
244

Huc spectat etiam quicquid de hominum transformationibus

legitur decantatum a poetis, creditum ab historicis, et a nonnullis
Christianis theologis, insuper a sacris literis adfertum. Sic
apparent homines asini vel equi, vel alia animalia oculis fascinatis,
aut perturbato medio, idque arte naturali. Nonnunquam etiam
haec fiunt a bonis et malis spiritibus, seu ad bonorum preces ab
ipso deo, sicut in sacris literis legimus de Helisaeo propheta,
obsesso ab exercitu regis vallantis Dothain: verum puris et apertis
a deo oculis, ista non possunt illudere: sic mulier illa, quae a vulgo
iumentum iudicabatur, Hilarioni non iumentum, sed quod erat
mulier videbatur: ea igitur quae hoc modo secundum apparentiam
fiunt praestigia dicuntur: quae autem fiunt arte permutantium aut
transferentium, ut de Nabuchodonosor, aut messibus ad alios
agros traductis, de his diximus superius: verum de hac
praestigiorum arte sic ait Iamblichus: Quae praestigiati seu
fascinati imaginantur, praeter imaginativa, nullam habent actionis
et essentiae veritatem. Eisumodi nanque artificii finis est, non
facere simpliciter, sed usque ad apparentiam imaginamenta
porrigere, quorum mox nullum compareat vestigium.
 245

This also relates to anything we read about the transformations of

humans, celebrated by poets, believed by historians, and asserted
by some Christian theologians, and even supported by sacred
scripture. Thus, men appear as donkeys or horses, or other ani-
mals, when the eyes are enchanted or when the intervening air is
disturbed, and this is done by natural art. Sometimes these things
are also done by good and evil spirits, or by God Himself at the
prayers of the righteous, as we read in the sacred scriptures about
the prophet Elisha, besieged by the army of the king surrounding
Dothan. Nevertheless, those with pure and open eyes given by God
cannot be deceived by these things. Thus, that woman who was
thought by the people to be a beast appeared to Hilarion not as a
beast, but as a woman, as she truly was. Therefore, those things
which are done in this way according to appearance are called
tricks, while those that are done by the art of transformation or
transfer, such as what happened to Nebuchadnezzar, or the crops
being transferred to other fields, we have discussed above. But
concerning this art of illusions, Iamblichus says: what those who
are bewitched or fascinated envision, apart from imagination, has
no truth of action or essence. For the purpose of such an artifice is
not to do things simply, but to stretch images to the point of illu-
sion, of which soon no trace remains. 289

289
Iamblichus, De Mysteriis, 25 (Taylor, On the Mysteries, p. 184): “But
neither must you compare the most manifest surveys of the Gods with
the imaginations artificially procured by enchantment. For the latter
have neither the energy, nor the essence, nor the truth of the things that
are seen, but extend mere phantasms, as far as to appearances only.”
246

Iam itaque ex his quae dicta sunt, patet non aliud esse
magiam, quam complexum idololatriae, astrologiae,
superstitiosaeque medicinae. Iamque etiam a magis magna
haereticorum caterua in ecclesia orta est, qui sicut Iannes et
Mambres restiterunt Moysi, sic illi restiterunt apostolicae veritati:
horum princeps fuit Simon Samaritanus, qui Romae sub Claudio
Caesare propter hanc artem statua donatus est, cum hac
inscriptione: Simoni sancto deo. Eius blasphemias copiose
narrant, Clemens, Eusebius, et Irenaeus. Ex hoc Simone tanquam
ex haeresum omnium seminario, per multas successiones
monstrosi Ophitae, turpes Gnostici, impii Valentiniani,
Cerdoniani, Martionistae, Montaniani, et multi alii haeretici
prodierunt, propter quaestum et inanem gloriam, mentientes
adversus Deum, utilitatem nullam, [362] neque beneficia
hominibus praestantes, sed decipientes, et in perniciem et in
errorem mittentes, et qui credunt illis confundentur in iudicio
Dei.

Verum de magicis scripsi ego iuvenis adhuc, libros tres amplo

satis volumine, quos de Occulta philosophia nuncupavi, in quibus
quicquid tunc per curiosam adolescentiam erratum est, nunc
cautior hac palinodia recantatum volo: permultum enim temporis
et rerum, in his vanitatibus olim contrivi.
 247

Now, from what has been said, it is clear that magic is nothing
other than a combination of idolatry, astrology, and superstitious
medicine. And from the magicians a great crowd of heretics have
arisen in the Church, who, just as Jannes and Jambres rose up
against Moses, rose up against the apostolic truth. Their leader was
Simon the Samaritan, who, under Emperor Claudius in Rome, was
honored with a statue inscribed: “to Simon, the holy god.” Clem-
ent, Eusebius, and Irenaeus extensively recount his blasphemies.
From this Simon, as from the seedbed of all heresies, there arose
through many generations the monstrous Ophites, the foul Gnos-
tics, the impious Valentinians, the Cerdonians, the Marcionites,
the Montanists, and many other heretics, who, out of greed and
vain glory, lie against God, providing no benefit or utility to men,
but deceiving them, leading them into ruin and error, and those
who believe them will be confounded in God’s judgment.

It is true that, while I was still a young man, I wrote about

magic in three books of considerable volume, which I titled On
Occult Philosophy. Whatever errors I then made in these on ac-
count of my curious youth, I now more cautiously wish to recant
with this palinode: for I wasted much time and effort on these van-
ities in the past.
248

Tandem hoc profeci, quod sciam quibus rationibus oporteat alios

ab hac pernicie dehortari. Quicunque enim non in veritate, nec in
virtute dei, sed in elusione daemonum, secundum operationem
malorum spirituum, divinare et prophetare praesumunt, et per
vanitates magicas exorcismos, incantationes, amatoria, agogima,
et caetera opera demoniaca, et idololatriae fraudes exercentes,
praestigia et phantasmata ostentantes mox cessantia, miracula
sese operari iactant: omnes hi cum Ianne et Mambre et Simone
Mago aeternis ignibus cruciandi destinabuntur.

Occultae Philosophiae Henrici Cornelii Agrippae,

Finis Anno MDXXXIII,
Mense Iulio
 249

In the end, I achieved this: I know by what means one should deter
others from this peril. For whosoever presumes to divine and
prophesy, not in truth nor in the power of God, but in the decep-
tion of demons, according to the operation of evil spirits, and who-
soever boast of working miracles through magical vanities like ex-
orcisms, incantations, love charms, binding spells, and other de-
monic works, and the frauds of idolatry which conjure up illusions
and phantasms that quickly fade away: all these, together with
Jannes and Jambres and Simon Magus, will be condemned to tor-
ment in eternal fires. 290

End of Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa’s

Occult Philosophy
July 1533

290
II Timothy 3:8.
250

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