Reading circle (Frances Yates: Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition)

Discussion on literature other than by the Star of Azazel.
Wyrmfang
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Re: Reading circle (Frances Yates: Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition)

Post by Wyrmfang »

Though I resigned from SoA, I´m still here on the forum and will gladly participate in any activities that interest me and which are allowed for non-members. I also have left the book to where it was, so would be great to continue from that if it´s ok for you.
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RaktaZoci
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Re: Reading circle (Frances Yates: Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition)

Post by RaktaZoci »

Polyhymnia wrote: Sun Nov 07, 2021 4:25 am
RaktaZoci wrote: Thu Nov 04, 2021 10:54 pm Is this project still ongoing..? I know my absence sort of buried it last time, but I still have this book and would be interested in continuing.
As it is, fra Wyrmfang is no longer with us, but possibly me and Polyhymnia could continue, hmm? :)
Oh!! Yes!!!! What a very pleasant surprise! My eyes literally just went O_O and I had to double take looking at the date on the thread update, haha. I'm in! Hurrah! I will need to refresh my memory, but I think you're next for the chapter summary. Or do you want to change the structure since it's only us two? I'm game for whatever. I may not be able to move at a super fast pace since school is a nightmare hellhole of deadline after deadline, but I could probably still manage our pace of a chapter/month. I am not against giving ourselves even more time per chapter though, haha.
Glad to hear from you! I am back, indeed, and try to stay at that status as long at it is up to me. :D An if ex-Fra Wyrmfang is with us, the merrier!

I'll look into the next chapter in the week to come. Until then, cheerio!
die Eule der Minerva beginnt erst mit der einbrechenden Dämmerung ihren Flug.
-Hegel
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RaktaZoci
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Re: Reading circle (Frances Yates: Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition)

Post by RaktaZoci »

Alrighty then, let's finally get into the third chapter or the Bruno book titled "Hermes Trismegistus and magic".

The text mentions that the hermetic canon separates into two branches, the philosophical writings and the so-called astrological writings. The latter mainly includes "sympathetic magic", which involves the powers of the stars to be transferred into material objects such as amulets and sigils and how one could manage such a feat.

The main emphasis here are the 36 decans of the zodiac that derive from Egyptian astrology. Simply put this means that as we divide 360 degrees, i.e. the circle, into tens, we get 36 "entities", (the 5 extra days are somehow counted in (?)),which here are referred to as decans and are the rulers of these digits. That is to say that under every zodiac there are 3 decans, who refer to different parts of the body among other things.

The Middle Ages, as typical to the time period, often denounced the decans as demons or diabolical powers and thus limited at least the use of the literature referring to them. There is an interesting reference into why Hermes has a triad in his name, and it is suggested that there were three Hermes', namely Enoch, Noah and an Egyptian ruler titled Hermes Triplex, whose reign was after the Flood. Ficino's (well get into him later) suggestion also was that his triple nature came from his role as priest, philosopher and king.

After this the text talks of an occult grimoire titled the Picatrix. Again, this opus contains lots of material concerning talismanic work. From philosophical point of view the text is sort of platonic and focuses on the philosophy of All, that everything comes from the One, even a spinozaen (is that a word?) stance. Also there is mentioned the reference to Man as microcosmos inside a larger macrocosmos. Probably the main idea, however, is the relation between Spirit and Matter. Magic, according to Picatrix, is the channeling of the Spirit (power of the stars) into Matter (material objects). So here we are again with the talismanic subject.

There is, however, an interesting passage about the building of an Egyptian city called Adocentyn, allegedly built by Hermes. Firstly he built a temple of the Sun, in which he could hide so he could not be seen. Then he built a city 12 miles long with 4 gates. On these gates were the images Eagle, Bull, Lion and a Dog into which he "introduced" spirits, so they could talk. In the city were regenerating trees. On the summit of his castle he built a tower 30 cubits (?) high, on top of which was a lighthouse the colour of which changed every day of the week. On the circumference of the city he painted images that made the dwellers virtuous and cured them from deceases.

There is allegory upon allegory on this description. First of all, the temple of the Sun I see as reference to the chamber of the heart into which one can "disappear". The city itself resembles the sun with its tower in the middle and the circumference. A harmonious symbol that regenerates. 4 sphinxes on the 4 corners of the Earth that are "intelligent" and protect you. So here Hermes fullfils his duty as a priest, with the curing magic, as philosopher ruling the perfect city, as Plato would have had it, and as king providing the laws for his people who live in it.

To get back into Ficino, who was the court philosopher of the Medici family, rulers of Florence in approx the year 1450, it is very interesting that I as just studying history of philosophy in my advanced studies and was delighted to notice that both Bruno and Mirandola were mentioned in the academic source book and even their magic was explained a bit and referred to. Anyways, this was the time of the so-called platonic revival and Ficino was convinced that platonism needed to be paired with Christianity so it could become more popular.

There is some more talk about Ficino's relationship with the Christian writers and how his progress and work with the platonic texts and as well of the practice of talismanic magic later caused a more widespread surge of magic in the world.
die Eule der Minerva beginnt erst mit der einbrechenden Dämmerung ihren Flug.
-Hegel
Wyrmfang
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Re: Reading circle (Frances Yates: Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition)

Post by Wyrmfang »

We didn´t talk about how to proceed. I can take the next turn next week. The chapters are quite long and dense, so one chapter/month is probably good? At least it would be difficult for me to proceed faster than that.
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Re: Reading circle (Frances Yates: Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition)

Post by Wyrmfang »

Ficino's Natural Magic

Marsilio Ficino, the founder of Renaissance Hermeticism, was a son of a physicist and physicist himself, and his works often concerned medicine. Back then the familiar idea of correspondences, especially in an astrological key, was hegemonic and also applied by Ficino. A more controversial part of his works was his appropriation of magical talismans. However, Ficino grounds his use of talismans in his reinterpretation of Plotinus’s Neoplatonism and its hierarchy of being. This way he argues that it is not black magic but natural application of nature’s laws (contrary to common impression, the complete prohibition of magic became much later; at this time, it was mainly black magic that was condemned by the church).

To be more precise, Ficino follows Plotinus’s philosophy only secondarily, as he attributes Plotinus’s wisdom mainly to ancient Hermes. However, according to Yates, there is no theory of practical magic in Plotinus, but Ficino has probably found his idea of pneumatic magic from Picatrix where the doctrine of correspondences is actually linked to magic. Alongside talismans, the other form of natural magic Ficino justifies and uses is incantatory magic by sing Orphic hymns, which were believed to be delivered by the mythical figure of Orpheus who was as ancient as Hermes.

In general, Ficino marks the line between Medieval and Renaissance magic. The basic ideas between the two are the same but in Renaissance Neoplatonism was found again, which provided magic a more sophisticated philosophical foundation.

The next chapter is then for Polyhymnia. If you can do it in this month, we could begin a simple one chapter per calendar month schedule in the turn of the year?
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Re: Reading circle (Frances Yates: Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition)

Post by Polyhymnia »

That sounds great. I will be able to do it this month as soon as my finals are finished. Sorry for the delay in my reply, I am pretty much behind in everything at the moment while I wrestle with the end of term.
"Limited love asks for possession of the beloved, but the unlimited asks only for itself." -Kahlil Gibran
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Re: Reading circle (Frances Yates: Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition)

Post by Polyhymnia »

Happy new year to you both! I will need another half day or so to summarize my notes into something cohesive and easily digestible :) But they will be posted very soon.
"Limited love asks for possession of the beloved, but the unlimited asks only for itself." -Kahlil Gibran
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Re: Reading circle (Frances Yates: Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition)

Post by Polyhymnia »

Chapter 4: Pico Della Mirandola and Cabalist Magic



This chapter talks about Pico Della Mirandola and his contributions to renaissance magic, namely, being the person known for incorporating practical Cabala into the magia naturalis championed by Ficino. Essentially, Pico is the godfather of Hermetic-Cabalists, at least in the historical record.

Yates tells us that Pico corroborated the wisdom of the Cabala with the writings of Hermes Trismegistus and also corroborated the magical systems of each (Cabalistic magic and the Asclepius) with one another. Pico also found a tie within the theme of creation by spoken word within both systems.

Yates sets out to to define Pico’s views on natural magic, posits that Pico distinguishes between theoretical and practical Cabala and that he insists that natural magic must be fortified by the use of practical Cabala, for on its own it is weak. She does this by using Pico’s theses, or Conclusiones, of which there are nine hundred, his Apology (made in response to theologians who took offence to the theses/Conclusiones), and his Oration on the Dignity of Man.



In summary:

-Natural magic is not the same as “modern magic,” or unreformed, mediaeval magic, but is “good” magic. By good, Pico means the right application of earthly matter to heavenly correspondences alongside the use of a talisman incscribed with operative characters, or “marrying the world.” Pico takes the associations between the Sephiroth and the spheres of the cosmos and uses them to underline the connection between Cabala and natural magic 

-It seems very similar to Ficino’s magic, though Pico is careful to reiterate that his magic is of a natural kind, not of a demonic kind (Pico may have been referring to the Clavis Salomonis). 

-Both Ficino and Pico use Orphic incantations
-Pico outrightly links his magic with the magic of the Asclepius
-Pico suggests that Ficino’s natural magic is weaker because it does not use the higher forces found in Cabalist magic
-Pico spoke Hebrew, had knowledge of the Zohar and the mystical connotations in the Song of Solomon, and believed that these studies helped him understand the full breadth of the trinity and well as Christ’s divinity. His claim that magic and Cabala proved the divinity of Christ was the thesis that brought the most outrage, and it was this thesis that he spends a bulk of his time defending in his Apologia.
-Pico divides Cabala into ars ombinanandi (most likely based off of Abraham Abulafia’s letter-combinatory mysticism and the Art of Ramon Lull) and then the second kind of magic of which Pico champions, the type of natural magic that gets its power from higher forces. -In his Apologia, he says there is also an evil type of Cabala, but the Cabala he advocates is not of this kind. That “good” Cabalists and “bad” Cabalists might use the same methods, but the intent is different.

-Pico did not acknowledge the gnostic undercurrents in Cabala and Hermeticism, but focused more on the link between Moses and Trismegistus (the Egyptian Moses)

Yates mentions D.P. Walker’s study of Ficino’s magic, which suggests that it was of an imaginative, highly artistic, and subjective (used only on himself) kind. Yates believes Pico’s magic was also in the same vein and sums it all up with this:

“And perhaps it is chiefly in this imaginative and artistic sense that we should understand the influence of the Renaissance magic of the type inaugurated by Ficino and Pico. The operative Magi of the Renaissance were the artists, and it was a Donatello or a Michelangelo who knew how to infuse the divine life into statues through their art” (112).

Along with Ficino and Pico came a reformation of the way magicians were seen. They went from “outcasts of society. . . dangers to religion. . .plying their trades in secrecy” (116), to the “philosophical and pious Magi of the Renaissance” (116); refined and polished methods of pneumatic necromancy (Ficino) and conjuration (Pico). 

Pico received much backlash for his bold views under the accusations of heresy and this prompted Pope Innocent VIII to appoint a commission to look into it. Several of Pico’s theses were condemned. Pico then wrote his Apologia, which then led to the condemnation of all of his theses, causing Pico to flee to France. In response to Pico’s Apologia was a reply from a Spanish bishop, Pedro Garcia, who considered any form of magic to be a diabolical blaspheme against the Catholic Church, and that any Christian magical phenomenon (“ecclesiastical magic”) came from God, himself, and not from the stars. (In 1569, Archangelo de Burgo Nuevo defended Pico against Garcia. )

Pico was eventually allowed to return to Italy, aided by Lorenzo de’ Medici. In 1492, a new pope was appointed, Alexander VI, or the Borgia pope, and he, being interested in astrology and magic, came to Pico’s defence and absolved him of all his crimes of heresy. Pico died in 1494, but before dying wrote Disputationes adversus astrologiam divinatricem, written to prove that Pico was against the heretical divinatory astrology, but defended Ficinian “astral magic” (123). 



The last few pages of the chapter talks of the “Egyptianism” found in the frescoes painted in the Vatican thanks to Alexander VI’s magical interests within orthodoxy.
"Limited love asks for possession of the beloved, but the unlimited asks only for itself." -Kahlil Gibran
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