French with English translation Simplified English version Now Food of the Wise enters a circular room with walls made of ash and sandalwood . He sees a vine trunk with a pile of white, shining salt on top. Above this trunk is the picture shown at the start of this post, with a crowned white lion and a bunch of grapes resting on a salver that is being kept aloft by the smoke coming from a lit brazier. To his right and left are two doors which lead to very different places.

French with English translation Simplified English version Food of the Wise finds an oval-shaped steel tub which fills with clear water upon his arrival. There's also a fine white sand at the bottom, used to purify the water. The steel vessel is on three brass feet. Brass is copper (Venus) mixed with zinc and steel is iron (Mars) mixed with carbon, so we have both the masculine and the feminine here, though they may just be watered-down versions. On the side of the tub that f

French with English translation Simplified English version Our narrator, having just discovered the bird, altar, and torch, turns around to realize that he's been standing by a huge palace on the clouds this whole time! Four rows of columns rise at different heights, topped by a golden ball. In order, the columns are white, black, green, and red. While the artist in me can't stand this questionable decor choice, it's clear that this gaudy combination of colors is here for a r

French with English translation Simplified English version After failing his fire journey, our narrator finds himself back on the surface of the earth. But before he can get situated, the guide grabs him again! He's pulled up, up, up in the air, so fast that he can't even think of anything to compare it to. Looking down, he realizes that he's no longer anywhere near the volcanoes of Naples . No, he now appears to be in Egypt, looking down at the pyramids . His guide continues

French with English translation Simplified English version We left our narrator standing before a wall that seemed to indicate that the reddening/fire journey was coming up, but then that wall disappears. Suddenly, where the wall was before, there's a lake of fire. " Sulphur and bitumen rolled in flaming waves. " He trembles. He's afraid. A loud, authoritative voice tells him he has to walk across the fire. Even though he was trembling a moment ago, he listens to the voice. T

French with English translation Simplified English version Our narrator has just followed his guiding star to the west, through the white door. A strong wind almost blows out his lamp, but he manages to protect the flame. He comes to a white marble platform with nine steps leading up. At the top of the stairs, he sees a stormy sea. His guiding star plunges into the water and he follows. But don't worry! His lamp is set on top of his head by an invisible hand. Very helpful. O

French with English translation Simplified English version The book opens with our narrator trapped in a dungeon. He's been captured by the Inquisition after being too open with his magical beliefs and practices. It's possible he's referring to either the Spanish Inquisition or the Roman Inquisition , since this work was likely written in the 1700s in France. However, it's more feasible to assume that this is a metaphor that many of us can relate to; he's been ostracized for

Recently, I've been studying The Most Holy Trinosophia , an occult text attributed to the Count of St. Germain . While he is a fascinating character, we won't focus much on him here. I want to talk about the book itself and my thoughts on it. I wrote a post about the alchemical stages , a subject I hadn't thought much about until I really started studying this book. There are so many layers of symbolism that I'm sure I've only barely scratched the surface with my knowledge of

Here's the next part of the Malleus Maleficarum . There are three types of witches: Those who harm, but cannot heal Those who heal, but...

Alright, time to read some more of the Malleus Maleficarum ! How do devils use witches to entice others into witchcraft? There are three...

Alright, I've had a break, so now let's dig back into the Malleus Maleficarum, I finished Part One of the book in some slightly older...

This time, a bit on ancient good luck charms. In Greece, gorgons were carved with tusks and terrifying facial expressions to frighten...

Today, we'll talk about some Greek and Roman methods of fortune-telling, interpreting omens, and divination. One method of divination was...

I’m still working on A History of Magic by Richard Cavendish, but I’m also now reading The Black Book of Isobel Gowdie by Ash William...

The Greeks and Romans viewed witches as generally maleficent beings that would curse people, use poison, and play cruel pranks. These...

Last time, we talked a bit about curses. Today, we'll talk a bit about healing. The Greeks made some pretty major strides in medicine,...

This is a continuation of my notes on Richard Cavendish's A History of Magic. These notes are just bits and pieces that I find...

The Hermetica are Greek texts written in Egypt within the first few centuries CE. Some of them might have been written in the first...

Last time we talked about a lot of old Greek dudes. Today we're gonna talk about an old Samaritan dude. Not a "good Samaritan" like a...

Last time, we talked about Pythagoras. Today, we're gonna talk about a few other old Greek dudes. Let's see what we got. Epimenides was a...