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Ars Notoria
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Hi Sean,
It sounds like you are reading from the Robert Turner 1657 English translation entitled _Ars Notoria: The Notory Art of Solomon, Shewing the Cabalistical Key of Magical Operations, The liberal Sciences, Divine Revelation, and The Art of Memory_. Robert Turner’s translation is based on the seventeenth-century Latin edition published in the _Opera Omnia_ (_Collected Works_; c. 1620), vol. 2 (pages 603-660) of Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim (1486 – 1535). That Latin edition is entitled _Ars Notoria, quam Creator Altissimus Salomoni revelavit_ (_The Notory Art, which the Almighty Creator Revealed to Solomon_). There are a number of imperfections and problems in the Latin edition.
One important distinction to be made is that what you are reading is not one text called the _Ars Notoria_ but two texts – the _Ars Notoria_ and the _Ars Brevis_ (“_The Short Art_”) with a few special passages.
It is also important to mention that the contemporary scholar Julien Veronese who established a critical Latin edition of the _Ars Notoria_ identified two main versions of the _Ars Notoria_ – Version A (13th century) and the expanded Version B (14th-15th centuries).
The Opera Omnia edition (and consequently, the Robert Turner translation) contains a heavily redacted Version B text, excluding most of the glosses, and having the material rearranged for the sake of ritual practice.
The _Ars Brevis_ is a fourteenth-century derivative text of the _Ars Notoria_ (Version B). It is the _Ars Brevis_ material for which most of you post is asking about. The original _Ars Brevis_ has a strong Catholic vibe to it, presenting votive masses, liturgy, and Psalms (including those with “etc.” at the end). However, the Catholic tone was suppressed by later scribes as a result of the Protestant Reformation, and this is evident in the manuscript tradition, and, of course, the Robert Turner translation. The original _Ars Brevis_ contains four magical figures which I have identified as the Phos Megalos figure, the AGLA figure, the figure of the Secrets of Albert Magnus, and the tau cross figure. The Opera Omnia edition (and consequently the Robert Turner translation) has an incomplete and imperfect recension of the _Ars Brevis_, including the omission of the Catholic elements and reducing the magical figures to just one – the one for memory.
There are actually two versions of the _Ars Brevis_ ritual – one involves the consecration of a magical figure through seven votive masses and the other requires ten votive masses.
The lectisternium [lectum + sternere, “to drape the couch”] is a Classical Latin word that meant a sheet laid down on the couch for a Roman feast to the gods. By the medieval period, the Church re-adapted the term as a cloth for the ceremonial draping of a place as an act of consecration. We know this was done for the dedication of a new chapel. Robert Turner has misunderstood this term.
Yes, there are some beautiful water imageries used in the prayers. This is also true for an earlier derivative text called the _Opus Operum_ (_”The Work of Works_”).
You can read more about these topics on my blog. You will also find a free pdf file on my website that provides an introduction to the _Ars Notoria_ (www.matthiascastle.com).
On the _Opera Omnia_ Latin text and Robert Turner, see the blog post entitled “Agrippa’s Latin Edition of the Ars Notoria and Robert Turner’s 1657 English Translation Thereof.”
On the Ars Brevis, see “Ars Brevis: The Contested Identities of the Figures for Magical Experiments”, “New Latin Edition of the Ars Brevis,” and for those interested in conducting the ritual, I provided English translations for the votive masses in singular posts.
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There was a document related to the Ars Notoria mentioned in the paper posted by Matthias. The document is an approximately 14th century Astronomical text called the “Yesod Olam” (Fundamentals of the World) by R. Issac Israeli. I think I found a digitized Hebrew text of it that you can easily run a Google Translate on to get a so-so English or other translation (or run through another text translator). Here is the page. You can click on “Text-Only View” to get the digitized Hebrew. You can see what you think of it.
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hnxxqw&seq=30
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Cette réponse a été modifiée Il y a 6 mois, 1 semaine par SEAN.
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Cette réponse a été modifiée Il y a 6 mois, 1 semaine par SEAN.
babel.hathitrust.org
Liber Jesod Olam seu Fundamentum Mundi : opus astronomicum celeberrimum / auctore R. Issac Israeli ... ex codice manuscripto denuo ediderunt, textum emendarunt, ...
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Cette réponse a été modifiée Il y a 6 mois, 1 semaine par
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Hi Sean. I do not follow your assertion that the 14th century Astronomical text called the “Yesod Olam” (Fundamentals of the World) by R. Issac Israeli bears any relation to the Ars Notoria. I do not read Hebrew but did run a few passages through Google Translate as you recommended. I do not see the relationship between this astronomical text and the Ars Notoria. Is there a specific page or pages that clued you in on this?
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It’s possible this is the wrong “Yesod ‘Olam”. It’s a very obscure text. The Yesod ‘Olam mentioned in “The Jewish Reception of the Ars Notoria” by Sofer was written in the 14th century by Avraham ben Meir de Sequeira (as named by Gal Sofer) or R. Hannanel b. Abraham (as named by Ester Burg in ref 29 of the journal article) , who I can find no other reference to. However, the link I posted is to a Yesod ‘Olam from the 14th century, but the author is Isaac Israeli ben Joseph or Yitzhak ben Yosef.
Looking further I have found scattered refences online to a “R. Hananel ben Abraham”, “Abraham of Esquira” or “Abraham Esquira” named as author of the “Sefer Yesod ‘Olam” found in manuscript “Moscow-Gunsburg 607”, which must be the one named in the journal article, but I cannot find online.
Anyhow, this Yesod ‘Olam has as part of its contents ten Sefirot (first ten paths/letters of the 32 paths of wisdom?) which bear more basic but striking resemblance to several notae in the Ars Notoria. However, it looks like I have found the wrong 14th century Yesod ‘Olam, so, apologies there. There is apparently a Master’s Thesis:
Burg, Ester. 2003. Studies in the Book Yesod ‘Olam Ascribed to R. Hannanel b. Abraham. Master’s thesis, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. (In Hebrew)
that I cannot find online that might provide more useful information.
Thanks,
Sean
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Okay, now I know I found the right version of the Yesod ‘Olam, as I have paged through and saw the Ten Sefirot seen in the journal article. Unfortunately, it is just the Hebrew handwritten version. So, I don’t know a straightforward way to translate it.
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Cette réponse a été modifiée Il y a 6 mois, 1 semaine par SEAN.
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Cette réponse a été modifiée Il y a 6 mois, 1 semaine par
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Very good. I believe Dr. Gal Sofer is working on the translation.
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I had a final question and comment on this topic:
Q: Geomancy (dirt divinization) is listed as under Astronomy and Neogia. Why would dirt divinization be under Astronomy and what is Neogia (can’t find a definition anywhere). I can speculate dirt divinization is under a direct influence of celestial positioning, but it’s just a guess.
Comment: I found the Ars Notoria is derived from an earlier text known as Sive Flores Aurei “The Golden Flowers” attributed to Apollonius of Tyanna who based his work on the lost “Book of Flowers of Heavenly Teaching” (Liber Florum Caelestis Doctrinae) compiled by King Solomon. Many of you may know this, but, in case not, here is the link if you read Latin or just like the notae: https://www.amazon.com/Ars-Notoria-Sive-Flores-Aurei/dp/1495943119/
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Geomancy and Neonegia are listed under astrology (sub astrologia) according to the Ars Notoria (section 71). Geomancy is a North African and Arabian divination system imported into Latin Europe where it became linked to astrology almost immediately. There are astro–geomancy charts dated to late 13th and early 14th centuries and currently scholars are working towards publishing these medieval geomantic tracts. You can read more about the geomancy-astrology relationship in Stephen Skinner’s _Geomancy: Theory and Practice_ (2020) and John Michael Greer’s _The Art and Practice of Geomancy_ (2009).
As for the strange words “geonogia” and “neonegia”, these are not attested anywhere else. I propose these words are a corruption and/or abbreviation of Greek words that became mistransliterated into Latin for genethlialogy and onomancy, respectively. Genethlialogy is the astrological study of nativities, and onomancy is the divinatory practice of taking the letters of a person’s name, converting each letter into a numerical value, and then applying certain algorithms to achieve a numerical result, which is then interpreted to assess a person’s fortune. Both genethlialogy and onomancy were interlinked in the body of medieval and astrological literature such as the 10th century Alchandreaus corpus. You can read more about onomancy in my three-part blog series “Onomancy: A Forbidden Art of the Ars Notoria.”
The Ars Notoria has a complicated history of composition, which I detail in my book. In my estimation, the _Flores Aurei (Golden Flowers)_ is the original base text upon which other writings and redactions followed. For those interested in examining the original Latin texts and figures, check out my blog entry, “Where are the Original Latin Texts of the Ars Notoria Tradition?”
Where are the Original Latin Texts of the Ars Notoria Tradition? (matthiascastle.com)
Onomancy: A Forbidden Art of the Ars Notoria, Part I (matthiascastle.com)
matthiascastle.com
Where are the Original Latin Texts of the Ars Notoria Tradition?
The original Latin texts for the Ars Notoria and its derivative texts, excluding the Liber Florum of John of Morigny, are available in Julien Véronèse’s doctoral dissertation, titled L’Ars notoria au Moyen Age et a l’epoque moderne. Etude d’une tradition … Continuer la lecture
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Thanks for the information! Sorting out a textual corruption can be a real head-scratcher. I’ve seen half a dozen possible explanations for “Poimandres/Pimander” and when I was doing some reading of Greek yesterday, I realized “mandres” in Greek can be translated as “pen”, which would also fit the Thoth/Hermes Trismegistus concept well…but then I found out it was pen as in “fenced in area” like pig-pen, not writing instrument.🤣
