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Filosofía oculta, magia natural
A complete work on Natural Magic, White Magic, Black Magic, Divination, Occult Binding, Sorceries, and their power; Unctions, Love Medicines and their Virtues; The Occult virtue of things which are in them only in their life time, and such as remain in them even after their death; The Occult or Magical Virtue of all things, etc.
282 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1531
About the author
Cornelius Agrippa
238 books205 followersHeinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim (most often referred to by the Latinate appellation Cornelius Agrippa, sometimes Anglicized as Henry Cornelius Agrippa) was an occult writer, theologian, astrologer, and alchemist. His writings on magic and occult philosophy were a significant influence on the later work of Giordano Bruno and John Dee, and thus came to underpin much of the Western esoteric tradition.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 25, 2021
One can read one translation of 'Natural Magic' here:
https://www.sacred-texts.com/eso/pnm/...
And I was reading the new Black Letter Press translation, which is not logged into GR (yet, at least).
My edition is, of course, beautiful, but also costly.
As for the book itself, there is a lot of embarassing 'eye of newt and toe of frog' style nonsense.
But there are also philosophic ideas:
'So, if you would work magic, understand the workings of your own soul, and its relationship to the cosmos.'
And useful ideas about magic:
'In all works of magic, be constant in your belief in success, and have no doubt regarding its effect.'
The enumeration of binding methods is the most complete ever, I think.
After all, probably not as interesting as I had expected, but curious enough; I'll now make a pause, but then return to the other volumes.
https://www.sacred-texts.com/eso/pnm/...
And I was reading the new Black Letter Press translation, which is not logged into GR (yet, at least).
My edition is, of course, beautiful, but also costly.
As for the book itself, there is a lot of embarassing 'eye of newt and toe of frog' style nonsense.
But there are also philosophic ideas:
'So, if you would work magic, understand the workings of your own soul, and its relationship to the cosmos.'
And useful ideas about magic:
'In all works of magic, be constant in your belief in success, and have no doubt regarding its effect.'
The enumeration of binding methods is the most complete ever, I think.
After all, probably not as interesting as I had expected, but curious enough; I'll now make a pause, but then return to the other volumes.
October 26, 2016
Really solid translation! The only question I've got is: How long are we going to have to wait for Book II and III?
September 15, 2014
I'm not sure I have the correct edition, but I don't believe I was able to find the correct one here on Goodreads. I was reading a free version on my kindle which was a scan of a Harvard library copy from Google Books. Overall, it was a relatively good version, with the exception of any kind of symbols, which were more or less absent. For the majority of the book, this is not a problem, but it does become an issue in the sections on cabala, astrology, and alchemy, where all of the symbols are absent except for a couple of image scans. There are a fair amount of transcription flubs, as well. Still, this is a book I have been meaning to read for years, and having it available for free made that possible.
In retrospect, I'm glad I didn't pay for this. The antiquity makes this seem kind of like it would have good information, but reading through this emphasizes that a lot of accepted knowledge was folkloric, and not based on experience. As a collection of folklore, this was enjoyable, but as an elaboration of occult secrets, it kind of falls flat for me. I suppose, as something of a foundational work, I shouldn't have expected anything groundbreaking, but I guess I thought there would be more to this than there was. The introduction and framing this within a historical context was quite interesting, and the final section was laughably bad. I suppose I let myself expect more from this book than I ought to have. Taken without me presuppositions, this is a solid historical work on some occult topics.
In retrospect, I'm glad I didn't pay for this. The antiquity makes this seem kind of like it would have good information, but reading through this emphasizes that a lot of accepted knowledge was folkloric, and not based on experience. As a collection of folklore, this was enjoyable, but as an elaboration of occult secrets, it kind of falls flat for me. I suppose, as something of a foundational work, I shouldn't have expected anything groundbreaking, but I guess I thought there would be more to this than there was. The introduction and framing this within a historical context was quite interesting, and the final section was laughably bad. I suppose I let myself expect more from this book than I ought to have. Taken without me presuppositions, this is a solid historical work on some occult topics.
January 3, 2020
O dönem insanlarının inançlarını görmek için güzel bir kaynak. Kitapta daha eski çağdaki yazılara ve kişilere de bolca gönderme var. Ben biraz sıkıldım bir süre sonra, çünkü kitap koca karı inancı denilen şeylerle dolu ve 500 önce güncellenmiş hali :)
March 10, 2021
The text is a poetry lover's delight, the Olde English capturing your heart and gripping your attention but in the end, this book is just what it promises to be, a PHILOSOPHY of natural magic or more appropriately herbology and elementology. For a philosophical book, this has too much so called "facts" full of witchcraft tips which then has the audacity to proceed to shun witchcraft and sorcery as evil. What, pray do tell, is that you are presenting in this book?
Sure, there is a lot of information here about different herbs, legends about animal parts, which are derived from, you guessed it, witchcraft, divination, the very practices you despise and call malicious. Yeah, like making man the image of God who in your mind can only be Christ makes so much sense for magic, right?
Like the Indian, Egyptian, Greek and Roman religious practices are just wishful speculations, right? Sure, talk about eye of the bat, tongue of the frog and throw hate on witchcraft, yes, that makes sense. Not!
So, though this book had so many interesting sets of information about the elements, the stars, the solar, lunar attributes to every matter, making the higher power in a Christian image and grouping all kinds of witchcraft and divination under evil whilst shamelessly talking about magick and loa is the reason I had to give this such low rating. Sorry not sorry.
Sure, there is a lot of information here about different herbs, legends about animal parts, which are derived from, you guessed it, witchcraft, divination, the very practices you despise and call malicious. Yeah, like making man the image of God who in your mind can only be Christ makes so much sense for magic, right?
Like the Indian, Egyptian, Greek and Roman religious practices are just wishful speculations, right? Sure, talk about eye of the bat, tongue of the frog and throw hate on witchcraft, yes, that makes sense. Not!
So, though this book had so many interesting sets of information about the elements, the stars, the solar, lunar attributes to every matter, making the higher power in a Christian image and grouping all kinds of witchcraft and divination under evil whilst shamelessly talking about magick and loa is the reason I had to give this such low rating. Sorry not sorry.
November 13, 2013
Dr. John Dee was said to keep Agrippa's work on his desk. Dee had the largest library in Europe at the time, so this is high praise.
I enjoyed his compilation of the various episodes of magic from written history. He was as likely to use Ovid, who Edith Hamilton frequently disregarded as unfaithful and purely aesthetic, as Aristotle. He organizes this confluence of sources, from the scientific to the mythic, into intelligible categories upon which he reflects. He has a clarity of mind that is piercing, which gets to the heart of the matter. He feels very rational, having a similar feeling to Euclidean geometry.
I enjoyed his compilation of the various episodes of magic from written history. He was as likely to use Ovid, who Edith Hamilton frequently disregarded as unfaithful and purely aesthetic, as Aristotle. He organizes this confluence of sources, from the scientific to the mythic, into intelligible categories upon which he reflects. He has a clarity of mind that is piercing, which gets to the heart of the matter. He feels very rational, having a similar feeling to Euclidean geometry.
May 17, 2010
Very heavy going but I think essential to allow full knowledge of Wicca
sgt
sgt
November 29, 2017
An essential classic. If nothing else, read it thoroughly, place it on a shelf, and if it ever calls back to you, you'll have it to reference.
June 20, 2025
Un viaje intenso al corazón del pensamiento mágico
"Filosofía Oculta" de Enroque Cornelio Agrippa (o Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, como se le conoce más comúnmente) es como abrir un grimorio del Renacimiento: denso, misterioso, pero fascinante. No es un libro práctico de hechizos, sino una especie de enciclopedia sobre cómo se pensaba la magia, la astrología, la cábala y el alma del mundo en el siglo XVI.
Agrippa intenta explicarlo todo: cómo se relacionan los planetas con las plantas, los números con los ángeles, y los símbolos con la realidad. A veces abruma, pero también deslumbra. Es un texto para leer con calma, y mejor si te interesa el ocultismo desde un punto de vista histórico o filosófico.
No es fácil ni moderno, pero si te gusta lo esotérico de verdad, este libro es una joya.
"Filosofía Oculta" de Enroque Cornelio Agrippa (o Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, como se le conoce más comúnmente) es como abrir un grimorio del Renacimiento: denso, misterioso, pero fascinante. No es un libro práctico de hechizos, sino una especie de enciclopedia sobre cómo se pensaba la magia, la astrología, la cábala y el alma del mundo en el siglo XVI.
Agrippa intenta explicarlo todo: cómo se relacionan los planetas con las plantas, los números con los ángeles, y los símbolos con la realidad. A veces abruma, pero también deslumbra. Es un texto para leer con calma, y mejor si te interesa el ocultismo desde un punto de vista histórico o filosófico.
No es fácil ni moderno, pero si te gusta lo esotérico de verdad, este libro es una joya.
December 18, 2024
Me encontré con los textos de un observador y conocedor de la naturaleza. Asi mismo me permitío sumergirme en la perspectiva del mundo que se tenia en su época al querer transmitir este conocimiento a sus discípulos. Me lleve una grata sorpresa, fuera de que fue mi primer lectura en este tipo de tema y para mi fortuna no fué un grimorio si no este compendio
February 16, 2025
Interesting for a foundational understanding of where many modern occult beliefs stem from. Otherwise, pretty dull and repetitive and wildly unscientific.
January 21, 2025
I read the translation by Eric Purdue.
Before getting into the contents of the book, I want to talk about the physical book itself. The three-book hardcover set is stunning. The dust jacket is beautiful, the cloth cover is phenomenal, and the printing itself is amazing with the use of footnotes AND side notes. This copy corrects a great deal of mistranslations from the Tyson translation.
The text itself is great. As a professional historian, I see book one as a historiography of sorts. Agrippa presented the current understanding of natural magic as taught by those who preceded him. He also quotes many of his contemporaries. While the book is not "teaching" how to "do magic." It is letting individuals understand the connections between the physical world and the celestial world. It serves as setting the groundwork for the upcoming books which become much more practical. For anyone stating that Agrippa is a great encyclopedia of magic thinking, they have not read and understood Agrippa. He is not merely listing spells, he is composing an academic work of sorts. He is acting as a teacher and Book One asserts his position as the expert in the room by letting the reader know how studied he is in the topic.
5/5: Translation
5/5: Physical Book
5/5: Content
Before getting into the contents of the book, I want to talk about the physical book itself. The three-book hardcover set is stunning. The dust jacket is beautiful, the cloth cover is phenomenal, and the printing itself is amazing with the use of footnotes AND side notes. This copy corrects a great deal of mistranslations from the Tyson translation.
The text itself is great. As a professional historian, I see book one as a historiography of sorts. Agrippa presented the current understanding of natural magic as taught by those who preceded him. He also quotes many of his contemporaries. While the book is not "teaching" how to "do magic." It is letting individuals understand the connections between the physical world and the celestial world. It serves as setting the groundwork for the upcoming books which become much more practical. For anyone stating that Agrippa is a great encyclopedia of magic thinking, they have not read and understood Agrippa. He is not merely listing spells, he is composing an academic work of sorts. He is acting as a teacher and Book One asserts his position as the expert in the room by letting the reader know how studied he is in the topic.
5/5: Translation
5/5: Physical Book
5/5: Content
July 8, 2020
This book is a fascinating look at the occult traditions of the Renaissance age. While Agrippa’s work has not aged all that well in all its content, it is nonetheless worth examining as a key root to the modern esoteric tradition.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews