Picatrix - Full Latin text

[DoctorArcanus]

From http://www.esotericarchives.com/picatrix.htm:

The Ghâyat al-Hakîm fi'l-sihr, or Picatrix, as it is known in the West, is an important Arabic magical text. It is perhaps the largest and most comprehensive of the grimoires, or handbooks of magic. The attribution to the Andalusian mathematician al-Majriti (or al-Madjriti) (d. ca. 1004-7) is considered pseudo-epigraphic. The Latin translation dates to 1256 and the court of Alphonso the Wise, king of Castille, and exerted a considerable influence on Western magic thereafter. It is said that much of Ficino's astrological magic derives from the Picatrix.​

http://bivio.signum.sns.it
At the above address, the full text of "Picatrix, the Latin version of the Ghayat Al-Hakim" is available. Enter "picatrix" in the search box at the bottom of the page ("cerca").
The text is based on David Pingree, The Warburg Institute, University of London, London 1986.

Marco

 

[jmd]

Serendipitus posting, DoctorArcanus (Marco), as I was just reading a short page on Alfonso the Wise: http://www.mikecrowson.co.uk/Alfonso.html

 

[DoctorArcanus]

Serendipitus posting, DoctorArcanus (Marco), as I was just reading a short page on Alfonso the Wise: http://www.mikecrowson.co.uk/Alfonso.html

Smart guy this Alfonso.
I loved this passage :

Alfonso X was introduced into the mysteries of Ptolomaic astronomy, astrology and Ptolomay’s view of the construction of the universe. Alfonso remarked:

“If the Almighty had consulted me before he embarked on creation, I should have recommended something simpler.”
​

Marco

 

[Furnacechant]

“If the Almighty had consulted me before he embarked on creation, I should have recommended something simpler.”
[/indent]

Marco

That should be a bumper sticker or a t-shirt or something..

 

[Scion]

If you can manage to snag a copy, I highly recommend the Ouroboros Press English edition. (I shamelessly splurged on the goatskin ) There's also a German imprint from the 1940s (I think) but I think the translation is supposed to be spotty because they did it from the Latin, not the original Arabic.

At present Ouroboros has only published the first 2 volumes, but 3 and 4 are on the way. And they've done an exquisite job. Many discrepancies between the original Arabic and the Latin were caught and rectified in the ENglish version.

It's one of the cornerstones of Agrippa and well worth several reads to anyone interested in Western esoterica.

Scion