The Arbatel of Magic

Arbatel de Magia Veterum was published in Latin in 1575 in Basel Switzerland. It is unfortunate that only one part of the book has survived or was ever written, being called the Isagoge, or Fundamental Instructions.

The work promised a further eight volumes, concerning themselves with "Microcosmical Magic", "Olympic Magic", "Hesiodiacal and Homerical Magic", "Sibylline Magic", "Pythagorical Magic", "The Magic of Appolonius", "Hermetical Magic" and "Prophetical Magic".

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Wikipedia


Arbatel de magia veterum (English: Arbatel of the magic of the ancients) is a treatise on ceremonial magic written in Latin, first published in 1575 in Basel, Switzerland. The author is unknown, but textual evidence suggests that the author was Italian.

The brief introduction outlines a scheme of nine chapters, of which only the first, called the Isagogue, seems to be present, at least as described in the introduction:

The first is called Isagoge, or, A Book of the Institutions of Magick: or which in forty and nine Aphorisms comprehendeth, the most general Precepts of the whole Art.

However, though there are no later samples of the eight remaining chapters labelled as such, the promised content of all of them is at least addressed in the "forty and nine Aphorisms" actually at hand. It is possible that the claim of eight additional chapters is some manner of game or thematic strategy on the part of the author.

The present text of the Isogogue or Arbatel de magia veterum is arranged in seven sections ("septenaries"), each one further divided into a numbered sequence of aphorisms. Beginning with the third septenary, the work includes a discussion of the so-called "Olympian spirits".

The treatise is commonly known in English as the Arbatel of Magic or Arbatel of Magick, after the title of an English translation of the Arbatel de magia veterum by Robert Turner published in 1655, London. A later edition was published by Andreas Luppius, Wesel, 1686. Luppius' edition includes a number of innovations.

Another English translation of the Arbatel, apparently independent of Turner's, is known in a single manuscript copy, MSS Sloane 3851, folio 10r—29v. It includes a reproduction of a magic seal unknown in other versions.

In 1997, Joseph H. Peterson produced a bilingual online edition (the English based on Turner's edition and the Latin on the 1575 edition) which incorporated elements from all four versions as well textual corrections.

In 2003, "Sadena" produced an English online edition, claiming to correct errors in Turners' scholarship as well as deficiencies due to unavailable typescripts and other technological problems relating to the printing. These included dubious "corrections" of the Hebrew on the frontispiece (e.g., the author complains that the "beth" appears to be a "kaph", when it is in fact a beth correctly rendered in Rashi script.[1])

Sadena alleges that all later translations are translations of Turner rather than the original Latin manuscript, apparently not accounting for Sloane 3851.

The book describes and gives details of the olympians. The olympians are called:

Aratron, ruler of Saturn Saturn
Bethor, ruler of Jupiter Jupiter
Phaleg, ruler of Mars Mars
Och, ruler of Sol Sun
Hagith, ruler of Venus Venus
Ophiel, ruler of Mercury Mercury
Phul, ruler of Luna Moon

Each olympian has under his command a certain amount of spirits. It also gives a picture of each Olympian's character.

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Olympian spirits (or Olympic spirits, Olympick spirits) refers to seven (or sometimes fourteen) spirits mentioned in several renaissance and post-renaissance books of ritual magic/ceremonial magic, such as the Arbatel de magia veterum, The Secret Grimoire of Turiel and The Complete Book of Magic Science. The Arbatel of Magick (1655, London) writes of the Olympian spirits: "They are called Olympick spirits, which do inhabit in the firmament, and in the stars of the firmament: and the office of these spirits is to declare Destinies, and to administer fatal Charms, so far forth as God pleaseth to permit them."

In this magic system, the universe is divided into 196 provinces (a number which in numerology adds up to 7: 1+9+6=16; 1+6=7) with each of the seven Olympian spirits ruling a set number of provinces (see below). Aratron rules the most provinces (49), while each succeeding Olympian rules seven fewer than the former, down to Phul who rules seven provinces. Each Olympian spirit is also associated with one of the seven luminaries which figure in ancient and medieval Western magic.

The seven Olympian spirits

Aratron (or Arathron), "the alchemist who commanded seventeen million six hundred and forty thousand spirits". He rules 49 provinces. His planet is Saturn.
Bethor, "who commanded twenty-nine thousand legions of spirits". He rules 42 provinces. His planet is Jupiter.
Phaleg (or Phalec, Pharos), "the War-Lord". His planet is Mars. He rules 35 provinces.
Och, "the alchemist, physician, and magician". He rules 28 provinces. His "planet" is the Sun.
Hagith, "transmuter of metals, and commander of four thousand legions of spirits". He rules 21 provinces. His planet is Venus.
Ophiel, "who commanded one hundred thousand legions of spirits". He rules 14 provinces. His planet is Mercury.
Phul, "lord of the powers of the moon and supreme lord of the waters". He rules 7 provinces. His "planet" is the Moon.

[edit] The seven Archangels and the seven Olympian spirits

In ritual magic, the seven Olympian spirits are not confused with the seven traditional archangels, which usually are Michael (usually the Sun), Anael (Venus), Raphael (usually Mercury), Gabriel (the Moon), Cassiel (Saturn), Samael (Mars), and Zadkiel (Jupiter), or a variation thereof.

The seven Olympian spirits are often invoked in conjunction with the seven classic archangels, and magic seals often associate one of the classic seven with one of the Olympian spirits. For example, a magic seal from The Complete Book of Magic Science (1573) shows the form of a seal which binds a spirit of Jupiter, Pabiel, to the magician: Pabiel's name appears in a band stretched between two circles: the circle on the left bearing the name and sigil of Bethor, the circle on the right bearing the name and sigil of Sachiel (equivalent to Zadkiel).


Semiphoras und Shemhamphoras Salominis is the title of a 1686 occult book attributed to King Solomon printed by Andreas Luppius. Its text cannot be traced to an earlier date, but it is possible that it is of late medieval origin, the title being mentioned among grimoires by earlier authors such as Johannes Hartlieb.

The title is probably a corruption of the Kabbalist term shem hammephorash "the distinctive excellent name", that is the Tetragrammaton.

The text is a mish-mash of material derived from Agrippa, pseudo-Agrippa, Jewish magic and the so-called Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses. "The Seven Semiphoras of Adam" and the "The Seven Semiphoras of Moses" closely match book 7 of the Liber Salomonis. It was edited by Johann Scheible in 1846.

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The Twelve Olympians, also known as the Dodekatheon (Greek: Δωδεκάθεον < δώδεκα,[1][2] dōdeka, "twelve"+ θεοί, theoi, "gods"), in Greek mythology, were the principal deities of the Greek pantheon, residing atop Mount Olympus. Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hades were siblings. Ares, Hermes, Hephaestus, Athena, Apollo, and Artemis were children of Zeus. Some versions of the myths state that Athena was born of Zeus alone, or that Hephaestus was born of Hera alone. The Olympians gained their supremacy in a war of gods in which Zeus led his siblings to victory over the Titans.

The first ancient reference of religious ceremonies for them is found in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes. The Greek cult of the Twelve Olympians can be traced to the 6th century BC Athens and probably has no precedent in the Mycenaean period. The altar to the Twelve Olympians at Athens is usually dated to the archonship of the younger Pesistratos, in 522/521 BC. The concept of the "Twelve Gods" is older than any of our Greek or Roman sources, and is likely of Anatolian origin. There seems to have been a great deal of fluidity when it came to who was counted among their number in antiquity.[3]

The classical scheme of the Twelve Olympians (the Canonical Twelve of art and poetry) comprises the following gods:

Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Athena, Dionysus, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Aphrodite, Hephaestus and Hermes.

Hades (Roman: Pluto) was not generally included in this list. He did not have a seat in the pantheon because he spent almost all of his time in the underworld, in which he was the king. The respective Roman scheme as given by Ennius gives the Roman equivalents of these Greek gods,[4] but replaces Dionysus (Bacchus) with Hestia (Vesta) so as to list six gods and six goddesses. The difference in the list is explained[by whom?] by the story that when Dionysus was offered a seat among the Olympians, the total number of Olympians became thirteen. Believing this would create a fight amongst the gods, Hestia selflessly stepped down, and is sometimes considered a minor god because of this.[citation needed]

Herodotus included in his Dodekatheon the following deities: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hermes, Athena, Apollo, Alpheus, Cronus, Rhea and the Charites.[5][6] Herodotus also includes Heracles as one of the Twelve.[clarification needed][7] Lucian also includes Heracles and Asclepius as members of the Twelve, without explaining which two had to give way for them. At Kos, Heracles and Dionysus are added to the Twelve, and Ares and Hephaestus are left behind.[8] However, Pindar, Apollodorus,[9] and Herodorus disagree with this. For them Heracles is not one of the Twelve Gods, but the one who established their cult.[5] Hebe, Helios, Eros (a.k.a. Cupid), Selene and Persephone are other important gods and goddesses which are sometimes included in a group of twelve. Eros is often depicted alongside the other twelve, especially his mother Aphrodite, but is rarely considered one of the Olympians.

Plato connected the Twelve Olympians with the twelve months, and proposed that the final month be devoted to rites in honor of Hades and the spirits of the dead, implying that he considered Hades to be one of the Twelve.[10] Hades is phased out in later groupings due to his chthonic associations.[11] In Phaedrus Plato aligns the Twelve with the Zodiac and would exclude Hestia from their rank.[12]

In ancient Greek culture the "Olympian Gods" and the "Cults of Twelve Gods" were often relatively distinct concepts.[13]




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Olympians