A medieval magical handbook the Picatrix as the source of Renaissance Magic and the interpretation of magical science

Abstract

The medieval magical handbook, known as Picatrix, was translated during the 13^th century into Latin from Arabic. It is a very interesting and particular book not only of its own but also because of the later history of the text, since it was one of the sources of Renaissance magic. The Latin text has many layers; it consists a lot of earlier religious elements and grants a lot of data about medieval astral magic, astrology and alchemy. In this paper I survey the basic problems and concepts (magic, necromancy etc.) relating to the text. With some examples I demonstrate how the translator used his sources, and I point out that the Picatrix preserved some necromantic elements, furthermore I show the functions of different incenses, prayers and rituals used during the magical operations. All these show that the Picatrix is not only a handbook of the medieval learned magic, but contains some dangerous recipes, so the Renaissance magician must had used the book very carefully.