Patricia Aakhus
University of Southern Indiana
Abstract
Astral Magic and Adelard of Bath’s Liber Prestigiorum; or Why Werewolves Change at the Full Moon
Astral magic, the capturing of celestial spirits or rays in engraved stones at astronomically propitious times, enters the West with Adelard of Bath's 12th C translation of Thabit ibn Qurra's treatise on talismanic magic, Liber Prestigiorum. Derived from Greek, Babylonian, Sabian, Egyptian and Neo-Platonic magical theory and practice, astral magic requires profound knowledge of astronomy. Talismans draw down planetary spirits along stellar rays, the vehicles of transmission, following sympathetic correspondences between astronomical and terrestrial phenomena. In the 12th C works Guillaume de Palerne and Le Chevalier au Lion, magic rings and werewolves are tied to astral magic. These works were written for the English court that supported Adelard, and Gervase of Tilbury's Otia Imperialia. Where n England we have often seen men change into wolves according to the phases of the moon, and there is no precious stone which may not be consecrated for the exercise of its extrinsic power with the herb of the same name or with the blood of the bird or animal, combined with spells. Adelard's version of Thabi's text, along with the Latin Picatrix also derived from Thabit, had the greatest impact on learned magic in the medieval and early modern periods.
Biographical Details
Patricia Aakhus is Director of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Southern Indiana. Her recent publications include Astral Magic in the Renaissance; and The Gems, Poetry and Patronage of Lorenzo de Medici in Magic, Ritual and Witchcraft, University of Pennsylvannia Press. She teaches courses in the history of magic and alchemy, and classical and world mythology. She is the author of three novels based on her translations from Old Irish: The Voyage of Mael Duin, Daughter of the Boyne, and The Sorrows of Tara. She presented at INSAP IV and INSAP VI.