Lytton, Bulwer: Author (1803 - 1873). According to his baptismal certificate, the full name of this once famous author was Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer - Lytton, and in signing some of his early writings he used all these names with occasional variations in their order, an act which was regarded by many people as springing from pride and pompousness, and which elicited the withering satire of Thackeray in Punch. Lytton was born at London in 1803, and his father was a Norfolk squire, Bulwer of Heydon Hall (associated with the English occultist and adventurer John Heydon); while his mother was Elizabeth Barbara Lytton, a lady who claimed kinship with Constantine Waredwyr the semi - mythical hero who led the Britons or Welsh against the Angles in the fourth century.
As a child the future novelist was delicate, but he learnt to read at a surprisingly early age, and began to write verses before he was ten years old. Going first to a small private school at Fulham, he soon passed on to another one at Rottingdean; and here he continued to manifest literary tastes, Byron and Scott being his chief idols at this time. So clever was the boy thought, indeed, that his relations decided it would be a mistake to send him to a public school; and accordingly he was placed with a tutor at Ealing, under whose care he progressed rapidly with his studies. Thereafter he proceeded to Cambridge, where he took his degree easily, and won many academic laurels, while on leaving the University he travelled for a while in Scotland and in France, and then bought a commission in the army. He sold it soon afterwards, however, while in 1827 he was married, and now he began to devote himself seriously to writing, his first publications of note being the novels of Falkland, Pelham and Eugene A - yam. These won an instant success, and placed considerable wealth in the author's hands, the result being that in 1831 he entered parliament as liberal member for St. Ives, Huntingdonshire; and during the next ten years he was an active politician yet found time to produce a host of stories, for instance The Last Days of Pompeii and Ernest Maltravers, Zanoni and The Last of the Barons. These were followed shortly by The Caxtons, and simultaneously Lytton achieved some fame as a dramatist, perhaps his best play being The Lady of Lyons; while in 1851 he was instrumental in founding a scheme for pensioning authors, in 1862 he increased his reputation greatly by his novel entitled A Strange Story, and four years later his services to literature and politics were rewarded by a peerage. He now began to work at yet another story, Kenelm Chillingly, but his health was beginning to fail, and he died in 1873 at Torquay.
The works cited above constitute but a fragment of Lytton's voluminous achievement. Besides further novels too numerous to mention, he issued several volumes of verses notably Ismael and The New Union, while he did translations from German, Spanish and Italian, he produced a history of Athens, he contributed to endless periodicals, and was at one time editor of The New Monthly Magazine. But albeit so busy throughout the whole of his career, and while winning - vast fame and opulence, Lytton's life was not really a happy one, various causes conducing to make it otherwise. Long before meeting his wife he fell in love with a young girl who died prematurely, and this loss seems to have left an indelible sear on his heart, while his marriage was anything but a successful one, the pair being divorced comparatively soon after their union. Now as a mere child Lytton had evinced a predilection for mysticism, while he had surprised his mother once by asking her whether she was - not sometimes overcome by the sense of her own identity " (almost exactly the same question was put to his nurse in boyhood by another mystic, William Bell Scott); Lytton sedulously developed his leaning towards the occult, and it is everywhere manifest in his literary output. It transpires, for example, in his poem The Tale of a Dreamer, and again in Kenelm. Chillingly, while in A Strange Story he tries to give a scientific colouring to old - fashioned magic.
Madre Natura: An old and powerful secret society society, of Italy, who worshipped and idealised nature, and which seems to have been founded by members of the ancient Italian priesthood. It had a tradition that one of the Popes as Cardinal de Medida became a member of the fraternity, and for this there is good documentary evidence. It accepted the allegorical interpretation which the Neo-Platonists had placed upon the Pagan creeds during the first ages of Christianity.
Maekay, Gallatin: A disciple of Albert Pike and one of the leaders of Masonry in Charleston, U.S.A. who was charged by Miss Diana Vaughan, Dr. Bataille and others with the practice of Satanism and sorcery - charges entirely without foundation.
Magi: Priests of ancient Persia, and the cultivators of the wisdom of Zoroaster. They were instituted by Cyrus when he founded the new Persian empire, and are supposed to have been of the Median race. . Schlegel says (Philosophy of History), " they were not so much a hereditary sacerdotal caste as an order or association, divided into various and successive ranks and grades, such as existed in the mysteries - the grade of apprenticeship - that of mastership - that of perfect mastership." In short, they were a theosophical college; and either its professors were indifferently " magi, " or magicians, and " wise men " or they were distinguished into two classes by those names.
Their name pronounced Mogh " by the modern Persians, and " Magh " by the ancients signified " Wise, " and such is the interpretation of it given by the Greek and Roman writers.
Stobaeus expressly calls the science of the magi, the service of the gods, so Plato. According to Ennemoser, " Magiusiah, .Madschusie, signified the office and knowledge of the priest, who was called " Mag, Magius, Magius, " and afterwards “Magician." Brucker maintains that the primitive - meaning of the word is " fire worshipper, " "' worship of the light, " an erroneous opinion. In the modern Persian the word is " Mog, " and " Mogbed " signifies high priest. The high priest of the Parsees at Surat, even at the present day, is called, " Mobed." Others derive the word from "Megh ... .. Mehab " signifying something which is great and noble, and Zoroaster's disciples were called " Meghestom."
Salverte states that these Mobeds are still named in the Pebivi dialect " Magoi." They were divided into three classes: - Those who abstained from all animal food; those who never ate of the flesh of any tame animals; and those who made no scruple to eat any kind of meat. A belief in the transmigration of the soul was the foundation of this abstinence. They professed the science of divination, and for that purpose met together and consulted in their temples. They professed to make truth the great object of their study; for that alone, they said, can make man like God " whose body resembles light, as his soul 'Or spirit resembles truth." They condemned all images, and those who said that the gods are male and female; they had neither temples nor altars, but worshipped the sky, as a representative of the Deity, on the tops of mountains; they also sacrificed to the sun, moon, earth, fire, water, and winds, says Herodotus, meaning, no doubt that they adored the heavenly bodies and the elements.
This was probably before the time of Zoroaster, when the religion of Persia seems to have resembled that of ancient India. Their hymns in praise of the Most High exceeded, according to Dio Chrysostom, the sublimity of anything in Homer or Hesiod. They exposed their dead bodies to wild beasts. It is a question " whether the old Persian doctrine and wisdom or tradition of light did not undergo material alterations in the hands of its Median restorer, Zoroaster; or whether this doctrine was preserved in all its purity by the order of the magi." He then remarks that on them devolved the important trust of the monarch's education, which must necessarily have given them great weight and influence in the state.
They were in high credit at the " Persian gates " - for that was the Oriental name given to the capital of the empire, and the abode of the prince - and they took the most active part in all the factions that encompassed the throne, or that were formed in the vicinity of the court. In Greece, and even in Egypt, the sacerdotal fraternities and associations of initiated, formed by the mysteries, had in general but an indirect, though not unimportant influence on affairs of state; but in the Persian monarchy they acquired a complete political ascendency. Religion, philosophy, and the sciences were all in their bands, they were the universal physicians who healed the sick in body and in spirit, and, in strict consistency with that character, ministered to the state, which is only the man again in a larger sense.
The three grades of the magi alluded to are called - by Herber the " disciples, " the" professed, " and the" masters." They were originally from Bactria, where they governed a little state by laws of their own choice, and by their incorporation in the Persian empire_ they greatly promoted the consolidation of the conquests of Cyrus. Their fall dates from the reign of Darius Hystaspes, about 500 B.C., by whom they were fiercely persecuted; this produced an emigration which extended to Cappadocia on the one hand, and to India on the other, but they were still of so much consideration at a later period, as to provoke the jealousy of Alexander the Great.
Magia Posthuma:- A treatise on Vampirism published at Olmutz in 1706, and written by Ferdinand de Schertz. Reviewin, it Calmet (q.v.) says in his Dissertation on Vampires: ."The author relates a story of a woman that died in a certain village, after having received all the sacraments, and was buried with the usual ceremonies, in the Churchyard. About four days after her death, the inhabitants of the village were affrighted with an uncommon noise and outcry, and saw a spectre, sometimes in the shape of a dog, and sometimes in that of a man, which appeared to great multitudes of people, and put them to excessive pain by squeezing their throats, and pressing their breasts, almost to suffocation. There were several whose bodies he bruised all over, and reduced them to the utmost weakness, so that they grew pale, lean, and disfigured. His fury was sometimes so great as not to spare the very beasts, for cows were frequently found beat to the earth, half dead ; at other times with their tails tied to one another, and their hideous lowings sufficiently expressed the pain they felt. Horses were often found almost wearied to death, foaming with sweat, and out of breath, as if they had been running a long and tiresome race; and these calamities continued for several months."
The author of the treatise examines into the subject in the capacity of a lawyer, and discusses both the matter of fact and the points of law arising from it. He is clearly of opinion that if the suspected person was really the author of these noises, disturbances, and acts of cruelty, the law will justify the burning of the body, as is practised in the case of other spectres which come again and molest the living. He relates also several stories of apparitions of this sort, and particularises the mischiefs done by them. One, among others, is of a herdsman of the village of Blow near the town of Kadam in Bohemia, who appeared for a considerable time together, and called upon several persons, who all died within eight days. At last, the inhabitants of Blow dug up the herdsman's body, and fixed it in the ground, with a stake driven through it. The man, even in this condition, laughed at the people that were employed about him, and told them they were very obliging to furnish him with a stick to defend himself from them. The same night he extricated himself from the stake, frightened several persons by appearing to them, and occasioned the death of many more than he had hitherto done. He was then delivered into the hands of the hangman, who put him into a cart, in order to burn him without the town. As they went along, the carcass shrieked in the most hideous manner, and threw about its arms and legs, as if it had been alive, and upon being again run through with a stake, it gave a loud cry, and a great quantity of fresh, florid blood issued from the wound. At last the body was burnt, to ashes, and this execution put a final stop to the spectre's appearing and infesting the village.
The same method has been practised in other places, where these apparitions have been seen, and upon taking them out of the ground, their bodies have seemed fresh and florid, their limbs pliant and flexible, without any worms or putrefaction, but not without a great stench. The author quotes several other writers, who attest what he, relates concerning these spectres, which, he says, still appear in the mountains of Silesia and Moravia. They are seen, it seems, both by day and night, and the things which formerly belonged to them are observed to stir and change their place, without any person's being seen to touch them. And, the only remedy in these cases, is to cut off the head, and burn the body of the persons that are supposed to appear.
Magic: Short for " magic art, " from Greek magein the science and religion of the priests of Zoroaster; or, according to Skeat, from Greek megas, great, thus signifying the great " science.
History - The earliest traces of magical practice are found in the European eaves of the middle Palaeolithic Age. These belong to the last interglacial period of the Pleistocene period, which has been named the Aurignacian, after the cave - dwellers of Aurignac, whose skeletons, artifacts and drawings link them with the Bushmen of South Africa. In the cave of Gargas, near Bagneres de Luchon, occur, in addition to spirited and realistic drawings of animals, numerous imprints of human hands in various stages of mutilation. Some hands had been first smeared with a. sticky substance and then pressed on the rock; others had been held in position to be dusted round with red ochre, or black pigment. Most of the imprinted hands have mutilated fingers; in some cases the first and second joints of one or more fingers are wanting; in others the stumps only of all fingers remain. A close study of the hand imprints makes it evident that they are not to be regarded as those of lepers. There can be little doubt that the joints were removed for a specific purpose, and on this point there is general agreement among anthropologists.
A clue to the mystery is obtained by the magical custom among the Bushmen of similarly removing finger joints. Mr. G. W. Stow in his The Native Races of South Africa makes reference to this strange form of sacrifice. He once came into contact with a number of Bushmen who "had all lost the first joint of the little finger " which had been removed with a " stone knife " with purpose to ensure a safe journey to the spirit world. Another writer tells of an old Bushman woman whose little fingers of both hands had been mutilated, three joints in all having been removed. She explained that each joint had been sacrificed as a daughter died to express her sorrow. No doubt, however, there was a deeper meaning in the custom than she cared to confess.
F. Boas in his Report on the N.W. Tribes of Canada gives evidence of the custom among these peoples. When frequent deaths resulted from disease, the Canadian Indians were wont to sacrifice the joints of their little fingers so as, they explained, " to cut off the deaths." Among the Indian Madigas (Telugu Pariahs) the evil eye is averted by sacrificers who dip their hands in the blood of goats or sheep and impress them on either side of a house door. This custom is not unknown even to Brahmans. Impressions of hands are also occasionally seen on the walls of Indian Mohammedan mosques. As among the N.W. Canadian tribes, the hand ceremony is most frequently practised in India when epidemics make a heavy toll of lives. The Bushmen also remove finger joints when stricken with sickness. In Australia, where during initiation ceremonies the young men have teeth knocked out and bodies scarred, the women of some tribes mutilate the little fingers of daughters with purpose to influence their future careers. Apparently the finger chopping customs, of Palaeolithic times had a magical significance.
On some of the paintings in the Aurignacian caves appear symbol which suggest the slaying with spears and cutting up oil animals. Enigmatical signs are another feature. Of special interest are the figures of animal - headed demons, some with hands upraised in the Egyptian attitude of adoration, and others apparently dancing like the animal headed dancing gods of the Bushmen. In the Marclonlas. Palaeolithic cave there are semi - human faces of angry demons with staring eyes and monstrous noses. In the Spanish Cave at Cogul several figures of women wearing half - length skirts and shoulder shawls, are represented dancing round a nude male. So closely do these females resemble such as usually appear in Bushmen paintings that they might well, but for their location, be credited to, this interesting people. Religious dances among the Bushman tribes are associated with marriage, birth and burial ceremonies; they are also performed to exorcise demons in cases of sickness. " Dances are to us what prayers are to you, " an elderly Bushman once informed a European.
Whether the cave drawings and wood, bone and ivory carvings of the Magdalenian, or late Palaeolithic period at the close of the last ice epoch, are of magical significance is a problem on which there is no general agreement. It is significant to find, however, that several carved ornaments bearing animal figures or enigmatical signs are perforated as if worn as charms. On a piece of horn found at Lorthet, Hautes Pyrenees, are beautiful incised drawings of reindeer and salmon' above which appear mystical symbols. An ape - like demon carved on bone was found at Mas d'Azil: on a reindeer horn from Laugenic Basse a prostrate man with a tail is creeping up on all fours towards a grazing bison. These are some of the instances which lend colour to the view that late Palaeolithic art had its origin in magical beliefs and practices - that hunters carved on the handles of weapons and implements, or scratched on cave walls, the images of the animals they desired to capture - sometimes with the secured co - operation of demons, and sometimes with the aid of magical spells.
Coming to historic times we know that the ancient Egyptians (See Egypt) possessed a highly - developed magical system, as did the Babylonians (See Semites), and other pristine civilizations. Indeed from these the medieval European system of magic was finally evolved. Greece and Rome (both of which see) also possessed distinct national systems, which in some measure were branches of their religions; and thus like the Egyptian and Babylonian were preserves of the priesthood.
Magic in early Europe was, of course, merely an appendage of the various religious systems which obtained throughout that continent; and it was these systems which later generated into witchcraft (q.v.) But upon the foundation of Christianity, the church soon began to regard the practice of magic as foreign to the spirit of its religion. Thus the Thirty - sixth Canon of the (Ecumenical Council held at Laodicea in 364 A.D. forbids clerks and priests to become magicians, enchanters, mathematicians or astrologers. It orders, moreover, that the Church shall expel from its bosom those who employ ligatures or phylacteries, because it says phylacteries are the prisons of the soul. The Fourth Canon of the Council of Oxia, A.D. 525, prohibited the consultation of sorcerers, augurs, diviners, and divinations made with wood or bread; and the Sixtieth Canon of the Council of Constantinople A.D. 692, excommunicated for a period of six years diviners, and those who had recourse to them. The prohibition was repeated by the Council of Rome in 721. The Forty - second Canon of the Council of Tours in 613 is to the effect that the priests shall teach to the people the inefficacy of magical practices to restore the health of men or animals, and later Councils practically endorsed the church's earlier views.
It does not appear, however, that what may be called mediaeval magic " took final and definite shape until about the twelfth century. Modelled upon the systems in vogue among the Byzantines and Moors of Spain, which were evolved from the Alexandrian system, what might be called the " oriental " type of magic gained footing in Europe, and quite superseded the earlier and semi - barbarian systems in use among the various countries of that continent, most of which, as has been said, were the relics of older pagan practice and ritual. To these relics clung the witch and the wizard and the professors of lesser magic; whereas among the disciples of the imported system we find the magician - black and white, the necromancer and the sorcerer. The manner in which the theosophy and the magic of the East was imported was probably two - fold; first, there is good evidence that it was imported into Europe by persons returning from the Crusades; and secondly, we know that in matters of wisdom Byzantium fell heir to Alexandria, and that from Constantinople magic was disseminated throughout Europe, along with other sciences. It is not necessary to deal in the course of this article with the history of witchcraft and lesser sorcery, as that has already been done in the article witchcraft " (q.v, ); and we will confine ourselves strictly to the history of the higher branches of magic. But it is competent to remark that Europe had largely obtained its magical practices from the orient through Christianity, from Jewish and early Semitic sources; and it is an open question' how far eastern demonology coloured that of the Catholic Church.
Mediaeval magic of the higher type has practically no landmarks save a series of great names. Its tenets experienced but little alteration during six centuries. From the eighth to the thirteenth century, there does not appear to have been much persecution of the professors of magic, but after that period the opinions of the church underwent a radical change, and the life of the magus was fraught with considerable danger. However, it is pretty clear that he was not victimised in the same manner as his lesser brethren, the sorcerers and wizards; but we find Paracelsus consistently baited by the medical profession of his day, Agrippa constantly persecuted, and even mystics like Boehme imprisoned and ill - used. It is difficult at this distance to estimate the enormous vogue that magic experienced, whether for good or evil during the middle ages. Although severely punished, if discovered or if its professors became sufficiently notorious to court persecution, the power it seems to have conferred upon them was eagerly sought by scores of people - the majority of whom were quite unfitted for its practice, and clumsily betrayed themselves into the hands of the authorities. In the article entitled " Black Magic, " we have outlined the history of that lesser magic known as sorcery or " black magic, " and there have shown what persecutions overtook those who practised it.
As has already been mentioned, the history of higher magic in Europe is a matter of great names, and these are somewhat few. They do not include alchemists, who are strictly speaking not magicians, as their application of arcane laws was particular and not universal; but this is not to say that some alchemists were not also magicians. The two great names which stand out in the history of European magic are those of Paracelsus and Agrippa, who formulated the science of mediaeval - magic in its entirety. They were also the greatest practical magicians of the middle ages, as apart from pure mystics, alchemists and others, and their thaumaturgic and necromantic experiences were probably never surpassed. With these mediaeval magic comes to a close and the further history of the science in Europe will be found outlined in the division of this article entitled " Modern Magic."
Scientific Theories regarding the Nature of Magic. General agreement as to the proper definition of magic is wanting, as it depends upon the view taken of religious belief. According to Frazer, magic and religion are one and the same thing, or are so closely allied as to be almost identical. This may be true of peoples in a savage or barbarian condition of society, but can scarcely apply to magic and religion as fully fledged, as for example in mediaeval times, however fundamental may be their original unity. The objective theory of magic would regard it as entirely distinct from religion, possessed of certain well - marked attributes, and traceable to mental processes different from those from which the religious idea springs. Here and there the two have become fused by the superimposition of religious upon magical practice. - The objective idea of magic, in short, rests on the belief that it is based on magical laws which are supposed to operate with the regularity of those of natural science. The subjective view, on the other hand, is that many practices seemingly magical are in reality religious, and that no rite can be called magical which is not so designated by its celebrant or agent.
It has been said that religion consists of an appeal to the gods, whereas magic is the attempt to force their compliance. Messrs. Hubert and Mauss believe that magic is essentially traditional. Holding as they do that the primitive mind is markedly unoriginal, they have satisfied themselves that magic is therefore an art which does not exhibit any frequent changes amongst primitive folk, and is fixed by its laws. Religion, they say, is official and organised, magic prohibited and secret. Magical power appears to them to be determined by the contiguity, Similarity and contrast of the object of the act, and the object to be effected. Frazer believes all magic to be based on the law of sympathy - that is the assumption that things act on one another at a distance because of their being secretly. linked together by invisible bonds. He divides sympathetic magic into homeopathic magic and contagious magic. The first is imitative or mimetic, and may be practised by itself; but the latter usually necessitates the application of the imitative principle. Well known instances of mimetic magic are the forming of wax figures in the likeness of an enemy, which are destroyed in the hope that he will perish.
Contagious magic may be instanced by the savage anointing the weapon which caused a wound instead of the wound itself, in the belief that the blood on the weapon continues to feel with the blood on the body. Mr. L. Marillier divides magic into three classes: the magic of the word or act; the magic of the human being independent of rite or formula; and the magic which demands a human being of special powers and the use of ritual. Mr. A. Lehmann believes magic to be a practice of superstition, and founds it in illusion. The fault of all these theories is that they strive after too great an exactness, and that they do not allow sufficiently for the feeling of wonder and awe which is native to the human mind.
Indeed they designate this " strained attention." We may grant that the attention of savages to a magical rite is " strained, " so strained is it in some cases that it terrifies them into insanity; and it would seem therefore as if the limits of " attention " were overpassed. and as if it shaded into something very much deeper. Moreover it is just possible that in future it may be granted that so - called sympathetic magic does not partake of the nature of magic at all, but has greater affinities (owing to its strictly natural and non - supernatural character) with pseudoscience.
Magic is recognised by many savage peoples as a force rather than an art, - a thing which impinges upon the thought of man from outside. It would appear that many barbarian tribes believe in what would seem to be a great reservoir of magical power, the exact nature of which they are not prepared to specify. Thus amongst certain American - Indian tribes we find a force called Orenda or spirit force. Amongst the ancient Peruvians, everything sacred was huaca and possessed of magical power. In Melanesia, we find a force spoken of called mana, transmissible and contagious, which may be seen in the form of flames or even heard. The Malays use the word kramat to signify the same thing; and the Malagasy the term hasma, Some of the tribes round Lake Tanganyika believe in such a force, which they call ngai, and Australian tribes have many similar terms, such as churinga and boolya. To hark back to America, we find in Mexico the strange creed named nagualism, which partakes of the same conception - everything nagual is magical or possesses an inhere - it spiritual force of its own.
Theories of. the Origin of Magic - Many theories have been advanced regarding the origin of magic - some authorities believing that it commenced with the idea of personal superiority; others through animistic beliefs (See Animism); and still others through such ideas as that physical pains, for which the savage could not account, were supposed to be inflicted by invisible weapons. This last theory is, of course, in itself, merely animistic. It does not seem, however, that writers on the subject have given sufficient attention to the great influence exerted on the mind of man by odd or peculiar occurrences. We do not for a moment care to advance the hypothesis that magic entirely originated from such a source, but we believe that it was a powerful factor in the growth of magical belief. To which, too, animism and taboo contributed their quota. The cult of the dead too and their worship would soon become fused with magical practice, and a complete demonology would thus speedily arise.
The Dynamics of Magic - Magical practice is governed by well - marked laws limited in number. It possesses many classes of practitioner; as, for example, the diviner or augur, whose duties ate entirely different from those of the witch - doctor. Chief among these laws, as has been already hinted, is that of sympathy, which, as has been said, must inevitably be subdivided into the laws of similarity, contiguity and antipathy. The law of similarity and homeopathy is again divisible into two sections: (1) - the assumption that like produces like - an illustration of which is the destruction of a model in the form of an enemy; and (2) - the idea that like cures like - for instance, that the stone called the bloodstone can staunch the flow of bleeding. The law dealing with antipathy rests on the assumption that the application of a certain object or drug expels its contrary. There remains contiguity, which is based on the concept that whatever has once formed part of an object continues to form part of it. Thus if a magician can obtain a portion of a person's hair, he can work woe upon him through the invisible bonds which are supposed to extend between him and the hair in the sorcerer's possession. It is well - known that if the animal familiar of a witch be wounded, that the wound will react in a sympathetic manner on the witch herself. This is called " repercussion."
Another widespread belief is that if the magician procures the name of a person that he can gain magical dominion over him. This, of course, arose from the idea that the name of an individual was identical with himself. The doctrine of the Incommunicable Name, the hidden name of the god or magician, is well instanced by many legends in Egyptian history, - the deity usually taking extraordinary care to keep his name secret, in order that no one might gain power over him. The spell or incantation is connected with this concept, and with these, in a lesser degree, may be associated magical gesture, which is usually introduced for the purpose of accentuating the spoken word. Gesture is often symbolic or sympathetic; it is sometimes the reversal of a religious rite, such as marching against the sun, which is known as walking " widdershins." The method of pronouncing rites is, too, one of great importance. Archaic or foreign expressions are usually found in spells ancient and modern; and the tone in which the incantation is spoken, no less than its exactness, is also important. To secure exactness rhythm was often employed, which had the effect of aiding memory.
The Magician. - In early society, the magician, which term includes the shaman, medicine - man, paige, witchdoctor, et cetera, may hold his position by hereditary right; by an accident of birth, as being the seventh son of a seventh son; to revelation from the gods; or through mere mastery of ritual. In savage life we find the shaman a good deal of a medium, for instead of summoning the powers of the air at his bidding as did the magicians of medieval days, he seems to find it necessary to throw himself into a state of trance and seek them in their own sphere. The magician is also often regarded as possessed by an animal or supernatural being. The duties of the priest and magician are often combined in primitive society, but it cannot be too strongly asserted that where a religion has been superseded, the priests of the old cult are, for those who have taken their places, nothing but magicians. We do not hear much of beneficent magic among savage peoples, and it is only in Europe that White Magic may be said to have gained any hold.
Mediaeval Definition of Magic. - The definitions of magic vouchsafed by the great magicians of medieval and modern times naturally differ greatly from those of anthropologists.
For example Eliphas Levi says in his History of Magic: " Magic combines in a single science that which is most certain in philosophy with that which is eternal, and infallible in religion. It reconciles perfectly an incontestably those two terms so opposed on the firs view - faith and reason, science and belief, authority an liberty. It furnishes the human mind with an instrument of philosophical and religious certainty, as exact as mathematics, and even accounting for the infallibility of mathematics themselves There is an incontestable truth and there is an infallible method of knowing that truth while those who attain this knowledge and adopt it as rule of life, can endow their life with a sovereign power which can make them masters of all inferior things, o wandering spirits, or in other words, arbiters and kings o the world."
Paracelsus says regarding magic: " The magical is a great hidden wisdom, and reason is a great open folly. No armour shields against magic for it strike, at the inward spirit of life. Of this we may rest assured that through full and powerful imagination only can w bring the spirit of any man into an image. No conjuration no rites are needful; circle - making and the scattering o incense are mere humbug and jugglery. The human spirit is so great a thing that no man can express it; eternal and unchangeable as God Himself is the mind of man; an could we rightly comprehend the mind of man, nothing would be impossible to us upon the earth. Through faith the imagination is invigorated and completed, for it really happens that every doubt mars its perfection. Faith must strengthen imagination, for faith establishes the will Because man did not perfectly believe and imagine, the result is that arts are uncertain when they might be wholly certain."
Agrippa also regarded magic as the true road to communion with God - thus linking it with mysticism.
Modern Magic: With the death of Agrippa in 1535 the old school of magicians may be said to have ended. But that is not to say that the traditions of magic were not handed on to others who were equally capable of preserving them We must carefully discriminate at this juncture between those practitioners of magic whose minds were illuminated by a high mystical ideal, and persons of doubtful occult position, like the Comte de Saint - Germain and others. At the beginning of the seventeenth century we find many great alchemists in practice, who were also devoted to the researches of transcendental magic, which they carefully and successfully concealed under the veil of hermetic experiment. These were Michael Meyer, Campe, Robert Flood, Cosmopolite, D'Espagnet, Samuel Norton, Baron de Beausoleil, and Van Helmont; another illustrious name is also that of Philalethes. The eighteenth century was rich in occult personalities, as for example the alchemist Lascaris (q.v.) Martinez de Pasqually, and Louis de Saint Martin (q.v.) who founded the Martinist school, which still exists under the grandmastership of Papus. After this magic merges for the moment into mesmerism, and many of the secret magical societies which abounded in Europe about this period practised animal magnetism as well as astrology, Kabbalism and ceremonial magic. Indeed mesmerism powerfully influenced mystic life in the time of its chief protagonist, and the mesmerists of the first era are in direct line with the Martinist and the mystical magicians of the late eighteenth century. Indeed mysticism and magnetism are one and the same thing, in the persons of some of these occultists (See Secret Tradition) the most celebrated of which were Cazotte, Ganneau, Comte, Wronski, Du Potet, Hennequin, Comte d'Ourches, and Baron die Guldenstubbe, and last of the initiates known to us, Eliphas Levi (all of which see).
That Black Magic and sorcery are still practised is a well - known fact, which requires no amplification in this place: but what of that higher magic which has, at least in modern times attracted so many gifted minds ? We cannot say that the true line of magical adepts ended with Levi, as at no time in the world's history are these known to the vulgar; but we may be certain that the great art is practised in secret as sedulously as ever in the past, and that men of temperament as exalted as in the case of the magicians of older days still privately pursue that art, which, like its sister religion, is none the less celestial because it has been evolved from lowly origins in the mind of man, whose spirit with the match of time reflects ever more strongly the light of heaven, as the sea at first dimly reddened by the dawn, at length mirrors the whole splendour of day.
Magic Darts: The Laplanders, who passed at one time for great magicians, were said to launch lead darts, about a finger - length, against their absent enemies, believing that with the magic darts they were sending grievous pains and maladies. (See Magic.)
Magical Diagrams: These were geometrical designs, representing the mysteries of deity and creation, therefore supposed to be of special virtue in rites of evocation and conjuration.
The chief of these were the Triangle, the Double Triangle, forming a six - pointed star and known as the Sign or Seal of Solomon; the Tetragram a four - pointed star formed by the interlacement of two pillars; and the Pentagram, a five - pointed star.
These signs were traced on paper or parchment, or engraved on metals and glass and consecrated to their various uses by special rites.
The Triangle was based on the idea of trinity as found in all things, in deity, time and creation. The triangle was generally traced on the ground with the magic sword or rod, as in circles of evocation where the triangle was drawn within it and according to the position of the magician at its point or base so the spirits were conjured from heaven or hell.
The Double Triangle, the Sign of Solomon, symbolic of the Macrocosm, was formed by the interlacement of two triangles, thus its points constituted the perfect number six. The magicians wore it, bound on their brows and breasts during the ceremonies and it was engraved on the silver reservoir of the magic lamp.
The Tetragram was symbolic of the four elements and used in the conjuration of the elementary spirits - sylphs of the air, undines of the water, the fire salamanders and gnomes of the earth. In alchemy it represented the magical elements, salt, sulphur, mercury and azoth; in mystic philosophy the ideas Spirit, Matter, Motion and Rest; in hieroglyphs the man, eagle, lion and bull.
'The Pentagram, the sign of the Microcosm, was held to be the most powerful means of conjuration in any rite. It may represent evil as well as good, for while with one point in the ascendant it was the sign of Christ, with two points in the ascendant it was the sign of Satan. By the use of the pentagram in these positions the powers of light or darkness were evoked. The pentagram was said to be the star which led the Magi to the manger where the infant Christ was laid.
The preparation and consecration of this sign for use in magical rites is prescribed with great detail. It might be composed of seven metals, the ideal form for its expression; or traced in pure gold upon white marble, never before used for any purpose. It might also be drawn with vermilion upon lambskin without a blemish prepared under the auspice of the Sun. The sign was next consecrated with the four elements; breathed on five times; dried by the smoke of five perfumes, incense, myrrh, aloes, sulphur and camphor. The names of five genii were breathed above it, and then the sign was placed successively at the north, south, east and west and centre of the astronomical cross pronouncing the letters of the sacred tetragram and various Kabbalistic names.
It was believed to be of great efficacy in terrifying phantoms if engraved upon glass, and the magicians traced it on their doorsteps to prevent evil spirits from entering and the good from departing.
This symbol has been used by all secret and occult societies, by the Rosicrucians, the Illuminati, down to the Freemasons of today. Modern Occultists translate the meaning of the pentagram as symbolic of the human soul and its relation to God.
The symbol is placed with one point in the ascendant. That point represents the Great Spirit, God. A line drawn from there to the left - hand angle at base is the descent of spirit into matter in its lowest form, whence it ascends to right - hand angle typifying matter in its highest form, the brain of man. From here a line is drawn across the figure to left angle representing man's development in intellect, and progress in material civilization, the point of danger, from which all nations have fallen into moral corruption, signified by the descent of the line to right angle at base. But the soul of man being derived from God cannot remain at this point, but must struggle upward, as is symbolised by the line reaching again to the apex, God, whence it issued.
Magical Instruments and Accessories: In magical rites these were considered of the utmost importance. Indispensable to the efficacy of the ceremonies were the altar, the chalice, the tripod, the censer; the lamp, rod, sword, and magic fork or trident; the sacred fire and consecrated oils; the incense and the candles.
The altar might be of wood or stone, but if of the latter, theft of stone that has never been worked or hewn or even touched by the hammer.
The chalice might be of different metals, symbolic of the object of the rites. Where the purpose was evil, a black chalice was used as in the profane masses of sorcerers and witches. In some talismans the chalice is engraved as a symbol of the moon.
The tripod and its triangular stand was also made in symbolic metals. The censer might be of bronze, but preferably of silver.
In the construction of the lamp, gold, silver, brass and iron must be used, iron for the pedestal, brass for the mirror, silver for the reservoir and at the apex a golden triangle. Various symbols were traced upon it, including an androgynous figure about the pedestal, a serpent devouring its, own tail, and the Sign of Solomon.
The rod must be specially fashioned of certain woods and then consecrated to its magical uses. A perfectly straight branch of almond or hazel was to be chosen. This was cut before the tree blossomed, and cut with a golden sickle in the early dawn. Throughout its length must be run a long needle of magnetized iron; at one end there should be affixed a triangular prism, to the other, one of black resin, and rings of copper and zinc bound about it. At the new moon it must be consecrated by a magician who already possesses a consecrated rod.
The secret of the construction and consecration of magical rods was jealously guarded by all magicians and the rod itself was displayed as little as possible, being usually concealed in the flowing sleeve of the magician's robe.
The sword must be wrought of unalloyed steel, with copper handle in the form of a crucifix. Mystical signs were engraved on guard and blade and its consecration took place on a Sunday in full rays~ of the sun, when the sword was thrust into a sacred fire of cypress and laurel, then moistened with the blood of a snake, polished, and next, together with branches of vervain, swathed in silk. The sword was generally used in the service of Black Magic.
The magic fork or trident used in necromancy was also fashioned of hazel or almond, cut from the tree at one blow with an unused knife, from whose blade must - be fashioned the three prongs. Witches and sorceresses are usually depicted using the trident in their infernal rites.
The fire was lit with charcoal on which were cast branches of trees, symbolic of the end desired. In Black Magic these generally consisted of cypress, alderwood, broken crucifixes and desecrated hosts.
Oil for anointing mon, galingale and purest oil of Olive. Unguents were used by sorcerers and witches, who smeared their brows, breasts and wrists with a mixture composed of human fat and blood of corpses, combined with aconite, belladonna and poisonous fungi, thinking thereby to make themselves invisible.
Incense might be of any odoriferous woods and herbs, such as cedar, rose, citron, aloes, cinnamon, sandal, reduced to a fine powder, together with incense and storax. In Black Magic, alum, sulphur and asafetida were used as incense.
The candles, belonging solely to practices of Black Magic were moulded from human fat and set in candlesticks of ebony carved in the form of a crescent.
Bowls also were used in these ceremonies, fashioned of different metals, their shape symbolic of the heavens. In necromantic rites skulls of criminals were used, generally to hold the blood of some victim or sacrifice.
Magical Numbers: Certain numbers and their combination were held to be of magical power, by virtue of their representation of divine and creative mysteries.
The doctrines of Pythagoras furnished the basis for much of this belief. According to his theory - numbers contained the elements of all things, of the natural and spiritual worlds and of the sciences. The real numerals of the universe are the primaries one to ten and in their combination the reason of all else may be found. To, the Pythagoreans One represented unity, therefore God; Two was duality, the Devil; Four was sacred and holy, the number on which they swore their most solemn oaths; Five was their symbol of marriage. They also attributed certain numbers to the gods, planets and elements; one represented the Sun, two the Moon; while five was fire, six the earth, eight the air, and twelve water.
Cornelius Agrippa in his Work Occult Philosophy published in 1533, discourses upon numbers as those characters by whose proportion all things were formed. He enumerates the virtues of numerals as displayed in nature, instancing the herb cinquefoil, which by the power of the number five exorcises devils, allays fever and forms an antidote to poisons. Also the virtue of seven as in the power of the seventh son to cure king's evil.
One was the origin and common measure of all things. It is indivisible not to be multiplied. In the universe there is one God one supreme intelligence in the intellectual world, man in the sidereal world, one Sun; one potent instrument and agency in the elementary world, the philosopher's stone; one chief member in the human world, the heart; and one sovereign prince in the nether world, Lucifer.[the nether world has no prince, Lucifer was an idiot that did not have patience DC]
Two was the number of marriage, charity and social communion. It was also regarded sometimes as an unclean number; beasts of the field went into the Ark by twos.
Three had a mysterious value as shown in Time's trinity - Past, Present and Future; in that of Space - length, breadth and thickness; in the three heavenly virtues faith, hope and charity; in the three worlds of man brain, the intellectual; heart, the celestial; and body, elemental.
Four signifies solidity and foundation. There are four Seasons, four elements, four cardinal points, four evangelists.
Five, as it divides ten, the sum of all numbers, is also the number of justice. There are five senses; the Stigmata, the wounds of Christ were five; the name of the Deity the Pentagram is composed of five letters; it also is a protection against beasts of prey.
Six is the sign of creation, because the world was completed in six days. It is the perfect number, because it alone by addition of its half, its third and its sixth reforms itself. It also represents servitude by reason of the Divine injunction " Six days shalt thou labour."
Seven is a miraculous number, consisting of one, unity, and six, sign of perfection. It represents life because it contains body, consisting of four elements, spirit, flesh, bone and humour; and soul, made up of three elements, passion, desire and reason. The seventh day was that on which God rested from his work of creation.
Eight represents justice and fullness. Divided, its halves are equal; twice divided, it is still even. In the Beatitude eight is the number of those mentioned - peace - makers, they who strive after righteousness, the meek, the persecuted, the poor, the merciful, the poor in spirit, and they that mourn.
Nine is the number of the muses and of the moving spheres.
Ten is completeness because one cannot count beyond it except by combinations formed with other numbers. In the ancient mysteries ten days of initiation were prescribed. In ten is found evident signs of a Divine principle. [that's why only 10 admonishments were needed, any added beyond the ten is your fellow man lording it over you in order to keep the order as it is, as all 'laws' have made made by men and now women in order to stay in power via their false god[their false god in these days is calling himself 'democracy' he is loved by the walking dead], the state. DC]
Eleven is the number of the commandments, while Twelve is the number of signs in the Zodiac, of the apostles, of the tribes of Israel, of the gates of Jerusalem. [well if you are going to try and be cute and straddle the fence, and play both sides against the middle, then there is only ONE Commandment, as it covers everything, don't ask me why society has not tried to live by it, sympathy is drying up for the 'do as though wants' experiment. DC]
This theory of numbers Agrippa applied to the casting of horoscopes. Divination by numbers was one of the favourite methods employed in the Middle Ages.
In magical rites, numbers played a great part. The instruments, vestments and ornaments must be duplicated. The power of the number three is found in the magic triangle: in the three prongs of the trident and fork; and in the threefold repetition of names in conjurations. Seven was also of great influence, the seven days of the week each representing the period most suitable for certain evocations and these corresponded to the seven magical works; 1. - works of light and riches; 2 - works of divination and mystery; 3 - works of skill, science and eloquence; 4 - works of wrath and chastisement 5 - works of love; 6 - works of ambition and intrigue 7 - works of malediction and death.
Magical Papyri: "handbooks," on magic in Greek and Demotic collected in late antiquity. Few have been widely published, though some were published by Budge. A look at the contents of this collection reveals a bewildering variety of spells and charms, including, inter alia, rites for acquiring familiar spirits, restraining spells against spirits, spells for divination and obtaining of revelations, love charms, numerous healing spells for various ailments, curses (especially to inflict the victim with insomnia), spells for victory at games and competitions, and even contraceptive spells. These represent the epitome of pre-Christian esoteric learning in the Mediterranean.
Magical Union of Cologne: A society stated in a MS. of the Rosicrucians at Cologne to have been founded in that city in the year 1115. In the Rosenkreutz in seiner blosse of Weise it is stated that the initiates wore a triangle as symbolising power, wisdom and love. The more exalted orders among them were called Magos, and these held the greater mysteries of the fraternity.
Magical Vestments and Appurtenances: These were prescribed needful adjuncts to magical rites, whose colour, name, form and substance, symbolic of certain powers and elements, added, it was supposed, greater efficacy to the evocations.
Abraham the Jew, a magician of the Middle Ages, prescribed a tunic of white linen, with upper robe of scarlet and girdle of white silk. A crown or fillet of silk and gold was to be worn on the head and the perfumes cast on the fire might be incense, aloes, storax, cedar, citron or rose.
According to other authorities on the subject it was advisable to vary colour of robe and employ certain jewels and other accessories according to the. symbolism of the end desired. A magician of the nineteenth century, Eliphas Levi, gives a detailed description of ritual, from which the following is taken.
If the rites were those of White Magic and performed on a Sunday, then the vestment should be of purple, the tiara, bracelets and ring of gold, the latter set with a chrysolith or ruby. Laurel, heliotrope and sunflowers are the symbolic flowers, while other details include a carpet of lionskins and fans of sparrow - hawk feathers. The appropriate perfumes are incense, saffron, cinnamon and red sandal.
If, however, the ceremonial took place on a Monday, the Day of the Moon, then the robe must be of white embroidered with silver and the tiara of yellow silk emblazoned with silver characters; while the wreaths were to be woven of moonwort and yellow ranunculi. The jewels appropriate to the occasion were pearls, crystals and selenite; the perfumes, camphor, amber, aloes, white sandal and seed of cucumber.
In evocations concerning transcendent knowledge, green was the colour chosen for the vestment, or it might be green shot with various colours. The chief ornament was a necklace of pearls and hollow glass beads enclosing mercury. Agate was the symbolic jewel; narcissus, lily, herb mercury, fumitory, and marjoram the flowers; whilst the perfumes must be benzoin, mace and storax.
For operations connected with religious and political matters, the magician must don a robe of scarlet and bind on his brow a brass tablet inscribed with various characters. His ring must be studded with an emerald or sapphire, and he must burn for incense, balm, ambergris, grain of paradise and saffron. For garlands and wreaths, oak, poplar, fig and pomegranate leaves should be entwined.
If the ceremonial dealt with amatory affairs, the vestment must be of sky - blue, the ornaments of copper, and the crown of violets. The Magic ring must be set with a turquoise, while the tiara and clasps were wrought of lapis - lazuli and beryl. Roses, myrtle and olive were the symbolic flowers, and fans must be made of swan feathers.
If vengeance was desired on anyone, then robes must be worn whose colour was that of blood, flame or rust, belted with steel, with bracelets and ring of the same metal. The tiara must be bound with gold and the wreaths woven of absinthe and rue.
To bring misfortune and death on a person, the vestment must be black and the neck encircled with lead. The ring must be set with an onyx and the garlands twined of cypress, ash and hellebore; whilst the perfumes to be used were sulphur, scammony, alum and asafetida. For purposes of Black Magic, a seamless and sleeveless robe of black was donned, while on the head was worn a leaden cap inscribed with the signs of the Moon, Venus and Saturn. The wreaths were of vervain and cypress; and the perfumes burned were aloes, camphor and storax.
Maier, Michael: A German Alchemist born at Rindsburg in Holstein about the 1580 He was one of the principal figures in the Rosicrucian controversy in Germany and the greatest adept of his time. He diligently pursued the study of medicine in his youth and settling at Rostock practised with such success that the Emperor Rudolph appointed him as his physician, ennobling him later for his services. Some adepts eventually succeeded in luring him from the practical work he followed so long into the mazy and tortuous paths of alchemy. In order to confer with those whom he suspected were possessed of the transcendent mysteries he travelled all over Germany. The Biographic Universelle states that in pursuit of these " ruinous absurdities " he sacrificed his health, fortune and time. On a visit to England he became acquainted with Robert Fludd the Kentish Mystic.
In the controversy which convulsed Germany on the appearance of his Rosicrucian Manifestos, he took a vigorous and enthusiastic share and wrote several works in defence of the mysterious society. He is alleged to have travelled in order to seek for members of the " College of Teutonic Philosophers R.C., " and failing to find them formed a brotherhood of his own, based on the form of the Fama I, 'Yalernibus. There is no adequate authority for this statement, but it is believed that he eventually, towards the end of. his life, was initiated into the genuine order. A posthumous pamphlet of Maier's called Ulysses was published by one of his personal friends in 1624. There was added to the same volume the substance of two pamphlets already published in German but which in view of their importance were now translated into Latin for the benefit of the European literati. The first pamphlet was entitled Colloquium Rhodostauroticum trium personarum per Famem el Confessionem quadamodo revelation de Fraternitatis Rosae Crucis. The second was an Echo Colloquii by Hilarion on behalf of the Rosicrucian Fraternity. From these pamphlets it appears that Maier was admitted as a member of the mystical order. He became the most profuse writer on alchemy of his time. He died in the year 1622. Most of his works, many of which are adorned with curious plates, are obscure with the exception of his Rosicrucian Apologies. (See Rosicrucians.)
Malleus Maleficarum: A large volume published in Germany at the end of the fifteenth century, written by two inquisitors under the papal bull against witchcraft of 1484, Jacob Sprenger and Henricus Institor. Says Natright concerning it: " In this celebrated work, the doctrine of witchcraft. was first reduced to a regular system, and it was the model and groundwork of all that was written on the subject long after the date which saw its first appearance. Its writers enter largely into the much - disputed question of the nature of demons; set forth the causes which lead them to seduce men in this manner; and show why women are most prone to listen to their proposals, by reasons, which prove that the inquisitors had but a mean estimate of the softer sex. "
Mananan: Son of the Irish sea-god Lir, magician and owner of strange possessions. His magical galley "Ocean-sweeper " steered by the wishes of its occupant ; his horse Aonban, able to travel on sea or land ; and his sword Fragarach, a match for any mail; were brought by Lugh from "The Land of the Living" (Fairyland), also associated with Hy Breasil. As lord of the sea he was the Irish Charon, and his colour-changing cloak would flap gaily as he marched with heavy tread round the camp of the hostile force invading Erin. He is comparable with the Cymric Manawyddan and resembles the Hellenic Proteus.
The Marsi: a people skilled in magical practices and sorceries able to charm poisonous snakes by the means of song according to Pliny.
Martian Language : A language purporting to be that of the inhabitants of the planet Mars, written and spoken by the medium known as Holme Smith. Holme, the medium studied by a celebrated investigator, M. Flournoy, professor of psychology at Geneva, had in 1892 joined a spiritualistic circle, where she developed marvellous mediumistic powers. In 1896, after Professor Flournoy had begun his investigations, she was spirited during a trance to the planet Mars, and thereafter described to the circle the manners and customs and appearance of the Martians. She learned their language, which she wrote and spoke with case and consistency. Unlike most of the " unknown tongues " automatically produced the Martian language was intelligible, its words were used consistently, and on the whole it had every appearance of a genuine language.
Maranos: A Jewish secret -fraternity which arose in Spain in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries during the persecution of the Hebrew race in that country. Its members met in the greatest secrecy at inns, disguised, and used grips, signs and passwords.
Materialisation: A term denoting the formation by a spirit of a temporary physical organisation, visible and palpable, by means of which it can come into touch with material objects. Materialisation is the most important of the physical phenomena of spiritualism, and in its earlier stages was confined to the materialising of heads and hands, or vague luminous figures. In common with much of the physical phenomena, it had its origin in America, where it was known at a comparatively early period in the history of the movement. So early as 1860 seances were held with the Fox sisters by Robert Dale Owen and others, at which veiled and luminous figures were witnessed. One sitter, Mr. Livermore, saw and recognised the spirit of his dead wife many times during a series of seances with Kate Fox, extending over some six years. In this case, however, there were no other sitters, and the seances were held in the dark, the whole atmosphere being peculiarly favourable to fraud.
In 1871 another American medium, Mrs. Andrews, held sittings at which materialised forms were seen, and in the following year Mrs. Guppy and another medium attempted the production of a similar phenomenon in England, but without marked success. The mediums, Herne and Williams, succeeded a few months later in materialising shadowy forms and faces in a dark seance room. It was, however, Miss Florence Cook, to whose phenomena Sir William Crookes has so abundantly testified, who was to give the most remarkable demonstration of this form of spirit manifestation.
Miss Cook was, at the commencement of her spiritualistic career, a young girl of sixteen or seventeen years, described by a contemporary writer as " a pretty, Jewish - like little girl." She was at that time a private medium, - though at the outset she held some materialisation seances with Herne. From her childhood, it was said, she had been attended by a spirit girl, who stated that her name on earth had been Annie Morgan, but that her name in the spirit - world was Katie King. Under the latter name Miss Cook's control was destined to become very famous in spiritualistic circles. Usually the medium was put in a sort of cupboard, or cabinet, tied to her chair, and the cords sealed. A short interval would ensue, during which the sitters sang spiritualistic hymns, and at length there would emerge from the cabinet a form clad in flowing white draperies, and not to be distinguished from an ordinary human being.
On one occasion a seance was held at Mr. Cook's house, at which several distinguished spiritualists were present. Among the invited guests was Mr. W. Volckman, who thought to test for himself the good faith of the medium and the genuineness of " Katie. - After some forty minutes close observance of the materialised spirit Mr. Vorckman concluded that Miss Cook and Katie were one and the same, and just as the white - robed figure was about to return to the cabinet he rushed forward and seized her. His indignant fellow - sitters released the " spirit, " the light was extinguished, and in the confusion that, followed. the spirit disappeared. Miss Cook was found a few minutes later bound as when she was placed in the cabinet, the cords unbroken, the seat intact. She wore a black dress, and there was no trace of white draperies in the cabinet. Sir William Crookes, whose investigations into the phenomena of this medium extended over a period of some years, had better opportunity of examining Katie's pretensions than Volckman had, and he had left it on record that the spirit form was taller than the medium, had a larger face and longer fingers; and whereas Florence Cook had black hair and a dark complexion, Katie's complexion was fair, and her hair a light auburn. Moreover Sir William, enjoying as he did the complete confidence of Katie, had on more than one occasion the privilege of seeing her and Miss Cook at the same time.
But Miss Cook was not the only medium who was controlled by Katie King, who, along with her father, John King, became in time a most popular spirit with materialisation mediums. From that time onwards materialisation was extensively practised both by private and professional mediums, among the number being Mrs. Showers and her daughter, Rita, Miss Lottie Fowler, William Eglinton and D. D. Home; while in recent years materializations are stated to have occurred in the presence of Eusapia Palladino. Many sitters claimed to see in these draped figures and veiled faces the form and features of deceased relatives and friends, though frequently there was but the smallest ground for such a claim - - parents recognised their daughter by her hair, a man recognised his mother by the sort of cap she wore, and so on.
There is no doubt that fraud entered, and still enters, very largely into materialisation seances. Lay figures, muslin draperies, false hair, and similar properties have been found in the possession of mediums; accomplices have been smuggled into the seance - room; lights are frequently turned low or extinguished altogether.. Add to this the fact that other spirits besides " Katie " have on being grasped resolved themselves into the person of the medium, and it will be seen that scepticism is not altogether unjustified. Then, as already mentioned, the rash and premature recognition of deceased friends in draped forms whose resemblance to the medium is clear to the less - interested observer has also done much to ruin the case for genuine spirit materialisation. Yet that there is a case we must believe on the assertion of some of the most distinguished of modern investigators, men fully alive to the possibilities of fraud, trained to habits of correct observation. M. Flammarion felt constrained to attribute the materialisation he had witnessed in the presence of Eusapia Palladino to fluidic emanations from the medium's person, while judging the recognition accorded to them the result of illusion.
Others state that the physical organisation formed by the spirit is composed of fine particles of matter drawn from the material world. By way of explaining the numerous exposures that have been made from time to time various theories of a more or less ingenious character have been advanced by spiritualists. In a case of obvious fraud they declare that the spirits have controlled the medium to secrete wigs and draperies in the cabinet. If a spirit on being held by a sitter proves to be the medium herself an explanation is also forthcoming. The medium, it is said, imparts to the spirit a certain portion of her vital ~energy, so that the spirit may " manifest." When the latter is ruthlessly grasped these two portions of the medium's vital spirits tend to reunite, so that either the medium will draw the spirit into the cabinet, or the spirit will draw the medium out. 1he reason that the union generally takes place without the cabinet is that the medium has imparted to the control more of her energy than she had retained.
Mathers, Samuel Lidell MacGregor: Samuel Liddel Mathers was born in 1854 at what is now 108 De Beauvoir Road, London, N.I.. His birthday is January the eighth, making him a Capricorn. Mathers claimed to be a descendant of the clan MacGregor and of Highland Scottish blood. Thus, this is why he added the name "MacGregor." Mathers, according to William Butler Yeats, had two ruling passions in his life: "magic and the theory of war." (It is interesting to note that although Mathers studied and wrote about military techniques, he was a strong vegetarian and avid anti-vivisectionist.)
It was Mathers who made the first English translation of Knorr Von Rosenroth, "Kabbalah Denudata." This work was commissioned by Dr. Woodman and Dr. Westcott. It was about that time that the first discussions of the Golden Dawn were taking place. Mathers had an additional mentor who probably had the most impact on his life. This was Dr. Anna Kingsford (1846 - 1888), and it was to her that he dedicated the "Kabbalah Unveiled."
Dr. Anna Kingsford was one of the early fighters for women's rights. This characteristic was adopted by Mathers who demanded that women share equally in all ways in the Golden Dawn. She was also an anti-vivisectionist and a vegetarian. And, at a time when almost every male in English society smoked a pipe or cigar, Mathers was a non-smoker. Without a doubt that Dr. Kingsford, as a friend and as the leader of the Hermetic Society, was of great influence on the young and impressionable MacGregor Mathers.
Mathers used two mottos in the Golden Dawn. One was his Outer Order motto and was the motto of the entire MacGregor clan. The other comes from a mars talisman. They are respectfully: S.R.M.D. which stands for S' Rioghail Mo Dhrem, meaning "Royal is my race." D.D.C.F. which stands for Deo Duce Comite Ferro, meaning "God as my guide, my companion a sword."
Mathers dedicated his entire life to the Western Mystery Tradition and to the magical way of life. He was not only the Chief of the Second Order of the Golden Dawn, he was the author of almost all of the important Golden Dawn teachings and documents. He masterfully took a dry system of angelic magic brought forth by the early British Astrologer Dr. John Dee and developed it into what may very well be one of the most powerful magical systems in the world.
Much of what we know of the Tarot comes from Mathers and his wife. Today, we take the Tarot for granted, but without the ground breaking work of Mathers and the Golden Dawn, our Tarot symbolism might be basic and trite. Also, the Z Documents of the Order were gigantic contributions in the area of magical methods and techniques. To this day, most reputable sources on invocation, skrying, divination etc. borrow from the Z Documents knowingly or unknowingly.
Mathers was an eccentric. He loved the drama of good ritual. He often dressed in his Highlander garb when working on or with the Celtic pantheon, and was associated with the Little World (q.v.). Later, he would change his living decor to Egyptian as he produced the public invocation to Isis in Paris as an exhibition for the 1900 World's Fair. These invocations were very successful, and it was Mathers who brought forth the Egyptian pantheon into the Golden Dawn.
Mathers was able to read and translate English, Hebrew, Latin, French, Celtic, Coptic and Greek. His works include: Practical Instruction in Infantry Campaigning Exercise (1884), The Tarot: A Short Treatise on Reading Cards (French), The Fall of Granada: A Poem in Six Duans (1885) The Kabbalah Unveiled (1888) - Originally in Chaldee, but Mathers translated the seventeenth century version of the Kabbalah Dunatta by Knorr Von Rosenroth from Latin, Egyptian Symbolism (Published in Paris), The Grimoire of Armadel, The Tarot, Its Occult Significance and Methods of Play (1888), The Key of Solomon the King: Clavicula Salomonis (1889), The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage (1896) (See Abraham the Jew)
Mathers has been much maligned by authors such as Aleister Crowley. Even many modern authors have portrayed a negative view of him. However, many of these authors had connections to organizations that broke away from Mathers and the Golden Dawn.
S.L. MacGregor Mathers, in many ways, remains somewhat of a private individual. No one really knows how he died. Violet Firth (Dion Fortune) claimed it was from the Spanish Influenza of 1918, but at best this is probably just a guess on her part. His wife, Moina Mathers claimed he was coherent right up unto the time of his death and that exhaustion from years of work with the secret Chiefs of the Third Order was responsible.
Mathers, Moina: Born Mina Bergson on February 28, 1865, in Geneva, Switzerland. She was the fourth out of seven children. Her parents, Michel Gabriel Bergson and Katherine Levison, were an Irish-Jewish couple who migrated from Dublin, Paris; and it was probably from her mother that Moina adopted her inclination towards the spiritual. Due to her father's fervent search for opportunity in which he could support his growing family by utilizing his musical talents, Moina was but two-and-a-half years old when they returned to Paris. However, even after seven years of hard work, Paris failed in providing a constant job, which resulted in the family moving again, but this time permanently, to a London suburb in 1873.
Though art had always been an interest and a talent to Moina, it was not until the age of 15 that she actually decided to study and refine her ability. She attended Slade High School, and it was here that she became best friends with the famous Annie Horniman, who later on would be the main financial support for both her and S. L. MacGregor Mathers, in the building of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Inspired and enthusiastic, Moina was able to obtain a scholarship and four certificates for drawing. It was her dream that one day she would be able to carry on a successful art career, yet, her future beckoned a different twist of fate when she met the man who would change her life, forever, one day in a visit to the British Museum.
It was in 1888, while immersing herself in the study of Egyptian art, or some say, while engaging herself in the famous reading room, that she first met MacGregor Mathers, the one who would set her destiny and who, uncannily resembled her brother, noted Philosopher Henri Bergson, despite the strong disapproval of her parents, owing to Mathers' lack of a steady income, as from the neglected and jealous best friend, Annie Horniman, the two were joined in marriage on June 16, 1890, in the library of the Horniman Museum. Now, Mina Bergson became Moina Mathers
Their relationship was an unusual one indeed, yet it was a sacred and unique bond that few individuals get to experience. They were partners in the truest sense of the word. In fact, Moina believed that she halved a soul with Mathers, and would refer to him as her husband, friend and teacher. At the onset of their relationship, both had made an agreement to abstain from any sexual intercourse. This, however, created no barriers against their intimate closeness with one another. There is no certain reason known as to why the idea of sex repulsed her, but one may deduce that she was, perhaps abused as a child. If so, then the motto that she went by, "Vestiga Nulla Retrorsum," meaning "I never retrace my steps," may indicate the unwilliness to reflect upon a painful past. This, however, may not be the case at all, for it may instead denote the steadfast and inner strength that one must have in order to bury the mundane life and carry the cross upon the pathway to perfection – doing the Great Work.
This would require self sacrifice, and self-sacrifice was something that Moina was familiar with. In fact, she gave up the dream of one day having a prosperous art career in order that the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn would flourish under the applied use of her artistic talents in the service of Divine Light. It was Moina who constantly kept busy with the making of Temple furnishings, both in London and Paris, with regalia and diagrams for the grade material, such as tarot cards. Perhaps one of the greatest contributions on an artistic level was the creation of the color scales of the Order and the painting of several vaults.
Some of the vaults she painted under the instruction of Mathers, included those of the Isis Urania, Ahathor, Alpha et Omega, and possibly Alpha et Omega. In addition to the great artistic contributions to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Moina supplied much of the Inner Order information through the use of her clairvoyant skills. Working as a team, with Mathers as the mage and Moina as the scrying sibyl, they brought forth material from the inner planes which formed the basis of the Second Order.
These accomplishments, however, do not fully reveal the remarkable traits of Moina Mathers. In addition to being talented in the area of art and mediumship, she was a very noteworthy teacher and magician, and was fluent in French, German, and English. When she spoke, it was with a voice of resonance of which without a doubt, proved her knowledgeable. Her demeanor would be that of great calmness that evoked a certain presence of inner power. She had a captivating presence, especially when she "incarnated" the High Priestess of Anari, in the Isis Rites composed by Mathers and Bois. Those close to her would comment on how charming and sweet she was, and there is no doubt that she fit the role of Isis with her springy brown hair, darkly glowing skin, and blue eyes.
Claiming Guidance by the Secret Chiefs, it was in 1892 that the Mathers moved to Paris where they established the Ahathoor Temple two years later. Though, through most of their life together they experienced a impoverished lifestyle, it was here that the conditions were for some time taken to an extreme. This change of location was, perhaps, one of the gravest mistakes made, for it allowed the seeds of dissension to grow as a cancer among the unattended "children" back at the Isis-Urania Temple. The advanced esoteric knowledge given to them seemed beyond their capacity to comprehend or take seriously in the manner it was designed for.
The turn of the century did prove fatal for the Mathers for it involved schism, and three major disasters that revolved around MacGregor Mathers, litigations and unwanted publicity. Also, at this time, the Mathers, more so than ever, lived from one location to the next with the conditions gradually worsening.
It is unknown for certain whether or not Moina returned with MacGregor for two years to London sometime in 1910, but chances dictated that she remain in Paris to run the Temple. After many legal affairs involving scandals and battles with Crowley over publication of certain G.D. doctrine, Mathers returned to Paris in 1912, and six years later, died on November 20, 1918. Feeling disoriented without her husband's direction, Moina Mathers, nevertheless, continued the work in his footsteps and established the Alpha et Omega Lodge, of which she ran somewhat successfully for 9 years after returning to London in 1919. Though she feared occult attack "due to the years of strenuous inner planes work with her husband," it appears that she attempted to continue the communication within the spiritual planes through the help of a certain mysterious Frater X, since others had proved unsuitable for the task.
Indeed, Dion Fortune was one of them who claimed that Moina was responsible for the murder of a Miss Netta Fornario by means of black magic. Of course, this accusation was ludicrous since the death of Moina occurred 18 months previous to the incident. Deeply impoverished in 1927, Moina's health began to drastically decline, and soon, began refusing all food. She died at St. Mary Abbott's Hospital on July 25, 1928.
next
Medium 110s
No comments:
Post a Comment