THE MAGIC ELECTRA

According to the Grimoire or Natural Magic

by Benedict XIV

EUSEBE BARRIDA

1897


THE MAGIC ELECTRA

From fabrication and vulcanic preparation
and magic
arms of achilles



The famous poet Homer writes in the eighteenth book of the Iliad , and we read it also in the other Greek historians, that Thetis, wife of Peleus, king of Thessaly, and mother of Achilles, that great hero of ancient Greece, prayed Vulcan, the smith of the gods, to make arms for his son Achilles, on which he could trust in war and in the heat of battle. The height of this hero was, according to some, seven cubits; this is why Lycophron (1) calls it ' Eptaphron . Herodotus says that Orestes was also the same height. It is in these terms that Homer relates the words of Thetis to Vulcan:

"So I come now to throw myself at your knees, I come to beg you to give my son, whose life must be so short, a shield, a helmet, beautiful cnemids with ears and a cuirass."

Vulcan replied:

"Reassure yourself; let these cares not occupy your soul. May I preserve your son from a dreadful death, when the fatal moment arrives, as easily as I can give him superb weapons the sight of which will amaze mortals."

Homer then continues his account in these terms:

"At these words, he leaves the goddess and goes towards her bellows; he approaches them to the fire and orders them to act. All then blow into twenty furnaces, letting out an active and skilfully measured air, sometimes impetuous, sometimes slowed down, according to the desires of Vulcan, according to the needs of his work. He throws into the fire the impenetrable brass, the tin, the precious gold and the silver; then he places on a block an enormous anvil, and takes in one hand a heavy hammer and in the other a strong pair of pliers.

"He first makes a large and solid shield which he embellishes with art, surrounds it with a triple circle whose brilliance shines and radiates and attaches a silver strap to it. Five blades form the shield and Vulcan traces on it with his industrious hand, a thousand varied designs."

And, at the end of the quoted Book:

"When he has finished this great and magnificent work, he makes a cuirass of a brilliance brighter than the brilliance of fire; he makes a solid helmet which must fit the hero's forehead, a superb helmet, skilfully worked, which he surmounts with a gold aigrette, he fashions beautiful cnemides with flexible pewter.

"No sooner has the illustrious lame god finished the whole armor than he presents it to the mother of Achilles, etc."

This is what we can glean from Homer regarding the making of Achilles' arms by Vulcan; and no further explanation is needed.

There are many people who take Homer's account of this fabrication for a pure fable or for a poetic fiction and who will not want to see in it the historical intention or recognize its veracity. But, as we can assure the contrary by relying on reliable authors, we abandon these people to their prejudices without worrying about them any more.

As for our subject, let us first say that, in the unanimous opinion of many scholars, the Vulcan of the pagans is the true Tubalcain whom Holy Scripture characterizes as Master in all kinds of works of brass and iron.

The name of Vulcan, indeed, is the abbreviated name of Tubalcain. It is to be supposed that the pagans heard about it, either from Japheth himself, or from someone of his posterity... Tubalcain being the oldest of the blacksmiths, these pagans made him the god of iron workers and armorers and placed him among their idols. Then, as Mount Etna, in Sicily, vomited whirlwinds of fire, flames and smoke, they, in their imagination, placed in this place, the anvil, the hammer and all the forge of Vulcan. And, when some skilful workman discovered, by his long practice and his numerous experiments, some secret of his art, they were attributed to Vulcan, the god of blacksmiths. This is what we see in Homer.

We read further that Vulcan made those twenty tripods ( viginti tripodes ) which, moving of themselves like automatons, drew up in array, fought furiously and with such force, that they often threw confusion and disorder into a whole army, overturned its lines and then returned to camp, while it was perhaps some skilful craftsman who invented and forged them. This was the opinion of the Abbé Trytheme. We will say no more about Achilles' weaponsmith.

Formerly there were similar automatons functioning according to a mathematical principle and especially according to natural magic. There were, I say, among the Chaldeans, among the Egyptians, among the Assyrians, and there are today almost everywhere, but mainly in Germany. The latter, made by skilful and ingenious masters, laugh, cry, sing, dance and do all sorts of things the enumeration of which is useless.

Let us only remember the wooden pigeon of Archytas of Tarentum (2) who flew himself, and of which a philosopher speaks in these terms: "Ita erat libramentis simulacrum hoc suspensum et aura spiritus inclusa atque occulta concitum, ut volando aerem tranare conspiceretur." Such were also the golden flies of Regiomontanus, the owls of Ictinus (3) and the spheres of Archimedes which moved by themselves and in which - as in the balls of glass and crystal, of Sapor, king of Persia - one observed the course of the seven planets and of all the stars of the sky.

We shall say nothing here of those clocks so complicated and so rich, walking vases, insects of steel, and similar automatons, because all that is so common that everyone can see them in museums and in the collections of antique dealers. One only has to visit the museums of Prague, Dresden, Munich, Stuttgard, the arsenals of Nuremberg, Augsburg, Strasbourg, one only has to travel to Italy, France, Spain, to visit the Palaces, the Gardens, the Grottoes, etc., to see the marvels of art, and to find all that is new. Old Lobsinger, from Nuremberg, traversed the air by means of two artificial wings and flew like a bird. But, the mechanism that made his wings move having been disturbed one day, he fell and broke his leg.

Suppose that an army commander had such devices at his disposal, and that soldiers, armed with torches, which neither wind nor water could extinguish, appeared at night above an enemy town: what fear and terror would seize the adversaries whom this fear would render easy to vanquish!

To make torches that neither the wind nor the rain can put out, here is how to go about it:

Take cotton, or tow, or very light silk, put it in oil and then make candles with wax or tallow. These torches will not be extinguished by wind or rain. This was once experienced in Paris.

Here, we must mention the work of the mathematician Taysner, and of which he himself gives the description. It is a machine which, once set in motion, never stops as long as it remains whole; this movement which is circular has also received the name of perpetual movement. It is a machine of this kind that Cornelius Trebel presented to Emperor Rudolf II, and that we still see today.

In our time, many scholars, rich or poor, have tried, but in vain, to find artificial perpetual motion and to use it to draw water from the mountains, to run mills. But we haven't found anything yet on this point, despite the rumors we've spread, and it's very likely that we're asking ourselves the problem. God grant that we find the solution one day.

We also imagined chariots to which there was no need to hitch horses: the chariots with sharp scythes which the ancients used in battles were perhaps of this type. Ulric, Duke of Mecklenburg, indeed had a chariot which alone traveled a few leagues.

It is also the kind of those chariots with sails used in Holland; but it can only be used on the plains. The inhabitants of Antorff also used similar machines.

But all this is outside our subject; let's come back to it.

Let us therefore take Vulcan for the blacksmith of the weapons of Achilles, and now investigate with what material these weapons were made. Homer in his text cites four metals: copper, tin, gold and silver. Virgil, led in the eighth book of the Aeneid to speak of these weapons also cites these metals, but he adds a fifth: vulnific steel.

Why, indeed, would one have suppressed, contrary to all the rules of natural magic, this steel, or metallic Mars which gives the hardest temper and the cleanest material to such a work?

Let us listen again, in this same book of Virgil, to what Vulcan says to Venus:

Quidquid in arte mea possum promiscuous curae,
Quod fieri certe liquidore potest, Electro,
Quantum ignes animæ valent, absiste precando
Viribus indubita tuis.

These words indicate clearly enough the real material of which were composed these weapons of Achilles, thanks to which

Timor ille Phrygum, decus and tutela Pelasgi,
Appointments. (4)

this valiant, this powerful, this boiling Achilles, according to Virgil and Catullus, showed so much courage.
As we have seen, the Electrum, which Philip Theophrastus Paracelsus calls the magic Electra, composed of seven metals united in one, was omitted by Homer, but Virgil clearly and clearly designated it. Here is what Homer says:

Calcwn d en puri ballen ateirea cassiteron te,
cai cruson timhnta cai arguron.

And this is how Virgil speaks:

Fluit æs rivis auric metallum,
Vulnificusque chalybs vasta fornace liquescit.

Here is what Paracelsus says about it in his book Electro Magico :

"If you can gather and melt into one metal and in the required order the seven metals, this single metal which we call Electrum contains all the virtues of the seven which compose it. Not only does it possess the natural properties of pure metals, but it has, in addition, precious supernatural virtues." Further he adds:

"When a drinking vessel or a plate is made of this Electrum, one cannot poison or bewitch the person who uses it, provided that he is a little careful. Here is what must be noticed: in this Electrum resides a marvelous sympathy for man, sympathy aroused by the seven celestial planets, so that in case of danger, it is covered with mist and dew. The Ancients greatly esteemed our Electrum and made all kinds of utensils from it it is sometimes found in excavations. They also made jewelry from it such as rings, bracelets, chains, medals, seals, figures, bells, mirrors, coins, etc., which were silvered or gilded. But today it is despised or forgotten."

The old Jean Matthésius, preacher at the Joachimstahl, writes in his Sarepta , at the sermon of Electro :

"The Ancients also called Electrum a mixture of gold and silver, which, according to Pliny, sparkled in the light of torches more than the fine gold with which the hall of King Nenelut was adorned, and which nevertheless had the brilliance of the sun. Princes and great lords also made breastplates and brassieres from it. Cups and goblets were still made from it, especially with naturally mixed gold . with silver, because these vases did not suffer poison; as soon as poisoned wine was poured into it, waves and circles formed on the surface which came and went constantly, as when a stone is thrown into water. They had the reflections of the rainbow and threw off sparks, like when you pass at night with your hand on a cat's back. But this metal has this property only so far as it is natural; artificially manufactured, it no longer has these virtues."

Everything that we have just said must be understood not only of an Electrum, a natural mixture of gold and silver extracted ready-made from the mines, as Matthesius thinks, who could only judge by what he knew, but also of an Electrum forged following the teaching of Homer, Virgil and the learned Paracelsus. Matthesius unaware of this artificial composition could not necessarily speak of it. I do not deny for that the excellence of this natural mixture of gold and silver of which the preacher speaks, if however one can have some. This composition in which the two metals enter by equal weight, would be very good and very useful and one could add it to the five other metals.

It is also highly probable that the two old metal candlesticks which were still a few years ago in the cloister of Saint Michael the Archangel at Hildesheim, diocese of Cologne, eight leagues from Wolffenbüttel, and which were long regarded as sacred objects, were also of this Electrum, since on one of them were read these words: "Neque aurum, neque argentum sum, sed id, quod cernis", and on the other: "Hoc candelabrum suum puerum constare jussit Barbardus . "

Theophrastus Paracelsus says again, in his book Electro which we have already quoted:

It is good to know also that our Electrum resists and is contrary to evil spirits; for it contains a celestial virtue and is influenced by the seven planets."

Let no one consider impossible and incredible all that we have just said of the virtue of rings made of this natural or artificial magical Electra against cramps, toothache, etc. Rings are still made today, worked by skilful masters and prepared in such a way that they stop cramps, epilepsy, toothache and many other diseases.

In all of this we see that there are many hidden things in nature which only manifest themselves through art . And yet - oh time, oh manners - the ignorant do not care; only the wise recognize and admire them.

We know moreover naturæ officina microcosmica catholicæ several kinds of phylacteries - which are called in Latin Amuleta - and they are still prepared against all kinds of diseases, spells, human infirmities or bad accidents, quæ vel de collo citra omnem superstitionem cum fructu suspendedur, vel citra manus extremitatem, vel digitas aut pedes, sive alia quacunque ratione adhibentur, ad demoliendum fascinum proecipue et morbos . We will not hesitate to give a few examples.

Geber says that when one carries a piece of a man's arm bone and the upper bone of a goose's wing on one's person, it cures quartan fever. Hermes Trimegiste writes that if a dropsy or a person who has jaundice drinks his urine on an empty stomach for a few days, he will be greatly relieved!

In the same way also, when for toothache, a man's tooth is hung from the patient's neck, he immediately feels relief; even more, if you add a bean in which you have made a hole and put a louse and which you then wrap in a piece of silk, the relief is even more rapid.

Jean-Baptiste Porta writes in his Natural Magic that when one strikes, very gently and very lightly, the grass called Verbascum , in the morning when it opens its flowers, these fall one after the other, as if the stem were completely dried up or as if it were bewitched. Also, says Porta, people without experience and who do not understand it, could well believe that there is witchcraft, especially if the person who strikes it moved his lips at the same time as if to pronounce some secret words.

Mizaldus reports that he was assured as very true that to carry in his left hand the heart of a dog in the middle of which a dog's tooth has been placed, it prevents dogs from barking in his presence, especially if it is the heart of a black dog.

Guillaume Varignana and Pierre Argelates, surgeons, assure us: Quod si sponsus mingat per annullum nuptialem, tunc liberetur a fascino et veneris impotentia, qua a maleficio erat ligatus .

Gil. Angeli says that when one carries on oneself the seed of sorrel picked by a young boy ( qui virgo adhuc ), one cannot evacuate his seed, neither while awake nor while sleeping; this is why this seed is of great virtue contra nocturnas pollutiones .

The ounce of an elk, carried on the bare skin, and the nerves of the same beast, attached to the feet and to the hands, arrest the pains of the cramp.

The aquatic acorus, unearthed in the month of May, and the Dens bestiæ marinæ Hippotimus of the sea horse, brought from Lisbon in Germany, and of which Jacob Tabernamontanus mentions in his aquatic treasure, loco de Spasmo , have the same virtues not only against cramps, but also against dysentery and against other flows of blood, both in men and women.

The skull, horn, nerves and ounce of the elk, picked up in their balsamic time, have been found equally excellent and of great virtue in epilepsy. So it is with the root or seed of peony and elder flower sprouted upon the rotten corpse of an epileptic sparrow , and that virtute spirituali naturalis sympathici vel antipathici vegetabilium ac animalium quamvis insensibilis, attamen ex effectu sufficienter sensibilis .

What virtues are not attached to the true toad, so that scholars esteem it with reason, carrying it continually on their person? Nam ubi venena a tsunt tam intra quam extra hominem, præsens talis lapis colorem mutat, and quasi sudans guttas emi tit .

And coral, what shall we say? Not only scholars, but also other writers, assert that transparent red corals have, by a secret virtue given to them by God, the property of chasing away, dissipating, and driving away hail and storms. They also scare away the phantoms which stir up these storms, the evil spirits which, although invisible, hover around men and make them sad and melancholy.

It is for this reason that one hangs and attaches to the necks of young children, against the fear they might have in their sleep, and to the necks of gloomy people (est enim verissime melancholia pulvinar Satanæ et Balneum Diaboli ) beautiful and large grains of transparent red coral.

A good old Count of Germany has also assured me, and he has related it to many other people as a very certain thing, that a peasant of his country used, each time he plowed or sowed his fields, to throw here and there small pieces of coral. Never then neither hail nor storms damaged his crops, although it sometimes happened to other peasants whose fields touched his, but who had not used this preservative.

Of the herbs, Hypericon and Harthau produce the same effect, and that's what caused those old German worms that Hieron. Trug. reports in his book of herbs .

Das Harthau und Weisheit
Thut dem Teuffel viel zû leid

Here I must also mention a recipe that shows how one can, in a very natural way, divert, with the Hypericon, the biggest storms. This secret will not be of little use to an army commander who will thus be able to divert all bad weather from his camp. Here is the recipe:

"The day after St. John the Baptist's Day, when this holiday falls in the new moon, we pick the Hypericon before sunrise. At the four corners of the field or garden that we want to preserve, we plant four oak stakes, on Friday before sunrise. We hang the Hypericon there and the storm ceases."

There are others who go about it in another way:

"They make a cross on a plate and engrave the letters AGLA on it. They stick a knife in the cross with the cutting edge turned against the wind and the storms subside."

In Moravia, some lords place it above their houses. Sailors also use it when the wind is against them.

"Others make two hearts on the ground and engrave the same letters on them, but none should touch the lines. It still has the same effect."

We know, moreover, what can white chicory, taurus and origanum do against witchcraft in such a case.

Against hail and storms, thunder and lightning, one can still act in this way: first make the sign of the cross, throw three hailstones into the fire (of those that fell first), invoking the Most Holy Trinity, then pronounce the Gospel according to Saint John: In principio erat Verbum, etc .; then make the sign of the cross against hail and thunder to the left and on all sides and make it on the ground at the four cardinal points. Then, when the exorcist has pronounced three times: Verbum caro factum est, always adding these words: "Let the storm move away from here by virtue of this Gospel salvation", the storm will cease especially if it has been provoked by witchcraft. Johannes Wierius says this way is safe and certain and very permissible. (Lib. IV; from Prestigiis Dæmonum incantationibus ac veneficis .)

What do you think of the juniper seed cross? It has been noticed the virtue of this seed on those who are possessed of evil spirits, that it is applied in any way.

We also know from experience that when a woman gives birth to seven boys one after the other, without any girl intervening, the last born of the boys can cure the goëtres by touching them Quod etiam christianissimis regibus Galliæ raro quodam privilegio Dei concessum est (5 ) .

Among the beasts, the unicorn and the cross, the liver and the blood of the youngest pike are highly esteemed.

There would still be many similar things to say, but that would take too long here. So let's continue to report what Paracelsus thinks of our Electrum Magicum :

for it is certain that it was made of our Electrum. It is of a similar bell that Virgil speaks, at the sound of which all the adulterers of the court of King Artius, so terrified, fell into a torrent driven by an invisible force.

This story of Virgil's bell is not a fable, but a true relationship as can be seen in the court chronicles of King Acturius, or Artius, or Messenius as he is still called. Bishop Paulus Jonius also says that it should not be looked upon as a tale after Johannes Friseus' book In Defense of the Records and Histories of England, and after Polydorus Virgilius. There were also scholars who applauded it, among others Jean Richard Menzer, JUD, in tyrocinio Emblematum .

We can still read in Paracelsus (6) how the three marvelous mirrors made with our Magic Electra were made. But there is no need to talk about it here. So back to Achilles and his armour.

Achilles therefore received from his mother Thetis these marvelous weapons forged by Vulcan with our electrum:

Tunh of 'Hjaistoio pcra cluta teucea dezo,
Kala mal', oi oupw tiV anhr vmoisi jorhsen.

Wearing it to march against the enemy, he struck terror among all his adversaries. Such is the fight against the Mirmidons, of which Homer speaks in these terms:

" WV ara jwnhsasa dea cata teuce' eqhce
Prosqen 'AcillhoV. ta d' anebrace daidala panta.
MurmidonaV d' ara pantaV ele tromoV, oude tiV etlh
Anthn eisideein, all' etresan ."

Zisca, who commanded the Hussites in Bohemia, no doubt also knew of these marvelous operations Magnetis naturæ antipathici spiritualiter ac invisibiliter fascinating adversarios . For this general had ordered, if he were to die, to take off his skin and make a drum of it, assuring them that in a battle the noise of this crate would terrify the enemies, as if he himself, who was their terror, were still present.

We also read in Roland's song that the sound of his olifant possessed a supernatural and magical virtue.

I learned from an old rat taker ( cui tanquam artifici in sua arte credendum ) that at the sound of a whistle made from the backbone of a large rat and a small drum stretched out of the skin of this rat, all the mice that hear it, obey him: they run to this sound, gather and let themselves be led where they want.

It was by this process that the town of Hameln on the Weser, in Hesse, was delivered from rats and mice. A taker of mice and rats, in fact, having come one day to this town, had concluded a deal with the Mayor and the inhabitants, by which, for a certain sum, he undertook to rid the town of these rodents. He kept his word: for having drawn a whistle from his pocket, all the rats and all the mice that were in the town came running at the noise. They followed him and were drowned in the Weser. This man then asked for his salary; but as the magistrate and the bourgeois made some difficulty, he warned them several times to settle him amicably. His words had no effect; then, drawing another whistle from his pocket, he let out a piercing cry. Immediately all the children of the town came running; they followed him, and the man went back with them into a mountain which then closed up, so that we still don't know what became of them.

It is reported in connection with this fact that in the birth and baptism certificates and in all public writings, the magistrate of the city of Humeln does not count the years from the birth of Jesus Christ, but from the departure of these children. When I passed by, I was shown the place in the mountain where they entered. In Austria, as well as in different places, I have been told that these children had been taken to Transylvania or to Hungary, which is presumed to be ex idiomate et singularitae linguæ vel sermonis a Transylvanis discrepante .

Coming back to our subject, we were saying that the weapons forged by Vulcan strengthened the courage of Achilles. Homer reports it in these terms:

Autar 'AcilleuV
WV eid', vV min mallon edu coloV. en de oi osse
Deinon upo blejarwn, vseiselaV, exejaanqen.
Terpeto d'en ceiressin ecwn deou aglaa dvrc.

Vulcan, so sure of his art and his skill, had therefore well kept the promises he made to Thetis by saying to him:

" Ai gar min qanatoio dushceoV vde dunaimhn
nosjin apocrufai, ote min moroV ainoV icanoi,
vV oi teucea cala paressetai, oia tiV aute
anqrvpwn polewn qaumassetai, oV cen idhtai !"

History confirms these words of the god to us; Achilles indeed, was with these weapons invincible and full of courage. Priam, son of the Trojan king, had to invite him to come to the temple of Apollo under the pretext of reconciliation and under the promise of giving him the beautiful princess Polyxena, his sister, in marriage, so that, at the moment when he thought of nothing he had not put on his armor, two traitors: Paris and Demiphob pierced his breast with their arrows, thus killing the one who, in pitched battles, had never been defeated, which makes say to Ovid:

Ille ijitur tantorum victor Achilles.

What still shows the inestimable value of these Electro-magic weapons, it is the dispute which rose between two Greek heroes Ajax and Odysseus for the possession of this armour. Both were remarkable; one was superior in courage to Achilles, the other was the wisest of all the Greek army. The weapons of Achilles having been attributed to Odysseus, Ajax, boiling with anger, killed himself, which once again proves the infinite price and the marvelous virtues of these weapons. Without this, in fact, these two heroes would not have fought with so much ardor to conquer them and would not have gone to such an extreme not to say that neque Ovidius ipse, cum eloquentiae declamatoribus sui temporis,

All these circumstances assure us of the true existence of these weapons, quod videlicet re vera extiterim in rerum natura .

But to come back to the fabrication of our magic Electra, let us learn that it must be composed "by an indissoluble sympathetic union according to the course of the planets and the celestial bodies, by manifesting what is superior with what is inferior, either by this natural magical operation as what is superior, and that what is superior is the same as what is inferior." Here, according to the precepts of Paracelsus, is how this artificial composition is made.

Proportio ponderum metallorum componendorum.

Auri and argenti an. 10 partes Solis and lunæ a 10 drach. Cupri and Chalybis ana V. partes Veneris and Martis V. drach. Stanni and plumbi an. ii partes Jovis and Saturnis ii drach. Mercuri pars I. Mercurii drach .

These metals must be very pure, following the advice of Paracelsus in his book Speculi constellatione .

To compose the magic electra with all these metals, Paracelsus tells us that we must choose the moment when there is a "conjunction" of Saturn and Mercury. When this “Conjunction” is about to take place, let us have ready the fire, the utensils, the lead and the mercury, and then proceed as Theophrastus indicates in the book of Speculi constellatione until the Electrum is composed . These are the words of Paracelsus on this subject.

The magical Electra is thus artificially prepared. It is from this truly magical composition that the royal arms forged by Vulcan were made. This way of making them according to the doctrine expounded by Paracelsus in his Philosophia Sagaci relates to the fourth species artis magicae naturalis specialiter sumptae which is called gamaheas , a way which consists, as Paracelsus always says, in doing "invisibly and spiritually with the help of art all that nature can do visibly and corporeally without the help of art."

The body, in fact, has nothing to do with this operation; only the invisible soul operates effectively: Entis hujus naturaliter compositi spiritus, sive anima invisibilis magnetice edditur et ingreditur anima homium adversantium et fascinat ipsos naturaliter, impeditque illorum voluntates et operations mirabiliter .

This is almost analogous to the herb discovered by Hippocrates which extinguished fire and preserved it, which, from a tub of water with holes in different places, retained water as long as this plant was there. This is also what the root of the true acconitus pardalianchis produces which, resembling a scorpion, destroys in the living scorpions it touches all strength and all malignity.

One might think that it is the same with bodily touching, but it is easy to prove the contrary.

If someone wants to dump their excrement too close to your home and you don't like it very much, you can take revenge for this insult without touching their body. Put on his excrement burning coals with brandy and grains of juniper or pepper, and this will cause him in the interested part to feel pain, and this alisque contactu corporeo, attamen non sine contactu spirituali, naturali magnetico et invisibili, even from afar, and his pains will last for several days .

We could still, if necessary, relate several examples of this indirect action, taken from nature. It may be objected that the Devil gets involved, but we will point out that it is not Christian to wish to attribute to the devil more power than is attributed to the infinite wisdom and omnipotence of God.

Let us therefore leave to nature its great mysteries; it has more power than one can imagine.

Are there not many celibate or married men who, by these natural means, are bound with regard to venereal works, and that without any direct action, but only by a remote magnetic and invisible influence.

And the Devil has absolutely nothing to do with it, neither openly nor secretly, although the abuse of this natural magic by men in certain countries often causes great damage.

We can also say that the Devil, without being invoked expressly or tacitly to take part in these evil spells, nevertheless plays a certain role in them, because he is the sworn enemy of marriage, he likes to disturb the peace and good understanding of families, and he wants to prevent the propagation of the human race. To this objection I will not reply.

What else could be said of the means that a spouse can use to render the other impotent? And what a wife can do to her husband she suspects? When he goes on a trip (or in any case), can she not, post coitum , bind him invisibly, and in a quite natural way, and thus prevent him, as long as he is out of the house, from having pleasant intercourse with another woman? But enough of that.

Sequitur armorum ex Electro Magico per
manufactureem Vulcanicam, nec non Physicomagicum
training

To make and forge the objects of Magic Electra, which is a "martial" work, it is necessary that everything that contributes to it is also "martial": the sky, the air, the weather, the day, the hour, the minute, the place, the utensils, the fire, the courage, the voice and the customs of the one who makes them. One must consult and follow exactly the advice given by Paracelsus in his two books: de Tempore and de Speculi constellatione .

It is also good to read that " of Imaginibus " in order to recognize the constellations and the position of the stars in the sky; this is what is done in schola magnorum naturalium orthodoxa .

Also I can affirm that here we have nothing to do with diabolical spirits, nor with necromancy, but only with natural and permitted magick and with all the other sciences that God conferred on the father of the human race, Adam, and which have been transmitted from generation to generation. For any justification in this regard, we can read in Martin Delrio (7) these words: " Magia naturalis (ut Psellus et Proclus advertere) nihil est aliud, quam exactior quoedam arcanorum naturæ cognitio, quæ coelorum ac siderum cursu et influxu, et sympathiis atque antipathiis rerum singularum observatis, suo tempore, loco ac modo res rebus applicantur, est mir ifica quædam hoc pacto perficiuntur, quæ causarum ignaris præstigiosa vel mirifica videntur. "

Delrio then speaks in this passage of Tobias restoring sight to his father by means of the gall (bile) of a fish that Gallienus and the elders call Gallonyme.

It is for the same reason that the sound of a drum made with the skin of a wolf makes another stretched with the skin of a lamb burst.

Cardan also writes that in Venice a Turk washed his hands, without burning himself, in molten lead.

Saint Augustine also mentions several facts relating to natural magic: the flesh of a peacock which does not corrupt; straw, which by its coolness preserves the ice and prevents it from melting; heat, which can cause fruit to die; the salt of Agrigent which melts in the fire and hardens in the water; the magnets; the fountain of Epirus, etc.

Notice also what Tertulian says of the dictame, with which a deer brought iron out of its wound; of the celandine which the swallow uses to give sight to its young.

Alexander. ab-Alexandro speaks of the venom of the Tarantula or Phalanx of Calabria, the bite of which cannot cure. And you can't escape by any means, except to make the bitten people dance to the sound of an instrument until they drop from fatigue.

If there are those who wish to know more about this subject, they have only to read Aristotle ( de admirandis Additionibus ), and Guill. Alverne ( from Universo ). Let them still read Robert Triez ( de Dæmonum deceptionibus ); Sirem, (lib. 9 by Fato ; cap. 5); Fracastor ( libr. of Sympath. and Antipath .); Joan Lang. ( Epist. 33 ).

It is recognized by all that King Solomon perfectly possessed this natural Magic. It is also claimed, which is very likely, that she was known to the three Magi of the Gospel who were looking for Jesus Christ. We wonder at the same time if they knew black or diabolical magic? Given the case, if they were tainted with this crime, it is certain that after having sought and found Jesus Christ, after having recognized and adored him as their God, they were no longer tainted by it. Besides, it's something you don't really need to worry about.

Theophilactus, in his daydreams, claims that they practiced witchcraft...

But where do we go astray?

Know then that in this manufacture of electro-magic weapons, there is no need for conjuration, nor for consecration, as is sometimes done in black magic. It's not very Christian. If the pagans could have, manufacture and usefully use electro-magic without conjuration or consecration, of which Homer and Virgil make no mention, why should we, who are Christians, against the express prohibition of God, submit to the power of the Devil, thus deliberately rejecting the divine word, the holy name of God and the holy sacraments, all this for our perdition, our ruin and our eternal damnation?

This is not the teaching of Paracelsus, who, on the contrary, in his preface to Occult Philosophy, seriously warns us to guard against it with care.

So when you want to make and forge weapons, arrange so that before you start you have everything you need at hand, so that you don't miss anything and experience no delay when the work is in progress.

So hold the fire ready; I mean that magic fire of Tubalcain or Vulcan appropriated and assigned specially and martially to this work, and well known to some sons of the natural and practical magic art, fire which must be used to animate in the appropriate measure the common fire, that is to say the fire of heaven. We must then take wood lit by lightning - cui numea aliquod martiale semper adsistit - and which, according to scientific laws, must always be kept, burning, in a lamp, for use. We read, in fact, that Vulcan always had this fire, and that he kept it on the island of Lemnos to serve for his various works. This is what he says to Venus in these words:

Quantum animæque ignes are worth?

A Scottish gentleman kept up this fire for a long time, it seems.

Also hold ready the metal mass of the Electra, the bellows, anvil, hammer, and when the propitious moment has arrived, which you must know by your astronomical observations, take the hammer in hand, strike strongly and courageously on the metal and forge the weapons by giving them such form as you wish.

But we must not forget the conjunction of the inner microcosmic stars ( astrorum coeli microcosmi humani ) and make them act at the same time, otherwise a work of this kind of magical natural art cannot be brought to a successful conclusion. This is one of the reasons which have prevented many people, however learned in the matter, from achieving their goal in præparandis sigillis astronomicis et Goemahaeis ; you will never succeed if you neglect this expression and this impression of “martial” Courage, even if you observe everything else carefully, and if you agree with the constellations of the microcosmic Heaven. Est enin hæc astrorum coeli microcosmici influentia, seu animi naturaliter fascinatingis expressio et impressio unum ex illis principiis tribus artis Magicæ naturalis, quorum mentionem facit Abbas Trithemius in epistola ad comitem de Westembourg et Cornelius Agrippa in suis scriptis .

A sufficient and complete instruction of it is found in the works of Paracelsus, chiefly in aureis de occulta Philosophia libris, de longa vita in Philosophia sagaci, de tempore, de imaginibus, de peste in Paranyro, and de Electro Magico sive metallorum compositione . I refer to it those who would like to practice more especially the art of Vulcan.


How to Prepare for the Electra


First observe a "Conjunction" of Saturn and Mercury. Prepare beforehand a crucible, lead cut into small pieces or grains, mercury. When the conjunction begins, melt the lead slowly, so that the mercury does not evaporate when you put it there. As soon as the "Conjunction" begins, remove the crucible from the fire to put the mercury on the molten lead and let them cool together. Then observe a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn or Mercury. Prepare everything you need again. Then melt in different crucibles the tin of England and the lead united with mercury. Then remove them from the heat, mix them and let them cool completely. You will thus have the first three metals, the easiest to melt, united in one,

Now observe another "Conjunction" of one of these four planets: Sun, Moon, Venus, or Mars, with one of the first three: Saturn, Mercury or Jupiter. It doesn't matter which one. Prepare everything you need again and melt apart the next metal and the first alloy. Then mix them.

Do the same for all the metals until you have united all seven of them into one, according to the conjunction of their corresponding planet, and the Electra will be prepared.
While forging it, arm yourself with courage and vigor, and utter the following verses within yourself several times, voce Martiali, hoc est infractu, iracunda, aspera, minaci, atroci, affectuque vehementi :

Charus ego divis generosi fabrico Martis
Arma: quibus posituris nulla nocere, nec ignis,
Nec ferrum, nec aquæ, sed sint terrorque timorque,
Si quando hæc videant homines mihi damna parantes,
Utque hæc horribili mihi fiant arma rigore.

Now breathe on your work and repeat several times, very vigorously, saying:

Ut lupus imbelles violentus territat agnos.
And timidus foevos exhorret Dama molossos,
Sic haec incutiant mortalibus arma timorem.

Breathe again several times, as long as you can on your work, and say:

Non mihi proesenti poterit consestere mente,
Whoever his armis audax vult obvius ire,
Irrita tela dabis, quicunque minabere nobis.

Breathe ever harder, working your work into the required form, and saying:

Hoc veluti rapido Electrum mollescit ab igne,
Hoc veluti crebro Electrum contunditur ictu,
Sic his conspectis liquuntur pectora ab armis,
Sic opus hoc felix cunctos frustrabitur ausus.

When the Turks look for roots and herbs for their Maslach, they always prepare the same remedies which however have different applications. But they apply their mind, their senses, their thoughts, their words and their actions to these preparations according to the use they want to make of them.

Thus, if the remedy is to make them valiant and courageous, they take on a brave and chivalrous air in doing so and use it in combat. If the remedy should excite their carnal passions, they act accordingly. If they weep and mourn, the medicine makes them weep and they use it to mourn their dead; if they laugh, if they sing and amuse themselves by picking these herbs, the remedy, later, will make them laugh and sing. In a word, according to their frame of mind, according to their thoughts, according to their actions, the result is different. To make this Maslach, they take, it seems, willow roots of which they make, with spirit-of-wine, an extract which rejoices the heart; Ad Maslach furiosum addunt radicem Mandragora .

It is the same with the Lelek of Bohemia; the archives of the Court of Appeal of Prague make mention of it, and a judge of this tribunal once related it before persons worthy of belief.

Besides, what is surprising in all this? Do not the asarum and the root of the hazel tree purge from above or from below depending on whether it is dug up from above or from below?

In nature there are thus a multitude of similar phenomena. Those who observe them and who know them cannot restrain their admiration.

This is what Vulcan wants and what he still expresses in this verse:

Quantum ignes animoeque are worth?

When you have made your weapons, following the prescriptions of Paracelsus, you will only have to pick up your tools and hide the weapons for about eight days. You will then remove them from this place oedem die et hora , you will polish them cleanly and keep them to use them at the first opportunity. On the cuirass also engrave some sign, or figure, loved by him who will bear these arms and will thus make a salutary impression on his mind.

Nam objecta sensus et quidem homines diversos diversi mode movent, sunt que irritamenta, incitativa et quasi calcoria ad stimulandum animi appetitum hoc in negotio martialem ad gloriosi et generosi quit virtuose perpetrandum. Homo enim horum objectorum perseverante reminiscentia, continuo accensus fiducia firma et fide, miraculorum janua sic inflammatur mirifica, que alia est quam salvifica illa, tantaque et tam mirabili virtute coelitus donatur, ut proeclara negotia conficiat multa, talia etiam nonnunquam, quæ ab inexpertis vix Possunt credit.

This is how the Emperor Constantine wore a cross with these words: In hoc signo vinces . Other princes, after him, adopted other emblems. They were later put on the flags and on the cornets which were used in war. We can see, indeed, in the accounts of the campaigns of the Emperor Matthias, that this prince always gave emblems to his troops and to his generals tanquam calcaria et stimulos ad virtutes et fortitudinem . This is the thought expressed by Homer, in these verses quoted at the beginning of this book:

Pente d ar autou esan saceoV ptuceV . autar to auty
poiei daidala polla iduihsi prapi drawing.

The straps which will be used to fasten the cuirass must be of shovel hyenoe . If you don't have this skin, you can make it with that of a wolf and you have to cut it from the living wolf because that animal is terrible and courageous.

Often hunters and travelers have experienced from some wolves, sine dubio radiis spiritum visitorum , a kind of fascination similar to that exercised by the hyena and in which they lost their voice, thus being unable either to cry or to call. This fact occurs especially when it is the wolves who first see men. This is what made Virgil say:

Vox..... Moerim
Jam fugit, Lupi Moerim videre priores (8).

There remain even after the death of animals certain virtues in different parts of their bodies. We can, in this connection, cite numerous examples reported by scholars and doctors. Thus the advice to pluck out the eyes of hares while still alive, to cut off a piece of the skin of a badger, and of other animals while they are alive, has often and usefully been observed. Myself I advised to do the same with the skin of a wolf, to take pieces of it and to use it as a phylactery.

There is a common proverb that a good sword and a good horse do honor to a rider . So, to give a horseman a martial twist, you have to put in his hand weapons made in this sense. Let us choose, for example, to make a sword a blade with which one or more people have been killed. Let us take, to make the handle of it, the spoke of a wheel which was used to trick a criminal; that we use to make the pommel and the hilt of an iron chain after which we hanged and strangled a malefactor; finally put around the handful sanguinem menstruum primum virginis that we will have collected in a cloth and cover it with some other material. To make a dagger, go about it the same way.

Experience has shown that persons who have used such swords or daggers have not only defeated their enemies, but that at first the latter, seized with fear and without courage, were obliged to withdraw. Even more, and to their great astonishment, their weapons were breaking in their hands.

One only has to read Corneille Agrippa ( de excellentia præstantia sexus foeminei ) to see the virtues and the many properties sanguis menstruum primi collected in a cloth. Marcus Claudius Paradinus mentions in heroicis , by Thomas Aquinas, that he had a knife with which he could cut an anvil into two pieces.

It is a similar sword that Hoernin Seyfried had, of which you can see the very old reproduction on the town hall of Worms. We also show, a little outside the city, the Garden of Roses, where several heroes perished.

The great secret of Hoernin Seyfried consisted, it is said, of a cuirass of horn and felt, which neither dagger nor sword could pierce.

It is said that the town of Worms takes its name from the worms which occupied this location and of which Hoernin Seyfried destroyed and burned a large number. This is why, when at the conservatory of this city an artist sings in public and without the examiners removing anything from it, the whole story of Hoernin Seyfried, he receives, according to an ancient custom, a fairly large sum of money.

Thus, whatever some incredulous people say about it who only find good what they do themselves, these stories of Hoernin Seyfried and Roland are not pure inventions, any more than that of the bishop of Ratisbon, Albert the Great, and that of the learned philosopher and doctor Paracelsus.

The latter found a secret, which, in Philosophia sagaci , he names artem gladialem vel incisivam , to cut the hardest metal like wax. He wore around his arm which wielded the sword, under his clothes, the skin of a snake which he had flayed alive. He also cast, for some reason too long to explain here, fear and terror among his enemies. Yet we should now say what King and Prophet David wore around his right arm when he marched against Goliath (i.e. flatum et pactum Dei), and what he wore around his loins when he danced before the Ark of the Covenant to show that all his hope and all his consolation was based on the promised Messiah, that is, a strap, similar to a serpent, on which was written the name of Jeschua (Jesus ) . We should also mention what Gideon wore on his chest and what the children of Israel put in their clothes as an eternal remembrance when they fought against the enemies of God.

If a warrior wants to preserve himself, let him wear on his bare skin and have it sewn into his clothes, from that dried red juice which is found around Saint John in small bladders attached to the root of the plant called polygonum minus sive Cocciferum: but this juice is only found between eleven o'clock and noon . No need to look for it outside of this time.

A man, who by the way was very brave, wore them when he had to fight. One day he received a blow from the saber in the calf which made him stagger, but which did not hurt him; he only had a bruise, in which he had an incision made and healed. Paracelsus writes from Tempore de l'Altée, which is covered with twenty-four coats of mail, that when carried on one's person, it blunts all the weapons of the enemy, so that one would be safe from all injuries.

I myself saw one day a man, who wore under his right arm and on his bare skin, in a small cloth sewn after his clothes, sanguine menstruo virginis primo , and who, obliged to break a spear with another, overthrew the latter after he himself had sustained sixty assaults. Moreover, the evening of that day, playing with other people, to win a silver dagger, this object returned to him, although he had to redo games with people who had as many points as him.

One can therefore, without inconvenience, carry on one's person these sorts of natural phylacteries; but be careful not to employ those superstitious formulas and those diabolical means taught by black magic. It is used only too often, but we cannot answer for it before Almighty God and before the faithful.

It is very permissible for a man to use firearms skilfully, to load them either with powder, or with lead, or with pieces of gold, silver, iron and steel molten with bullets; he can use all possible means provided they are lawful.
This is what Virgil expresses in this verse:

Dolus, an virtus quis in hoste requirat?

Those who are clever know how to find the right means. We'll talk about that in a future brochure.

I cannot, however, refrain from saying how bullets can be made which can pierce the thickest cuirass. Make little balls of steel, the size of peas, melt some lead and put some on them. Load your arms with these balls, and, firing on a cuirass, from a suitable distance, you will see it traversed from side to side. Keep this recipe secret so you can use it when and where you need it.

We must also take for the spurs, for the horseshoes, for the bit and the different parts that make up the harness, the same material as for the pommel and the hilt of the sword or the dagger.
Here, moreover, is a good means of making wayward horses walk. Make the bridle with a wolfskin, put a few pieces of black chameleon in the bit, especially when it is in full force, that is to say in autumn. This plant, in fact, has the power to take away the strength of a man and his horse to give it to those who know how to use it in this way. In a race, and this is what we knew very well in the past, we can never be overtaken by this means.

At certain times, this root, says George Phoedron in Chirurgia minori , when carried on oneself, and quidem coëundo inter alios foecunde coëuntes , takes away from the most robust the strength to procreate children and gives it to those who were sterile.

It is a means of not letting one's race die out, if in addition one has recourse to prayer and if one trusts in God's help.

Paracelsus speaks of certain English thistles which he calls carduos Marioe - one now finds them elsewhere and in large quantities - which, out of sympathy, take away the strength of others in order to give it to those who carry this root with them. Paracelsus cites examples.

Finally, to make valiant and courageous, there is again the magnificent and excellent water of Magnanimity ( aqua Magnanimitatis ). A soldier can take, if he likes, half a spoonful in a good glass of wine, to ride a horse or go to war. He will have to take it some time before his exercises, so that his virtue has time to penetrate into the whole body, into all the limbs. This beverage will make him a brave and courageous man, but not furious, because by maintaining his health of body and mind, he will become animosus et cum audacia honesta, vere magnanimus. In a word, he will be animated in such a way that everywhere, in combats, in assaults, in jousts, in duels, he will act with as much presence of mind as courage and boldness. Neither fear nor terror will seize him; always, even in the greatest danger, he will remain calm and master of himself.

Even more, if you have some serious matter to transact in front of a great personage, something serious to discuss, this water will make you speak without fear, without shyness. You yourself will be amazed at this loquacity. It still has several excellent virtues, such as that of curing internal diseases and particularly febrim icteri iam .

Emperor Maximilian I, of glorious memory, used this water of Magnanimity a lot in his expeditions. So we see him attacking his enemies himself, leading his troops boldly and accomplishing marvelous deeds. It is thanks to this water that he endured, without ever feeling pain, the fatigue of his dangerous chamois hunts. Several times indeed, we read in the history of the Chevalier Teurdanck, he almost lost his life there. Without the courage, which with the help of God, gave him this water of Magnanimity, this emperor would never have been able to do so many things. He gave the secret of this water of Magnanimity to Count Jean de Hurdeck whose heroic actions accomplished in Italy against the Turks are generally known,

The steward of this count, residing in Gruveneck in Austria, found in 1523 the means to have the composition of this water of Magnanimity by having it prepared for his master, at the doctor of His Imperial Majesty, because at all times the count carried it with him and used it in due time.

So it was on this occasion that the doctor told him confidentially that he had often prepared it for the Emperor.

Here is now the way to make this water of Magnanimity that Emperor Maximilian I held as a great secret and regarded as a treasure.

Take, in summer, these little ants, which, when struck in their anthill with a rod, exhale a penetrating smoke and odor. Take as much as you want. Put them in a bottle: for this, make a line of honey from the bottom of the bottle to the neck so that they will enter there on their own, and carry their eggs there. Pour into it four or five times a jar of well-corrected brandy and after having corked the bottle well, put it in the sun, or in a sufficiently heated place, where you will leave it for a fortnight, more, if you wish. Then, you will distill the contents in a bain-marie, or on ashes, finally very slowly and on a low heat, and reject what comes out first. When this distillation is finished, put in the liqueur a quarter of an ounce of pulverized cinnamon, and preserve the whole in a tightly closed bottle. To use it, we put it, as we have said, in wine.

You can also put Abrotonum root oil in it, and when you want to use it, you rub your hands and your sword with it, and take ten or twelve drops.

So, even if we had to fight alone against a dozen adversaries, they could do nothing, deprived as they would be of strength. Let us therefore admire the omnipotence of God, who put so many virtues into an ant; much more this water does inside what it produces outside.

Here is exposed, in a few pages, what relates to the weapons of Achille, and I hope that the readers will be able to benefit from it.

To return to the water of Magnanimity, know above all that the best is courage, the noble desire to serve one's country faithfully and to fight bravely for it. Without these qualities, nothing can stimulate ardor or instill bravery in a soldier.

It is certain, however, that certain liquors whip the blood and stir the passions more vigorously if they have already been born. History tells us quite often of the effect produced by brandy, given to soldiers before battles. A few generals have used this system successfully, but others have had very poor results. Often indeed, soldiers, drunk, throw confusion and disorder in the rows; hence a defeat always disastrous.

Eronymus still gives us this recipe for making an excellent water of Magnanimity: the soldier, it seems, only has to take half a spoonful of it to feel all inflamed with an ardor hitherto unknown.

Here is the recipe as it was transmitted.

Rec.: Cinamoni elect. A C. II
Zingiberis Unc. Sowing.
Granorum Paradisi.
Piperis longi aa. Drachma I.
Cariphil.
Nucis Moschat. Drachm. Sowing.

Tritu omnia in vas aquæ ardentis ter quaterve destillatoe plenum et clausum per quatuor dies ponantur, et bis aut ter quotidie agitentur, demum coletur et servitur. Hujus mediocre cochleare plenum immittes in generosi vini rubri mensuram et sachari libra addatur; if tamen vinum dulce sit, sacharo non opus est.

To now prepare the Abrotonum root oil, which we talked about above, here is what to do:

Take 7 or 8 pounds of Abrotonum root pulled out on September 30 (because it is at this time that the root has the most properties); dry it in the air, dip it in the spirit of wine, and extract an oil from it according to the ordinary rules. Once this oil is made, place it, during the crescent moon, in an apothecary shop. Leave it two days in one place, two days in another, two days in a third, and so on. It will take away from all herbs their odor and their virtues. That done, put in some of the ant water we talked about, and keep it all for your use.


NOTES


(1) LYCOPHRON: poet and grammarian of Chalsis; obscure.

(2) ARCHYTAS: Pythagorean philosopher .

(3) ICTINUS: Athenian architect of the century of Pericles.

(4) Juxta Ovid.; lib. XV. Metam .

(5) MIZAL.; Memorabil. Gent. number 66.

(6) De speculi constellatione .

(7) DISC. Magicar ., lib. I; cap. 3.

(8) Eclog. , IX.