The Seal-ring of Proportion and the magic rings or 2016 1 Abstract: The Ḥôṯam Toḵnît or Seal-ring of Proportion described in Ezekiel 28:12-13, is considered as an archetype of magic rings. Its pattern with three rows and-three columns based on the simplest magic square, which was described as a child-bearing charm since its first literary appearances in the woks of Jābir ibn Hayyān (fl. c. 721– c. 815) and al-Ghazālī (1058–1111). This connection with the female reproductivity makes this signet a precursor of a series of literary examples, like the Draupnir and the Andvaranaut of the Edda and their modern literary interpretations in the works of de la Motte-Fouque, Richard Wagner and J.R.R. Tolkien, who connected it with the invisibility ring mentioned in Plato's Politeia 359d-360b and also with the seal of Solomon (mentioned first in Josephus Flavius, Antiquitates Judaicae 8, 46-49, and in the Testamentum Solomonis, elaborated in Jewish, Islamic and Christian traditions), which gives power over the spiritual beings. They were not pioneers at all, because from the late Antiquity there were several author (e.g. Josephus Flavius, ibn Ezra, Eleazar of Worms, Pliny, the Church Fathers, Marsilio Ficino, H.C. Agrippa, Éliphas Lévi, the various writers of the Antique and medieval lapidaries, kabbalistic works, astro magical tracts and beau-letters, including the Welsh and French Arthurian romans and the Arabian Nights) who provide for this the necessary theological, philosophical as well as literary draw matters. The main aim of this study, which is written in an exceptional form as a last will of a fictional Kabbalist, is to demonstrate a concept of the Ḥôṯam Toḵnît as the Šegal described in Psalm 45, and its erroneous literary interpretations. Copyright © 2016 by Peter J. Barta. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. 2 To a woman of valour who by the grace of God is my counterpart helper Foreword The treatise, which I published here is an answer of my question I asked thirty-five years ago. My late friend who wanted to preserve his incognito behind his self-chosen name, frequently returned to my question and told some information, which he found scattered in a vast body of literature of very different kinds. His ideas were kabbalistic, but not the Kabbalah of the Zohar, neither Abulafia's prophetic Kabbalah nor any kind of practical Kabbalah. Apart from that, his main idea seems to be in accord with one or two reasons of Michoel Boaz Yisroel ben Avraham (alias Warder Cresson, 1798-1860)1, although this is probably tangential. But now, he left his work to me without any instruction what to do with it. I considered the work, which was written with a characteristic mystic attitude, but an emphatically scientific aim, worthy to be published because its erudition, novelty and richness in great ideas. Perhaps it is hard to read sometimes, even unequally balanced, but it was written to sail from a turbulent ocean of human errors to a tranquil bay of inward truth, peace and love realized. Please, read it with open mind. Budapest, 8th of February, 2016. Peter. J. Barta 1 Cf. Frank Fox, "Quaker, Shaker, Rabbi : Warder Cresson, the story of a Philadelphia mystic," The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. XCV, no. 2, (Apr. 1971), pp. 147-194. 3 Table of Contents Foreword page 3 Table of Contents page 4 Article One: an unusual bequest page 5 Article Two: the magic square of third order as a representation of female reproductivity page 6 Article Three: the connection between this particular magic square (Qame'a) and the Seal of Solomon page 10 Article Four: the human as an image and signet of God and the Qame'a page 15 Article Five: Daughter of Tyre: the Ḥôṯam Toḵnît or „Signet of Proportion,” of Ezekiel and the Consort or Šêgal described by the Psalm 45 page 18 Article Six: the Queen and the Consort: the breastplate of Aaron and the Seal-ring of Proportion page 23 Article Seven: a northern rings of reproductivity: the Draupnir made by dwarfs, the Andvaranaut of the elves and their literary interpretations by Wagner, de la Motte Fouque and Tolkien page 28 Article Eight: the ring of Gyges: invisibility and power page 34 Article Nine: reverberations of the ring of Gyges in the Arabian Nights page 37 Article Ten: the ring of Gyges among the fairies and Graces page 39 Article Eleven: the god-smith of the ring of Gyges page 43 Article Twelve: the wonderful heliotrope stone in the bezel of Gyges' ring and the lapidaries of Antiquity and Medieval Age: an approach of the natural magic page 46 Article Thirteen: dangerous connections: precious stones, astral influences and magic rings page 53 Article Fourteen: the idolatrous cults of stars: astro magical rings page 64 Article Fifteen: ensouled rings and the slippery way of human wishes page 72 Article Sixteen: the circle is complete: back to the eternal Šêgal page 79 Bibliography page 80 4 Ḥôṯam Toḵnît or the Seal-ring of Proportion. LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT of Sappir Tohar-Tov published by his sole heir Peter J. Barta B"H I, Sappir Tohar-Tov, of the City of Ariel, Yešurun, do hereby make, ordain, publish and declare this my last will and testament, hereby revoking all other wills and codicils by me at any time 2 heretofore made. Article First I give and bequeath to my only close relative and true friend, Peter Joseph Barta residing at Budapest (Hungary), his heirs, and assigns all my wisdom, understanding and knowledge about the Ḥôṯam Toḵnît or the Seal-ring of Proportion hereinafter described. I had not seen heavenly visions. I had not initiated into mysteries. I have been gathering this from books ancient and recent available for me, and continually re-thought, even it seems raw sometimes like a sediment. The footnotes are not only references, but commentaries explaining and sometimes expanding the meaning of the main text. Text and commentary are inseparable without risking the integrity of the thoughts. This is my contribution and only property to bestow. 2 On the Magic Squares of H. C. Agrippa [Hungarian], Budapest: L'Univesité Loránd Eötvös. Chaire D'Egyptologie Egyiptológiai Füzetek, Vol. III, 1989. 5 Article Second The sum of the first four natural numbers 3 is ten. When we complete each of these four numbers to this very ten, we gain nine, eight, seven and six, the sum of these is thirty. Adding all these eight numbers together, they give forty. Every proportion of two numbers defines a middle. The proportions of one and nine, two and eight, three, and seven as well as four and six define the five as their middle. These inherent properties are revealed by arranging the numbers by triplets. When we write the one digit natural numbers ranging from one to nine, in their natural sequences, in a thrice three order, we will see the following pattern: This bears resemblance to the wonderful growth of the foetus in the womb during the nine months of human pregnancy divided into three trimesters. Then the odd numbers shall be exchanged with their opposites, as follows: This change corresponds to the turn of the baby in the womb to a cephalic presentation, about one month before giving birth, which usually occurs forty weeks after the last period of the mother. Finally, there will be a counter-clockwise turn of the whole pattern and we get the perfect harmony: the four even numbers are in the corners, and the odds form a cross. The sum of the numbers in each and every row, column and diagonal is fifteen constantly4. 3 I. e. 'positive integers.' The Pythagorean called these four numbers together as Tetractys (Greek: τετρακτύς). 4 On magic squares, cf. the classic works of Wilhelm Ahrens (1872-1927): „Studien über 'die magischen Quadrate' der Araber,” Der Islam, 7 (1916), pp. 186-250; „'Magische Quadrate' und Planetenamulette,” Naturwissenschaftliche Wochenschrift, 35 (=N.F. 19; 1920), pp. 465-475; „'Die magischen Quadrate' al-Bûni's,” Der Islam, 12 (1922), pp. 157-177. and „Nochmals die 'magischen Quadrate',” Der Islam, 14 (1924), pp. 104-110. See also: Paul C. Pasles, Benjamin Franklin's Numbers: An Unsung Mathematical Odyssey. Princeton-Oxford: Princeton UP, 2008; Vladimír Karpenko, „Two thousand years of numerical magic squares,” Endeavour, New Series, Vol 18, No. 4 (1994), pp. 147-153. 6 In this arrangement, we can inscribe a circle inside the square, which separates the odds (within the circle)5 from the evens (outside the circle in the corners of the square), that is, the circle can move in the square of the evens6. This rotation is parallel with the forty-five degrees (1/8 of a circle) corkscrew movement of the baby's head, when it is out of the birth canal during the parturition. This movement („restitution” phase) is necessary to allow the shoulders to be born next. Therefore the „moving circle inside the square” represents the childbirth itself. That is the reason, why this magic square is the proportion and Qame'a7 of giving birth as already the first authors who described it (Jābir ibn Hayyān8 and al5 The 'cross inside the circle'  or  is the letter teth („wheel”) in the Paleo-Hebrew / Phoenician alphabet. Its numerical value is nine. The Paleo-Hebrew script or Ivri was used before the Aramaic/Assiric alphabet or Assiri was adopted (5th century BC), from which the present Jewish "square-script" evolved. After the fall of the Persian Empire, Jews used both scripts before settling on the Assyrian form. For a limited time thereafter, the use of the Paleo-Hebrew script among Jews was retained only to write the Tetragrammaton. The last known remnant of PaleoHebrew writing appears on Bar Kochba coins, circa 125 C.E. Cf. Saverio Campanini, „The Quest for the Holiest Alphabet”, in: A Universal Art. Hebrew Grammar across Disciplines and Faiths eds. Nadia Vidro, Irene E. Zwiep, Judith Olszowy-Schlanger, Studies in Jewish History and Culture, vol. 46. Leiden: Brill, 2014, pp. 196-245. 6 Bahir 114:„A circle inside a square can move.” ‫ עיגולא בגו ריבועא ורהטי‬Cf. The Bahir. Translation, Introduction, and Commentary by Aryeh Kaplan. Boston: Weiser Books, 1989, pp. 44, 219. 7 Qame'a (‫ )קמיע‬is generally a word for „amulet,” but it is used in the 'Eš M'ṣaref („The Refiner's Fire”) for the magic squares generally and this one particularly. Cf 'Eš M'ṣaref, ch. VI, [in: Christian Knorr von Rosenroth (1636-1689), Kabbala denudata, Vols. 2, Sulzbach: Abraham Lichtenthaler, 1677-1684, Vol. I, p. 626.] See also Raphael Patai, The Jewish Alchemists: A History and Source Book. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1994, pp. 323-339. and Gershom Scholem (1897 – 1982), „Alchemie und Kabbalah,” Eranos Jahrbuch, 46 (1977), pp. 69-73. On the root meaning of the word Qame'a („to bind”), cf. Joshua Trachtenberg (1904-1959), Jewish Magic and Superstition. A Study of Folk Religion. New York: Behrman, 1939. [I refer to the reprint with the foreword by Moshe Idel: Philadelphia (PA): University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004.], p. 132. 8 Abu Mūsā Jābir ibn Hayyān also known as Geber (fl. c. 721– c. 815), Book of the Scales. French translation in: Marcelin Berthelot (1827-1907), Histoire de sciences. La chimie au moyen âge, Tom. III: L'alchimie arabe. Paris, 1893. [rprt.. Osnabruck: O. Zeller, 1967], pp. 139-162, in particular: pp. 150-151; Wilhelm Ahrens, „Studien über 'die magischen Quadrate' der Araber,” Der Islam, 1917 (Vol.7.), pp. 186-250. in particular: p. 187. Geber refers to Balīnās i. e. Apollonius of Tyana (Ἀπολλώνιος ὁ Τυανεύς; c. 15 – c. 100), who is dubbed as "Lord of the talismans" (Ṣāḥib aṭ-ṭilasmāt) by the Arab magicians. On the old Harranean origin of the square, cf. H. E. Stapleton, „The Antiquity of Alchemy,” Ambix 5, nos. 1-2 (1953), pp. 1-43; and „Probable sources of the numbers on which Jabirian Alchemy was based,” Archives Internale de l'Institute des Sciences, UNESCO, 1953. Of course, I know about the 7 Ghazālī9) wrote it very clearly and it was preserved in the tradition of the planetary tables 10, too. Its main power is multiplication: three times three according to the nine months of human pregnancy, which is the very essence of the female reproductivity11. As already Aristotle (384–322 BC) summed it up: „the development of the embryo takes place in the female; neither the male himself nor the female emits semen into the male, but the female receives within herself the share contributed by both, because in the female is the material from which is made the resulting product. Not only must the mass of material exist there from which the embryo is formed in the first instance, but further material must constantly be added that it may 'Lo-Shu' and the legend, that "the water of the Lo sent forth a divine tortoise ( gui 龜); on its back there were riven veins, like writing of character pictures" according to the Great Commentary (Dazhuan) or Xi ci, which is a part of the Ten Wings attached to the I Ching, and it dates to roughly 300 BC. But I did not find any historical connection with the Lo-Shu diagram and the magic square mentioned by Jābir, it has even been suggested that the line of transmission worked the other way. Cf. Schuyler Cammann, „The magic Square of Three in Old Chinese Philosophy and Religion,” History of Religions. Vol 1 (1961), pp. 37-80; Paul C. Pasles, Benjamin Franklin's Numbers. An Unsung Mathematical Odyssey. Princeton (NJ): Princeton Univ. Press, 2008, p. 54. n. 6. The opposite opinion, e.g. Frank J. Swetz, Legacy of the Luoshu: The 4,000 Year Search for the Meaning of the Magic Square of Order Three. 2nd rev edition. Wellesley (MA): A K Peters / CRC Press, 2008. 9 Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Ghazālī also known as Algazel (1058–1111). Cf. Deliverance From Error (al-munqidh min al-ḍalāl ) ch. 145. Arabic: al-Munkidh min al-dalal. ed. J. Saliba – K. Ayyad. Damascus: Maktab al-Nashr al-'Arabi, 1934, p. 79. English tr.: Richard Joseph McCarthy, Freedom and Fulfillment: An annotated translation of al-Ghazali's al-Munkidh min al-Dalal an other relevant works of al-Ghazali. Boston, Twayer, 1980. He refers a book titled 'The Marvels of Special Properties' as his source. This square was named in the Orient as the „Seal of Ghazali” after him. Cf. Ahrens, Studien über die magischen Quadrate, p. 205. 10 This tradition about a series of magic squares for the numbers three to nine, which are associated with the seven planets, survives in Greek, Arabic, and Latin versions. The Latin version, Liber de septem figuris septem planetarum [or as Johannes Trithemius (1462–1516), Antipalus maleficiorum, I,2 called it: liber VII planetarum figurarum Geberi regis Indorum] is also attributed to Jābir ibn Hayyān. This treatise is the identified source of Dürer's magic square and of Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim's (1486-1535) seven planetary tables („planetarum sacras tabulas” in Heinrici Cornelii Agrippae ab Nettesheym a consiliis & Archiuis Inditiarii sacrae Caesareae Maiestatis: De occulta philosophia Libri Tres. Coloniae, 1533 [hereinafter referred as DOP], Book II, Chapter 22, pp. 145-153, except the nominae divinae & their characters=signaculi). The translation was made probably in Toledo by John of Seville (fl. 1135-1153), the Spanish translator of a number of astrological works from Arabic into Latin. On Trithemius' Antipalus Maleficiorum (written in 1508, published in 1605) cf.: Will-Erich Peuckert (18951969), Pansophie Versuch zur Geschichte der schwarzen und weissen Magie, [1936; dreibändige erweiterte Ausgabe: 1956–1973], Vol 1. Berlin: Schmidt, 1956, pp. 47 ff; Paola Zambelli, White Magic, Black Magic in the European Renaissance. Leiden: Brill, 2007, pp. 101 ff. On Agrippa: Karl Anton Nowotny, „The construction of certain Seals and characters in the work of Agrippa of Nettesheim,” Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 12 (1949), pp 46-57. In this treatise Nowotny (1904-1978) referred explicitly to the Cracow Codex 793 as the source of DOP II,22, noting that Agrippa „does not, however, put together a haphazard collection of squares such as that from which Dürer took his „Seal of Jupiter” in the 'Melancholia' etching, but shows ingeniously constructed, imaginative figures.” He gives the method of the construction of each character / signaculum of this particular chapter. In his critical notes (Erläuterung) attached to De occulta philosophia. Herausgegeben und erläutert von Karl Anton Nowotny. Faksimile des ältesten Kölner Druckes, 1533. Graz: Akademische Druck u. Verlagsanstalt, 1967, pp. 430-434, he identifies the Arabic source as Imām Abū Isḩāk Ibrāhīm bin Jaḩjā an-Nakkaŝ az-Zarkānī, „Buch über die Anweisung des richtigen Platzes der Planeten” („Book on the instructions of the right plates of the Planets”). He gives details on the original Arabic text, survived in a Vienna manuscript dated of 963 (=1556) in Appendix VIII. p. 906 [Nationalbibliothek Wien AF 162 d (76), Flügel 1421]; and its 14 th/15th century translations of Latin & Greek MSS in Appendices IX-X. pp. 906-907. In the Appendices XI-XVII, and Fig. 24-27. gives several MS and printed sources of the tradition, including talismans. On the Latin versions: Cf. Sophie Page, Magic in the Cloister: Pious Motives, Illicit Interests, and Occult Approaches to the Medieval Universe. University Park (PA): Pennsylvania State Univ. Press, 2013, p. 76. [Corpus Christi 125, fols.75r-76v]; Juris G. Lidaka, „The Book of Angels, Rings, Characters and Images of the Planets: Attributed to Osbern Bokenham,” in: Conjuring spirits: Texts and Traditions of Medieval Ritual Magic, ed. Claire Fanger. Magic in History – University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State Univ. Press, 1998, 32-75.[Cambridge University Library MS Dd. 11. 45, fols. 134v-139r]; Benedek Lang. Unlocked Books: Manuscripts of Learned Magic in the Medieval Libraries of Central Europe. University Park (PA): 8 increase in size. Therefore the birth must take place in the female12.” Female reproductivity thought to be connected with the Moon, that's why Girolamo Cardano named this magic square “Luna.13” Pennsylvania State University Press, 2008, p. 84, Fig. 5, pp.91-93 [Kraków, BJ 793. fol 60r Biblioteka Jagellońska]; Jacques Sesiano, „Magic Squares for Daily Life,” in: Studies in the History of Exact Sciences in Honour of David Pingree, ed. Charles Burnett, Jan Hogendijk, K.Plofker, & Michio Yano. Leiden: Brill, 2004, pp. 716-26. [Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze (Florence) 11-iii-214]. On a sixteen-century English version, cf. Liber Lunae or the Book of the Moon. Tr. Calanit Nachson, Forw. Stephen Skinner. Golden Hoard Press, 2011, pp. 34-35, 60-66, 139144. [Liber Lunae, Sloane MS 3826 fols. 93r-97]. 11 The nine is the numerical value of the vestment (‫)בד גדד‬. There is an expression in Exodus 21:8, which alludes that the male robes in the female (‫בה ה‬-‫)בד בג גד דו‬, like God dresses in light as his garment. The parallel verse in Deut. 21,14 does not leave doubt about its meaning. Someone can wonder if there is another connection with pregnancy and vestment, or not? The numerical value of the word herayon (‫ הר הריון‬in Ruth 4:13) „conception” gives the length of normal pregnancy (271 days), which was already mentioned in BT Niddah 38b. 12 De generatione animalium, II,22, 730a, 35-730b, 6. Tr. by Arthur Platt, in: The Works of Aristotle, Vol. V, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1910. Cf. BT Niddah 31a: „Our Rabbis taught: There are three partners in man, the Holy One, blessed be He, his father and his mother. His father supplies the semen of the white substance out of which are formed the child's bones, sinews, nails, the brain in his head and the white in his eye; his mother supplies the semen of the red substance out of which is formed his skin, flesh, hair, blood and the black of his eye; and the Holy One, blessed be He, gives him the spirit and the breath, beauty of features, eyesight, the power of hearing and the ability to speak and to walk, understanding and discernment. When his time to depart from the world approaches the Holy One, blessed be He, takes away his share and leaves the shares of his father and his mother with them. R. Papa observed: It is this that people have in mind when they say, 'Shake off the salt and cast the flesh to the dog'.” (Tr.: Dr. Israel W. Slotki.) [Hereafter the abbreviation „BT” means: Babylonian Talmud, ed. I. Epstein. London: Soncino Press, 1935-1948] On the turning of the child in the womb, cf. Aristotle, Historia animalium, VII,8, 586b 3-8: „All animals alike have the head upwards to begin with; but as they grow and approach the term of egress from the womb they turn downwards, and birth in the natural course of things takes place in all animals head foremost; but in abnormal cases it may take place in a bent position, or feet foremost.” (tr. by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson, ibid., Vol. IV.) See also, Hippocrates, Diseases of Women, 1.34 (Oeuvres Completes D'Hippocrate, ed. Emile Littré. Paris: Baillière, 1851, Vol. 8, pp. 78-83). See also BT Niddah 31a: „Our Rabbis taught: During the first three months [of the pregnancy] the embryo occupies the lowest chamber, during the middle ones it occupies the middle chamber and during the last months it occupies the uppermost chamber; and when its time to emerge arrives it turns over and then emerges, and this is the cause of the woman's pains [at a childbirth]. This also agrees with what was taught: The pains of a female birth are more intense than those of a male birth. R. Eleazar further observed, 'What is the Scriptural proof for this [i.e. that the embryo first occupies the lowest chamber]? When I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth [Ps. 139:15]; it does not say 'dwelt' but 'curiously wrought' [ ‫]רק קמ דמ גתי‬. Why are the pains of a female birth greater than those of a male birth? — The female emerges in the position she assumes during intercourse and the male emerges in the position he assumes during intercourse. The former, therefore, turns her face upwards while the latter need not turn his face.” (Tr.: Dr. Israel W. Slotki) Of course, R. Eleazar was wrong about gender distinction regarding to the turning of face: both girls and boys make the same movements during typical vertex (head-first presentation) delivery referred here. Cf. Johns Hopkins Manual of Gynecology and Obstetrics, eds. Jessica L. Bienstock, Harold E. Fox & Edward E. Wallach. 5th ed. Wolters Kluwer, 2015, pp. 78-94; Neville F. Hacker, Joseph C. Gambone & Calvin J. Hobel, Hacker & Moore's Essentials of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 6th ed. Philadelphia: Elsevier, 2015, pp. 96-124; Jeremy J. N. Oats & Suzanne Abraham, Llewellyn-Jones Fundamentals of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 10th ed. London: Elsevier, 2016, pp. 70-89. 13 Cf. Girolamo Cardano (1501–1576), Practica arithmetice, [et] Mensurandi singularis : in qua que preter alias co[n]tinentur, versa pagina demonstrabit. Milan: Bernardini Calusci, 1539, Chap. 42, section 39, ff. H.v.r - H.vi.r. Also in Opera omnia cura Caroli Sponii, Lyon, 1663. [rprt. New York: Johnson Reprint Corporation, 1967.], Vol IV. p. 55. The reversed system of the planetary tables usually called Cardanian, is already found in an Arabic manuscript [Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Arabic MS, 1446], with the addition of a 10x10 square for the stars; cf. 9 Article Third This Qame'a was called the Seal of Solomon the King as some commentator of Ibn Ezra14 pointed out. This Seal is the most solid of the magic squares, which were made by the Ancients. It can be mirrored, turned up or down, back and fro: but it is always the same in all its eight aspects 15. Ibn Ezra, who wrote about it in the sixth chapter of his Sefer ha-Shem („Book of the Four-letter Divine Name”), hints also, that the form of the Hebrew letter yod ( ‫)י‬16 is a semi-circle, which makes it a representative of the diameter17, which defines and rules the circle. The numerical value of the yod is ten. Its half or mean is five, which is called „seed” (‫)ז מדרע‬18, it takes the very center. As Ibn Ezra explains, the one is the head, the beginning of the numbers and the ten is the end, in which the one turns back to itself, making a full circle 19. That's why the ten called circle number. But in the same time, the name of the letter yod contains not only a yod, but also a waw (‫ )ו‬and a daleth (‫)ד‬. This name binds the circle, represented by the yod to the square, symbolized by the daleth, which numerical value is four20. The square makes boundaries, constricts space, being the female, but as we have already seen, by the three (which is the principle of proportion [‫]מוסר מתכונת‬21, the 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Wilhelm Ahlwardt (1828–1909), Verzeichniss der arabischen Handschriften der Königliche Bibliothek zu Berlin; vols. 10. Berlin, 1887–1899; Vol. III (1891), pp. 505-506 (No. 4115). R. Abraham Ben Meir Ibn Ezra also. known as Abenezra (1089–1167) is also among the first authors who describes this magic square. Regarding to the name „Seal of Solomon” for the 3x3 magic square, cf. Sepher Haschem oder Das Buch über den vierbuchstabigen Namen Gottes von Rabbi Abraham Aben Esra. Zum erstenmal herausgegeben und mit einem Kommentar nebst Einleitung versehen, von G. H. Lippmann. Furth, 1834. [Sefer haShem] p. 35. n. ** See also, L. Loewe, „The York Medal, or the supposed Jewish Medal found in York, on the removal of Layer Thorpe old bridge & postern, in the year 1829,” extracted from the York Courant (1843), pp. 1-24, (on 7-14). [Judaica Frankfurt, No. 190: https://archive.org/stream/JudaicaFrankfurt-English/Loewe_L_The_York _Medal_or_the_supposed_Jewish_medal_found_in_New_York]; relevant part cited by Hermann Gollancz (1852– 1930), The Book of Protection, being a Collection of Charms : Now edited for the first time from Syriac mss. with translation, introduction, and notes. London: H. Frowde, 1912, [facsimile rprt.: Cambridge Library Collection Spiritualism and Esoteric Knowledge, Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2010, and Syriac Studies Library 114, Piscataway (NJ): Gorgias Press, 2012], pp. XVI-XVIII. Basically just one normal magic square of order 3 exists with only eight mirrored variations. Cf. Ahrens, ibid., p. 150-151. But the number of distinct normal magic squares rapidly increases for higher orders. E. g. there are 880 distinct magic squares of order 4 (all 880 can be found already in Frénicle de Bessy, Des quarrez au Tables Magiques. Paris, 1693; and 275,305,224 of order 5. Cf. Walter Trumpp, How many magic squares are there? (Nürnberg, © 2001-11-01 (last modified: 2012-10-03) http://www.trump.de/magic-squares/howmany.html In the Ch. 3 of the Sefer ha-Shem, he wrote, that the Hebrew letter yod [‫=י‬ten], has the shape of a semi-circle, „to indicate the whole [circle]. The reason is, that it encircles the All (‫)כל‬.” It is important to understand, that ibn Ezra equated the One [i. e. God] with the All (cf. his commentary on Ex. 23:21 and 33:21). And in the commentary on Numbers 20:8 he makes a crucial comment: „Know that when the 'part' knows the All, it conjoins with the All, and through the All it creates signs and wonders.” [Cf. The Cambridge Companion to Medieval Jewish Philosophy, eds. Daniel H. Frank and Oliver Leaman. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2003, p. 237.] This is the philosophical foundation of the conjunction between the human intellect ('part') and the Active Intellect (the One), which can produce prophetic wonders. Both in the Sefer ha-Shem ch. 6 and in his commentary to the Torah (ad Ex.3:14.), Ibn Ezra tied together the special properties of the circle and the number ten. His allusive, dense and cryptic words (alike to the Sepher Yetzira, which was cited directly two times in the Sefer ha-Shem) regarding to the connection between the ten and the circle were spelled out by his commentators, Isaac Israeli ben Joseph (flourished in the first half of the fourteenth century) and Mordecai ben Eliezer Comtino (died between 1485 and 1490). The theorem, which Ibn Ezra only hinted at, it is as follows: „If make the diameter of the circle equal to this number [ten], and draw a chord in its third, then the number of the isosceles triangle will be equal to the number of the perimeter, and so also the rectangle within the circle.” Cf. Israel Levin, Abraham Ibn Ezra Reader. New York-Tel Aviv, 1985, pp. 417 ff. Also: Sefer ha-Shem, fig.1. and Ibn Ezra's Commentary on the Pentateuch. tr.: H. Norman Strickman & Arthur M. Silver. New York: Menorah, 1988-2001. As we will see soon, the isosceles triangle determines a pentagram, too. Ibn Ezra, Sefer ha-Shem 7a. The zera (‫„ )ז מדרע‬seed” is an anagram (gimatriya) for ezer (‫„ ) ערזדר‬helper.” Ibn Ezra, Sefer ha-Shem 7b. Ibn Ezra, Sefer ha-Shem 6a-b. The binding is made by the middle letter waw (‫)ו‬, which primarily means „and”. Ibn Ezra, Sefer ha-Shem, 9b. 10 fundament of the world), she takes shape. Again, the circle can move in the square 22, around the seed, their middle. Of course, this five in circle, could be easily represented by the simplest regular star polygon, the pentagram or Pentalpha. The pentagram contains ten points (the five points of the star, and the five vertices of the inner pentagon) and fifteen line segments. Its outer points defines the circle in which it is inscribed, so the circle itself is optional. Euclid of Alexandria (fl. 300 BC) in his Elements (IV,11) hints the ancient way of making the Pentalpha. First he constructs a golden triangle23 with a 36° vertex angle and two 72° base angles, on an arbitrary line (IV,10), then inscribes a similar triangle (ACD) in a given circle. Now bisect the base angles of the inscribed triangle respectively by straight lines (CA'B'E and DA'E'B). The intersections of the bisecting rays with the circle (B and E), together with the vertices of the inscribed triangle (A,C,D, A', B', C', D', E'), determine the other points of the pentagram. Therefore this representation of the Qame'a and not its numbers were described as the signet of Solomon in the various Christian magical books attributed to the Biblical King Solomon 24 from the Testamentum Solomonis (ΔΙΑΘΗΚΗ ΣΟΛΟΜΩΝΤΟΣ, „Testament of Solomon”, c. 3 rd century)25 onward. This ancient tradition was undisturbed for a thousand year. Even in some manuscripts of the late Byzantine Magical Treatise of Solomon or Hygromanteia (Ὑγρομαντεία)26, which served as 22 Sefer ha-Shem, fig.3. 23 A golden triangle, also known as the sublime triangle, is an isosceles (two equal sided) triangle in which the duplicated side (legs) is in the golden ratio to the distinct side (base). Two quantities are in golden ratio (also called the golden mean or golden section, i.e. Latin: sectio aurea), if their ratio is the same as the ratio of their sum to the larger of the two quantities. Cf. Mario Livio, The Golden Ratio. The Story of Phi, the World's Most Astonishing Number. New York: Broadway Books, 2002. 24 That is Solomon ben David (1033-975 BC), king of Israel. 25 Testamentum Salamonis Ch.5.: Ή δὲ γλυφὴ τῆς σφραγίδος τοῡ δακτυλιδίου τῆς πεμφθείσεις ἐστὶν πεντάλφα αὔτη. / 'And this engraving of the seal of the ring sent thee is a Pentalpha'. Tr.: F. C. Conybeare, „The Testament of Solomon,” The Jewish Quarterly Review, Vol. 11, No. 1. (October, 1898), pp. 1–45, on p. 16.; Greek original: cf. Chester Charlton McCown, The Testament of Solomon. Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1922, p. 100* v.2-3. Dennis C. Duling's modern English translation lefts this particular sentence, surely based on McCown's opinion (ibid. pp.86-87), who thought that this is a secondary addition to the corpus. Cf., The Old Testament Pseudoepigraphia, vols 2, ed. James H. Charlesworth. New York: Doubleday, 1983, Vol 1, pp. 960-987. But this particular description is surely stated in many mss., eg. Bibliotheque Nationale, Anciens Fonds Crees, No 38; Andreas Convent, Mt. Athos, No 73; etc. The versions of the 'Sigilla Anuli Salomonis' cf. McCown, pp. 100*-101*. Cf. also S. I. Johnston, “The Testament of Solomon, from Late Antiquity to the Renaissance”, in The Metamorphosis of Magic. From Late Antiquity to the Early Modern Period, eds. J. N. Bremmer, J. N. Venstra. Leuven: Peeters, 2002. 26 Greek text: Armand Delatte, Anecdota Atheniensia. Liége: Bibliotheque de la Fac. de philos. de lettres de l'Univ. de Liege, 1927, pp. 1-100, 397–445; English translations: "The Hygromancy of Solomon: A new translation and introduction" by Pablo A. Torijano, in Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: More Noncanonical Scriptures, Volume 1; eds. Richard Bauckham, James R. Davila & Alexander Panayotov (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2013.) pp. 305– 11 a bridge between the Roman-era Testamentum Solomonis and the renaissance Clavicula Solomonis27, this tradition is clearly been attested. The „ring of the art,” as the magicians referred it, in its simplest form, was a square seal-ring with a pentagram 28, which was given to Solomon by Michael the archangel as God's special present to the wise king for the purpose of subduing the demons to heal all ailments caused by them and to enforce them to build up Jerusalem29. But this Ancient tradition, that the Solomonic Seal is the most powerful device against demons and other creatures of the darkness, is older than the Christian times. As already Josephus Flavius (37-c. 100) relates30 us, „I have seen a certain Eleazar, a countryman of mine, in the presence of Vespasian, his sons, tribunes and a number of other soldiers, free men possessed by demons, and this was the manner of the cure: he put to the nose of the possessed man a ring which had under its seal a root31, one of them prescribed by Solomon, and then, as the man smelled it, drew out the demon through his nostrils; and, when the man at once fell down, adjured the demon never to come back into him, speaking Solomon's name, and reciting the incantations which he had composed 32. Then, wishing to 27 28 29 30 31 32 325; The Magical Treatise of Solomon, or Hygromanteia. Trans. & ed. Ioannis Marathakis, Foreward by Stephen Skinner. London & Singapore: Golden Hoard Press, 2011. Cf. Marathakis, ibid, p. 75: „The Magical Treatise could have been composed in Crete, during the 13th or 14th century, that is to say under Venetian rule.” Cf. Atheniensis 1265, folio 16 and Atheniensis 115, folio 21. Greek text of the first: Armand Delatte, Anecdota Atheniensia p. 16. lines 11-16.; picture of this folio, in the Golden Hoard edition of the Hygromanteia; p.276, Figure 45. The MS of Historical and Ethnological Society of Greece (Atheniensis 115) text is edited by Delatte together with the MS of the National Library of Athens (Atheniensis 1265) without the figures; the photo of the secondly referred folio with the figures published by the Golden Hoard, ibid. p. 352, Figure 56. „Take, O Solomon, king, son of David, the gift which the Lord God has sent thee, the highest Sabaoth. With it thou shalt lock up all demons of the earth, male and female; and with their help thou shalt build up Jerusalem. [But] thou [must] wear this seal of God. And this engraving of the seal of the ring sent thee is a Pentalpha.” Cf. Testament of Solomon, 5. Tr. by F. C. Conybeare. The Islamic tradition (and following its steps, the Western) calls the hexagram (Arabic: mousaddas, Hebrew: magen David) as the seal of Solomon (Khātam Sulaymān). According to the qiṣaṣ al-anbiyāʾ („stories of the prophets”) relating to Solomon, which expands on the relevant verses of the Qurʼān (S38:34-40), the power of the Seal comes from the inscription of „the Greatest Name of Allah” and the Seal itself was mediated by Gabriel the angel and not by Michael as in TS. [Cf. Abū Ishāq Ahmad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Ibrāhīm Al-Tha'labī (961–1038), 'Arā'is Al-Majālis Fī Qisas Al-Anbiyā' or "Lives of the Prophets," ed. & tr. William M. Brinner. Leiden: Brill, 2002, p. 516.] However, Ahmad ibn ‘Ali al-Buni (d. 1225) in his Shams alMa'arif wa Lata'if al-'Awarif (Arabic: ‫كتاب شمس المعارف ولطائف العوارف‬, lit. "The Book of the Sun of Gnosis and the Subtleties of Elevated Things"), which is generally regarded as the most influential textbook of Arabic talisman magic and 'the art of names', defines the pentagram (moukhammas) as 'the command label of Solomon', one of the „Seven Signs” (seb'a khouátim), which are in fact multi-religious 'references' of the Greatest Name itself, based on the Jewish, the Christian and the Islamic religious symbolism! Cf. Edmond Doutté, Magie et religion en Afrique du Nord. Alger: Adolphe Jourdan, 1909. [rprt. Paris: Maisonneuve et Geuthner, 1985], pp. 154-157; Alexander Fodor, „A popular representation of Solomon in Islam,” The arabist : Budapest studies in Arabic, 1 (1988), pp. 43-56; Esther Fernández Medina, “The Seal of Solomon: from magic to messianic device,” in: Seals and Sealing Practices in the Near East: Developments in Administration and Magic from Prehistory to the Islamic Period. Proceedings of an International Workshop at the Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairoon December 2-3, 2009. eds. Ilona Regulski, Kim Duistermaat and Peter Verkinderen, (Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta. Vol. 219), Leiden: Brill, 2012, pp. 175-187. Josephus Flavius / Titus Flavius Josephus, Antiquitates Judaicae 8, 46-49., The Loeb Classical Library, Josephus with an English translation of the late H. St. J. Thackeray and Ralph Marcus Vols I-IX (London, Heinemann, Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1950) Vol V., pp.. 594-597. tr. by Ralph Marcus. About this particular root (ῥίζα), cf. Josephus, De bello Judaico, VII, 180, sqq.: „In the ravine [Wadi Zarqa Ma'in] which encloses the town on the north [Machaerus], there is a place called Baaras, which produces a root bearing the same name. Flame-coloured and towards evening emitting a brilliant light, it eludes the grasp of persons who approach with the intention of picking it, as it shrinks up and can only be made tost and still by pouring upon it certain secretions of the human body [i. e. a woman's urine or menstrual blood].” t r. b y H . S t . J . T h a c k e r a y, ( Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, 1928), pp.557–9; cf. DOP III,57. This baaras or mandrake is thought to drive away demons and to heal, among others, bareness (cf. Gen. 30, 14.). Its magical nature comes chiefly from the shape of its root, which vaguely resembles the human body: it has two ‘legs’ (that's why the dual ending in the Hebrew dudaim, ‫ )דודה גאים‬and its rootlets are reminiscent of hairs. προσφέρων ταῖς ῥισὶ τοῦ δαιμονιζομένου τὸν δακτύλιον ἔχοντα ὑπὸ τῇ σφραγῖδι ῥίζαν ἐξ ὧν ὑπέδειξε Σολόμων 12 convince the bystanders and prove to them that he had this power, Eleazar placed a cup or footbasin full of water a little way off and commanded the demon, as it went out of the man, to overturn it and make known to the spectators that he had left the man. And when this was done, the understanding and wisdom of Solomon were clearly revealed.” Why is this power of the Solomonic seal? The answer is the connection of the pentagram as symbol with the blood as life-generative force. The Five Books of Moses repetitively says, that the blood (dam, ‫ )דהמ‬is the living soul (nefesh ‫) דנפדש‬33 that is therefore prohibited to eat34. The human blood is specially precious, because of the divine image according to which the man was created 35. Of course, the human blood as the human life itself, has a very important part in the human reproduction. This secret is involved in the purification by the ash of the red heifer (‫)אר פדר המ פ ההרה דאדקמה ה‬ described in the Bible36, which Solomon surely understand fully (contrary to what was claimed 37). Because the most potent potion against the defilement of the touch of death (i. e. tombs, cadavers and bones) is the symbolic blood of the female period (‫)דה והה המ אר מרח מכנ גהשים‬38, that is the water of purification (‫ )מר י נג דה ה‬made from the ashes from the red heifer. The generative power fight against the horrible power of Zazel39 as some called it, who eats the dust of human flesh. In every generation 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 ἔπειτα ἐξεῖλκεν ὀσφρομένῳ διὰ τῶν μυκτήρων τὸ δαιμόνιον, καὶ πεσόντος εὐθὺς τἀνθρώπου μηκέτ᾽ εἰς αὐτὸν ἐπανήξειν ὥρκου, Σολόμωνός τε μεμνημένος καὶ τὰς ἐπῳδὰς ἃς συνέθηκεν ἐκεῖνος ἐπιλέγων. (Antiquitates, 8.47) See also, Dennis C. Dulling, „The Eleazar Miracle and Solomon's magical wisdom in Flavius Josephus' Antiquitates Judaicae 8:42-49,” Harvard Theological Review 78/1-2 (1985), pp. 1-25. Cf. Gen. 9:4; Lev. 17:11, 14; Deut. 12:23. ‫ הוא המ נהפדש‬,‫„ כג י המ דה ם‬Because the blood is the soul/life.” The citations from the Old Testament is according to the Masoretic Text and the JPS 1917 Edition by Mechon Mamre's HTML version (2005-2014), published on: http://www.mechon-mamre.org Cf. Gen. 9:4; Lev. 17:10, 12-14; Deut. 12:16, 23-25; Acts. 15:20; 29:21, 25. Cf. Gen. 9:5-6: „And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it; and at the hand of man, even at the hand of every man's brother, will I require the life of man. Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God made He man.” ‫חמ יהה‬-‫ גמימד כהל‬,‫ד דמכדם לד נמפד שר תר יכדם אד דדרר ש‬-‫ת‬ ‫וד אמ ך אד ג‬ ‫הה אה דה ם‬-‫ עהשה ה אד ת‬,‫כג י בד צד לדם אללהג ים‬:‫ בה אה דה ם דה מו יג שה פרך‬,‫נדפדש הה אה דה ם שר פרך דמ ם הה אה דה ם‬-‫ אד ת‬,‫אד דדרר ש‬--‫ גמימד גאיש אה חג יו‬,‫ומימד הה אה דה ם‬ ‫אד דד דרשד נו; ג‬. . Num. 19:2-13. Cf. Midrash Qohelet Rabba (Eccles. R.) 7:23 no. 4 claims, that king Solomon described the law of the red heifer as which is beyond his wisdom and understanding. But, according to BT Yoma 14a: "When sprinkled on the impure, it purifies; but when sprinkled on the pure, it brings impurity, it is to this that Shelomo refers [i.e. that he did not understand]." Cf. Lev. 20:18. The days of catamenia was called „days of purification of her menses” / ‫( מר י נג דמ ת דדותה ה‬Lev. 12:2), or simply ”purification” ‫הנג דמ ה‬, but the expression „[lunar] month according to the women” (‫ )אר מרח מכנ גהשים‬was also used (Gen. 18:11.). Both roots ‫„( נדד‬depart,” „flee,” „wander”) and ‫„( נדה‬chase away,” put aside”), from which the ‫הנג דמ ה‬ was explained have a notion of "expelling" in common. The almost universal male fear from the blood of menstruation misleads many commentators and interpret it in a negative way, as a „discharge” from an „ontologically unclean creature” as they misunderstand the original nature of the female (and the nexus between menstrual blood and death), which is of course, far from the truth. Cf. Sharon Faye Koren, Forsaken: The Menstruant in Medieval Jewish Mysticism. Waltham (MA): Brandeis Univ. Press, 2011; David Biale, Blood and Belief: The Circulation of a Symbol Between Jews and Christians. Berkeley-Los Angeles-London: University of California Press, 2007. According to Maimonides and several medieval rabbis there was a supposedly Indian tradition about the purifying ashes of a red lion (of which the red heifer is allegedly a substitute). This tradition also connects it with the menstruant, but again in a falsely negative way: they thought that the ashes were for the purpose of purification from the uncleanliness of menstruation. Cf. Dov Schwartz, Studies on Astral Magic in Medieval Thought. Tr.: David Louvish & Batya Stein. The Brill Reference Library of Judaism Vol. 20. Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2005, pp. 33-34. n. 11; and Moshe Idel, “The Magical and Neoplatonic Interpretation of the Kabbalah in the Renaissance,” in Jewish Thought in the Sixteenth Century, ed. Bernard Dov Cooperman. Cambridge (MA): Harvard University Press, 1983, pp. 203-205. Cf. DOP III, 41: „Caro itaque derelicta, & vita defunctum corpus, cadaver nuncupatur: quod ut dicunt Hebraeorum theologi, linquitur in potestate Zazelis, de quo dictum est in scriptura: Terram comedes omnibus diebus & alibi: Pulvis terrae panis eius. Creatus est autem homo pulvis terrae, unde & daemon ille dicitur carnis & sanguinis quandiu corpus non fuerit iustis exequiis expiatum & sanctificatum.” / „The flesh being forsaken, and the body being defunct of life, is called a dead carcass; which as say the divines of the Hebrews, is left in the power of Zazel, of whom it is said in the Scripture: Thou shalt eat dust all thy days [Gen. 3:14]; and elsewhere, The dust of the Earth is his bread [Isa. 65:25]. Now man was created of the dust of the Earth, whence also that demon is called the Lord of 13 the death wins, but there is a new generation again and again, which being purified, continue to fight40. This is the ongoing cycle of life, on which human survival depends. Flesh and Blood, whilst the body is not expiated and sanctified with due solemnities,” (that is the ataphoi). Translation by James Freake. On Latin critical edition of Agrippa, cf. H.C. Agrippa, De Occulta Philospohia, libri tres, ed. Vittoria Perrone Compagni. Studies in the History of Christian Traditions, Vol. 48. Leiden-New York: E.J.Brill, 1992. New edition of Freake English translation: Three Books of Occult Philosophy written by Henry Cornelius Agrippa of Nettesheim, tr. by James Freake, ed. and annotated by Donald Tyson. Woodbury (MN): Llewellyn, 2006, p. 594. Agrippa in DOP III,18. adds that Zazel and his army are referred as „his enemies lick the dust” in Solomon's psalm (Ps.72:9b, ‫ עהפהר יד למחר כו‬,‫)וד אר יד בה יו‬. The name Zazel clearly comes from the Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement or Expiation) ritual detailed in the sixteenth chapter of the Leviticus, where it is mentioned four times (Lev. 16:8, 10, 26). The original Hebrew name was Azazel (‫ עדזהאזרל‬from ‫„ עהז‬strength/power cf. Gen. 49:3 + ‫„ אהזדל‬going away/ disappearance,” cf. 1 Sam. 20:19 with Deut. 32:36), which was transcribed to Greek or Latin without the first letter, the voiced pharyngeal fricative ayin [ʕ] (which Agrippa, as his personal bad grammar, usually represents as an aleph, a glottal stop ([ʔ] in his work), probably because both ‫ א‬aleph and ‫ ע‬ʿayin are completely silent at all times in most forms of Ashkenazi Hebrew, the way of pronunciation among German Jews whom he, and his tutor, Trithemius has consulted. When emerged the need for a version written by Hebrew letters, the Zazel was retranscribed according to „the spelling of the jargon” [cf. Ludwig Blau (1861-1936), „Magic squares,” Hungarian Jewish Review (Hungarian), 36 (1919) p. 34] as ‫זהאזרל‬, of which numerical value (forty-five) was fit to became the name of the demon of the Saturn among the tables of the planets (DOP II,22). [In Rabbinical sources, Azazel usually appears in connection with Mars / Ma'adim (‫ )מאדים‬as Esau's star! Cf. Nahmanides, Commentary on the Torah, 5 vols. trans. Charles B. Chavel. New York: Shiloh Publishing House, 1971-76, Leviticus 16:8. pp. 219-220; Ibn Ezra, Sefer ha-Ibbur. Lyck, 1874, 5b.] Agrippa's possible source regarding this numen was Francesco Zorzi (1466-1540), De harmonia mundi totius cantica tria. Venezia, 1525, Cant. III, Tonus 5, Ch. 6, p. 54r, however Zorzi uses the name Azazel instead of Zazel, equating this entity with Ashmodai and the Snake of the Genesis . Cf. Francesco Giorgio Veneto, De harmonia mundi, pref. Cesare Vasoli, Lavis-Firenze: La Finestra editrice-Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, 2008; Francesco Zorzi, L’armonia del mondo. Testo latino a fronte. A cura di Saverio Campanini, coll. «Il Pensiero Occidentale», Milano: Bompiani, 2010. The Zazel name is attested from the 16 th century and onward with the same description & Biblical passages in Protestant circles. Cf. Pierre Viret (1511– 1571), La Physique papale [faite par maniere de devis et par dialogues (Geneve, 1552),] III: 210; Christoph Besold (1577-1638), Operis Politici: Variis Digressionibus Philologicis & Iuridicis illustrati, Editio Nova. Argentorati : Zetzner, 1626, liber III, cap. 1. 40 According to the Sumer-Akkad tradition, the eight cells around the middle ۞ is clearly connected to Ishtar („Queen of Heaven” / planet Venus), being the eight-pointed star her insignia. Cf. A. Leo Oppenheim, Ancient Mesopotamia. Portrait of a dead civilization, rev. ed. Erica Reiner. Chicago-London: Univ. Of Chicago Press, 1977, p. 197. When observed from Earth, the planet Venus plots a pentagram shape path around the Sun every eight earth years, returning to its exact starting point after five consecutive synodic periods, that is a forty-year-cycle. The cause of this phenomenon is the 13:8 orbital resonance (the Earth orbits nearly 8 times for every 13 orbits of Venus), which is a golden ratio. On Venus's pentagram, cf. James Ferguson, Astronomy Explained Upon Sir Isaac Newton’s Principles, 10th ed. London: J. Johnson & al., 1799, plate III, opp. p. 67. One would get a pentagram by picking any sunrise date on which the morning star is prominent and then repeating the observation at 584 day intervals following that date. The exact synodic period of Venus, the time required for it to return to the same position relative to the Sun as seen by an observer on Earth, is 583.9211 days, so the ratio is only approximate. 14 Article Four But of course, the greatest powers of this Qame'a come from its human proportions. Even the sum of these nine numbers is forty-five41, which is the numerical value of the name Adam (4=‫מ‬, 4=‫ ד‬,1=‫א‬ 0 ), who was created according to the shape and likeness of God, as we read: „And God said: 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.'42” This divine image / shape (‫ )צד לדם אללהג ים‬is the Truth (emeṯ ‫)אלמדת‬, the seal of God43, which was pressed into the clay, the moisturized red dust of the ground, the adama (‫)הה אדדה מה ה‬, when the human was formed. The creature named Adam after the matter from which he made, and was similar to the likeness of God (‫)דמות אללהג ים‬. ‫ ד‬Then the Lord God „breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the human became a living soul44,” who was blessed with multiplication and power. The blessing of God is expressed by a continuously growing way. First, we see the human creature as one („God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him”), then suddenly, there is a duplication: „male and female created He them45.” After this fundamental duplication, the multiplication goes forth by the very words of the divine blessing46: It is crucial to realize, that the human procreation is a sealing again. Both the father and the mother have the scribal pattern of the divine seal's impress47, because the female is a counterpart of the 41 Cf. I.Kings 7:3: „on forty-five pillars, fifteen in a row” / ‫ המ טור‬,‫ח גדמשה ה עהשה ר‬--‫ מוח גדמשה ה‬,‫ אמ דרבה עג ים‬,‫מודים‬ ‫הה עמ ג‬-‫ עמל‬The human soul was defined by Xenocrates as „a number moving itself” (Frs. 86-89, 91-118). 42 Gen. 1:26. ‫הה אה דרץ‬-‫ הה רר מר ש עמל‬,‫הה דרמד ש‬-‫ ובד כהל‬,‫הה אה דרץ‬-‫ ובמ בד הר מה ה ובד כהל‬,‫ מנעדשד ה אה דה ם בד צמ לד מר נו כג דדמותר נו; וד יג דרדו בג דדגמת המ יהם ובד עוף המ שה ממ יג ם‬,‫ומי ראמד ר אללהג ים‬. 43 The numerical value of the letters of the word emeṯ ‫„( אלמדת‬truth”) are 1=‫ א‬and 40=‫ מ‬and 400=‫ת‬. By its numerical value (441), emeṯ is closely connected with the Tetragrammaton. Cf. Johannes Reuchlin (1455-1522), De arte cabbalistica (1517), f. 65F-66: „Est eam sigillum dei ‫ יהו‬quod Ehieh sigillauit mundum, & datur ‫ אמת‬i.e. verum quippe quod in se ipsum arithmetice multiplicando nascitur.” / „YHV is a sign of God, by which Ehieh put his seal upon the world, and it is called Emeth, or Truth, because it is created by multiplying itself by itself arithmetically.” Cf. J. Reuchlin, De arte cabbalistica – On the Art of the Kabbalah. Tr. by Martin & Sarah Goodman, Intrs. G. Lloyd Jones & Moshe Idel. Bison Book edition. Lincoln & London: Univ. Nebraska Press, 1993, pp. 298, 300, and 301, 303. [The numerical value of both YHV and Ehieh (Ex.3:14) is twenty-one, which multiplied by itself gives the same 441 as emeṯ. (ibid., p 374. n. 49.)] The letters of the name Adam ( ‫=ם‬40 ,4=‫ ד‬,1=‫ )א‬was considered as their tithe or tenth. It follows, that Adam mystically is also a seal of God, which used particularly on earth. On Truth as seal of God, cf. BT Shabbat 55a: „Resh Lakish said: Taw is the end of the seal of the Holy One, blessed be He. For R. Hanina said: The seal [Ḥôṯam ‫]חותה ם‬, of the Holy One, blessed be He, is ‫ אל מד ת‬emeth [truth]. R. Samuel b. Nahmani said: It denotes the people who fulfilled the Torah from aleph ( ‫ )א‬to taw ( ‫ ;”)ת‬Zohar 1:2b [Matt, ibid. Vol I, p. 12]; Gikatilla, Sha.Or. pp. 222, 279; Reuchlin, ibid.; DOP III,11. The proof text is Jeremiah 10:10a: ‫ ומיהוהה אללהג ים אל מד ת‬/ „But the LORD God is the truth.” 44 Gen. 2:7. ‫ לד נדפדש חמ יהה‬,‫ נג דשממ ת חמ יג ים; ומיד הג י הה אה דה ם‬,‫ ומיג פמ ח בד אמ פה יו‬,‫הה אדדה מה ה‬-‫ עהפהר גמן‬,‫הה אה דה ם‬-‫ ומיג יצד ר יד הוהה אללהג ים אד ת‬/ „Then the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” 45 Gen. 1:27. ‫ בה הרא אר תה ם‬,‫ בד צד לדם אללהג ים בה הרא אר תו הזכהר ונד קר בה ה‬,‫הה אה דה ם בד צמ לד מו‬-‫ומיג בד הרא אללהג ים אד ת‬. Cf. Gen. 5:2. 46 Gen. 1:28. This is repeated in the blessing of Noah, cf. Gen. 9:1. 47 Zohar 1:30b. Scribal patterns of impress: ‫טופסרא דקילטא‬, tufsera de-quilta, cf. Daniel Matt, The Zohar. Pritzker Edition. Translation and Commentary. Stanford (CA): Stanford Univ. Press, 2004, Vol I, p. 182. As Aristotle says, „For , as we said above, the male and female principles may be put down first and foremost as origins of 15 male as the mold is an exact counterpart of the pattern. She is like a clay mold built around the impress of the divine seal to multiply its imprint. But in the procreation, the father and the mother become one: they together are the signet from clay, by which the character48 of the divine imprint is inscribed newly, into the child. The wondrous work of the signet from clay depends entirely on the unification of the parents, because without the other, neither of them is capable to imprint a durable image. This divine shape and likeness gives power for the human (i. e. the male and the female together 49) to subdue the earth and to rule over animals, birds, fishes and every creatures on earth, in sea and in the air50. As it was written: „And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, and upon all wherewith the ground teemeth, and upon all the fishes of the sea: into your hand are they delivered 51.” The human is a deputy of God on earth 52, a hand of God. This power was granted for a duty. The responsibility of the humanity is to cultivate and to keep planet Earth53 with its ecosystems, flora and fauna, as well as to further the life-giving and sustaining divine emanation for them54. We represent the earth before God. The earth is with us 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 generation, the former as containing the efficient cause of generation, the latter the material of it.” Cf. De generatione animalium, I,1, 716a, lines 4-8. Tr. by Arthur Platt, in: The Works of Aristotle, Vol. V, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1912. But in spite of the somehow elusive and inconsistent Aristotelian phrasing (ibid., I,20, 729a, lines 10-12; I,21, 729b-730a and I,22, 730b, l. 14-15), the formal cause of the embryo, which is the essence of its being is not of male or of female, but a shared property of both, above the sexes. [Aristotle elusiveness is explained by that he thought that the soul of the father like a carpenter uses the semen (a foam compound of pneuma and of water) as a tool to form the embryo. The pneuma of the semen conveys the principle of soul: a potential sensitive soul, while the mother's contributions are the material, the nutrition and the potential nutritive (or vegetative) soul, which is the power to grow. (Cf. ibid., I,22, 730b, l. 16-24; II,1, 735a, l. 5-15; II,2, 736a, l. 1-3; II,3, 736a, l. 25737b, l.34; II,5, 741a, l.5-16. But he explicitly says that male and female are secondary to species, which is determined by the formal cause. Neither the nutritive soul, nor the sensitive soul, which mixed with the body, but only the rational soul or mind (νοητική), which is separable from the body, is the τόπον εἰδῶν „place of forms or ideas.” (De Anima, III,4, 429a, l. 27-28, in ibid., Vol III.) „For when there is need for them [i. e. male and female] to generate the sexes are no longer separated any more than in plants, their nature desiring that they shall become one; and this is plain to view when they copulate and are united, that one animal is made out of both. ” (De gen. anim., I,23, 731a, l. 10-15.)] Cf. Heb. 1:3a: ὃς [i. e. Υἱός] ὢν ἀπαύγασμα τῆς δόξης καὶ χαρακτὴρ τῆς ὑποστάσεως αὐτοῦ / „Who [i. e. the Son] is the radiance of the glory and engraved mark of the inner reality [of God].” Cf. also DOP III,37: „Anima humana est lux quaedam divina, ad imagine verbi, causae causarum, primi examplaris creata, substantia dei, sigilloque figurata cuius character est verbum eterneum.” / „The soul of man is a certain divine light, created after the image of the Word, the cause of causes and first example and substance of God, figured by a seal whose character is the eternal Word.” In ibid., III, 49 the same is attributed to „the Hebrew doctors and Cabalists.” Gen. 5:2. „Male and female created He them, and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. ” / ‫ הג בה דראה ם‬,‫ בד יום‬,‫שמה ם אה דה ם‬-‫ת‬ ‫ ומיג קד הרא אד ד‬,‫ בד הראה ם; ומיד בה דרך אר תה ם‬,‫ הזכהר ונד קר בה ה‬. The divine blessing contains both the multiplication and the powers over the earth & the creatures on it. And this blessing is not only of the male, but of the male and of the female together. Gen. 1:28: „And God blessed them; and God said unto them: 'Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that creepeth upon the earth.' /‫ ובד עוף‬,‫ וד כג בד שק הה ; דורדו בג דדגמת המ יהם‬,‫הה אה דרץ‬-‫ומלד או אד ת‬ ‫ ומי ראמד ר לההד ם אללהג ים פד רו דורבו ג‬,‫ אללהג ים‬,‫ומיד בה דרך אר תה ם‬ ‫הה אה דרץ‬-‫ הה רר מד שד ת עמל‬,‫חמ יהה‬-‫ובד כהל‬,‫המ שה ממ יג ם‬. Gen. 9:2. ‫ בד י דדדכדם נג תה נו‬,‫דגרי המ יהם‬-‫הל‬ ‫עוף המ שה מה יג ם; בד כר ל אדשד ר גת דרמר ש הה אדדה מה ה ובד כ ד‬-‫ וד עמל כהל‬,‫חמ ימת הה אה דרץ‬-‫ עמל כהל‬,‫ יג הד ידה‬,‫ומוראד כדם וד חג דתכדם‬. ‫מ‬ Cf. 2 Enoch 30:11: „And on the earth I [i. e. God] assigned him [i. e. the human] to be a second angel, honored and great and glorious. And I assigned him to be king, to reign on the earth, and to have my wisdom. And there was nothing comparable to him on the earth, even among my creatures that exists.” Cited by Nathaniel Deutchs, Guardians of the Gate. Angelic vice regency in late Antiquity. Brill's Series in Jewish Studies Vol. XXII; Brill, Leiden-Boston-Köln, 1999, p. 62. Gen. 2:15: ‫לד עה בד דה ה ולד שה דמ הרה‬ Cf. Nahmanides, Commentary on the Torah, 5 vols. trans. Charles B. Chavel. New York: Shiloh Publishing House, 1971-76, Genesis 3:22 p.86. „Commenting on the midrash, “‘To till it and tend it’ [Genesis 2:15]—this refers to sacrifices,” [Genesis Rabba 16:4 (ed. Theodor-Albeck, 149).] Nahmanides writes: „The intent of the Rabbis in this interpretation is that plants and all living beings are in need of primary forces [divine emanations of the sephirotic realm and parallel astral emanations of the stellar realm] from which they derive the power of growth and that 16 blessed or cursed55. As long as we abide in this divine shape, our power and ability to multiply also remains. When we left His image, our powers left us and return to the dust as the clay image touched by water melts down and lefts its form. „Then beasts of the field dominate them, since they no longer see that worthy image56.” How we know this? From the story of Nebuchadnezzar 57 to whom the God of Heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the strength, and the glory; and wheresoever the children of men, the beasts of the field, and the fowls of the heaven dwell, has He given them into his hand, and has made him to rule over them all 58. This power and kingdom was essentially the same as the one has given to Adam and repeatedly to Noah, or, in a most perfect form to Solomon 59. Its very center and source is the divine likeness, which manifested in a compassionate care for the poor. As long as we care, the divine image impressed in Adam does not mutate from us. That is why Daniel advised Nebuchadnezzar the king, that he can be freed from the decree of the angelic deputy60, which he has seen in his dream, by acting generously to the poor. 61 As the Zohar said: „Even though he dreamed that dream, as long as he was generous to the poor, his dream did not befall him. As soon as he cast a stingy, evil eye, no longer acting generously to them, what is written? The word was still in the king's mouth, [when a voice fell from heaven, „To you it is decreed, Oh King Nebuchadnezzar: The kingdom has departed from you. You are being driven away from human beings, and your habitation shall be with beasts of the field. You shall be fed grass like cattle”] (Daniel 4:28-29). Immediately his image mutated and he was banished from humankind62.” 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 through the sacrifices there is an extension of the blessing to the higher powers. From them it flows to the plants of the Garden of Eden, and from them it comes and exists in the world in the form of “rain of goodwill and blessing,” through which they grow.” Cited by Dov Schwartz, Studies on Astral Magic in Medieval Thought. Tr.: David Louvish & Batya Stein. The Brill Reference Library of Judaism Vol. 20. Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2005. pp. 63 -64. For Nahmanides, the direct action of sacrifice is to nourish the world of sefirot (i. e. bringing down emanation from the upper to the lower sefirot, thus harmonizing the divine world, called as “the need of heaven,” tzorekh gavoah), but it was also an instrument for attracting spirituality down to the terrestrial world. Cf. Gen. 2:17: „cursed is the ground for thy sake” / ‫דבורך‬ ‫אדרורה הה אדדה מה במ ע ד‬ ‫ה‬ and Gen.6:13: „The end of all flesh is come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” / ‫קרץ‬ ‫הה אה דרץ‬-‫ אד ת‬,‫ גמפד נריהד ם; וד הג נד נג י ממ דשחג יתה ם‬,‫מה לד אה ה הה אה דרץ חה מה ס‬-‫כג י‬--‫בה שה ר בה א לד פה נמי‬-‫כהל‬. Zohar 1:71a. tr. Daniel Matt, ibid., Vol I. p. 417. Nabû-kudurri-uṣur II (c. 634 – 562 BC), king of Babylon was a historical person, who reigned c. 605 BC – 562 BC. Dn. 2:37-38: ‫אד נהשה א חר יומת‬-‫די דארין )דה יד גרין( בד נרי‬-‫הל‬ ‫להך ובד כ ג‬-‫ ממ לד כותה א חג דסנהא וד תה קד פהא וג יקה הרא יד המ ב‬,‫ גדי אל להה דשממ יהא‬:‫ מד לדך ממ לד מכיהא‬,‫אנתה )אמ נד דת( ממ לד כהא‬ ‫ רראשה ה גדי דמ הדבה א‬,‫( הוא‬-‫ )אמ נד דת‬-‫ בד כהלד הון; אנתה‬,‫ וד המ דשלד טה ך‬,‫ יד המ ב בג ידה ך‬,‫שממ יהא‬-‫עוף‬ ‫ד‬ ‫בה הרא וד‬. Cf. I. Kings 3:3-14, 28; 5:1-14; 10:23, etc. Dn. 4:10: „a watcher and a holy one” / ‫עגיר ודקמדגיש‬. Dn. 4: 24: „Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by alms-giving, and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor; if there may be a lengthening of thy prosperity.'” / ‫ גמלד כג י יג דשפמר‬,‫לההר ן ממ לד כהא‬ ‫ לג דשלרוד תה ך‬,‫ מו דע הויהתה ך בד גמחמ ן דענהיג ן; הר ן תד להורה אמ דרכהה‬,‫ וחטיך ) מוחדטה אה ך( בד צג דדקה ה פד רק ק‬,(‫עליך ) דעלהך‬. Zohar 1:13b, tr. by Daniel Matt, ibid., Vol 1. p. 95. 17 Article Five Of course, not Nebuchadnezzar the only king, who was rejected because he lefts this divine image as a defunct signet. We read the same about his contemporary, Jeconiah, king of Judah, who was dethroned by Nebuchadnezzar in 597 and was taken into captivity 63. He was compared by the prophet Jeremiah to „the signet upon the right hand of God64” who was removed there and given into the hand of King of Babylon, because he became „a despised, broken image65.” But the dynasty of David was not cast off forever. After the Babylonian exile, we read again in the Book of the prophet Haggai (Aggaeus), that: „In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, My servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the LORD, and will make thee as a signet; for I have chosen thee, saith the LORD of hosts66.'” An another contemporary king, Ithobaal III67, the ruler of Tyre was also compared to a seal-ring 68, which bears the divine image represented in Adam 69. In the twenty-eighth chapter of the Biblical Book of Ezekiel, we read: „You were the sealer of proportion70, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sard, peridot, and jasper, heliodore, onyx, and beryl, lapis lazuli, garnet, and flint71; and of gold was the 63 Also known as Coniah and as Jehoiachin. He was a son and successor of Jehoiakim. However, he ruled only three months and ten days (I. Chr.3:17-18) before his exile, and the Babylonian king appointed his uncle Zedekiah to be ruler of Juda, the deported Jews still regarded Jeconiah as their legitimate king and dates events by the number of years he was in exile (cf. Ezek. 1:2; 29:17; 40:1). The Records of Jeconiah's existence (Jehoiachin's Rations Table) have been found by Robert Johann Koldewey (1855–1925) in Iraq, near the Ishtar Gate in Babylon and have been dated to c. 592 BC. Written in cuneiform, they mention Jeconiah ("Ia-'-ú-kinu") and his five sons as recipients of food rations in Babylon. Cf. James B. Pritchard, ed., Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament Princeton (NJ): Princeton University Press, 1969, p. 308. 64 Jer. 22:24-25: „As I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon My right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence; and I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them of whom thou art afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.” / -‫ נד אק ם‬,‫אה נג י‬-‫ חמ י‬.‫ ובד ימד המ כ דמש גדים‬,‫בה בד ל‬-‫ובד ימד נד בוכ דמד דראצמ ר מד לדך‬--‫ גמפד נריהד ם‬,‫אמ תה ה יהגור‬-‫ ובד ימד אדשד ר‬,‫ בד ימד דמבמ קד שר י נמפד שד ך‬,‫ונד תמ גתיך‬ ‫ אד דתקד נד הך‬,‫ כג י גמשה ם‬:‫ימד יד גמינג י‬-‫ חותה ם עמל‬,‫יד הויהקג ים מד לדך יד הודה ה‬-‫יג הד ידה כהנד יההו בד ן‬-‫ כג י גאם‬,‫יד הוהה‬. 65 Jer. 22:28a: „Is this man Coniah a despised, broken image?” / ‫ הה גאיש המ זדה כהנד יההו‬,‫המ עדצד ב נג בד זדה נהפוץ‬ 66 Agg. 2:23: ‫ נד אק ם יד הוהה צד בה אות‬,‫בד ך בה חמ דר גתי‬-‫ כג י‬:‫ כמחותה ם‬,‫ וד שמ דמ גתיך‬,‫יד הוהה‬-‫ נד אק ם‬,‫שאמ לד גתיאר ל עמ בד גדי‬-‫ן‬ ‫יד הוהה צד בה אות אד קה חדך זדרק בה בד ל בד ד‬-‫במ יום המ הוא נד אק ם‬. 67 Cf. Josephus, Contra Apionem, I. 156. (21), Josephus with an English translation by H. St. J. Thackeray Vols I-VIII London-New York: W. Heinemann-G.P.Putnam, 1926; The Loeb Classical Library. Vol I. (L 186), p. 225-226.: „Under King Ithobal, Nebuchadnezzar besiged Tyre for thirteen years.” On the siege (586-573 BC) cf. Ez. 26:7; 29:18. Ithobaal III ruled Tyre between 591–573 BC. 68 „But really the description is quite clear, if one will take the words as they are and then exert just a little imagination. The first line tells us unmistakably that the symbol is of a beautifully cut seal; the second describes its basic design, the mythical garden with precious stones.” Cf. William A. Irvin, The Problem of Ezekiel, an inductive study. Chicago (IL): The University of Chicago Press, 1943, p. 219. 69 On the linking of King of Tyros to the first human, cf. BT. Bava Batra 75a; Targum of Ezekiel, ad. loco.; H.G. May, „The King of the Garden of Eden,” in Israel's Prophetic Heritage: Essays in Honour of Jaes Muilenburg, eds. B.W.Anderson and W. Harrelson, London, 1962, pp. 166-176; Nils Dahl, „The Arrogant Archon and the Lewd Sophia: Jewish Traditions in Gnostic Revolt,” in The Rediscovery of Gnosticism, ed. Bentley Layton. Leiden: Brill, 1981, Vol. II, pp. 689-712, on p. 703; Guardians of the Gate, p. 73. On the king of Tyre in later Jewish sources, cf. David Halperin, Faces of the Chariot: Early Jewish Responses to Ezekiel's Vision. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1988, pp. 241 sqq. 70 The Hebrew expression Toḵnît (‫)תהכדנגית‬, „proportion,” appears to derive from the root ‫תכן‬, „to measure, regulate,” but through the word tôḵ (‫)תוך‬, „middle” of the same root. This form doesn't occur elsewhere except in Ezekiel's final vision (Ezek. 43:10), where it denotes the perfect and measurable proportions of the temple. Cf. Daniel I. Block, The Book of Ezekiel, Chapter 25-48, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids (MI)London: Eerdmans, 1998, p. 104. All translation which interprets it as „similarity” refers to the divine image according to Adam was created, but as we see, this substantially takes away from the true meaning. 71 The Septuagint (=LXX), which is usually periphrastic and expansionistic, shows remarkable differences from the Masoretic Hebrew text (=MS) in this particular verse, because it contains a gloss, i. e. an extraneous intrusion. As Irvin pointed out, „In verse 13 the cataloguing expander has found a rich field to exploit, for he has listed nine of the precious stones of the high priest's breastplate, a suggestion which obviously impelled the Greek translator to add 18 craftsmanship of your circlet and the hole in you. They were firmly set on the day that you were created72.” The ten precious substances enumerated here (i.e. the nine gems and the gold setting) were called the ten canopies ( ‫ )חופות‬created by God for Adam in the Garden of Eden 73. This ten canopies represented according to the aggadaic commentators, the original abundance of wisdom and glory bestowed to the first human before his sin and expulsion from the Garden; which later expressed in the idea, that the Adam has got the extended revered ten letter name of God74, in which the Ineffable Name is living,75 the measure (‫ )שּיורא‬of the Creator of the Worlds76. The canopies are closely associated to marriage77, and in this context they allude to the secret related in the Zohar: „This secret has been transmitted to the wise. Spirit [‫ ]רוח‬descending to human beings, deriving the remaining three.” (Cf. Irvin, ibid., p. 217.) Besides that, the sequence of the list changed and in the middle, gold and silver was introduced. As it is well known, the LXX Ezekiel Ch. 28-39 is a different translation or revision as the other part of the book. Cf. Peter Kyle McCarter, Textual Criticism: Recovering the Text of the Hebrew Bible. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1986, Appendix C, p. 91. The LXX mss. attested different versions, e.g. The John H. Scheide Papyrus 3 in Princeton University Library of the Papyrus 967 Rahlfs differs from the standard LXX, by leaving out the gold and silver in the middle of the LXX list. Cf. Allan C. Johnson, H. S. Gehman, Edmund H. Kase, Jr., The John H. Scheide Biblical Papyri: Ezekiel. Princeton University Studies in Papyrology, No. 3. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1938; L. G. Jahn, Der griechische Text des Buches Ezechiel nach dem Kölner Teil des Papyrus 967, PTA Bd. XV, Bonn 1972. Some authors championing the „primatus” of the LXX, called the MT text a deliberately „truncated” list , with the conjectured aim 'to lessen the polemic nature of the prophecy', which was as Bogaert suggested, allegedly against the high priest of Jerusalem. Cf. J. Lust, in: New Testament Textual Criticism and Exegesis, Festschrift J. Delobel. ed. A. Denaux. Leuven: Leuven Universtity Press, 2002, pp. 23-24.; cf. also: Hector M. Patmore, Adam, Satan, and the King of Tyre: The Interpretation of Ezekiel 28:11-19 in Late Antiquity. Jewish and Christian Perspectives Series, Vol. XX. Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2012, pp. 133-178. 72 Ez.28:12b-13: ,‫אד בד ן יד קה הרה דמ קסכהתד ך אר דד ם פג דטדה ה וד היהדלם תמ דר גשיש שר המ ם וד י דהשפרה‬-‫ כהל‬, ‫אללהג ים הה יג יתה‬-‫אמ תה ה חותר ם תה כד נג ית מה לרא חה כד מה ה וכד לג יל יר פג יבד ערדד ן גמן‬ ‫ בד יום הג בה מראדך כונהנו‬,‫ ובה דרקמ ת וד זההה ב; דמלדאכדת תק פד יך ונד קה בד יך בה ך‬,‫סמ פג יר נר פדך‬. 73 BT Bava Batra 75ab: „R. Hama b. Hanina said: The Holy One, blessed be He, made ten canopies for Adam in the garden of Eden; for it is said: Thou wast in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone, etc. Mar Zutra says: Eleven; for it is said: Every precious stone. R. Johanan said: The least of all [these] was gold, since it is mentioned last. What is [implied] by the work of thy timbrels and holes?— Rab Judah said in the name of Rab: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Hiram, the King of Tyre. '[At the creation] I looked upon thee, [observing thy future arrogance] and created [therefore] the excretory organs of man'. Others say: Thus said [the Holy One, blessed be He].' I looked upon thee /75b:/ and decreed the penalty of death over Adam'. What is implied by, and over her assemblies? — Rabbah said in the name of R. Johanan: Jerusalem of the world to come will not be like Jerusalem of the present world. [To] Jerusalem of the present world, anyone who wishes goes up, but to that of the world to come only those invited will go.” The Targum (Aramaic translation) of Ezekiel, preserved in the Codex Reuchlinianus glosses the text lengthily and following closely this Rabbinical interpretation, when writes: „You were in Eden, the garden of the Lord. All kinds of jewels adorned your robe. You saw with your own eyes the ten canopies which I made for the Primal Adam, made of carnelian, topaz, and diamonds; beryl of the Mediterranean Sea and spotted stone, sapphire, emerald, smaragd, and fine gold. They showed him his wedding all the works of creation, and the angels were running before him, with timbrels and with flutes. So, on the day when Adam was created they were prepared to honor him, but after that he went astray and expelled from there. You, too, did not take a lesson from him, but rather your heart became haughty and you did not reflect wisely on your body, that you are made of orifices and organs, which you need for excretion, and it is impossible for you to survive without them. They were designed for you from the day on which you were created.” Cf. The Aramaic Bible. The Targums. Vol. 13: Ezekiel. Tr. I. Levey & H. Samson Edinburgh: T&T Clark – Wilmington (MI): Michael Glazier, 1987, p. 84. n. 1. Regarding to this tabernacles, it is the most plausible explanation, that the original Hebrew ‫„( דמ קסכהתד ך‬your covering”) was interpreted as ‫„( מר סקכר תד ך‬from your tents/tabernacles”) and this expression was associated with the „wedding canopy” (‫ )חקפהה‬mentioned in a similar expression of Psalm 19:6 (‫ מר חקפהתו‬- „from your tabernacle”). In Isaiah 25:7 the same noun is paralleled with the lōṭ (‫)לוט‬, which means a „wrap, covering,” and has the numerical value of fortyfive: ‫המ גויג ם‬-‫כהל‬-‫ עמל‬,‫הה עמ גמים; וד המ ממ סר כהה המ נד סוכהה‬-‫כהל‬-‫המ לוט המ לוט עמל‬-‫ פד נרי‬,‫בג למע בה הה ר המ זדה‬. / „And He will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering that is cast over all peoples, and the veil that is spread over all nations.” 74 The extended name of the four letters: yod he waw he ( ‫)יוד חא ואו הא‬. This ten letter expansion of the Tetragrammaton called ‫מ"ה‬/MaH after its numerical value forty-five; and it is connected to Zeir Apin (‫ זעיר אפין‬cf. Kaplan, Bahir, p. 135.) being reflected in Adam Kadmon, as the measure of the Creator of the Worlds (‫ יוצר עלמין‬cf. Zohar 1:18b, Vol. I, p. 141). Ibn Ezra in his Sefer ha-Shem, spelled out the letters of the Tetragrammaton exactly in this way, e.g. ‫( יו״ד‬ibid Ch.3, f. 7b); ‫( ה״א‬Ch.3, f. 7a); ‫( וא״ו‬ibid Ch.3, f. 7b). Beside that, the ten precious substances 19 from the side of the female [i. e. Shekhinah], is always engraved like a seal. The form of a human body in this world protrudes, while spirit is engraved within. When spirit is stripped from the body, that spirit protrudes in the earthly garden in the actual form and image of its body in this world, because it always functioned as a seal. Therefore She says, Set me as a seal (Song of Songs 8:6). Just as a seal is engraved inward, forming a protruding shape outward, similarly with Her. And spirit, deriving from Her side, follows that pattern precisely in this world, engraved inwardly. When it is stripped from the body and enters the earthly garden, the atmosphere there protrudes that engraving to be formed outwardly, and it forms a protrusion corresponding to the form of the body in this world. Above, the soul [‫ – ]המ נד שה מה ה‬deriving from the Tree of Life – is bound there above in the bundle of life, to delight in the beauty of YHVH, as it is said: to gaze upon the beauty of YHVH and to contemplate in His Temple (Psalms 27:4)78.” This secret is the background, that the Ḥôṯam Toḵnît ( ‫)חותכ ם תכ כנ ני ית‬, the „Signet of Proportion” was called also a 'covering lady keruḇ79' by Ezekiel the prophet. The change in gender from the king of Tyre (named as ‫ חותר ם‬Ḥôṯem, i.e. „the Sealer”) to the female signet, and after that to the female keruḇ, caused many misunderstandings for Ezekiel's commentators. Some thought that that the keruḇ was the engraving of the seal-ring 80 itself. Others interpreted it as one of the keruḇim who 75 76 77 78 79 80 can be interpreted as the ʿaṭarah (‫„ עטרה‬crown”), that is the sefira Malkut, or Shekhinah in which the nine upper sefirot are mirrored, and it is called by the Zohar as ispaqlarya she-einah me'irah ( ‫„ )אספקלריא שאינא מאירא‬the speculum that does not shine.” The sefira Tif'eret called ispaqlarya ha me'irah (‫)אספקלריא המאירא‬, „the speculum that shines.” The Zoharic expressions which corresponds to the duality of Adonai and YHVH, female and male, Moon and Sun, etc. are based on BT Yevamot 49b. Cf. Zohar, 1:46a, Matt, ibid., Vol. I. p. 244, n. 1077; The Zohar. Pritzker Edition. Translation and Commentary. Stanford (CA): Stanford Univ. Press, 2009, Vol. V, p. 287, n. 269. [As Matt notes, Ispaqlarya (‫‘ )אגסדפמקדלמרדיהא‬derives from Greek speklon, “mirror, window-pane”, and Latin speculum, 'mirror,'” cf. Vol. III, p. 114, n. 191]. See also, Elliot R. Wolfson, Through a Speculum That Shines. Vision and Imagination in Medieval Jewish Mysticism. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 1994, pp. 344, 352-353. Abraham Abulafia (1240-1291), Get Ha-Shemot - Divorce of the Names, tr. by Sharron Shatil. Providence University, 2007. p. 7. Abulafia insists that the Extended Revered Name has got nine letters (the waw written as ‫װ‬, without aleph). Zohar 1:18b. Cf. Matt, ibid., Vol. I, p. 141. Cf. Ps. 19:6a: ‫ יר צר א מר חקפהתו‬,‫כד חה תה ן‬--‫ וד הוא‬/ „He [the Sun] is as a bridegroom coming out of his canopy.” Joel: 2:16b: ‫ירצר א‬ ‫ וד מכלהה מר חקפהתה ה‬,‫חה תה ן מר חד דדרו‬. / „Let the bridegroom go forth from his chamber, and the bride out of her canopy.” In Talmudic times, the room where the marriage was consummated was called the ḥupah, ‫„ חקפהה‬canopy.” Cf. Abraham P. Bloch, The Biblical and historical background of Jewish customs and ceremonies. New York: KTAV Publishing House, Inc., 1980, p. 32. Zohar 2:11a-b. Translated by Daniel Matt, cf. The Zohar. Pritzker Edition. Translation and Commentary. Stanford (CA): Stanford Univ. Press, 2007, Vol. IV, pp. 49-50. The Aramaic says: ‫ רוח דנחית לבני נשא‬,‫וסתרא דא אתמסר לחכימין‬ ‫ כד אתפש רוחא מן‬.‫ ציורא דגופא דבר נש בהאי עלמא בליט לבר ורוחא אתגליף לגו‬.‫דאיהי מסטרא דנוקבא מתגלפא תדיר בגלופא כהאי חותם‬ ‫( שימני‬6:'‫ ועל דא איהי אמרה )שם ח‬.‫גופא ההוא רוח בליט בגנתא דארעא בציורא ודיוקנא ממש דגופיה בהאי עלמא בגין דהוה תדיר כחותם‬ ‫ ורוח דהוה מסטרא דילה כהאי גוונא ממש בהאי עלמא גליף‬,‫ אוף הכי איהי‬,‫ מה חותם גליף בגלופא לגו ואתצייר בציורא בלטא לבר‬.‫כחותם‬ ‫ כד אתפשט מן גופא ועאל בגנתא דארעא אוירא דתמן בליט ההוא גלופא לאתציירא לבר ואתצייר בציורא בלטא לבר כגוונא‬.‫בגלופא לגו‬ : ‫ לעילא נשמה דאיהי מאילנא דחיי אתצריר תמן לעילא בההוא צרורא דחיי לאתענגא בנועם יי' כד"א )תהלים כ"ז‬.‫דציורא דגופא בהאי עלמא‬ ‫( לחזות בנועם יי' ולבקר בהיכלו‬4 Cf. http://www.sup.org/zohar/Aramaic/Texts/Vol 4/Aramaic User-Friendly.pdf The ‫צדרור‬ ‫„ המ חמ יג ים‬bundle of life” (cf. I Sam.25:29) and ‫„ בד הר יכהלו‬His Temple” are Shekhinah, that is the sefira Malkut. The -‫נר עמ ם‬ ‫„ ידהוהה‬beauty of YHVH” is the sefira Binah. The „Tree of Life” is the sefira Tif'eret. Cf. Matt, ibid., pp. 49-50, n. 212-214. Ezek. 28:14.The expression ‫כד רוב‬-‫„( אמ דת‬you, keruḇ”) hiperliterally can be: „you female one, a keruḇ,” because the first word is the feminine singular second-person personal pronoun. However traditionally this particular ‫ אמ דת‬is considered as an abbreviated form of the masculine singular second-person personal pronoun (‫)אמ תה ה‬. The word „keruḇ” means „form” in the Aristotelian sense according to ibn Ezra (on Ex. 25:18). [The putto comes from a misinterpretation of the word, which separates the kaf from the root and translates it as an Aramaic expression ( ‫)כד רוביהה‬, meaning 'similar to a ruvia (child).' Cf. R. Yonatan Kolatch, Masters of the Word: Traditional Jewish Bible Commentary from the eleventh through thirteenth centuries. Jersey City (NJ): KTAV Publishing House, 2007, Vol II, p. 295. ] Cf. Irvin, ibid., p. 221: „You are a keruḇ with wide-spreading wings; among stones of fire you walk. Your heart has grown proud in pomp, your wisdom you have ruined for splendor. So the symbol is of an exceptionally valuable seal. And its design is likewise unusual, nothing less than the depicted mythology of Tyre, for in the keruḇ walking among stones of fire we are to recognize a clear reference to the phoenix. And the mention of the garden of God, 20 chased away Adam from the Garden of Eden 81. And finally some taught82, that the fall of Satan - or as Hippolitys of Rome (170 – 235) 83 clarified, the fall of the Antichrist - is alluded to here, who was termed as the 'resignaculum similitudinis' („an unsealing of the [divine] likeness”)84. But who was she really? In her perfect beauty, she is the Daughter of Tyros (‫צר ר‬-‫)במ ת‬, standing on the right of the King in gold of Ophir as his Consort (‫ שרגמל‬- Šêgal)85, described by the Psalm 45: „All glorious is she, a royal daughter within the palace; her raiment is of chequer work in-wrought with gold. She shall be led unto the King in richly embroidered stuff; the virgins her companions in her train being brought unto” the King who is God86. Because all nations are belong to God according to multiple attestations of the Bible. Among them this Daughter of Tyre was eminent and praised, the richest of the people and even by the enemies of the King entreat her favor with gifts 87. But she lefts her dignity and purity to become „mistress of kingdoms 88”, like the demonic Lilith or queen Jezebel, a 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 glossed with reference to the divine mountain, is part of the same. So Ezekiel has with unusual appropriateness chosen the actual symbolism of the religion and mythology of Tyre as the theme of his oracle.” The Phoenician phoenixes are originally the Assyro-Babylonian lamassu (Sumerian: lama; Greek: eidolon - human-headed winged lions), i. e. female 'protective spirits'. Their male counterparts, the šēdu (Sumerian: alad2 / alad3; Latin: genius human-headed winged bulls) sometimes referred as baštu, kirubu or karabu, which is cognate with the Hebrew keruḇ. (The Assyrian term means 'great, mighty', but the Akkadian and Babylonian cognates mean 'propitious, blessed.') Cf, A. Leo Oppenheim, Ancient Mesopotamia. Portrait of a dead civilization, rev. ed. Erica Reiner. Chicago-London: Univ. Of Chicago Press, 1977, pp. 199-206; Roland de Vaux, Ancient Israel, Its Life and Institutions, tr. John McHugh. Grand Rapids (MI): Eerdmans – Livonia (MI): Dove, 1997, pp. 294-301. Cf. Gen. 3:24: ‫דד דרך ערץ המ חמ יג ים‬-‫ אד ת‬,‫ לג דשמר ר‬,‫ וד אר ת למהמ ט המ חד דרב המ גמ דתהמ פד כדת‬,‫המ כד רק בג ים‬-‫ערדד ן אד ת‬-‫הה אה דה ם; מוי דמשכרן גמקד דד ם לד גמן‬-‫ אד ת‬,‫ומיד ג דהרש‬. / „So He drove out the human; and He placed at the east of the garden of Eden the keruḇim, and the flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way to the tree of life.” The „satanic” interpretatio seems to be originated from the "Church Fathers". Cf. Tertullianus, Adv. Marcionem, II.10.2-5; Augustinus, De civitate Dei, 11:15; Cyril of Jerusalem, Cathecesis 2.4; Hippolytus, De Antichristo, and On Daniel, 5:178; Origen, Contra Celsum, 6:43-44; Jerome, In Hiezechielem IX, xxviii, l. 189 sqq.; Patmore, ibid., pp. 41-79. Cf. Hippolytus, De Antichristo, 14-18, & 53. He explicitly says: "That it is in reality out of the tribe of Dan, then, that that tyrant and king, that dread judge, that son of the devil, is destined to spring and arise ... Ezekiel also speaks of him to the same effect." (Ibid., 15, 18.). See also On Daniel, 5:178 on our particular passage. Tertullian, Adv. Marcionem, II.10.3; Patmore ibid. p. 45. Tertullian used the Septuagint text, which translates the Hebrew ‫ חותר ם תה כד נג ית‬with the expression ἀποσφράγισμα ὁμοιώσεως („impression of resemblance”). Tertullian, being lead by his theological message, interpreted the Greek expression as „unsealing” from the verb ἀποσφρᾱγίζω, which means primarily „I seal up” (attested in: Pass: Plu. Alex.2., and Med., E.Or.1108, Theopomp. Hist.265.). But it has also an adverse meaning „I unseal,” attested by Diogenes Laertius (fl. c. 3rd century CE), Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (Philosophoi Bioi), 4.59, in an amusing story about Lacydes of Cyrene, the founder of the New Academy. Jerome in his commentary also records the later meaning in Latin Bible translations, cf. Jerome, In Hiezechielem IX, xxviii, l.206-7; Patmore, ibid., p. 46. Because the original Hebrew is doubtless in this regard, we have to conclude, that this Tertullianic version is a guided mistranslation hardly excused by the 'ambiguity' of the Greek intermediary text. The other "Church Fathers" did not follow him, but even without his interpolation, interpreted the text in the same way. This is a very rare Hebrew expression in the Bible, its only other occurrence is in Nehemiah 2:6. When the verbal form of the root (meaning „to copulate”) was applied to humans, it was considered obscene by the Massorets and the written script (Ketiv - Aramaic ‫" כתיב‬what is written") has to be read (Qere -Aramaic ‫" קרי‬to be read") euphemistically as „sleeping with her,” e.g. Deut. 28:30 (‫יג דשכהבד נהה‬/ ‫)ישגלנה‬, Jer. 3:2 (‫שק כמבד ת‬/ ‫)שגלת‬, Isa. 13:16 and Zech. 14:2 (both:‫ גתשה כמבד נהה‬/ ‫)תשגלנה‬. In the Aramaic part of Daniel, the word is a well-defined rank (‫ )שר גד להתר ה‬among the female companions of the Babylonian king, next to the queen (‫ )ממלדכדתהא‬and it is not considered obscene at all (cf. Daniel 5: 2, 23, contrasted with Daniel 5:10. Therefore we can conclude, that the Šêgal is an Aramaic loan-word in the Biblical Hebrew with the same meaning: a royal consort ranked after the queen. Ps. 45: 14-15: ‫מובה אות להך‬-- ‫ ררעותד יהה‬, ‫ בד תולות אמ ח דדריהה‬:‫ תובמ ל לממד לדך‬,‫מד לדך פד נג ימה ה; גמ גמ דשבד צות זההה ב לד בושה הלג דרקה מות‬-‫כד בודה ה במ ת‬-‫כהל‬. Ps. 45:13: ‫ע גדש רירי עה ם‬--‫ פה נמיג ך יד חמ לו‬,‫ בד גמנד חה ה‬:‫צר ר‬-‫ובמ ת‬. / „And, O daughter of Tyre, the richest of the people shall entreat thy favour with a gift.” Cf. Isa. 47:5. „mistress of kingdoms" (‫ ;) גל בת תרת ממ למלככות‬Isa. 47:7a: „And thou saidst: 'For ever shall I be mistress';/ ‫ לד עולהם אד הד ידה גד בה דרת‬,‫ראמ גרי‬ ‫ מות ד‬Compare with Rev. 18:7-8. 21 dreadful sorceress and harlot89, symbolized by a golden cup90, riding on the Leviathan91, leading her sons to allegiance with the Despised One - known from the prophet Daniel's vision - who is not a proper king92. But this one is not allured by the female desirability93, only pretend to be so. He is not a loving husband, building and adorning the temple of her body, but a secret hater who finally makes her to be despised and destroyed by his allies. Why she does not understand? Because she is drunken by the precious lives and blood of the sons of the most High, being jealous of the special connection of the Queen and her sons with the King, of which relation she falsely claims as her own94. She is clothed in purple and scarlet, that is why she called also Edom (‫)אלדום‬, "red". Who can speak with her heart to repent and to return her original glory? 89 Cf. 2 Kings 9:22: „And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said: 'Is it peace, Jehu?' And he answered: 'What peace, so long as the harlotries of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?” /‫הורם‬ ‫ כג דראות יד ה‬,‫ומיד הג י‬ ‫ הכ מר יבים‬, ‫ זלנוניי יאיזתבת ל יא למך וכל שכ פת יהכ‬-‫עמד‬--‫ מה ה המ שה לום‬,‫ הדשה לום ירהוא; ומי ראמד ר‬,‫ ומי ראמד ר‬,‫ ירהוא‬-‫אד ת‬. Cf. also Isa. 47:9, 12. Jezebel was batmelek (‫מדלדך‬-‫ במת‬cf. 2. Kings. 9:34), „king's daughter,” being the daughter of Ithobaal II (878-847 BC), king of Tyre and Sidon (1 Kings, 16:31), who was before he ascended to the throne, the priest of Astarte (ὁ τῆς Ἀστάρτης ἱερεύς) according to Menander the Ephesian, cf. Josephus, Contra Apionem, i,18, §123. 90 Cf. Jerem. 51:7: ‫כרן יג דתהר לד לו גויג ם‬-‫ עמל‬,‫ גמירינהה שה תו גויג ם‬:‫הה אה דרץ‬-‫ כהל‬,‫מלשמכתרתת‬--‫יד הוהה‬-‫ בד ימד‬,‫זכהכ ב בה בד ל‬-‫כוס‬. / „Babylon hath been a golden cup in LORD'S hand, that made all the earth drunken; the nations have drunk of her wine, therefore the nations are mad.” Compare with Rev. 17:2,4; 18:3. 91 Cf. Rev. 17:3-6: Καὶ εἶδον γυναῖκα καθημένην ἐπὶ θηρίον κόκκινον, γέμον [τα] ὀνόματα βλασφημίας, ἔχων κεφαλὰς ἑπτὰ καὶ κέρατα δέκα. καὶ ἡ γυνὴ ἦν περιβεβλημένη πορφυροῦν καὶ κόκκινον καὶ κεχρυσωμένη χρυσίῳ καὶ λίθῳ τιμίῳ καὶ μαργαρίταις, ἔχουσα ποτήριον χρυσοῦν ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτῆς γέμον βδελυγμάτων καὶ τὰ ἀκάθαρτα τῆς πορνείας αὐτῆς καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ μέτωπον αὐτῆς ὄνομα γεγραμμένον, μυστήριον, Βαβυλὼν ἡ μεγάλη, ἡ μήτηρ τῶν πορνῶν καὶ τῶν βδελυγμάτων τῆς γῆς. καὶ εἶδον τὴν γυναῖκα μεθύουσαν ἐκ τοῦ αἵματος τῶν ἁγίων καὶ ἐκ τοῦ αἵματος τῶν μαρτύρων Ἰησοῦ. Καὶ ἐθαύμασα ἰδὼν αὐτὴν θαῦμα μέγα. / „So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead [was] a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.” and Rev.18:23b: ὅτι ἐν τῇ φαρμακείᾳ σου ἐπλανήθησαν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη. / „for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.” The κεχρυσωμένη χρυσίῳ καὶ λίθῳ τιμίῳ (Rev 17:4 and 18:16) is a recognized allusion to Ezek. 28:13, cf. The Greek New Testament. 3rd corrected edition, eds. Kurt Aland, Matthew Black, Carlo M.Martini, Bruce M. Metzger, and Allen Wikgren in cooperation with the Institute for New Testament Textual Research, Münster/Westphalia. Stuttgart: United Bible Societies, 1983, p. 908. 92 Cf. Dan.11:21: ‫ וד הד לחזגיק ממ לד כות במ דחלמקד למקות‬,‫נ דהתנו עה להיו הוד ממ לד כות; ובה א בד שמ לד והה‬-‫ וד ל רא‬,‫כמנו ניבלזתה‬-‫וד עה ממ ד עמל‬. / „And in his place shall stand up a despised one, upon whom had not been conferred the majesty of the kingdom; but he shall come in time of security, and shall obtain the kingdom by blandishments.” 93 Dan. 11: 37. ‫חד דמדמ ת נ גהשים‬ 94 Ezek. 26:2: ‫ הה ח הררבה ה‬,‫ גאמה לד אה ה‬:‫ נכסי בכ ה אי לכי‬,‫נג דשבד הרה דמ לד תות הה עמ גמים‬--‫יד רושה מל גם הד אה ח‬-‫אה דמ הרה רצר עמל‬-‫ ימעמן אדשד ר‬,‫אה דה ם‬-‫בד ן‬. / „Son of man, because that Tyre hath said against Jerusalem: aha, she is broken, gates of the peoples; she is turned unto me; I shall be filled, she is laid waste.” Cf. also Isa. 47:8-12, Rev. 18:7-8. All prophecies about Babel & Tyre meet in the prophecies about Babylon the Great. The Queen appears in Revelation as the Mulier amicta sole, that is the 'woman clothed with the sun'. Cf. Rev. 12:1-2: Καὶ σημεῖον μέγα ὤφθη ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, γυνὴ περιβεβλημένη τὸν ἥλιον, καὶ ἡ σελήνη ὑποκάτω τῶν ποδῶν αὐτῆς καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτῆς στέφανος ἀστέρων δώδεκα, καὶ ἐν γαστρὶ ἔχουσα, καὶ κράζει ὠδίνουσα καὶ βασανιζομένη τεκεῖν. / "And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered." The OT-parallels are the descriptions of the birth of the Qahal Israel in Isaiah 66:7 and particularly in Micah 4:10. Cf. Aland, ibid., pp. 908, 910. See also, Warder Cresson, The Key of David. Philadelphia: 5612 (1852) [rprt. New York : Arno Press, 1977.], pp. 185-196. 22 Article Six The Šêgal in her true, original beauty is somehow like to the Queen (‫ ממ לד כהה‬Malkâ95), but she is never so close to Him96. That's why she wore nine of the precious stones of the other, but in a distinctively different order. Here is the order of the Queen's97 with the names of her sons as they were born:98 95 This parallelism is expressed implicitly e.g. in their respective numbers (9 and 12): being each of them a sum of a continual sequence of three numbers (2+3+4=9 and 3+4+5=12). 96 The Šêgal is on the right of the King (Ps. 45:10), but the Queen, Šulamit („who found peace”) on His left, nearer to His heart, cf.: Song of Songs 2:6 and 8:3: ‫ימינו דתחמ בד קר נג י‬ ‫ וג ג‬,‫ראשי‬ ‫שמ ראלו תמ חמ ת לד ר ג‬. ‫ ד‬/ "Let his left hand be under my head, and his right hand embrace me." 97 The precious stones of Aaron's Breastplate (‫ חרשדן‬Ḥošen ) are enumerated in Ex. 28:17-20 and 39:10-13. The names of the tribes are in native order („according to their birth ” - ‫ ) כדתולדדרתהם‬as enumerated in Gen. 29:32-30:24. and 35:16-18: ‫ דראובר ן גש דמעון לרוג י יד הודה ה דה ן נמפד תה לג י גהד אה שר ר יג שה שכהר דזבקלון יוסר ף בג נד י גהמין‬The identification of the stones, see: Daniel I. Block, The Book of Ezekiel, Chapter 25-48. New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids (MI): Eerdmans, 1998, pp. 107-109; with the following notes. Ad Pit'dah: cf. Job 28:19: ‫כוש‬-‫ פגטדדמת‬/ „topaz of Ethiopia.” Ad Sappir: cf. Ex. 24:10: ‫ להטר המ ר‬,‫ וכד עד צד ם המ שה ממ יג ם‬,‫ כד ממ עדשר ה לג בד נמת המ סמ פג יר‬,‫ אר ת אללהר י יג דש הראר ל; וד תמ חמ ת מרגד להיו‬,‫ ומיג דראו‬/ „and they saw the God of Israel; and there was under His feet the like of a paved work of lapis lazuli, and the like of the very heaven for clearness.” Lapis lazuli is a contact metamorphic rock, whose most important mineral component is lazurite (intense blue color), and it also contains calcite (white), sodalite (blue), and pyrite (metallic yellow). Its appearance is like the starry firmament: deep blue mass sprinkled with gleaming golden particles and weaved with white veins. Cf. Pliny, Nat. Hist., xxvii, 39 with the references in chapters 21, 38, 54 and 56; Peter Roger Moorey, Ancient Mesopotamian Materials and Industries: the Archaeological Evidence. Vinona Lake (IN): Eisenbrauns, 1999. pp. 86–87; Kunz, Curious Lore of Precious Stones, p. 230. Ad Nofek: cf. Ezek. 27:16: ‫ בד עג זדבונהיג ך‬,‫ נ דהתנו‬...‫ מר רר ב ממ עדשה יג ך; בד נר פדך‬,‫אדרם סר חמ דרתר ך‬. ‫ ה‬/ „Aram was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of thy wealth; they traded for thy wares with carbuncles ...” Ad Yašfeh: cf. Assyrian yašpu. Ad Šoham: cf. Gen. 2:12: ‫ וד אד בד ן המ שר המ ם‬,‫שה ם ]חדוג ילהה[ המ בד דר למח‬. / „there [Havilah] is bdellium and the onyx stone.” and Job 28:16: ‫ שר המ ם יהקה ר‬/ „the precious onyx.” The Šoham (‫ ) שרהמם‬was translated by Aquila, Theodotion, Symamachus, Jerome (Vulgata) and even in one occurance in LXX as onyx/sardonyx, in agreement with the meaning of the cognate Babylonian šâmu (from a common Semitic šahamu), which in the Assyrian became a name of color employed to denote the color of gold, ḫuraṣu sa-a-mu, („red gold.)” and the color of an ass: imeru sa-a-mu („red ass”). Therefor this shade was a light red flesh-tone color - exactly why this stone was called onyx by Greeks and Romans (from Ancient Greek ὄνυξ, meaning "claw" or "fingernail"). In contrast with it, the blood red hue was called Odem (‫)ארדדם‬, which denotes the sard. Cf. Herbert Henry B. Ayles, A critical commentary on Genesis ii. 4-iii. 25. London: C.J Clay and Sons, 1904, pp. 49-51. The Šoham in the Ḥošen is most probably the costly Arabian onyx ( ‫)שר המ ם יהקה ר‬, which is a parallely banded chalcedony with a black base and a white upper layer (Nat.Hist.37,24). Onyx is formed in the vesicles of lava. According to Pliny, Nat. Hist. XXXVII, 23. the sardonyx / onyx „was popular from the beginning because it was almost the only gemstone which, when engraved as a signet, did not carry away the sealing wax with it.” 98 Josephus Flavius (37 – c. 100), Antiquitates, III, ch. vii, 5 [169]; the Targum Yerushalmi (c. 7th century), ad. loci; and Rashi (1040 – 1105), on Ex. 28:21; all attested this native order [„κατὰ τάξιν ἣν ἕκαστον αὐτῶν γενέσθαι συμβέβηκε” / ‫ ]כד תולד דר תה ם‬as the true gemological representations of the tribes. The now commonly accepted, but erroneous representation is different from this, based on an alleged connection between the stones and the fictitious colors of the tribal „flags,” properly „standards, ‫( ” דד גדל‬Of course, these „colors” are not mentioned by the Bible, and the whole idea is obviously anachronistic.) It is originated from a midrash of the Bamidbar Sinai Rabbah on Num. 2:2, which is the latest and most inferior part of the Rabbot composition (dated after Rashi, and according to Leopold Zunz, „hardly older than the 12th century”). Regrettably, not only medieval philosophers, but modern mineralogists, like George Frederick Kunz (1856–1932) has given credit to it (even if with some reserves) and since then, it is a scholarly myth to this day, used to mineralogically identify the stones. Cf. G. F. Kunz, Curious Lore of Precious Stones. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1913, p. 289. 23 As already Rashi pointed out, the number of the letters in the names of the sons is fifty exactly 99. Why this is so important? Because the stones are on the names of the sons of Israel 100 and they can be represented by them as we see in the Qame'a of the Šêgal101: 99 Rashi on Ex. 28:10: „according to their births: According to the order in which they were born [i. e.] Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, on the one; and on the second one, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulon, Joseph, Benjamin spelled full [‫] בג נד י גהמין‬, for so it is written in the place of his birth (Gen.35:18) ) [totaling] twenty five letters on each one [of the two stones].” Rashi on Ex 28:21: „every one according to his name: According to the order of their births shall be the order of the stones, odem for Reuben, pitdah for Simeon, and similarly for all of them.” 100 hiperliterally. Cf. Ex. 28.21: ‫ לג דשנרי‬,‫ גתהד ידין ה‬,‫שמו‬-‫עמל‬ ‫ד‬ ‫ גאיש‬,‫שמר תה ם; פג תוחר י חותה ם‬-‫עמל‬--‫ה‬ ‫ד‬ ‫עדש רר‬ ‫ דשתר ים ד‬,‫יי לש כראי ל‬-‫שמת ת לבניי‬-‫ל‬ ‫וד הה אד בה נג ים גתהד ידין ה עמ ל‬ ‫ עהשה ר שה בד ט‬/ „And the stones shall be on the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names; like the engravings of a signet, every one according to his name, they shall be for the twelve tribes.”; and Ex. 39:14. 101 The Šêgal is written by three letters, each of them with the numerical value of three, but in different orders of magnitude: sh (300= ‫)ש‬, g (3= ‫ )ג‬and l (30 = ‫)ל‬, together 333. This is exactly the pattern of her Qame'a. The descending order (‫שדלדג‬, šeleḡ „snow”) is changed by the elevation of gimel into the middle, like a hurl of the wind in a snow-storm. Cf. Ps. 68:15. 24 There are three changes, which make so much difference. The first is that the third row of the Queens, that is, the sons of Zilpah (Gad and Asher) together with Issachar102 are dropped103. That's why only forty letters104 remain on the basis. 102 Issachar is closely connected with Zilpa' sons in the Biblical narrative. Leah named him Issachar („there is reward/hire”) because 'God hath given me my hire, because I gave my handmaid (i.e. Zilpah) to my husband' (Gen. 30:18). 103 The name of Zilpah means „dropping.” 104 These forty letters represents the forty weeks of human gestation period, which number was employed as a key in the process of making the artificial man (homonculus) by Paracelsus in his De natura rerum (ca. 1537), that was probably influenced by the Liber vaccae (a Latin translation of a late ninth-century Arabic magical-alchemical work, the Kitāb al-nawāmis „Book of Laws”. Cf. Sophie Page, Magic in the Cloister: Pious Motives, Illicit Interests, and Occult Approaches to the Medieval Universe. University Park (PA): Pennsylvania State Univ. Press, 2013, p. 68. Also on these forty letters based John Ronald Revel Tolkien's mythopoetic „Katzenreim” („cats rhyme”). [In Tolkien's mind Sauron was originally Telvido, the demonic Prince of cats, so the Miau ("meow") vocalization and the „nasalization” of the b and p there should be interpreted from this.] For making the foundation of the ring inscription, the names of the nine sons of Jacob associated with the nine gems were written in their native order, boustrophedonically (starting in one direction, then turning at the end of the line and reversing direction – a very ancient way of writing, considered to be both magical and cryptographic). They are grouped in four bands: rʼwbnsmown lwyyhwdh / nymynbfswy nwlbzyltfnnd ( ‫ןימיהנד בג ףסר וי ןול קבזדילג תה פד נמןדה‬ ‫ ג‬/‫ןש דמעון לרוג ייד הודה ה‬ ‫)ראובר ג‬. ‫ ד‬The pattern acquired by this method is forty letters (exactly 39 proper letters + a carrier aleph), divided into a ten & eight, and a ten & twelve lines. The ring inscription is arranged by this very same pattern („ŝnzgdʀbtlk ŝnzgg mbtl / ŝnzgθrktlk ȝbʀžmŝ ˈkrmptl”). The Tolkien-invented letters and the Hebrew script share some feature: the Tengwars are also just consonants, like the Hebrew letters, and the vowels were represented also by diacritic signs ( tehtars / niqqudim). The main difference is, that the vowel strokes in the ring inscription are placed on top of the consonants following them. When there is no such consonant, a carrier (telco) is employed (I transcribed it as ˈ). It is a remarkable feature, that the carrier with a superimposed dot has a special name in the Tolkienian system when used for i - Ingwe, which calls the Rune Ingwaz ◊ and Ing, the god of the Anglo-Saxons after whom they are named. [The full explanation of the Tengwar was published by Tolkien in Appendix E of The Lord of the Rings (1955). Detailed explanation, cf. http://at.mansbjorkman.net/tengwar.htm]. The Cancellaresca style of the ring inscription, recalls for me the Italian cursive script of the Hebrew translation of the Key of Solomon. This translation was published by Hermann Gollanz (1852-1930) and thought to be as the original version of the grimoire in the time of the trilogy's writing and was highly praised by the Golden Dawn circles with which the trilogy somehow seems to be connected. Cf. Sepher 25 The second change is that the last row (bottom side) as an intact entity elevated into the middle, placing the Šoham / Joseph in the very center, which seems so fitting with the purpose of the signet105, making it really to be the „land of Havilah106,” the source of the onyx stone (Šoham) and true gold, flowed around by the river Pishon. Apart from that Havilah was interpreted by Philo of Alexandria as „bringing forth,107” and the numerical value of this name (59) alludes to the nine cells represented by the nine precious stones108 as well as the five in the middle of them; there is an another relevant coincidence: Geber in his Book of Scales109 (in the very same work he mentions our magic square110 and its power to help childbirth111), he also refers to the same power of the onyx stone112! But the third change in the order of the stones is the most special: the first and second rows together Maphteah Shelomo. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1914; G. Scholem, 'Some Sources of Jewish-Arabic Demonology', in Journal of Jewish Studies, Vol. XVI, Nos. 1-2., 1965, pp. 1-13. [reprinted in E. Liebes (ed.), Demons, Ghosts and Souls: Studies in Demonology by Gershom Scholem. Jerusalem, 2004, pp. 103-115] The Key of Solomon referred as the „fountain-head and storehouse of Qabalistical Magic, and the origin of much of the Ceremonial Magic of mediaeval times” was published by Golden Dawn co-founder Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers (1854–1918) in 1888, mostly from French manuscript exemplars dating 18th century (Colorno type: British Library, Kings 288, Harley 3981, and Sloane 3091; Colorno-related: Lansdowne 1202; Abognazar type: Lansdowne 1203) and from the Latin Add. MSS., 10,862. Cf. The Key of Solomon the King (Clavicula Salomonis) now first translated and edited from ancient MSS. in the British Museum by S. Liddell MacGregor Mathers. London: George Redway, 1888. On p. vii., he expressed his view that the original version was Hebrew. In fact, the original Key was a Latin or Italian text of the renaissance period. On Tolkien and the 'Golden Dawn tinge' of his trilogy, cf. Ithell Colquhoun, Sword of Wisdom. London: Veville Spearman, 1975, p. 234; Charles A. Coulombe, „Hermetic Imagination: The Effect of Golden Dawn on Fantasy Lierature,” in: Proceedings of the Tolkien Centenial Conference, Keble College, Oxford, 1992, eds. Patricia Reynols & Glen H. GoodKnight. A combined issue of Mythlore 80 / Mallorn 30. Milton Keynes, Eng.: Tolkien Society / Altadena (CA): Mythopoeic Press, 1995, pp. 345– 355; Susan Johnston Graf, Talking to the Gods: Occultism in the Work of W. B. Yeats, Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood and Dion Fortune. Albany: SUNY Press, 2015. 105 Joseph (‫ )יוסר ף‬means „addition.” Even the numerical value of his name (156) expresses this being plus 12 to the 12 times 12. Moreover, in the Biblical narrative he is strongly connected with the number five (cf. Gen.43:34; 45:6, 11, 22; 47:2, 24, 26.), which is in the middle of the Qame'a. Jacob blessed Joseph by a five-fold blessing (Gen. 39:2226), naming him ‫„( בר ן פר הרת‬fruitful vine”); and again, Moses blessed the tribe of Joseph also by a blessing, which contains five sentences (Deut. 33:13-17) and he used the expression ‫„( גממד גדד‬the precious things of ”) five times in them. His position in the middle, we must remember, that both Jacob and Moses identify him as ‫„( נד זגיר אד חה יו‬his brethren's crowned one or nazirite”). On nazirite cf. Num. 6:1-21. It is important, that a nazirite „can not come near to a dead body” (‫ ל רא היב רא‬,‫נדפדש מר ת‬-‫ עמל‬,‫ למיהוהה‬,‫יד מר י המ גזירו‬-‫ כהל‬Num. 6:6), that is he always amid the living. 106 The word Havilah / Ḥăwîlāh (‫ )חדוגילהה‬comes from ‫„( חול‬sand”) usually mentioned in connection with beach or seashore (Cf. Gen. 22:17: ‫שפמת המ יהם‬-‫עמל‬ ‫ד‬ ‫)חול אדשד ר‬, however James Strong (1822–1894) translated it as "Circular” [H.2341] based on ‫ יהחול‬/ ‫„ גמ דתחולרל‬whirl(ing)” (attested in Jer. 23:19). The land of Havilah is referred in Gen 2:10-12, as a source of true gold and Šoham (onyx): „And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became four heads. The name of the first is Pishon; that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; and the gold of that land is good; there is bdellium and the onyx stone.” / ,‫וד נההה ר יר צר א מר ערדד ן‬ ,‫וזדהמ ב הה אה דרץ המ הג וא‬.‫ המ זההה ב‬,‫שה ם‬-‫ אדשד ר‬,‫אד דרץ המ חדוג ילהה‬-‫ אר ת כהל‬,‫הוא המ סר בר ב‬--‫ פג ישון‬,‫ שר ם הה אד חה ד‬.‫אשים‬ ‫ לד אמ דרבה עהה הר ג‬,‫ וד הה יהה‬,‫פהרד‬ ‫ יג ר‬,‫ומשה ם‬ ‫המ גהן; ג‬-‫לד המ דשקות אד ת‬ ‫ וד את בת ן המ שת המ ם‬,‫טוב; שה ם המ בד דר למח‬. It occurs again in Genesis 25:18, and in 1 Samuel 15:7 as a land in the Arabian desert as in the Ancient authors know it, „opposite to Egypt in the direction of Assyria,” [the desert between Syria and Egypt] populated by Ishmaelites and Amalekites, where from the bdellium or ladanum (a semi-transparent oleo-gum resin) was imported in Ancient times (Pliny, Nat. Hist., XII, 36). Cf. Herbert Henry Baker Ayles, A critical commentary on genesis ii. 4-iii. 25. London : C.J Clay and Sons, 1904, pp. 44-52. Moreover the gold and onyx are also mentioned together in the description of the „stones of remembrance” (‫ )אמ בד נרי גזכהרר ן‬in Ex. 28:9-12 and 39:6-7. These two onyx stones on the shoulders of the high priest were set in gold and were engraved – as Rashi on Ex. 28:10. pointed out – by „[totaling] twenty five letters on each one [of the two stones] ,” that is five times five letters. The Šoham (onyx) itself alluded to the twelve tribes, because the lesser number of its numerical value is 12. The numerical value (345) is a series of consecutive numbers in growing order, which expressed a perpetual growing according to the divine blessing. The middle letter of the word Šoham (‫ )שרהמם‬is a he (‫ )ה‬that denotes the number five. The five has also a definitely female connotation in Hebrew, because the letter he (‫)ה‬, which denotes the number five, at the same time it is the usual feminine gender suffix. According to rabbinic tradition this world was created by the letter he (‫ )ה‬and the world that is coming by the letter yod (‫)י‬. Cf. Daniel Matt, The Zohar. Pritzker Edition. Translation and Commentary. Stanford (CA): Stanford Univ. Press, 2004, Vol. II. p. 270, n. 91. 26 make a loop around the new middle, making the bundle of life 113. We can say, that the side-rib (‫)צר להע‬ is weaved114 into the new structure, very much alike to the Biblical narrative of the making of the woman: „And the Lord God built the rib, which he had taken from the man, to a woman; and brought her unto the man115” as his counterpart helper (‫) רעזדר כד נדגד דו‬116. Why counterpart? Because she is proportioned according to him as we have already detailed. 107 Cf. Philo Alexandrinus [Φίλων or ‫ ;ידידיה הכהן‬c. 25 BCE– c. 50 CE], Legum Allegoriarum, I, xxiv, 74: Φεισὼν ἐρμηνεύεται στόματος ἀλλοίωσις, Ἐυιλὰτ δὲ ὠδίνουσα· καὶ διὰ τούτων ἡ φρόνησις ἑμφαίνεται. / „Pheison, being interpreted, is the change of mouth; and Evilat means bringing forth, and by these two names prudence is signified.” Greek: Philonis Alexandrini opera quae supersunt, Berlin: Reimer, 1896 (repr. De Gruyter, 1962), vol. 1. pp. 61– 169. English: The Works of Philo. Complete and Unabridged. New updated edition. Translated by C.D. Yonge [1812-1892]. Peabody (MA): Hendrickson Publishers, 2006, p. 33. The etymology of Philo's source (he lacked the necessary Hebrew knowledge and limited to use the Greek translation of the Bible, the LXX) was based on ‫חג יל‬ „being in labor,” cf. Jeremiah 22:23b: ‫ חג יל כמיר לרדה ה‬/ „as a woman in travail.” [Philo's dependence on the LXX is quite clear from this particular allegory when he connect the LXX Gen.2:12b (καὶ ἐκεῖ ἐστιν ὁ ἄνθραξ καὶ ὁ λίθος ὁ πράσινος - cited by him in Leg. All., I, xxvi, 79) with Ex.28:18 and concludes not only to erroneously identify the bdellium resin with the garnet stone, but even the onyx (wrongly circumscribed as ὁ λίθος ὁ πράσινος, „the leekgreen stone”) with the lapis lazuli (Sapir,‫)סמ פג יר‬, which is dark blue with golden dots and white stripes, like a fragment of the starry firmament. Cf. Philo, Legum allegoriarum, I, xxvi, 81: ὁ δὲ σάπφειρος πράσινος λίθος ἐστίν. / „The lapis lazuli is the same as the leek-green stone.”] 108 The nine precious stones were considered as representation of the nine angelic orders by Rabanus Maurus (786856), Commentariorum in Ezechielem, Lib. XI, col. 788 A-B [Migne, Patrologica Latina, Paris: Imprimerie Catholique, 1815-1875, Vol. 110.] who gives the names of the angelic choirs according to Pseudo-Dionysos Areopagita's De Coelesti Hierarchia („Celestial Hierarchy,” written between 485-532): „Novem dixit genera lapidum, quia nimirum novem sunt ordines angelorum. Nam cum per sacra eloquia angeli, archangeli, dominationes, virtutes, principates, potestates, cherubim, atque seraphim aperta narratione memorantur ...” [The thrones are missing in Rabanus' list and the Celestial Hierarchy itself gives a descending order not an ascending, cf. De Coelesti Hierarchia, ch. 6, §2, 200D-201A, in Corpus Dionysiacum II, eds. G. Heil and A. M. Ritter, Berlin: De Gruyter, 1991; English tr.: Pseudo-Dionysius: the complete works. Tr. Colm Liubheid. The Classics of Western Spirituality. Mahwah (NJ): Paulist Press, 1987, pp. 160-161]. Albeit Pseudo-Dionysios (who was in reality a Syrian pupil of Proclus) does not cite or comment on Ezek. 28:13, Agrippa refers to the Areopagite only and does not mention Rabanus at all, cf. DOP II,12. The nine angelic choirs were allegedly the causes of the celestial movements, which connection leads to the idea of transformation (or of „changing of bodies”) as a property of the number nine. As John Heydon (1629–c. 1667) wrote it in his usual confusing style, each of the nine stones (imbued with the power of the number nine) can be used for different purposes: „and they engrave nine upon a Saphir, Emrald, Carbuncle, Beril, Onix, Chrisolite, Jasper, or Tapas [Topaz]: but properly and most effectually to be resolved of their Questions, or to obtain their desires, they Te(le)smatically in an hour engrave it in Sardis or Silver; and this will make a man (they say) go invisible, as Caleron, Alexander's brother-in-law sometime did, when he lay with his brother's Concubine as often as himself; This number obtaineth the love of women.” [Holy Guide: Leading the Way to the Wonder of the World. London, 1662, Book II, ch. 11, §3, p. 89. In this Gyges-allusion, Heydon amalgamates Platon's account with the historical Ptolemy of Alorus, son of Amyntas, who assassinated Alexander II (king of Macedon between 371–368 BC), his brother-in-law, and became king of Macedon for three years, cf. Diodoros, 15,71,1. 109 The French translation of this book, cf. Marcellin Berthelot (1827-1907), Histoire des Sciences. La Chimie au moyen âge. ouvrage publié sous les auspices du ministrère de l'instruction publique par M. Berthelot. Tome III L'Alchimie Arabe : comprenant une introduction historique et les traités des Cratès, d'El-Habib, d'Ostanès et de Djàber. Tirés des manuscrits de Paris et de Leyde. Texte et traduction. Notes, figures, table analytique et index avec la collaboration de M. O. Houdas, etc. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1893, Vol 3, pp. 139-162 [(VII) III. Le Livre des Balances]. Source: Gallica.BnF.fr Unfortunately the great chemist does not published the original Arab text (referred in Vol 3, p. 7. as Bibliothèque de Leyde ms. arabe n° 440). 110 Ibid., p. 150. 111 Ibid., p. 151: „Si vous tracez cette figure sur deux linges qui n'ont jamais été touchés par l'eau et que vous les placiez sous les pieds d'une femme qui éprouve de la difficulté accoucher, la parturition se fera immédialement.” / 27 Article Seven Very important to understand and never forget, that the Šêgal, the Seal-ring of Proportion is created by the Lord God (YHVH Elohim) and not by the Despised One who abuses her. Because there are false rumors in the North about blacksmiths who allegedly made such precious rings, which possess her powers. Draupnir („Dropper”) is told, has had a power to multiply herself, 'eight rings of the same weight would drop from it every ninth night117'. It was forged by the master smith Sindri, the dwarf and his brother Brokkr for Odin, who place it on his son, the Sun god Baldr's funeral pyre. As the skalds „If you draw this figure on two linen that have never been affected by water and you place them under the feet of a woman who has difficulty giving birth, parturition will be at once.” Of course, from a Biblical perspective, this power belongs to God (‫ )אדדר נהי יד הוג ה‬alone. Cf. Isaiah 37:3b / 2 Kings 19:3b: ‫ וד כר חמ אמ יג ן לד לרדה ה‬,‫ממ דשבר ר‬-‫ כג י בה או בה נג ים עמד‬/ „for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth;” and Ps. 71:6: ‫ אמ תה ה גוזגי‬,‫ גמ דמער י גא גמי‬/ „Thou art He that took me out of my mother's womb.” 112 Ibid., p. 154: „L'onyx enveloppé dans les cheveux d'une femme en mal d'enfant la fait accoucher, et si cette pierre est placée près d'elle, elle empeche les douleurs de l'utérus.” / “Onyx wrapped in the hair of a woman in labor, she makes birth, and if this stone is placed near it, it prevents the pains of the uterus.” The Arabic name for this stone is el jaza, “sadness,” which shows that they usually attributed to the onyx a separating quality only in a negative sense, that is, it cools the ardors of love, separates lovers, provokes discord, causes fearful dreams, doubts and apprehensions. As Kunz had reasoned this: “The close union and yet the strange contrast between the layers of black and white may have suggested this.” Cf. Kunz, Curious Lore of Precious Stones, pp. 98-99, and 159-160. [He surely thought about the Arabian onyx as Pliny described it (Nat. Hist. XXXVII, 24).] No doubt, this 'separating quality' is indebted to its astrological distribution to the Leo, which reigned by the Sun. The Latin Sol (“Sun”) means “alone,” a quality frequently mentioned in relation with this Zodiacal sign. (As we noted, the separation of odds and evens is an obvious quality of the three times three magic square, too.) But separation has also a positive sense, e.g. the tribe of Joseph became two tribes (Ephraim and Manasseh), doubling his share of inheritance, even from the land of Canaan. Apart from this, the onyx has a Venereal-Lunar association too, that's why it was attributed by the Hermetic De XV Stellis to the blue-white hue star Benenays (from Arabic qā'id bināt naʿsh, "leader of the daughters of the bear," modern Eta Ursae Majoris = Alkaid = Benetnash), with the herbs chicory and mugwort. Ficino changed the onyx to the magnet [De Vita, III, 8, lines 20-22, pp. 278-9], and because of his modification, Agrippa changed the star to the Polaris [DOP II, 31]. Quite interesting, that the Testamentum Solomonis attributed the Great Bear constellation to Asmodeus (Ασμοδαίος, ‫)אמ דש דמדאה י‬, making a connection between onyx and separation, which is defined as his province. [Cf. Testamentum Solomonis, ch. 21-25, and the deuterocanonical Book of Tobit, 3:8,17, 6:14-18, and 8:2-3. See also BT Gittin 68b, where he separates Solomon from his kingdom for a while, when the king unwisely lends him his signet.] 113 Cf. 1 Samuel, 25:29: ‫ אר ת יד הוהה אללהד יך‬,‫רורה בג צד רור המ חמ יג ים‬ ‫ וד הה יד תה ה נדפדש אדדר נג י צד ה‬/ „the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD thy God.” See also, Matt, ibid., Vol IV, p. 278, n. 276. 114 'Weaving' is an expression attested both in Job 10:11 (‫)תדשרכדכרנגי‬, and Psalm 139:13 (‫ )תדסקכרנגי‬to relate the formation of the fetus (‫ גלם‬golem) in the womb. In an Orphic fragment preserved by Aristotle we read: „an animal comes into being in the same way as the knitting of a net.” [Cf. Aristotle, De generatione animalium, Book II, ch. i, 734a. tr. Arthur Platt, in: The Works of Aristotle, Vol V, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1912.] This wide circular embracing motion essentially excludes the „Wagnerian” interpretation mentioned below. Ritual circumcision is described by the expression sheti va-'erev, (‫„ )שתי וערב‬warp and woof.” It is definitely not as the Latin-English word suggests a circular motion, rather, one alternates between horizontally and vertically: that is cruciform, which represents the summation of the sefirot in the ecstatic Kabbalah. Cf. Robert Sagerman, The Serpent Kills Or the Serpent Gives Life: The Kabbalist Abraham Abulafia Response to Christianity. Supplements to The journal of Jewish thought and philosophy, vol. 12. Leiden: Brill, 2010. pp. 255-356; Robert Sagerman, Ambivalence Toward Christianity in the Kabbalah of Abraham Abulafia. (Diss. 2008), p. 383. The other possible interpretation takes this loop in the context of Ezekiel 13:18, referring to the sewer women of the soul-hunting devices (‫)מתמ פד רות כד סה תות וד ער שות המ גמ דספה חות‬ ‫ ד‬condemned by the prophet. James George Frazer (1854–1941) gives a great amount of reference to beliefs in rings and knots for binding and snatching of soul-birds, however he emphasizes that such devices are strictly prohibited at childbirth, except for homoeopathic (imitative) magic. Some may see in the changed pattern of gems a knot cut through by a sharp magical razor to release the baby tied up in the womb. Cf. J.G. Frazer, The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion. 3rd ed., 12 vols., London-New York: Macmillan, 1906-15. [rtprt. 1920], Vol. 3, pp. 294-298. 115 Gen. 2:22. The original expression, which I prefer to translate „and built” is ‫ ומיג בד ן‬, clearly refers to a process of making a structure from elements already existing. The same word is used relating to making buildings, too. (Cf. 28 said, Sindri 'laid gold in the hearth and bade Brokkr blow and cease not from his blast until he should return. He went out; but again the fly came and settled on Brokkr's neck, and bit now half again as hard as before; yet he blew even until the smith took from the hearth that gold ring which is called Draupnir.' Apart from the nagging nuisance caused by the gadfly (who was in fact a shapeshifted Loki), the dwarfs forged the ring very similarly to Ilmarinen, the blacksmith who created the Sampo, which is also a look-alike of the Seal-ring of Proportion with its bright cover and her multiplicative power. Andvaranaut118 is an another magic ring from the Nordic lore. It was also able to multiply treasures according to Snorri Sturlson (1179 –1241),119 the author of the Prose Edda. As the Poetic or Older Edda relates us, its maker was Gust120, alias Völundr121 the elf-prince122, the mighty smith, who made another seven hundred rings123, too. Unfortunately, neither of the Eddas contains information regarding to the way of creating and the way of using of this particular ring. But some author connected this ring (cursed by her true owner, the shape-lifter dwarf, Andvari son of Oin 124), with Gen. 4:17; 11:4;etc.) 116 This expression used twice in the Bible (Gen.2:18 and 20). Its numerical value represents a full circle ( ‫ער זדר כד נדגד דוו‬ that is 70+7+200+20+50+3+4+6=360). As we have already seen, the nine and the forty refers to the usual time of human pregnancy, which is 9 months or 40 weeks. Nine multiplied by forty is 360, which shows a strong numerical bound between the female fertility (an its Qame'a) and the counterpart helper. 117 'at ina níundu hverja nótt myndi drjúpa af honum átta hringar jafnhöfgir sem hann '. That's why the skalds called gold as 'Draupnir's drop and rain or shower.' Cf. SigurÞarkviða Fafnisbana Önnur S. 21. The true drops from the Queen's duodecad are far most precious, than gold itself: luck, happiness and the certainty of reward. 118 I.e. „Andvari's cattle”. When Loki has taken from him all his gold as a ransom for his life, he tried to keep this ring back, but in vain; and thereupon he laid a curse upon it: that the ring with the rest of the gold should be the death of whoever should get possession of it. Cf. Reginsmál / SigurÞarkviða Fafnisbana Önnur St.5. See the next note. It is remarkable, that both nordic rings (Draupnir & Andvaranaut) are in the sphere of Loki, who is originally a fire-god, and have connection with dwarfs, originally guardians of the treasures of the Earth (gnoms). 119 „Dvergrinn bað hann eigi bauginn af sér taka ok lézt mega æxla sér fé af bauginum, ef hann heldi. ” / „The dwarf prayed him not to take the ring from him, saying that from this ring he could multiply wealth for himself, if he might keep it ” (The Prose Edda of Snorri Sturlson. Translated from the Icelandic with an Introduction by Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur, PhD. New York: The American-Scandinavian Foundation, 1916, Skáldskaparmal, Ch. XXXIX, p. 151.) See also: The Poetic Edda. Translated from the Icelandic with an Introduction and notes by Henry Adams Bellows Two volumes in One. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 1936, Vol. II. p. 360. „ bauginn” - a version of „baugr,”ring; mega: to be able to do, with acc; æxla (weak verb, third-person singular past indicative æxlaði, supine æxlað): to breed, reproduce, propagate, multiply; sér: to see; fé: cattle, sheep, money, possessions. The shape of this particular rune (fé ᚠ ) is likely based on Etruscan V [like Greek Digamma (Ϝ), and Latin F], ultimately came from Phoenician waw, which originally depicted either a hook or a club. This hook seems well connected with the inner structure of the arrangement of the stones in Ez. 28:13. 120 According to the Poetic Edda, when Andvari cursed the ring, which was taken from him, he also named his original creator as a necessary part for the success of his curse. The curse in Fornyrthislag stanza form, is as follows: "Þat skal gull, er Gustr átti, / brœðrum tveim at bana verða / ok öðlingum átta at rógi; / mun míns féar manngi njóta." / "Now shall the gold | that Gust once had / Bring their death | to brothers twain, / And evil be | for heroes eight; / joy of my wealth | shall no man win." (Reginsmal, St. 5., tr. by H. A. Bellows, ibid. p. 361). 121 Viktor Rydberg (1828– 1895), Teutonic Mythology Gods and Goddesses of the Northland, vols. 3, LondonCopenhagen-Stockholm-Berlin-New York: Noroena Society, 1907, Ch. 119. pp. 977-978. Tolkien thanks much for Rydberg's fantastic and poetic account about the rebellion and war between the nordic gods and the elves including the treasures made by Volund / Wayland, who is surely the archetype of Fëanor. 122 The Völundarkviða of the Poetic or Older Edda, clearly states, that he is belonging to the race of the elves and he is called 'master of elves ' (Völundarkviða: , S. 13., ibid. p. 259.), 'greatest of elves' (Völundarkviða: , S. 15 (17), ibid. p. 259. and S. 34 (30), p. 266.) 123 Völundarkviða:, S. 10. (7), ibid p. 258. 124 Andvari son of Óinn is a dwarf who had long lived around Andvarafors („the waterfall of Andvari”) located in the country named 'Svartálfaheim.' He was a shape-lifter, he supplied himself with food in the likeness of a pike. As he said, „A luckless Norn in times of old decreed, that in the water I should wade.” His name means 'cautious spirit,' 'vigilant' or simply 'a guardian spirit', which also appears in the Dvergatal (Völuspá, S. 15.) as well as his father's name (ibid., S.11). He was called Handuanus by Saxo Grammaticus (c. 1150 – c. 1220), which is a Latinized equivalent of Andvari. He was caught by a fishnet, which Loki obtained from the giantess Ran. Cf. Skáldskaparmal, Ch. XXXIX. 29 the Signet of Proportions, wrongly thought to be as a representation of the Despised One. For example a Minnesänger of Judenhass125 sang, that its smith was Alberich the Nibelung (a Jew disguised as a dwarf) and he gained the knowledge to forge it by circumcising himself as a fearful magical act termed as 'denial of love' („Liebesverzicht”)126. According to this Minnesinger, by this terrible deed, he got an access both to steal the gold of the Rhine, and to know and use the special Rune spell („Runen-Zauber”)127 inherently in this gold, to create from it a circle ring („Reif”), which bestowed him power („Macht”) and riches („Schätze”) without measures to rule the whole world, by the booty-runes (Beute-Runen)128 lie hid in it. That's why Alberich alias Oberon is called 125 The antisemitism of Wilhelm Richard Wagner (1813-1883) was fueled by his own paranoid belief that he had Jewish ancestry by his stepfather and probably biological father, Ludwig Geyer (1779–1821). Until he was fourteen, Wagner was known as Wilhelm Richard Geyer. The name Geyer („Vulture”) – as Friedrich Nietzsche commented it in 1888 – was as common Jewish surname as Adler („Eagle”). He felt and feared the alleged 'femininity' of Jewry with which he fought until his death in Venice. Cf. Richard Wagner [under pseudonym K. Freigedank], "Das Judenthum in der Musik" Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, vol. 33, no. 19 (3 September 1850) and expanded version: Leipzig: J.J.Weber, 1869; Theodor W. Adorno, „Fragmente über Wagner,” Zeitschrift für Sozialforschung, 8, issue 1/2 (1939-1940), pp. 1–49; T. W. Adorno, Versuch über Wagner, Berlin-Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1952. [Eng. tr.: In Search of Wagner, tr. Rodney Livingstone, London-New York: Verso, 2005]; T.W. Adorno, „Wagner, Nietzsche and Hitler,” Kenyon Review. Volume, 9. Issue, 1. (Winter, 1947), pp. 155-162; Robert W. Gutman, Richard Wagner: The Man, His Mind and His Music. New York: Harvest Book, 1990; Paul Lawrence Rose, Wagner: Race and Revolution. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992; Marc A. Weiner, Richard Wagner and the Anti-Semitic Imagination, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1995; David Conway, Jewry in Music: Entry to the Profession from the Enlightenment to Richard Wagner. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. On the medieval superstitions on the Jews, cf. Joshua Trachtenberg, The Devil and the Jews: The Medieval Conception of the Jew and Its Relation to Modern Anti-Semitism. Yale University Press, 1943. [rprt. with the foreword by Marc Saperstein: Philadelphia (PA): The Jewish Publication Society, 2002.] As Trachtenberg rightly states, antisemitism is a bad religion. 126 The circumcision – surely because of a misinterpretation of Ex. 4:25 - was thought to be an emasculation and in the same time mystically a way for the absorption or ontological reconstitution of the female into the male, implicitly speaking into the 'aṭeret berit (corona of the circumcised male organ). The foreskin (‫ עהרדלהה‬ʿŏrlâ – a feminine word, which occurs fifteen times in the Bible) is considered as a consequence of the original sin (cf. BT Sanhedrin 38b), a materialization of the evil forces. By the removal of the foreskin and unveiling the corona of the phallus, all three evil klippoth („barks”) - that is the foreskin proper (orlah), the inner skin (peri'ah) and the sod of the klipot nogah are casted away forever and the true female soul can rejoin to the male and their unity becomes complete (not only temporal as in the sexual act), even though it means the effacement of the separate identity of the female. The perfected Androgyn is called the „crowned phallus.” This reunited state allegedly gives the power of Adam in its uttermost complexity without measure, including rejuvenation of that kind which was reported regarding to Guillaume Postel (1510–1581), when he became 'Postellus Restitutus' by the infusion of the spiritual substance of a then two years ago dead nun, Zuana. Cf. Elliot R. Wolfson, „Woman – Feminine as Other in Theosophic Kabbalah: Some Philosophical Observations on the Divine Androgyn,” in The Other in Jewish Thought and History, ed. L.J. Silberman & R.L.Cohen. New York: New York University Press, 1994, p. 191; Elliot R. Wolfson, Circle in the Square: Studies in the Use of Gender in Kabbalistic Symbolism. Albany (NY): SUNY Press, 1995, pp. 29-30, and 107-114; Elliot R. Wolfson, „Re/membering the Covenant: Memory, Forgetfulness, and the Construction of History in the Zohar,” in: Jewish History and Jewish Memory: Essays in Honor of Yosef Hayim Yerushalm. eds. Elisheva Carlebach, John M. Efron, David N. Myers. Hannover (NH): Brandeis Univeristy Press, 1998, pp. 214-246, particularly p. 226; Bruce Rosenstock, „Messianism, Machismo, and 'Marranism': The Case of Abraham Miguel Cardoso,” in Queer Theory and the Jewish Question, eds. Daniel Boyarin, Daniel Itzkovitz & Ann Pellegrini. New York: Columbia UP, 2003, pp. 199-227, on p. 214; Arthur E. Waite, The Holy Kabbalah. Mineola (NY): Dover, 2003, pp. 462-463; François Secret, Bibliographie des manuscrits de Guillaume Postel. Études de Philologie et d'Histoire 16, Genève: Droz, 1970; Marion L. Kuntz, Guillaume Postel: Prophet of the Restitution of All Things. His Life and Thought. The Hague: M. Nijhoff, 1981; François Secret, Vie et caractère de Guillaume Postel, Milano: Archè, 1987. These originally Jewish mystical speculations became very popular in the 19 th century among the western occultists, like Eliphas Levi who by rephrasing such doctrines, made a deep impact on the British Golden Dawn and on the German magic secret societies as well. [The mystical unification of male and female was the main theme Gustav Meyrink (1868–1932), who considered himself as an apprentice of the master and was also a member of the Golden Dawn. See, his most famous novels, Der Golem (1914; Eng. tr. 'The Golem' 1928), or Das grüne 30 'the Lord of the Ring' by his son, Hagen von Tronje 129. When he used the power of his ring, he did it in a very peculiar way. As we were instructed, 130 he draws his ring from his finger, kisses it and stretches it out threateningly or commandingly; in another time after kissing it, he secretly murmurs a command. The kiss made an intimate connection between him and the Ring, a sign of mutual bond, like in marriage. All this kind of application of a magic ring is very familiar for everyone, who heard about Theobaldo the enchanter and his Rune-ring131, which made his owner the possessor of many Rune spells, among them making tempests, shape-shifting, ruling others' will, opening of doors, healing, etc. and even a commanding influence over the world of spirits („Ansprüchen auf das Reich der Geister”)132. Gesicht (1916, 'The green face'), etc. Tolkien's fellow inkling and Meyrink's fellow magician, Charles Williams also wrote a profound essay on 'redeemed humanity' and Androgyn apropos of Milton's Comus; cf. Thomas Willard, "The Acts of the Companions: A. E. Waite's Fellowship of the Rosy Cross and the Novels of Charles Williams," in: Secret Texts: The Literature of Secret Societies, eds. Marie Mulvey Roberts& Hugh Ormsby-Lennon. Ams Studies in Cultural History, 1995, pp. 269-302.] In the Pauline theology, the circumcision was considered a seal of righteousness of the faith (Rom. 4:11: „and he [Abraham] received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised” / καὶ σημεῖον ἔλαβεν περιτομῆς σφραγῖδα τῆς δικαιοσύνης τῆς πίστεως τῆς ἐν τῇ ἀκροβυστίᾳ). But the effeminization was Wagner's dread that's why he has seen circumcision as a fearful and hateful act, forbidden by Christianity (Rom. 2:28, 1 Chor. 7:19, Gal. 5:2,6), which is the horrible price for unlimited power over the world. For Tolkien – who was probably circumcised [as was usual for middle and higher class British Christian boys in his time because of hygienic consideration propagated by eminent English physicians like Jonathan Hutchinson (1828–1913)] – the circumcision alone was not so interesting, but he was mesmerized by the integration of female into male as a mystical absolution from the fear of the female as dangerously alien, who can ultimately devour him. When he wrote about Faramir's androgynous personality in which male and female characteristics were equally present, he clearly expressed that he and his type of hero who resembled him the most, except he had not his bravery. Cf Letters, 232. On circumcision in the Victorian society, cf. Robert Darby, A surgical temptation: the demonization of the foreskin and the rise of circumcision in Britain. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005. 127 The Rune magic is an important segment of the heathen religion of the German tribes. It is involved in both Eddas, (the most important text is the Rúnatal of the Poetic Edda, stanzas 138 to 165 of the Hávamál), and in the Egil's Saga, etc. with corresponding archaeological findings, among others magical rings with Rune inscriptions. There is a Renaissance astro magical treatise, called Liber runarum and an Icelandic collection of 47 spells known as Galdrabók (c. 1600). [On Liber Runarum: the Latin text of Sloane 3854 with an introduction by Paolo Lucentini in: Hermes Trismegistus Astrologica et divinatoria, eds. G. Bos, C. Burnett, T. Charmasson, P. Kunitzsch, F. Lelli, P. Lucentini, Turnhout: Brepols, 2001, pp. 401-450; see also, Charles Burnett, „Scandinavian Runes in a Latin Magical Treatise. Postcript by M. Stoklund,” Speculum 58 (1983), pp. 419-29; repr. in Burnett, Magic and divination in the Middle Ages : texts and techniques in the Islamic and Christian worlds, Variorum Collected Studies Series CS557, Hampshire: Aldershot, 1996, ch. VIII. On Galdrabók: facsimile edition of the Icelandic text published by Matthías Viðar Sæmundsson, Galdrar á Íslandi. Reykjavík: Almenna bókafélagið, 1992; English translation: Stephen Flowers, The Galdrabók: An Icelandic Grimoire. York Beach (MA): Samuel Weiser, 1989. Historical and theoretical introduction on pp. 3-56. See also Edred Thorsson [Stephen Flowers], Futhark: A Handbook of Rune Magic, Boston (MA)/York Beach (ME): Red Wheel/Weiser, 1984.] Of course, R. Wagner and his sources had only a limited knowledge about Rune magic, based mostly on scientific publications of archaeological findings and on the Runatal, but without its Armanen Runen-type interpretation. Cf. Guido von List (1848–1919), „Das Geheimnis der Runen,” Neue Metaphysische Rundschau 13 (1906), 23-4, 75-87, 104-26, and as standalone publication: LeipzigVienna: Gross-Lichterfelde, 1908. English tr. Stephen Flowers, The Secret of the Runes. Rochester (VT): Destiny Books, 1988; Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, The Occult Roots of Nazism: Secret Aryan Cults and Their Influence on Nazi Ideology. New York: Tauris Parke 2004, pp. 33-89. 128 Odin knows and owns the loyalty-Runes (Treue-Runen), the 'steadfast runes of treaties ' carved in his Spear, because he suffered for them. These booty-runes were not his, because Alberich payed the price of them. This circumstance made the dwarf a justified owner of the Ring. That's why that his curse was so effective. Booty = ON herfang („war-catched”) is not used for any Rune in the Rune-lore, as far as I know. Perhaps it simply denotes the aggressive greed for gold; or refers to The Wayland-Dietrich Saga, Canto VI, where the dwarf says: „If I may keep it I will steal for thee gold in abundance.” (Tr. by Katherine M. Buck. London, Mayhew: 1924). 129 'Des Reifes Herr' Cf Wilhelm Richard Wagner (1813– 1883), Der Ring des Nibelungen („The Ring of the Nibelung”), Götterdämmerung („Twilight of the Gods ”), Act 2, Scene 5. Cf. Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung. A Companion. The acclaimed English translation with the full German Text, eds. Stewart Spencer (tr.) & Barry 31 Another one, a mythopoet133 – surely under the delusion of the former authorities and applying Hippolitys' teaching -, wrote in his „fundamentally religious and Catholic work134” that the Ruling Ring was forged by the Tyrean135 himself, the Despised One, whom he called Sauron136 the fallen angel137. He (or his source not yet revealed) has taken out the odd numbers from the Qame'a and multiply the ring of power by them, separating the stones and the gold; and dispensed these 'rings of power' as snares according to the principle of his magical racism. Finally, he went so far, to name the Šêgal as Ruling Ring 'all-together evil since its creation'. His error was mainly caused, that he blended in his myths the cursed Andvaranaut, the misogyny138 and Antichrist doctrines of the „Church Fathers,” with the Platonic lore about the ring of power (i. e. the ring of Gyges as Millington. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2000, p. 331. Wagner uses 'Reif' and 'Ring' as synonyms, which indicates that he also thought about a simple circle-ring, without stones. 130 Ibid., Das Rheingold („The Rhine Gold”), Scene 3. stage instruction, p. 94: „Er zieht seinen Ring vom Finger, küßt ihn undstreckt ihn drohend aus.” Scene 4. stage instructions, p.:102: „Alberich berührt den Ring mit den Lippen und murmelt heimlich einen Befehl.” „Er küßt seinen Ring, und streckt ihn gebieterisch aus.” 131 Cf. Friedrich Heinrich Karl, Freiherr de La Motte Fouqué (1777-1843), Der Zauberring: Ein Ritterroman. 3. vols. Nürnberg: Schrag, 1813, III,2 and III,24.; in English: The magic ring, or, The castle of Montfaucon: three volumes in one. Translated from the German by Robert Pearse Gillies; edited with an introduction and notes by Amy H. Sturgis. Chicago: Valancourt Books, 2006, pp.234-235, 317-319. Wagner loved very much De La Motte Fouqué's works and this one was certainly his source, too. 132 According to the 1825 English translation by Robert Pearse Gilles (1788–1858), the magic ring of Astrid, the beautiful daughter of a Norwegian jarl, was made of two golden serpents, intertwined with each other, on their heads were crowns of blood red rubies. Over and between the serpents' crowns was a bright sea-green emerald. On the circle of the ring, Runic letters were engraved (Book I. Ch.2). However the German text says about a golden ring with magically connected green and blood-red precious stones („die magisch eingefugten grünen und blutroten Edelsteine”), and 'strange characters' („die seltsamen Zeichen”), which was destroyed by Bertha von Lichtenried as special envoy of the Pope, who gained and threw it into the fire by distinctively Roman Catholic rituels (Book III, Ch.26). The strange characters are Runes without doubt (as it is quite obvious from the Nordic background of the ring). As we will see later, the emerald green and blood red stones together point to the direction of key element of the ring of Gyges, the heliotrope stone (which has among others, an origin myth which connect it to Uranos, whom Chronos emasculated). But where did the double-snake ring come? Perhaps the reason is the Regency (preVictorian) style, the epoch of the translation, where such rings were symbol of love and fidelity lasting even after death. 133 John Ronal Reuel Tolkien (1892-1973) yearned to create a „mythology for England,” a medieval style „asteriskcosmogony” (a hypothesized ur-language and its concomitant world-view) and wanted also that it becomes a reality: a kind of "mystical participation" (participation mystique) to manipulate the world in the sense as the French anthropologist Lucien Levy-Bruhl (1857-1939) defined the term. Cf. Tolkien and the Invention of Myth: A Reader, ed. Jane Chance. Lexington (KA): The Univ. Press of Kentucky, 2004; L. Lévy-Bruhl, Les fonctions mentales dans les sociétés inférieures. Paris: Felix Alcan, 1910, translated as How Natives Think, by Lillian A. Clare. London: Allen & Unwin 1926. 134 Cf. The Letters of J. R.R Tolkien. A selection edited by Humphrey Carpenter with the assistance of Christopher Tolkien. London: George Allen & Unwin 1981, Letter 142, p. 191. 135 Thauriel / Sauriel is a very frequently used angelic name in the Greek magical papyri. Some Mandean source called him the angel of death, closely connected with Saturday. If somebody (wrongly) originates it from the name of Tyre that is Ṣōr / Tzor (‫צור‬,) with the usual 'el' („power” / „angel”) suffix, and then as it happened in some cases with angelic names, he replaces the -el by the „-on” (‫ )ון‬suffix, finally get this name, which means to indicate that somebody is „in a state of being from Tyre”, that is 'Tyrean.' On the -on ending, cf. Metatron, Sandalphon, or the Bahir 112, where ten of the 'Twelve Explicit Holy Exalted Names' have this ending. Kaplan, Bahir, pp. 43, 167, 203. 136 Of course, J.R.R.Tolkien has given an alternative derivation of this name, alleging that it is „a contemporary form of an older *θaurond- derivative of an adjectival *θaurā (from a base √THAW) 'detestable',” in the elven tongues invented by him. (Cf. Letters, No. 297, p. 411.) Obviously there is an alliteration between the Phoenicean 'Tsaur/Saur' (‫ )צור‬and the Greek noun 'σταυρός ' used in the New Testament koine with the meaning „cross”. The Old Phoenician letter Thaw / Tau had also been written by a cross +. As I understand, this allusion and alliteration is the real source behind this particular vocabulary entry. 137 Cf. 1 Enoch Ch. 6-11. In the world of The Silmarillion, which is tempered by a particularly gnostical blitz, the chief of the angelic rebellion is Melkor. His name is not accidentally similar to the city-god of Tyre, whose name Melqart, ‫ מלקרת‬means „king of the city”. He is a chief archon ('ainu') a parallel of Semjâzâz (Aramaic: ‫שמיחזה‬, Greek: 32 irresistible temptation of power)139, and forgot or never understood the original purity of the Šêgal. Σεμιαζά); while Sauron is a lesser-rank angel ('maia'). [As the balrog whose Tolkienian description is very alike to Yaldabaoth, the lion-faced, half-fire, half-darkness tyrant of chaos, with his wip of fire. Cf. Pistis Sophia, I.31, f.47; VI.144, f.380. Tolkien clearly wrote: „The use of éarendel in Anglo-Saxon Christian symbolism as the herald of the rise of the true Sun in Christ is completely alien to my use. The Fall of Man is in the past and off stage; the Redemption of Man in the far future. We are in a time when the One God, Eru, is known to exist by the wise, but is not approachable save by or through the Valar, though He is still remembered in (unspoken) prayer by those of Númenórean descent.” (Cf. Letters, No. 297, p. 415.)] Sauron in his original state is an assistant of the smith-god Aulë (an amalgamation of Ilmarinen and Hephaestus), and he himself is a great smith, which makes him very similar to Azâzêl, who „taught men to make swords, and knives, and shields, and breastplates, and made known to them the metals [of the earth] and the art of working them, and bracelets, and ornaments, and the use of antimony, and the beautifying of the eyelids, and all kinds of costly stones, and all colouring tinctures. And there arose much godlessness, and they committed fornication, and they were led astray, and became corrupt in all their ways.” (1 Enoch VIII.1-2.) Cf. The Book of Enoch, or, 1 Enoch by Robert Henry Charles. Oxford: Clarendon, 1912, pp. 18-19. In 1 Enoch, Azâzêl is punished by incarcerated and chained in Dudael. But in the Haggadah, Azazel escapes punishment and remains on earth to cause problems for humanity. Of course, there is some darkly 'Hephaestic” in Sauron, which is quite understandable because he is maker and lord of the 'One Ring,' which amalgamated the ring of Gyges. He is also a 'fallen from the Olympos' and his name (Ἥφαιστος, A-pa-i-ti, of which etimology remaines totally obscure) could be associated with φαιός „dusky,” which hue is exactly fit for a dark angel engaged in metal industry, a trade so abominable before the sight of Tolkien. Apart from these similarities, there is a striking absence, i. e. in 'Middle-Earth' there is no Enoch to intercede and pray for Sauron/Azâzêl (1 Enoch, ch. 13), nor a Dionysos to return Sauron/Hephaestus to the Olympus (cf. Pausanias, 1.20.3). The cause of this is perhaps, that he reserved the the whole character of Hephaistos to Aulë, the Vala-smith, a subcreator, the „Maker” of his „dwarves” (sic!), which are imagined by Tolkien after the Jews, of course. [On the sub-creating of 'Dwarves', cf. Letters, No 212, pp. 301-302; on their Jewishness, cf. Letters, No. 176, p. 246: „I do think of the 'Dwarves' like Jews: at once native and alien in their habitations, speaking the languages of the country, but with an accent due to their own private tongue...” On the Dwarf language ('Khuzdul') he mentioned in his last interview: "The dwarves of course are quite obviously, wouldn't you say that in many ways they remind you of the Jews? Their words are Semitic obviously, constructed to be Semitic.” Cf. Dennis Gerrolt, "Now Read On," BBC Radio 4, January of 1971]. 138 On the „Christian” myth of the woman as the devil, cf. Tertullian, De cultu feminarum, I.1; Jerome, Adversus Iovinianum, in: Migne, Patrologia Latina, vol. 23, cols. 211-338; Francis Lee Utley (1907-1974), The Crooked Rib. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1944; Katherine M. Rogers, The Troublesome Helpmate: A History of Misogyny in Literature. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1966. On Tolkien's misogyny: Brenda Partridge, „No Sex Please – We're Hobbits: The Construction of Female Sexuality in The Lord of The Rings,” in J.R.R.Tolkien: This Far Land, ed. by Robert Gildings. London: Vision 1983, pp. 179-197; Tanya Wood, „Is Tolkien a Renaissance Man?' Sir Philip Sidney's Defence of Poesy and J.R.R. Tolkien's 'On Fairy-Stories,” in J.R.R. Tolkien and His Literary Resonances: Views of Middle-Earth, eds. George Clark and Daniel Timmons. Westport (CT): Greendwood, 2000, pp. 95-108; Faye Ringel, „Women Fantasists: In the Shadow of the Ring,” in J.R.R.Tolkien and His Literary Resonances, pp. 159-171; Women among the Inklings: Gender in. C.S.Lewis, J.R.R.Tolkien, and Charles Williams. Eds. C. Frederick and S. McBride. Westport (CT): Greenwood, 2001. From the Biblical narrative it is clear, that the subjection of the female to the male is a sad consequence of the sin, not an original design. It is not a device intended for high-handed dealings and abuse, but a very hard task of the male to prevent the repeated occurrence of the sin in their relationship. [Cf. Gen. 3:16: ‫בה ך‬-‫אישר ך דתשוקה תר ך וד הוא יג דמשה ל‬-‫ל‬ ‫ וד אד ג‬and ibid., 4:7: ‫ וד אר לדיך דתשוקה תו וד אמ תה ה‬... ‫חמ טה את‬ ‫בו‬-‫]ת דמשה ל‬. ‫ ג‬And this power surely cannot be an excuse for hatred. The only acceptable attitude between man and woman is true love. My personal opinion, that misogyny can not be justified, even if there were (and are) many Ancient, Medieval and present-day proponents and apologists of it. Psychologically the misogyny is a projection, a bad answer for a trauma (i. e. motherly child-abuse) and a psychic mechanism energized by the fear of the child, enduring for a life-time, deeply carved in his soul, which camouflages the real cause and repeat the abuse again and 33 Article Eight Now, this ring of Gyges is thought to be a prototype of all rings of invisibility and all rings of power. Its story told by Plato (428/427 – 348/347 BC) in his best-known and most influential dialogue, The Republic (Πολιτεία, Politeia) written around 380 BC. This famous ring was allegedly found by Gyges son of Daskylos140, or his ancestor. The historical Gyges probably born in Tyrrha (now: Tire, Turkey) and he was the first of the Mermnades dynasty, contemporary of Ashurbanipal Assyrian king and Psammeticus I Egyptian pharaoh. He was the first in the long series of who are called tyrant141. He became king of Lydia (reigned from 716 BC to 678 BC or from c. 680–644 BC), by slaying Myrsilos (or Candaules) the last king of the Heraclid dynasty142. In the third chapter of the second book, Glaucon, Plato's elder brother invokes his myth as follows: „For he was a shepherd in the service of the one who, in those days, was the king of Lydia. Owing to a great storm and also to an earthquake, the ground split open and a chasm made its appearance near the place where he was watching his flocks. Amazed at the sight, Gyges went down into the chasm and, certainly according to the myth they tell, beheld marvels, among the rest, a brazen horse, which was hollow and had doors. Gyges peeped in through them and saw a corpse inside, larger, as it appeared, than human size. There was nothing else at all but that. On its hand, however, was a ring of gold. This Gyges took off and came out. When the shepherds met as usual to make their monthly report to the king regarding his flocks, Gyges, who was wearing his ring, was one of the party. As he was sitting among the others he happened to turn the collet of the ring 143 again. In this regard, only truth can help. 139 Cf. John Cox, „Tolkien's Platonic Fantasy,” Seven 5 (1984), pp. 53-69; Verlyn Flieger, „Naming the Unnameable: The Neoplatonic 'One' in Tolkien' Silmarillion,” in Diakonia: Studies in Honor of Robert T. Meyer, ed. Thomas Halton and Joseph P. Williman. Washington (DC) Catholic Univ. of Am. Press, 1986, pp. 127-132; Mary Carmon Rose, „The Christian Platonism of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R.Tolkien, and Charles Williams,” in Neoplatonism and Christian Thought, ed. Dominic J. O'Meara, Norfolk: International Society for Neoplatonic Studies, 1981, pp 203212; Robert E. Morse, „Rings of Power in Plato and Tolkien,” Mythlore 7, no. 25 (1980), p. 38; Frederick De Armas, „Gyges' Ring: Invisibility in Plato, Tolkien, and Lope de Vega,” Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, no. 4 (1994), pp. 120-138. 140 Cf. Plato, Politeia, Book 10, 612b. 141 Cf. Titus Flavius Clemens (c. 150 – c. 215), known as Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, Book I., Ch. XXI. The expression 'tyrant' is probably a Lydian loanword. Cf. Robert S. P. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, Leiden: Brill, 2009, pp. 1519–20. 142 As Kirby Flower Smith (1862-1918) conclude in his brilliant "The Tale of Gyges and the King of Lydia," (in: The American Journal of Philology, vol. 23 (1902), pp. 261-282, 361-387. [rprt. Analecta Gorgiana 376, Piscataway (NJ): Gorgias Press, 2009]), no less than six different versions of Gyges' story have reached us. The first is from Herodotus, Histories, I. 8-15. The second goes back to the Lydiaka of Xanthos, though it is known to us only in an excerpt from Nikolaos Damaskenos' Universal History Book VI, which was made by Constantinus Porphyrogennetos in the tenth century. The third is from Plato. The fourth is partially reported by Plutarch, Aetia Graeca, XLV, p. 301, f.; his source is unknown. The fifth comes to us from Pompeius Trogus through a rhetorical abstract by Iustinus, , I 7, 14f.; the ultimate source appears to have been some historian of the Alexandrian Age.' Although Herodotus „rationalized” the story and leaved out the magical elements, his story's source is the same as of Plato and of the others. This source is 'a far older version than any of these, though its age and ultimate source cannot be determined precisely. This was a genuine popular legend, a fairy-tale, describing the career of Gyges on his way to the throne'. A reconstruction of this myth, referred as such by Plato, was told by K.F.Smith, ibid. pp. 383385. The sixth version is an enigmatic fragment of a drama called 'Gyges Tragedy' [P.Oxy. 023 2382, published by E. Lobel, Proceedings of the British Academy, 35 (1949), pp. 207-216], which although not known by Smith, it can be also reconciled with his theory. As we will see, Hebbel poetic reconstruction somehow fit to it, too. 143 σφενδόνη τοῦ δακτυλίου means ‘collet’ or ‘bezel’ (Lat. funda or pala annuli) as it were the sling in which the stone is set. The turning of the collet inside and out (περιαγαγόντα πρὸς ἑαυτὸν εἰς τὸ εἴσω τῆς χειρός / στρέψαι ἔξω τὴν σφενδόνην) could refer to an Egyptian style „scarab,” a carved stone movable over pluck, like that superb Egyptian golden ring with green jasper in the Walters Art Museum (Mount Vernon-Belvedere, Baltimore, Maryland) from the same Late Period (664 to 322 BC), when the historical Gyges lived. This remarkable artifact (accession number: 34 towards him and into the inside of his hand. The moment this was done he became invisible (ἀφανῆ) to those who sat near him, and they began to talk about him as they would about one who was absent. Astonished, he ran his hand over the ring, turned the setting out, and, as he did so, became visible (φανερός) again. Upon observing the fact, he tested the ring to see whether it had this power (δύναμις) and found that such was really the case. Whenever he turned the setting inward he disappeared; when he turned it outward he became visible. Being now assured of the fact, he took measures to become one of the messengers to the king. After his arrival he seduced the queen, with her help set upon the king, slew him and took possession of the throne144.” The main elements of the myth are: the gold ring is a part of a hoard of treasure in a grave of a superhuman being; the hoard was found in special circumstances; the ring has a power to make invisible of his wearer by turning the collet or bezel inward the palm; the possessor of the ring who was originally a simple shepherd, by its power became a tyrant. The special circumstances of the finding themselves pointed also to some divine interaction for elevating Gyges to the Lydian throne as well as taking the kingship away from Heracles' descendants145. 42.387) shows on one side a standing figure of Ptah in a shrine with his name written in front of him (ptḥ, probably vocalized as Pitaḥ). In the backside of the green jasper, the name Amun-Re (jmn-Rˤ, pronounced: imɛn rɑː) is inscribed, with two additional hieroglyphs, nfr and Hs(t), so the entire carving on that side might be translated "Amen-Re, Beautiful of Praise." Both sides are circled by cartouches derived from the shen-rings. Its measures are, H: 1 3/8 x Diam: 15/16 in. (3.5 x 2.4 cm); Bezel H: 13/16 x W: 1/2 x D: 3/16 in. (2 x 1.3 x 0.4 cm). See: http://art.thewalters.org/detail/15717. Ptah, one of the five chief deities of the Ancient Egyptians. He, the smith-god of Memphis was worshiped as the creator among his Ennead in the so called „Memphite theology, (53)” who „has given life to all the gods and their kas through this heart and through this tongue.” [Cf. Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature. Berkeley-Los Angeles-London: Univ. Of California Press, 1975, pp. 51-57, (on p. 54). In the Bible Ptah was referred as ‫ פד תוחמ‬in the theophoric name ‫ נדפדתוחמ‬cf. Joshua 15:9, 18:15] He was usualy represented with green skin. The name of Amun of Thebes [in the Bible as ‫ אה מון גמנ רא‬cf. Jer. 42:25] means „hidden one,” or „invisible.” He became identified with the sun god Ra as chief member of the Theban Ogdoad ('divine eights') and Ptah. The signet's meaning could be understood in the context of the Leiden Hymns to Amun, ch. 300: "All gods are three: Amun, Re and Ptah, whom none equals. He who hides his name as Amun, he appears to the face as Re, his body is Ptah." [Jan Assmann, Of God and Gods Madison (WI): Univ. of Wisconsin Press, 2008, p. 64.] It is also worth to consider that the green jasper with red spots and the heliotrope was frequently interchangeable terms in Antiquity onward. [For the deciphering and understanding of the signet I owned thanks to Edmund S. Meltzer.] On Egyptian signet rings, cf. Percy E. Newberry, Scarabs: An Introduction to the Study of Egyptian Seals and Signet Rings. London: Archibald Constable & Co, 1906 [Cheaper resissue: 1908], pp. 92-95. 144 Plato, Politeia 359d-360b. εἶναι μὲν γὰρ αὐτὸν ποιμένα θητεύοντα παρὰ τῷ τότε Λυδίας ἄρχοντι, ὄμβρου δὲ πολλοῦ γενομένου καὶ σεισμοῦ ῥαγῆναί τι τῆς γῆς καὶ γενέσθαι χάσμα κατὰ τὸν τόπον ᾗ ἔνεμεν. ἰδόντα δὲ καὶ θαυμάσαντα καταβῆναι καὶ ἰδεῖν ἄλλα τε δὴ ἃ μυθολογοῦσιν θαυμαστὰ καὶ ἵππον χαλκοῦν, κοῖλον, θυρίδας ἔχοντα, καθ᾽ ἃς ἐγκύψαντα ἰδεῖν ἐνόντα νεκρόν, ὡς φαίνεσθαι μείζω ἢ κατ᾽ ἄνθρωπον, τοῦτον δὲ ἄλλο μὲν οὐδέν, περὶ δὲ τῇ χειρὶ χρυσοῦν δακτύλιον ὄντα περιελόμενον ἐκβῆναι. συλλόγου δὲ γενομένου τοῖς ποιμέσιν εἰωθότος, ἵν᾽ ἐξαγγέλλοιεν κατὰ μῆνα τῷ βασιλεῖ τὰ περὶ τὰ ποίμνια, ἀφικέσθαι καὶ ἐκεῖνον ἔχοντα τὸν δακτύλιον: καθήμενον οὖν μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων τυχεῖν τὴν σφενδόνην τοῦ δακτυλίου περιαγαγόντα πρὸς ἑαυτὸν εἰς τὸ εἴσω τῆς χειρός, τούτου δὲ γενομένου ἀφανῆ αὐτὸν γενέσθαι τοῖς παρακαθημένοις, καὶ διαλέγεσθαι ὡς περὶ οἰχομένου. καὶ τὸν θαυμάζειν τε καὶ πάλιν ἐπιψηλαφῶντα τὸν δακτύλιον στρέψαι ἔξω τὴν σφενδόνην, καὶ στρέψαντα φανερὸν γενέσθαι. καὶ τοῦτο ἐννοήσαντα ἀποπειρᾶσθαι τοῦ δακτυλίου εἰ ταύτην ἔχοι τὴν δύναμιν, καὶ αὐτῷ οὕτω συμβαίνειν, στρέφοντι μὲν εἴσω τὴν σφενδόνην ἀδήλῳ γίγνεσθαι, ἔξω δὲ δήλῳ: αἰσθόμενον δὲ εὐθὺς διαπράξασθαι τῶν ἀγγέλων γενέσθαι τῶν παρὰ τὸν βασιλέα, ἐλθόντα δὲ καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ μοιχεύσαντα, μετ᾽ ἐκείνης ἐπιθέμενον τῷ βασιλεῖ ἀποκτεῖναι καὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν οὕτω κατασχεῖν. Greek text from: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu Tr. by Kirby Flower Smith, ibid. p. 267. 145 The aim as well as such details, like the earthquake, the subterranean chasm, the brazen horse, the giant body, equally refers a chtonic (sub-earth) deity as Poseidon originally was: the Earth-shaker (in Linear B: E-NE-SI-DA-ONE), the Lord of Horses; „The Distribution-Lord” / „Husband of the Distributor” (in linear B: PO-SE-DA-WO-NE); „the King connected to two queens” (i. e. Demeter = DA-MA-TE the „Distribution-mother” and Persephone). His metal was the bronze. (He formed the locks to Tartaros by it, and Zeus by iron.) All his descendant were giants and his lot was, as Plato himself relates us, Atlantis (cf Critias III,109b, VII, 113c). Poseidon was connected to the horse (Poseidon Hyppios, Ποσειδῶν Ίππιος / Lat. Neptunus Equestris) since the earliest times, well before any connection of him with the sea was attested, and may even have originally been conceived under equine form. Such a feature is a reflection of his own chtonic, violent, brutal nature as earth-quaker, as well as of the link of the horse with springs, 35 Plato utilized this myth as an allegory of the absolute power, which corrupts its owner, being as a temptation too great for human beings to withstand. In fact, this ring became par excellence, the temptation as Gregory of Nazianzen the Christian theologian described it146: “Wilt thou choose to have and hold Lydian Gyges' charm of old, So to rule as with a ring, Turning around the jeweled thing, Hidden by its face concealed, And revealed by its revealed?” This Platonic teaching reverberates through the centuries and this myth was remembered, tailored and retold by the Platonist according to the style and fashion of the ages and cultures from Cicero 147, through the literature of the antiquity148, the zenith of Arabian culture149, the European medieval times, the Renaissance, etc. The details, which Plato did not think necessary to tell us, raised questions (i. e. Who was the original owner/maker of the hoard? Who made the ring? What kind of stone was in the collet of the ring, if any? How did this magic ring work? What was the true nature of this ring?) and these questions were answered, like in the case of the rings in the Nordic lore: by fantasy and imagination. i.e. underground water, and the psychopompous character inherent in this animal. In the cave of Amnisos (Crete) he was worshiped as Enesidaon ["earth-shaker" - an epithet indicating the chtonic nature of Poseidon], and the same shrine is also related with the cult of Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth. His Etruscan - Roman counterpart, Nethuns-Neptune is clearly a god of fertility, human included. Some can contemplate on the 360, that this number is the normal average range of equine gestation period and it shows a strong numerical connection with the human fertility as it was already indicated. Cf. Raymond Bloch "Quelques remarques sur Poseidon, Neptunus et Nethuns" in Comptes-rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Letres 2 1981, pp. 343-347. According to this theory, the ring bestowed by Poseidon should be a handy work of Hēphaistos, like Oinopion's subterranean house, which was made also by Poseidon's interaction, cf. Apollodoros, Mythologia, I,4,4. The Olympian blacksmith, who made among others the magical golden chair with invisible fetters, which chained Hera; and the ring of Prometheus, which chained the titan to the Caucasus for thirty thousand years even after he was released by Heracles; no doubt, this Hephaestus was skilled enough to forge Gyges' ring, too! Several of his artistic creation was capable to move, „there was a life in them.” On the speculations about the symbolism of the equine statue and the corpse, see also R. Hollander, „The Golden Ring of Gyges: A Note on 'The Republic' (II 359),” Eos 71 (1983), pp. 211-13. 146 In his 'Soul and body' tr. by. Elizabeth Barnett Browning. See also, his reference in the oratio on Basil's funerary (Oration 43.21) as well as Ambrose (c. 340-397), De Officiis Ministrorum, Book III, Ch. v, §30-32, where he gives a detailed account of the Platonic myth. The frequent use of Gyges story by respected Classical authors like Cicero, and the „Church Fathers” has given to the Platonic myth an elevated status quasi as an approved Christian doctrine! 147 Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BC), De Officiis, with an English Translation by Walter Miller. The Loeb Classical Library Vol. XXI, (L030). London – New York: Heinemann – Putnam, 1928; III, ix, 38; pp. 304-307. 148 K.F.Smith, „The Literary Tradition of Gyges and Candaules,” American Journal of Philology, 41 (1920), pp. 1-37. 149 Even in the celebrated Islamic encyclopedia Rasā'il al-Ikhwān al-safā' (Treaties of the Brethren of Purity - Arabic: ‫)رسائل اخوان الصفا‬, composed between 873 and 909, which among others contains the earliest known Middle Eastern set of magic squares for the numbers three to nine, as models of a harmonious universe [Rasā’il Ikhwān al-Şafā’ Cairo edition, 1347 (1928), p. 69. ], occurs a retelling of the story of Gyges' ring as a verbal quotation from Plato. Cf. Rasā'il al-Ikhwān al-safā', Cairo edition, 1347 (1928), iv, p. 134. 36 Article Nine There is a very distinctive similarity between the Platonic myth and some fable in the Arabian Nights,150 which also relates us stories about finding magical rings. In the older fable, the protagonist, Judar bin Omar a fisherman 151 found the magically warded treasure. whose original owner is named as Al-Shamardal (Arabic: „The Tall One”) the enchanter. The seal-ring, which makes the wearer master of the earth, was, of course also on the finger of this superhuman dead. The name of Gyges is probably hinted at by the name of the river 152, where the hoard of Al-Shamardal was hidden. The thunder and the earthquake is alluded by the name of the Marid or Jinn of the ring, which is Al-Ra’ad al-Kasif (Arabic: „Ear-deafening Thunder”). The hypothetical duality of the signet's powers are very cleverly united by the storyteller, when this indwelling supernatural servant is introduced. Because the Arabic word Jinn originates from junna, yuyunnu, which means to "be covered, concealed, hidden or exist beyond perception,153" which on the one hand, gives the par excellence power of Plato's ring, that is, the invisibility. And on the other hand, this expression connects it directly to the 'covering lady keruḇ,' that is to the Seal-ring of Proportion, even if she is somehow over-shadowed by the Islamic tradition about the Khātam Sulaymān (the seal of Solomon) inscribed with „the Greatest Name of Allah.” In the later story of Ma'aruf (Arabic „known” or „glorious”) the cobbler 154, the seal-ring was made by no other, but the famous Shaddád ibn Aad, who laid by it the foundations of the ‘Manycolumned Iram, the like of which in the lands was never made 155’. His seal-ring is fashioned like 150 I.e. One Thousand and One Nights (Arabic: ‫ تكت ةاب أ ة للف ةل لي ةلة ةو ةل لي ةلة‬kitāb ʾalf layla wa-layla). My references based on the classical English translation of the Macnaghten or Calcutta II edition (Egyptian recension) by Richard Francis Burton (1821–1890). Cf. A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights' Entertainments, Now Entituled [sic] The Book of The Thousand Nights and a Night; With Introduction Explanatory Notes on the Manners and Customs of Moslem Men and a Terminal Essay upon the History of the Nights by Richard F. Burton 10 Vols. Printed by the Burton Club for private subscribers only. Shammar Edition. Printed in. U.S.A. 151 Judar and His Brethren (Nights 606–624, Vol. VI, pp. 213-257.) In the Antar romance as already Burton pointed it out, Judar was the public name of an Arabic girl, Jaida, daughter of Zahir, from the tribe of Zebid, whom sexual identity was concealed by her parents and was brought up as a boy. Both names mean „goodness” or „excellent”). 152 According to the story, the treasure was situated near to Fez in Morocco, on the bank of a river described as „a strong stream”, which is surely the Sebou River or as it is also known, Guigou River (Berber: Asif n Gigu), the largest North African river by volume. It is worth to mention, that in the ' Aladdin; or The Wonderful Lamp' by Antoine Galland (1646 –1715), a very similar magic ring, which was given to Aladdin by the Moroccan sorcerer is inherently connected to this version of the story, too. Cf. Supplemental Nights to the Book of the Thousand and One Nights. With notes anthropological and explanatory by Richard F.,Burton, Vols. 6, Printed by the Burton Club for private subscribers only. Shammar Edition. Printed in. U.S.A., Vol. III, Nights 514-591, pp. 49-191 (from the Arabic published by Hermann Zotenberg) and pp.193-265 (from the French rendition of Antoine Galland). As the Maghrabi Magician said: 'this signet shall free thee from all hurt and fear which may threaten thee' (Night 526, Vol III, p. 72.) especially, because it has a 'familiar spirit,' who calls himself as 'the Slave of the Lord of the Ring' (Night 530, Vol III, p. 80). This Jinn has had lesser power than that of the Lamp (Night 579, Vol III, p. 167.), but this one apparently succeed in 'gladdening' Aladdin ('Alâ Al-Dîn) at least two times! 153 From this same jnn root came ajinna (singular janîn), „fetus” or „unborn child,” too. 154 Ma'aruf the Cobbler and His Wife Fatimah (Nights 990–1001, Vol 10, pp. 1-53). The authorities agreed, that this story, which is not only the final story of Scheherazade, but it also belongs to the latest stratum of the Arabian Nights, c. 16th century. 155 Cf. Vol. X, p. 29. He and his city was mentioned even in the Qur'an (Sura lxxxix, 6,7 together with Thamud and the Pharaoh). His fabulous city, the Iram of the Pillars or of the Tent Poles (Arabic: ‫ إ ةرم ذات العماد‬, Iram ḏāt al-`imād) was ever after a center of imaginations like Eldorado. Cf. Alexander Fodor (1942-2014), The origins of the Arabic legends of the pyramids. [Hungarian], Koeroesi Csoma Kiskönyvtar 10. Budapest: Akademiai Kiado, 1971, pp. 142152. See also the fable 'The City of Many-Columned Iram' (Arabian Nights, Vol IV, pp.276–279), etc. From the story it is quite clear to me, that the city called Ikhtiyan al-Khatan (where Ma'aruf made his fortune) is therefore in the vicinity of the ruins of this Iram, and probably the same as Ubar at Shisr in Dofar province, Oman. The Solomon-style building method (i. e. by employing subdued demons) is also an interesting reference. 37 the Khātam Sulaymān: it was 'of gold, whereon were graven Holy names and characters, as they were the tracks of creeping ants 156'. In its collet was a precious stone in which the Jinn of the sealring can see through157. His name was Abú al-Sa’ádát („the Father of Prosperity”). As he told about himself: 'I am the slave of this seal-ring standing in the service of him who possesseth it. Whatsoever he seeketh, that I accomplish for him, and I have no excuse in neglecting that he biddeth me do; because I am Sultan over two-and-seventy tribes of the Jinn, each two-and-seventy thousand in number every one of which thousand ruleth over a thousand Marids, each Marid over a thousand Ifrits, each Ifrit over a thousand Satans and each Satan over a thousand Jinn: and they are all under command of me and may not gainsay me. As for me, I am spelled to this seal-ring and may not thwart whoso holdeth it. Lo! thou hast gotten hold of it and I am become thy slave; so ask what thou wilt, for I hearken to thy word and obey thy bidding; and if thou have need of me at any time, by land or by sea rub the signet-ring and thou wilt find me with thee. But beware of rubbing it twice in succession, or thou wilt consume me with the fire of the names graven thereon; and thus wouldst thou lose me and after regret me. Now I have acquainted thee with my case and--the Peace158!” Both stories avoid to reveal the astro magical background of the signets 159, but they agreed in the moral of the fables, that the vast power embodied in the seal-rings was given by God to the very lowest of men according to the principle revealed to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel: „that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will, and setteth up over it the lowest of men160”. No doubt, Frederich Hebbel161 was right, the ring of Gyges is a Royal Ring („Königring”), its proper place can be only among the kingly regalia. And it was there, indeed, at least in the legendary court of King Arthur. 156 Ibid. Night 996, Vol. X. p. 29, and Night 995, Vol. 10. pp. 28-29. 157 Ibid. Night. 999, Vol. X, p. 45. „There he is, in the bezel of the ring! putting out his head and staring at us.” 158 Ibid. Vol. X, p. 29. 159 See, Article Fourteen below. 160 Daniel 4:14. „(‫ יד קג ים עליה ) דעלמה‬,‫ושפמל אד נ גהשים‬ ‫ ד‬,‫די יג צד בר א יג דתנג נמה‬-‫ן‬ ‫ ולד ממ ג‬,(‫שמ לג יט עליא )עג להאה ה( בד ממ לד כות אנושא )אד נהשה א‬-‫”די‬. ‫ג‬ 161 Christian Friedrich Hebbel (1813-1863) German poet used this term in his five-act tragedy, the Gyges und sein Ring / „Gyges and His Ring” (1856), when Gyges offers his finding to king Kandaules in the first scene. An interesting fact, that Hebbel placed the tomb, where the ring was found, in Thessalia, which was famous by its witches and necromancers throughout the Ancient and Medieval times [e.g. Erichtho in Lucan, Pharsalia, 6, l. 75062; or Pamphile in Apuleius, Metamorphoses, 3.16-18, 21-23, etc.], giving to the ring a more distinctive goethic hue. This feeling was enhanced by the description of its “dunkelrote Stein” (“dark red stone”- probably a misunderstanding of the name bloodstone, which is also a name of the heliotrope): “Mit seinem Stein, wie ein Lebendiges, Fast an ein scharfes Schlangen-Auge mahnend, Entgegenfunkelte.” (“With its stone, like a living thing, admonishing almost to a sharp snake eye, counter glared.”) And the invisibility given by it: “So bist du plötzlich unsichtbar und schreitest, Wie Götter in der Wolke, durch die Welt.” (“So you're suddenly invisible and stride, As gods in the cloud, through the world.”) It is not surprising, that at the end of the tragedy, queen Rhodope prefers to left this 'Totenring' (“ring of the dead”) on the finger of her first husband's cadaver. 38 Article Ten There is a Welsh poetic list, “The Thirteen Rarities of Kingly Regalia, of the Island of Britain165,” which enumerates those mystic objects, which allegedly belonged to king Arthur and after his death became the treasure of Myrddin eil Morvran (Myrddyn, son of Morvran) in Ynys Enlli (Bardsey Island), the legendary "Island of 20,000 saints," or as an another tradition suggest, of Taliesin Ben Beirdd, Taliesin, the King of Bards himself (fl. 6th century). The twelfth item is described as follows: “The Stone of the Ring of Eluned; which liberated Owen, the son of Urien, from between the portcullis and the wall. Whoever concealed that stone, the stone or bezel, would conceal him162.” In the Mabinogion, Luned more clearly instructs Owen: “Take this ring and put it on thy finger, with the stone inside thy hand; and close thy hand upon the stone. And as long as thou concealest it, it will conceal thee163.” The same is written in Chrestien de Troyes' Yvain164. This method of use makes the ring of Gyges very special and clearly recognizable. One can wonder, if the 'rubbing' of the ring in the Arabian tales, which makes the Jinni to appear, could not mean the same? Because it is easily deductible from the power of the ring, that is the idea of making the visible to invisible and the invisible to visible. By 'rubbing', the bezel of the ring turns down, and the veil of the spiritual world is taken away: the invisible beings become perceivable by the human eyes as he steps into the invisible world 165. This world is not of the dead, but of the unborn. That's why it is everything possible in it. The ring is considered to be a gate or portal of this invisible realm of the unborn, a permanent accessibility to the source of the generative power 166. By turning down, the Sun is set, the night arrived and this gate is revealed 167. By entering it, the possessor arrives into the universe of all-possibilities. This world remains hidden together with the one who got access into its deep for all the others: the crossing by this way is a passage only for the chosen one. Wearing the ring when its bezel is turned inside, it is a liminal state: you can't be seen and yet you are here. This in-between world is also the space of the dreams and fairies, of which is much related by the Celtic bards. They tells us that there are days, places and ways to go there 168, where the dead are still 162“Maen Modrwy Eluned; a dynnodd Owain ab Urien … rhwng yr ôg a'r mûr : pwy bynnag a guddliai y maen, fe aì cuddiai y maen ynteu.” cf. Ibid. p. 49. 163 The Mabinogion. From the Welsh of the Llyfr Coch O Hergest (The red book of hergest) in the library of Jesus College, Oxford. Translated, with Notes, by Lady Charlotte Guest. London: Bernard Quaritch, 1877, Ch. 1, The Lady of the Fountain p. 13. 164 Cf. the ring of Lunet in Chrétien de Troyes' Yvain, le Chevalier au Lion, 1034, [in: Christian von Troyes sämtliche Werke: bd. 2 Der Löwenritter (Yvain), ed. Wendelin Foerster. Halle: M. Niemeyer, 1887. English tr.: D.D.R. Owen, Chrétien de Troyes Arthurian Romances. London: Dent, 1987 / New York: Everyman's Library. 1988.], repeated in the old English translation, Ywaine and Gawin, line 737, [Mary Flowers Braswell (ed.), Sir Perceval of Galles and Ywain and Gawain. Kalamazoo, Michigan: Medieval Institute Publications, 1995.]; and referred to, as a famous passage, by Heinrich von dem Türlin. Diu Crône („The Crown”), ed. Gottlob Heinrich Friedrich Scholl (18021870), Stuttgart: Bibliothek des literarischen Vereins, 1852. [rprt. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1966], p. 17. 165 Similarly, in a 4th century Greek magical papyrus in the British Museum (P. Lond. 46. = PGM V) there is a stone in a ring, which had to be turned inside and held to the ear for the purpose of heavenly inspiration (PGM V, 447-458). 166 Cf. the stone of Suleiman/King Solomon in Charles Williams, Many Dimensions. London: Victor Gollancz, 1930. 167 Lucian, Philopseudes 17, 24 mentions a signet given by an Arab, which protected Eucrates against an apparition of Hecate and sent her back to the underworld, by turning the seal-ring down. This is very much in contrast with the effect of the ring of Gyges and probably derives from the parodic nature of Lucian's work. Cf. Daniel Ogden, Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds: A Sourcebook. Oxford: University Press, 2002, pp. 272-273. 168 Days, like Halloween; places like a dun-shi, or fairy-hill and many ways, indeed. But the travelers were forewarned, not to eat food in this place, if he want to go back from the abstruse world of "the Fairy Queen 39 living as guests of supernatural feasts and banquets; where sometimes, they say, some mortal were allowed to partake and receive fabulous gifts from the fairy host 169. These are the Siths, or Fairies, also called Sleagh Maith, or the „Good People.” It is not without some reason, that some tried to seek the help of these marvelous creatures, especially of Sibylia, the „blessed virgin of fairies” to find this ring of invisibility (anulus invisibilitatis) as the sober Reginald Scot170 as well as other Elizabethan authors who were peculiarly fascinated by fairies and fairy lore 171 tell us. These fairies are always going threesome as did the daughters of Zeus and Eurynome, the Charites (Graces): „Thalia and Aglaia fair and bright, and blest Euphrosyne, whom joys delight 172". They were also similar to them, by their gifts as Pindar wrote: Proserpina," because as Andrew Lang stress it, „Fairyland is clearly a memory of the pre-Christian Hades.” Cf. The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns & Fairies A Study in Folk-Lore & Psychical Research. The Text by Robert Kirk, M.A., Minister of Aberfoyle, A.D. 1691. The Comment by Andrew Lang. London: David Nutt, 1893, p. xxii. [http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/sce/index.htm] 169 Robert Kirk (1644–1692), The Secret Commonwealth or an Essay on the Nature and Actions of the Subterranean (and for the most part) Invisible People heretofore going under the names of Fauns and Fairies, or the like, among the Low Country Scots as described by those who have second sight, 1691. ed. by Walter Scott, (Abbotsford: Longman & Co. 1815) / 2 nd ed. by Andrew Lang, ibid.; John Rhys, Celtic Folklore. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1901. On fairies in Elizabethan literature, see Minor White Latham, The Elizabethan Fairies. New York: Octagon Books, 1972; K.M. Briggs, The Anatomy of Puck: An Examination of Fairy Beliefs among Shakespeare’s Contemporaries and Successors. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1959; K.M. Briggs, The Fairies in English Tradition and Literature. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1967; and Barbara A. Mowat, “Prospero’s Book,” Shakespeare Quarterly 52, 1 (2001), pp. 1–33. 170 Reginald Scot (c. 1538–1599), The Discoverie of Witchcraft, being a reprint of the first edition published in 1584, edited with explanatory notes, glossary, and introduction by Brinsley Nicholson. London: Eliot Stock, 1886, Book XV, ch. 10, second experiment [under the title „This is the waie to go invisible by these three sisters of fairies”], pp. 341-342. Scot gives a detailed description of the conjuration of the three fairies (Milia, Achilia, Sibylia), of who the last could provide the ring when the practitioner in bed, obviously on the mystic edge, when we can see dreams yet awake. As it is clear from the previous chapters (XV,8-9 pp. 335-341), that there is an another abominable way of conjuring this fairy: with the help one of the freshly buried biaiothanati (esp. suicidal or hanged, who is lingering at the border in between underworld and the world of living, or move back and forth without peace, because his or her time on earth had not completed). This spirit bond in a crystal (by an oath of the practitioner) shall fetch the fairy. [On biaiothanati, cf. J. Waszink, „Biothanati,” in: Das Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum ed. Klauser, Band 2 (1954), pp. 391-94; Sarah Iles Johnston, Restless Dead: Encounters between the Living and the Dead in Ancient Greece. Berkeley: Univ. California Press, 1992. pp. 27-28, and 127-160.] Both conjuration is similar. The thirteen words of power / nomina barbara („Panthon, Craton, Muriton, Bisecognaton, Siston, Diaton, Maton, Tetragrammaton, Agla, Agarion, Tegra, Pentessaron, Tendicata”) and the powerful names („Sorthie, Sorthia, Sorthios”) are accompanied with „papist” religious practice, (i. e. frequent making of the sign of the cross and using the names of the Holy Trinity), however connected to Ancient customs, like Agarion/Agrionia, which is a Dionysian festival, also concerned with appeasing the dead (cf. Johnston, ibid., p. 66.) 171 London, British Library, Sloane 3850, ff. 143r–146, cf. Frank Klaassen & Katrina Bens, “Achieving Invisibility and Having Sex with Spirits: Six Operations from an English Magic Collection ca. 1600,” Opuscula. Vol. 3, No. 1 (2013): 1-14 on 66v; Washington, Folger Shakespeare Library, X. d. 234. cf. Frederika Bain, “The Binding of the Fairies: Four Spells,” Preternature 1, 2 (2012): 323–54; London, British Library, Sloane 1727; Oxford, Bodleian Library, Ashmole 1406, and Washington, Folger Shakespeare Library, V. b. 26. Cf. Frank Klaassen, The Transformations of Magic: Illicit Learned Magic 1300–1600, University Park (PA): Pennsylvania State Univ. Press, 2013, Chapter 6. As a possible source for this, cf. K.M. Briggs, “Some Seventeenth-Century Books of Magic,” Folklore, Vol. 64, No. 4 (Dec., 1953), pp. 445-462, who has identified the occurrence of some elements of these rituals, particularly the offering of a meal at a specially arranged table and the consequent arrival of three persons or fairies in thirteenth-century French literature and later popular magic traditions (ibid, p. 461). See also the seven fairy daughters of King Obeyryon and Queen Myeob in Liber Officiorum Spirituum, who also bestowed such rings; cf. John Porter, A Book of the Office of Spirits; trans. Frederick Hockley (1809 – 1885), ed. Colin D. Campbell. York Beach (ME): Teitan Press, 2011. pp. 20-29; The Book of Oberon, eds. Daniel Harms & Joseph Peterson. St. Paul (MN): Llewllyn Publications, 2015, pp. 1-30. 172 Orphic Hymn 59 to the Charites [Thomas Taylor, The Hymns of Orpheus, London, 1792, p.192.] In this fragment, (c. 3rd B.C. to 2nd A.D.) their mother the Oceanid Eurynome was identified as Eunomia, the goddess of good order and lawful conduct. The connection between the Graces and the number three was a trivia in the late Antiquity, 40 "You who have your home by the waters of Cephisus, who dwell in the town of beautiful horses: songful queens, Graces of splendid Orchomenus 173, guardians of the ancient race of Minyans, hear me; I am praying. For with your help all delightful and sweet things are accomplished for mortals, if any man is skillful, or beautiful, or splendid. Not even the gods arrange dances or feasts without the holy Graces, who oversee everything that is done in heaven; with their thrones set beside Pythian Apollo174 of the golden bow, they worship the everlasting honor of the Olympian father. Lady Aglaia, and Euphrosyne, lover of dance and song, daughters of the strongest god, listen now; and you, Thalia, passionate for dance and song, having looked with favor on this victory procession, stepping lightly in honor of gracious fortune.” (Pindar, Olympian Ode 14.)175 As the Graces were clad in long chitons and wore crowns in the times of Plato176, the three fairy ladies also wear long white robes. They are beautiful to beheld, „from whose eyes as they glanced flowed love that unnerves the limbs: and beautiful is their glance beneath their brows 177.” „They are Charites, Gift-bringers. They are their own gifts. Or, as the Greek put it, their gifts are their σημεῑα, their tokens178.” The youngest, but yet the greatest them Aglaia, who always takes place in the middle. She is the Charis of physical beauty incarnate: her name means „splendor, beauty, adornment,” which is so appropriate for the divine metal artist, Hephaestus' spouse179; worthy indeed to name her as an „angel” (intelligentia)180 of both the somehow Saturnine god of creative Middle Ages and Renaissance, too. Cf. DOP II,6: „Tres sunt … inter divas, gratiae.” /„There are … three Graces among the goddesses.” 173 In the Bronze Age, during the fourteenth and thirteenth centuries BC, Orchomenos in Boeotia was a rich and important center of the Mycenaean Greece civilization. According to the founding myth of Orchomenos, its royal dynasty had been established by the from coastal Thessaly. The most celebrated and most ancient sanctuary of the Graces instituted by Eteocles was at Orchomenus, where they were worshiped in the form of aeroliths or meteorites. Musical and poetical games, the Charitesia, were held in their honor, in the theater that was discovered in 1972. This city was famous also, by the Agrionia, a festival of the god Dionysus, involved the ritual pursuit of women by a man representing Dionysus, mentioned in the earlier note. Cf. Albert Schachter, Cults of Boiotia vols. 3, BICS Supplement, 38. London: 1981-1994, Vol. I, pp 140-44; John Buckler, "The Charitesia at Boiotian Orchomenos," The American Journal of Philology 105.1 (Spring 1984), pp. 49-53.; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchomenus_Boeotia. 174 The Three Graces were closely connected with the Sun (whether he is Helios, their father by Aegle, or Apollo), and they are considered even as personifications of the sun's rays, Their names show this: Aglaia was 'the brilliant'. Thalia was 'she who brought flowers'. The joy which results from the sun's blessings is revealed in Euphrosyne's name: 'she who rejoices the heart'. 175 Pindar, Olympian Ode 14. 1-17: „Καφισίων ὑδάτων /λαχοῖσαι, αἵτε ναίετε καλλίπωλον ἕδραν, /ὦ λιπαρᾶς ἀοίδιμοι βασίλειαι /Χάριτες Ὀρχομενοῦ, παλαιγόνων Μινυᾶν ἐπίσκοποι, /κλῦτ᾽, ἐπεὶ εὔχομαι. σὺν γὰρ ὔμμιν τὰ τερπνὰ καὶ /τὰ γλυκέ᾽ ἄνεται πάντα βροτοῖς, / εἰ σοφός, εἰ καλός, εἴ τις ἀγλαὸς ἀνήρ. /οὐδὲ γὰρ θεοὶ σεμνᾶν Χαρίτων ἄτερ /κοιρανέοισιν χοροὺς οὔτε δαῖτας: ἀλλὰ πάντων ταμίαι /ἔργων ἐν οὐρανῷ, χρυσότοξον θέμεναι παρὰ /Πύθιον Ἀπόλλωνα θρόνους, /ἀέναον σέβοντι πατρὸς Ὀλυμπίοιο τιμάν. /ὦ πότνι᾽ Ἀγλαΐα /φιλησίμολπέ τ᾽ Εὐφροσύνα, θεῶν κρατίστου /παῖδες, ἐπακοοῖτε νῦν, Θαλία τε /ἐρασίμολπε, ἰδοῖσα τόνδε κῶμον ἐπ᾽ εὐμενεῖ τύχᾳ / κοῦφα βιβῶντα:” Cf. Pindar, The Odes of Pindar including the Principal Fragments with an Introduction and an English Translation by John Sandys. Cambridge (MA): Harvard University Press / London: William Heinemann, 1937; Pindar: Olympian Odes, Pythian Odes, Race, H. William Loeb Classical Library (L056), Cambridge (MA): Harvard, 1997. 176 From the end of the fourth century B.C. they were represented as three nude young women holding one another by the shoulder. 177 Hesiod (c8th or 7th B.C.), Theogony 910-911: „τῶν καὶ ἀπὸ βλεφάρων ἔρος εἴβετο δερκομενάων / λυσιμελής: καλὸν δέ θ᾽ ὑπ᾽ ὀφρύσι δερκιόωνται.” Cf. Hesiod, The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White. Cambridge (MA): Harvard University Press / London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1914. 178 Cf. Jane Ellen Harrison, Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922, p. 298. 179 Cf. Hesiod, Theogony 945-946: „ἀγλαΐην δ᾽ Ἥφαιστος, ἀγακλυτὸς ἀμφιγυήεις, / ὁπλοτάτην Χαρίτων θαλερὴν ποιήσατ᾽ ἄκοιτιν.” / "And Hephaestus, the famous Lame One, made Aglaea, youngest of the Graces, his buxom wife." Aglaea was married to Hephaestus after his divorce from Aphrodite, and by him became mother of Eucleia ("Good Repute"), Eupheme ("Acclaim"), Euthenia ("Prosperity"), and Philophrosyne ("Welcome"). See also, J.E. Harrison, Prolegomena, p. 308. 180 From a Pythagorean viewpoint, they shared the same number whether it be the eight or the nine. E.g. Agrippa refers the octonarius („eightness”) as their common number in DOP II, 20 and in II,21 he gives the reasons as: „The number eight, ... it is also dedicated to Vulcan, for of the first motion, and number two, which is Juno drawn twice 41 volcanic fire181 and his former wife's messenger and attendant182. When she gives the ring of invisibility, she bestows something, which is very much of herself and at the same time an artwork of her husband. into itself, it consists; ... others, because infants of the eight month do not live, have attributed it to Saturn.” The Pythagorean Nicomachus of Gerasa's (circa 100 C.E.), Introduction to Arithmetic, and in the Theology of Arithmetic attributed to Iamblichus, the ennead („the nineness”) „was the first square of an odd number (3x3). It was associated with failure and shortcoming because it fell short of the perfect number 10 by one. It was called the called the number of man, because of the nine months of his embryonic life. Among its keywords are ocean and horizon, because to the ancients these were boundless. The ennead is the limitless number because there is nothing beyond it but the infinite 10. It was called boundary and limitation, because it gathered all numbers within itself. It was called the sphere of the air, because it surrounded the numbers as air surrounds the earth, Among the gods and goddesses who partook in greater or less degree of its nature were Prometheus, Vulcan, Juno, the sister and wife of Jupiter, Pæan, and Aglaia [because her mother is Eurynome, „daughter of backward-flowing Oceanus”], Tritogenia, Curetes, Proserpine, Hyperion, and Terpsichore (a Muse). The 9 was looked upon as evil, because it was an inverted 6. According to the Eleusinian Mysteries, it was the number of the spheres through which the consciousness passed on its way to birth. Because of its close resemblance to the spermatozoon, the 9 has been associated with germinal life.” Cf. Kieren Barry, The Greek Qabalah – Alphabetic Mysticism and Numerology in the Ancient Word. York Beach, Me.: Samuel Weiser, 1999, p. 31. The Ennead was also associated to Helios and the Far-Working (an epithet of Apollo), so it is surely solar number, which can be reasoned by the arrangement of the nine as ☼ or ʘ, which is the Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol of the Sun (Ra). The Ennead in Ancient Egypt is the body of Ptah (and of Amun, sometimes both are identified with Ra) and as such it also represents Isis as „una quae est omnia dea.” Cf. Iamblichus (attrib.), The Theology of Arithmetic: On the Mystical, Mathematical and Cosmological Symbolism of the First Ten Numbers, tr. Robin Waterfield, forew. Keith Critchlow. Kairos, Grand Rapids (MI): Phanes Press, 1988, and The Pythagorean Sourcebook and Library, ed. Kenneth Sylvian Guthrie. An Alexandria Book. Grand Rapids: Phanes Press, 1988, p. 324. 181 Cf. DOP II, 22, where we found Agiel (‫ )אהגגיארל‬as intelligentia Saturnis and Hagiel (‫ )ההגגיארל‬as intelligentia Veneris. Both names are made from the Hebrew transcriptions of Aglaia variant names (Ἀγλαΐη, Aglaiê and Ἀγλαΐα, Aglaia to ‫ אגליא‬and ‫ )אגליה‬by the transposition of the letters. In the case of Agiel, only the lamed from the middle was transposed to the last position. In the case of Hagiel, at first, the opening aleph and the closing he was replaced by each other, and after that went the lamed to the end. Why was the transcription necessary? As Agrippa wrote: „Verum illud non est ignorandum, Hebraeas literas compertum a sapientibus omnium esse efficissimas, quia habent similitudinem maximam cum coelestibus & mundo. Caeterarum vero linguarum literas tantam efficaciam non habere, quia ab illis remotius distant.” / „But this you must not be ignorant of, that it is observed by all wise men, that the Hebrew letters are the most efficacious of all, because they have the greatest similitude with celestials, and the world, and that the letters of the other tongues have not so great an efficacy, because they are more distant from them.” (DOP I,74). With full accordance with this thesis, he gives even the names of the twelve apostles of Christ in transcribed form as their vera nomina, „true name” in DOP III, 34! 182 Cf. Nonnus, Dionysiaca 33. 55-59: „καὶ ῥοδέου σπινθῆρα μεταλλάξασα προσώπου / ἠθάδα ῥῖψε γέλωτα φιλομμειδὴς Ἀφροδίτη. / ἀγλαΐην δ᾽ ἐκέλευσε διάκτορον, ὄφρα καλέσσῃ / υἱέα θοῦρον Ἔρωτα μετάρσιον ἠεροφοίτην, /ἀνδρομέης γονόεντα κυβερνητῆρα γενέθλης.” / „Then sweet-smiling Aphrodite put off the wonted laugh from her radiant rosy face, and told her messenger Aglaia to call Eros her son, that swift airy flyer, that guide to the fruitful increase of the human race.” Cf. Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca, 3 vols. W.H.D. Rouse. Cambridge (MA): Harvard Univ. Press / London: William Heinemann, 1940-1942. Vol. 3, p. 470. 42 Article Eleven In the Homeric literature Hephaestus' surnames were „famous for invention” and „famed artist”, because he was both an excellent worker and a revered teacher of the „splendid crafts183.” The examples of the brilliant artistry of this „famous god of the two strong arms” are: the palaces of the Olympians (including of his own) fitted with clever locks that the other Immortals cannot undo184. The golden throne, which bound Hera, spouse of Zeus by its invisible fetters 185. The invisible and inextricable bonds, which captured Ares and Aphrodite in their most intimate moment 186, The marvelous jewelry, which he forged during his nine year exile in the hollow cave of Eurynome and Thetis inspired by the „flowed, murmuring with foam, the stream of Oceanus, a flood unspeakable187.” The shields he made for Heracles188 and Achilles189, both of which were not only seemingly vivid, but truly alive with animated scenes of human life and death, peace and war, joy and sorrow, and uttermost fear. The immortal and ever vigilant gold and silver dogs, which stand guard on either side of the golden palace doors of King Alcinous of the Phaiakians on the island of Scheria190. His twenty wheeled tripods, which moved of their own accord and served the Olympians at the feasts on Mount Olympus. Most marvelous were his own golden helpers, of which we read in the Iliad: „but there moved swiftly to support their lord handmaidens wrought of gold in the semblance of living maids. In them is understanding in their hearts, and in them speech and strength, and they know cunning handiwork by gift of the immortal gods. These busily moved to support their lord, and he, limping nigh to where Thetis was, sat him down upon a shining chair.191” 183 Homeric Hymn 20 to Hephaestus [HH 20]: „Sing, clear-voiced Muse, of Hephaestus famed for inventions. With bright-eyed Athena he taught men glorious crafts throughout the world, —men who before used to dwell in caves in the mountains like wild beasts. But now that they have learned crafts through Hephaestus the famed artist [techne has a distinctively „creative power” meaning!], easily they live a peaceful life in their own houses the whole year round. Be gracious, Hephaestus, and grant me success and prosperity!” / „Ἥφαιστον κλυτόμητιν ἀείσεο, Μοῦσα λίγεια, / ὃς μετ᾽ Ἀθηναίης γλαυκώπιδος ἀγλαὰ ἔργα / ἀνθρώπους ἐδίδαξεν ἐπὶ χθονός, οἳ τὸ πάρος περ / ἄντροις ναιετάασκον ἐν οὔρεσιν, ἠύτε θῆρες. / νῦν δὲ δι᾽ Ἥφαιστον κλυτοτέχνην ἔργα δαέντες / ῥηιδίως αἰῶνα τελεσφόρον εἰς ἐνιαυτὸν / εὔκηλοι διάγουσιν ἐνὶ σφετέροισι δόμοισιν. / ἀλλ᾽ ἵληθ᾽, Ἥφαιστε: δίδου δ᾽ ἀρετήν τε καὶ ὄλβον. ” Cf. The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White. Cambridge (MA) Harvard University Press /London: William Heinemann, 1914; http://www.perseus.tufts.edu 184 Cf. „Hephaestus,” in A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers, ed. by William Smith. Boston: Little, Brown and co.,1867, Vol II, pp. 383-385. 185 Cf. Pausanias, 1.20.3 186 Odyssey, VIII, lines 274–282, 296-299 Homer's Odyssey. W. Walter Merry. James Riddell. D. B. Monro. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1886-1901. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu 187 Iliad, XVIII, lines: 396-405: „I had fallen afar through the will of my shameless mother [Hera], that was fain to hide me away by reason of my lameness. Then had I suffered woes in heart, had not Eurynome and Thetis received me into their bosom—Eurynome, daughter of backward-flowing Oceanus. With them then for nine years' space I forged much cunning handiwork, brooches, and spiral arm-bands, and rosettes and necklaces, within their hollow cave; and round about me flowed, murmuring with foam, the stream of Oceanus, a flood unspeakable. Neither did any other know thereof, either of gods or of mortal men, but Thetis knew and Eurynome, even they that saved me.” Cf. Homer, The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, PhD. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu 188 Cf. Odyssey, XI, lines 609-614. Cf. also Hesiod, Shield of Heracles, lines 139-319. [in: Hesiod. The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White. Shield of Heracles. Cambridge (MA): Harvard University Press / London: William Heinemann, 1914.] 189 Cf. Iliad, XVIII, lines 478-609, esp. 577, sqq. 190 Cf Odyssey, VII.91-94. 191 Iliad, XVIII, lines 417-422: „ὑπὸ δ᾽ ἀμφίπολοι ῥώοντο ἄνακτι / χρύσειαι ζωῇσι νεήνισιν εἰοικυῖαι./ τῇς ἐν μὲν νόος ἐστὶ μετὰ φρεσίν, ἐν δὲ καὶ αὐδὴ / καὶ σθένος, ἀθανάτων δὲ θεῶν ἄπο ἔργα ἴσασιν. /αἳ μὲν ὕπαιθα ἄνακτος ἐποίπνυον: αὐτὰρ ὃ ἔρρων / πλησίον, ἔνθα Θέτις περ, ἐπὶ θρόνου ἷζε φαεινοῦ,” The golden handmaids have a 43 Some of his artistic creation get pure admiration, like Pandora192, but some of them was terrible to see. Even Odysseus thought, when he has seen the shield of Heracles, that „May he never have designed, or hereafter design such another, even he who stored up in his craft the device of that.” A very similar thought, that Pliny wrote about the creation of the first golden ring, referring to the myths of the rings of Prometheus 193 and Gyges194 as the mythical origin of finger-rings: „The worst crime against man's life was committed by the person who first put gold on his fingers 195.” The myths, connected by him, together pointed to Hephaestus, the par excellence maker of 'marvelous things' (thauma, θαῦμα or thaumasanta, θαυμάσαντα). As the poet could tell us, once he „went to his bellows, and he turned these toward the fire and bade them work. And the bellows, twenty in all, blew upon the melting-vats, sending forth a ready blast of every force, now to further him as he laboured hard, and again in whatsoever way Hephaestus might wish and his work go on. And on the fire he put … precious gold …; and thereafter he set on the anvil-block a great anvil, and took in one hand a massive hammer, and by the other he grasped the tongs196.” The fire flashed, the sparks flew out and the dirt rose skyward, the smoke thickened to the clouds. Then the warmth of the glowing charcoal and the breath of the bellows 197 vivified the numb and paralyses gold, and awakened it. Then the divine blacksmith, whose wobbly walk imitates the dance of the flames on the charcoal, being a flame himself, leaned over to look inside his forge and when he saw that his work being born and growing, he take out from the fire the redhot billet and - like his fellow-smith, Ilmarinen, 'the Eternal Hammerer, the Master of the Forge parallel in the story of Ilmarinen, who creates Kultamorsian, the Golden Bride instead of the Maid of the Northland whom Kulervo killed. Cf. Kalevala, runo XXXVII, lines. 35-248. Accidentally, the Kulervo story was the first nucleus of the Tolkienic mythopoeia as he himself admit it: „I mentioned Finnish, because that set the rocket off in story. I was immensely attracted by something in the air of the Kalevala, even in Kirby's poor translation. I never learned Finnish well enough to do more than plod through a bit of the original, like a schoolboy with Ovid; being mostly taken up with its effect on 'my language'. But the beginning of the legendarium, of which the Trilogy is pan (the conclusion), was in an attempt to reorganize some of the Kalevala, especially the tale of Kullervo the hapless, into a form of my own.” (Letters 163)” 192 Cf. Hesiod (c. 8th–7th centuries BC), Theogony, 560-612; and Works and Days, 60-105. Cf. Hesiod, Theogony. Works and Days. Testimonia, tr. Glenn W. Most. The Loeb Classical Library L057. Cambridge (MA): Harvard UP, 2006, Vol I. (L057N). 193 Cf. Pliny, Naturalis Historia, ibid., where he refers to xxxvii,1. „fabulae primordium a rupe caucasi tradunt, promethei vinculorum interpretatione fatali, primumque saxi eius fragmentum inclusum ferro ac digito circumdatum: hoc fuisse anulum et hoc gemmam.” / „According to the myths, which offer a pernicious misinterpretation of Prometheus' fetters, the wearing of rings originated on the crags of the Caucasus. It was of this rock that a fragment was for the first time enclosed in an iron bezel and placed on a finger; and this, we are told, was the first ring, and this the first gemstone”. Tr. D.E. Eichholz. - Pliny's Natural History. The Loeb Classical Library Cambridge (MA): Harvard UP / London: W. Heineman, 1949-54, Vol X. (L 419), Book XXXVII, Ch. i. 194 Cf. Pliny, Naturalis Historia, xxxiii, 4. „midae quidem anulum, quo circumacto habentem nemo cerneret, quis non etiam fabulosiorem fateatur.” / „As for the story of Midas's ring, which when turned round made its wearer invisible, who would not admit this to be more mythical still?” Tr. tr.: H. Rackham Cf. ibid. Vol IX. (L394), Book XXXIII, Ch. iv. Midas the Lydian king is obviously a scribal error instead of Gyges the Lydian king. 195 „pessimum vitae scelus fecit qui primus induit digitis.” Cf. Gaius Plinius Secundus (23–79 CE), Naturalis Historia, xxxiii, 4. Cf. Latin: Naturalis Historia. Pliny the Elder. Karl Friedrich Theodor Mayhoff. Lipsiae. Teubner. 1906 in: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu; English tr.: H. Rackham - Pliny's Natural History, The Loeb Classical Library Cambridge (MA): Harvard UP / London: W. Heineman, 1949-54, Vol IX. (L394), Book XXXIII, Ch. iv. 196 Cf. Iliad, XVIII, 468- 477: „βῆ δ᾽ ἐπὶ φύσας: / τὰς δ᾽ ἐς πῦρ ἔτρεψε κέλευσέ τε ἐργάζεσθαι. / φῦσαι δ᾽ ἐν χοάνοισιν ἐείκοσι πᾶσαι ἐφύσων / παντοίην εὔπρηστον ἀϋτμὴν ἐξανιεῖσαι, / ἄλλοτε μὲν σπεύδοντι παρέμμεναι, ἄλλοτε δ᾽ αὖτε, / ὅππως Ἥφαιστός τ᾽ ἐθέλοι καὶ ἔργον ἄνοιτο. / … δ᾽ ἐν πυρὶ βάλλεν …/ ... χρυσὸν τιμῆντα ...: αὐτὰρ ἔπειτα / θῆκεν ἐν ἀκμοθέτῳ μέγαν ἄκμονα, γέντο δὲ χειρὶ / ῥαιστῆρα κρατερήν, ἑτέρηφι δὲ γέντο πυράγρην.” 197 This same breath of the bellows, by which Völundr the smith, was surnamed Gust. The ἀυτμή, which was translated in the Homeric verse as „blast,” literally means „breath.” The ilma (Finish for „air”) contained in Ilmarinen's name refers to the same thing, and as we see, when he conjures the four winds to fan the fire to be hot enough for the making of the Sampo. Cf. Kalevala, runo X. lines 391-402. 44 and Smithy, - forged it with the tongs and anvil, knocking with a heavy hammer, tap-tapped away and hammered skilfully into the perfect shape 198 of a beautiful golden ring. A shape, which was round as the horizon from a sunlit island embraced by the Ocean. A shining circle of the drops of the waves illuminated by the beams of the Sun. A charming shape, which is reminiscent of the bride of beauty, let be her name Aglaia, Pandora, or Kaunis Pohjan Tyttö („Fair Girl of the North”)199 adorned with properly set precious stones, the kirjokansi („bright cover with the spectrum”), indeed200! „On it was much curious work, wonderful to see; for of the many creatures which the land and sea rear up, he put most upon it, wonderful things, living beings with voices: and great beauty shone out from it201.” 198 Kalevala, runo X. lines 403-413: „Se on seppo Ilmarinen päivän kolmannen perästä / kallistihe katsomahan ahjonsa alaista puolta: / näki sammon syntyväksi, kirjokannen kasvavaksi. / Siitä seppo Ilmarinen, takoja iänikuinen, / takoa taputtelevi, lyöä lynnähyttelevi. / Takoi sammon taitavasti.” / „Smith Ilmarinen / at the third day end / leaned over to look / at his forge's underside - / saw the Sampo being born / the bright-lid growing. / Then the smith Ilmarinen / the everlasting craftsman / he hammers away / he tap-taps away. / He forged the Sampo with skill.” On the forging of the Sampo during fifteen consecutive day (i. e. from new moon to the full moon), see: Kalevala, runo X. lines 295-422. Cf. The Kalevala. An epic poem after oral tradition by Elias Lönrot. Translated from the Finnish with an Introduction and Notes by Keith Bosley. Oxford World's Classics. Oxford: University Press, 1989, pp. 113-116. (When I refer lines, I mean the lines of this English translation.) 199 The Sampo was created by Ilmarinen, intended to be a bride price (direct dower) for the Fair Maid of the Northland (Pohjola), as her mother, Louhi, the hag of the North promised to Ilmarinen: „Ohoh seppo Ilmarinen, takoja iän-ikuinen! / Saatatko takoa sammon, kirjokannen kirjaella / joutsenen kynän nenästä, maholehmän maitosesta, / ohran pienestä jyvästä, kesäuuhen untuvasta, / niin saat neion palkastasi, työstäsi tytön ihanan. ” / „Smith Ilmarinen / O everlasting craftsman / if you can forge the Sampo / brighten the bright-lid/ from a swan's quill tip / a barren cow's milk / a small barley grain/ a summer ewe's down / you'll get the maid for your pay / for your work the lovely girl." Cf. Kalevala, runo X, lines 259-268, p. 112. 200 The Kalevala's expression closely related to the Sampo. The kirjo means „a whole gamut of the colors”, i. e. „spectrum,” and the kansi is for „cover.” 201 Hesiod, Theogony, 581-584: „θαῦμα ἰδέσθαι, / κνώδαλ᾽, ὅσ᾽ ἤπειρος πολλὰ τρέφει ἠδὲ θάλασσα, /τῶν ὅ γε πόλλ᾽ ἐνέθηκε,—χάρις δ᾽ ἀπελάμπετο πολλή,— / θαυμάσια, ζῴοισιν ἐοικότα φωνήεσσιν.” For Hesiod, Pandora was „the beautiful evil to be the price for the blessing” (καλὸς κακός ἀντ᾽ ἀγαθοῖο) and „the sheer, hopeless snare” (δόλος αἰπὺς ἀμήχανος) but originally she was a giver and not a taker. As was convincingly put by Jane Ellen Harrison, this Hesiodic episode of Pandora is not a genuine myth, but an anti-feminist fable. (Cf. Jane Ellen Harrison, Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922, pp. 283–85; Graves, The Greek Myths (1955) 1960, sect.39.8 p.148; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandora). I think, this depiction of Pandora was the source of the Tolkienean rings of power (especially the nine and the seven) as snares and the One Ring as 'Beautiful All-together Evil', too. Pandora was so beautiful and charming, that even the Olympians could not resist her. 45 Article Twelve This bright cover, the bezel of the ring of Gyges is the particular object, which seems to confer the power to make its wearer invisible. But Plato and the poets failed to give the necessary details. Fortunately Pliny the Elder, who already helped to connect the ring with its divine artist, was also the first known author, who has given the missing description. According to him, this special stone should be a heliotrope (Greek: „sun-turner”)202 or bloodstone, on which he wrote, as follows. „The heliotrope, which is found in Ethiopia, Africa and Cyprus, is leek-green in color, but is marked with blood-red streaks. The name is explained by the fact that, when the stone is dropped into a vessel of water and bright sunshine falls upon it, in reflecting the sunlight it changes it into the colour of blood. This is true especially of the Ethiopian variety. When it is out of water, the same stone catches the sunlight like a mirror and detects solar eclipses, showing the passage of the moon below the sun's disc. Here, moreover, we have quite the most blatant instance of effrontery on the part of the Magi, who say that when the heliotrope plant 203 is joined to the stone and certain prayers are pronounced over them, the wearer is rendered invisible.204” This classical account, including the invisibility passage and Pliny's refutation against the Magicians205, was copied by the seven century Christian bishop, Isidore of Seville in his encyclopedic work, the Origins206, without referring his original source. According to the custom of the medieval bishops and monks, he was also copied. That is the reason, why we found very similar 202 From Greek Ἥλιος (helios), "sun" an τροπεῖν (tropein), "to turn". The stone heliotrope of the Antiquity was classified by the modern mineralogists as green chalcedony with red inclusions of iron oxide or red jasper. 203 This poisonous perennial flowering plant in the borage family, named also as turnsole or wartwort (Heliotropium europaeum L.) was admired by Pliny because it „always looks towards the sun as it passes and at every hour of the day turns with it”, „even on a cloudy day, so great a love it has for that, luminary,” and „at night it closes its blue flower as though it mourned.” (Naturalis Historia, ii,41, and xxii,29). He considered it as a plant created for marking the hours (ibid., xviii,67.). He gives a detailed description of its two varieties—tricoccum and helioscopium -, including their medical/magical properties and time of collecting (of course, in summer, at noon) and method of using and preserving it, in Book xxii, chap. 29. He mentions not only his sources (Apollophanes and Apollodorus), but even his own praxis in the application of the various benefit of this marvelous flower. His other references cf. ibid., xix,31, & 58; xxi,22, & 60; xxv,18. No doubt, this so definitely solar plant was his favorite. 204 Pliny, Naturalis Historia, xxxvii, 57: „Heliotropium nascitur in aethiopia, africa, cypro, porraceo colore, sanguineis venis distincta. causa nominis, quoniam deiecta in vas aquae, fulgore solis accidente, repercussu sanguineo mutat eum, maxime aethiopica. eadem extra aquam speculi modo solem accipit deprenditque defectus, subeuntem lunam ostendens. magorum inpudentiae vel manifestissimum in hac quoque exemplum est, quoniam admixta herba heliotropio, quibusdam additis precationibus, gerentem conspici negent.” Tr.: D.E. Eichholz. Cf. ibid, Vol X, XXXVII, Ch. lx, §165. Francesco Zorzi (1466-1540) borrows directly from Pliny, when he writes: „Heliotropium admixta herba eiusdem nominis quebusdam est additis precationibus gerentem (ut nonnuli asserunt) conspici vetat.” Cf. Zorzi, De harminia mundi, Cant III, Modulus i, Tonus 8, Ch. 4, p. 89r. 205 In the same chapter, Pliny refers directly to Zachalias of Babylon who dedicated his work to Mithridates VI (Μιθριδάτης - 135–63 BC), king of Pontus and Armenia Minor. According to Pliny, the magi and among them Zachalias „attributes man's destiny to the influence of precious stones.” On magi, cf. Pliny, Nat. Hist., XXX, 2-6, etc. On carved gems in Late Antiquity, cf. Gems of heaven': Recent Research on Engraved Gemstones in Late Antiquity, AD 200-600. eds. Chris Entwistle & Noel Adams, British Museum Research Publication 177. London: Trustees of the British Museum, 2011. As C. Faraone concludes in his contribution [“Text, Image and Medium: The Evolution of Graeco-Roman Magical Gemstones” in ibid., pp. 50-61”], where healing objects are concerned, it seems the stone itself to be of greatest importance (in this case with the herb), followed by the image it carries and finally the magic text, which seems to be the latest addition to the tradition. 206 Isidore of Seville or Isidorus Hispalensis (c. 560-636), Etymologies, XVI,7,12: „Heliotropia viridi colore et nubilo, stellis puniceis supersparsa cum sanguineis venis. Causa nominis de effectu lapidis est; nam deiecta in labris aeneis radios solis mutat sanguineo repercussu; extra aquam autem speculi modo solem accipit, deprehenditque defectus eius subeuntem lunam ostendens. Magorum inpudentiae manifestissimum in hoc quoque exemplum est, quoniam admixta herba heliotropio quibusdam additis precationibus gerentem conspici negent. Gignitur in Cypro et Africa, sed melior in Aethiopia.” Cf. Isidori Hispalensis Episcopi Etymologiarum sive Originum Libri XX, ed. W.M. Lindsay, Oxford: Oxford UP, 1911; http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Isidore/ home.html; and The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville, tr. with intr. and notes by Stephen A. Barney, W.J. Lewis, J.A. Beach & Oliver Berghof . Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2006, p. 323. 46 descriptions of this particular gem after six hundred years in the Liber de proprietatibus rerum ("On the Properties of Things") of Bartholomew of England207, or in the Speculum Maius („The Greatest Mirror”) of Vincent of Beauvais208. But Pliny laconic account was extended by others with a devotion and enthusiasm regarding to its magical elements. The chief source of this is the fifth or sixth century De virtutibus lapidum („On the virtues of stones”) attributed to Damigeron, which claims to be a Latin prose translation of a Greek poem209, by Evax the Arabian King as a return gift to the centurion Lucinius Fronto for the Roman emperor Tiberius. These virtues are called mysteries and specifically belongs to the mysteries of Egypt. Damigeron's version210 is the following: „Heliotrope stone is found in Ethiopia, Cyprus, and Libya. It has the color of an emerald, [marked by] the blood of the veins. It is called Heliotrope because it turns the sun. Now, if the stone is put in a silver basin full of water and placed against the sun, it makes it as if it were a blood-vessel and darkness. If it is consecrated it shows divinatory potency. The air becomes cloudy with thunder and lightning and rain and hail stones, so that even those experienced in the power of the stone are frightened and perturbed. Such divine power does this stone have. Further, it announces future events by producing rain and by audible songs. It preserves the faculties and bodily health of the wearer, brings him a good reputation and respect, and provides child-blessing; it expels poisons; and removes all kinds of bugbears. For the man who wears this stone is never deceived, so great is the God-granted grace of this stone for men. This Heliotrope by its unharmed power, turns the Sun. It is also said of this stone, that evokes showers, and the rest211.” Our authors agree that this dark green stone with red spots has a solar connection. Pliny in his abridged Roman style writes about the wonderful play of light as mirrored by the stone when it is 207 Bartholomew of England or Bartholomeus Anglicus (before 1203 – 1272), Liber de proprietatibus rerum (1230), XVI,41. Cf. On the properties of things : John Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus De proprietatibus rerum : a critical text eds, M. C. Seymour ... et al. vols. 3. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975.; Lynn Thorndike (18821965), History of Magic and Experimental Science, vols. 8. New York-London: Columbia University Press, 1923– 1958, Vol. II, p. 429. The only change, which Bartholomew dare to risk, that he replaced precationibus („prayers”) of Pliny and Isodore with the more sinister incantationibus („incantations”). 208 The Dominican friar, Vincent of Beauvais, Vincentius Bellovacensis or Vincentius Burgundus) (c.1190 – 1264?), Speculum Maius, Pars I: Speculum naturale (1244), Book ix. ch. lxvii. cf. Speculum naturale Vincentii (Hermannus Liechtenstein, 1494 – published on https://books.google.com) p. 87b. Vincent as usual, copies from every available sources, but regarding to the heliotrope, this includes only Isidore, Aristotle, Thomas of Cantimpré, Arnold of Saxony, De finibus rerum naturalium; and Marbode of Rennes (d. 1123), Liber lapidum seu de gemmis, §29. According to his account on Aristotle's Lapidarium, the stone by its solar power, evaporates water! The other sources based on Damigeron's lapidary, discussed later. 209 The source of Damigeron is the Lithica, a Greek poem of 770 lines ascribed to Orpheus from the fourth century A.D, usually referred as Orphei lithica kerygmata, which includes details about thirty precious stones. Cf. Orphei lithica. Accedit Damigeron de lapidibus. Recensuit Eugenius Abel. Berlin 1881. repr.: Hildesheim: Gerstenberg, 1971; Les Lapidaires grecs, eds. Robert Halleux and Jacques Schamp, Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1985. 210 Damigeron's text has two recensions. The first is Jean Baptiste Pitra, Spicilegium Solesmense Paris, 1855, vol. iii, 324-335. and the second is Abel, ibid., pp. 161-195. (Digital ed.: Thomas Gloning, 9/2004 http://www.staff.unigiessen.de/gloning/tx/damig3.htm) Abel re-edited the text in alphabetical order, Pitra edited without changing the original order of the fifty stones. 211 Damigeron, De lapidibus (Abel) ch. II, p. 165, lines 1-19: „Heliotropius lapis nascitur in Aethiopia et Cypro et Libya. Est autem colore smaragdino, sanguinis habens venas. Appellatur autem Heliotropius eo quod vertit solem. Missus enim in pelvem argenteam aqua plenam et positam contra solem, vertit eum et facit quasi sanguineum et obscurum. Consecratus enim videbis divinam potentiam. Continuo enim pelvis incipiet aquam confundere, turbidus ut aer cum tonitruis et fulgoribus et pluviis et procellis, adeo ut etiam imperiti potentia lapidum terreantur et conturbentur: tantas vires et divinitates lapis iste habet. Praeterea vaticinatur et praenuntiat futura per fluvios perennes et vocaliter per carmina. Ad salutem conservat quoque vivendi facultatem et corpus incolume, et bonam existimationem praebet gestantibus et omnem veneni ablationem; et universi generis terriculas amovet. Nam qui hunc lapidem gerit, numquam decipitur, tanta est huius lapidis gratia a deo concessa hominibus. Hic lapis Heliotropius vertit solem inviolato numine. Igitur ut iste lapis imbres evocat et caetera.” Cf. Pitra's recension: Damigeron (Pitra) ch. XIX; Pitra, ibid., vol. iii, p. 325-326; Joan Evans & Paul Studer, Anglo-Norman lapidaries, Paris: Champion, 1924, p. 369; see also: Kunz, Curious Lore, pp. 60-61. 47 under water or out of water. Damigeron as a revealer of ancient Egyptian mysteries, takes the play of light as real, a magic force inherent in the stone, which can be used for both divination and magic, including magical healing, too. All of his other 'enhancements' of the heliotrope could be explained by the color theory of stones clearly detectable in his work. Being green as a jasper, the heliotrope has also shares the power of rain-making 212. Being green it has also the power of emerald to foreshow future events and to be a revealer of truth, which prevents its wearer from being deceived213. Sharing the color of chrysolite (peridot/olivine), of beryl, and of emerald, it also dispels the vague terrors of night, banishes fear, heals poisoning and makes his owner to enjoy the special protection of God214. Behind all of these virtues are surely the Sun-god Apollo, because of the hue of the olive oil consecrated to him215. It is quite remarkable fact, that despite these 'enhancements' Damigeron does not mention explicitly that the heliotrope could do service in making the wearer invisible, but Pliny does 216. But this feature was not left out when emerged the par excellence medieval lapidary, the 732 hexameter long poem of bishop de Marboeuf aka Marbode of Rennes (1035-1123), which was called De Lapidibus seu de gemmis („On the stones or on the gems”). This work purported to be „an abridgment of the bulky volume composed by Evax, King of Arabia, and sent as a present to Tiberius Caesar” that is Damigeron's work, but in reality it is an extension of it, which gives more or less details about sixty stones (ten more than Damigeron), including of course, the heliotrope217. For Marbode, the most important virtue of the stone is its healing and preserving power already mentioned by Damigeron. He asserts that the heliotrope, obviously by the red jasper spots, which 212 Cf. Orphei lithica: „The gods propitious hearken to his prayers, / Whoe'er the polished grass-green jasper wears; / His parched glebe they'll satiate with rain, / And send for showers to soak the thirsty plain.” Tr. by Charles William King (1818-1888), Natural History of Precious Stones and of the Precious Metals. London: Bell & Daldy, 1884, p. 382. Damigeron, XIII (Pitra) adds, that only properly consecrated jasper could do this. Cf. Pitra, Spicilegium, Vol. III, p. 328. See also: Kunz, ibid., p. 90. and Damigeron, De lapidibus (Abel) ch. XIII, p. 173, lines 20-24. 213 Damigeron, De lapidibus (Abel) ch. VI, p. 168-169, lines 1-13; Damigeron, VI (Pitra): Pitra, Spicilegium, Vol. III, p. 326. See also: Epiphanii, „De XII gemmis,” Tiguri, 1565, f. 5, Kunz, ibid., pp. 76-77. 214 On chrysolite: Damigeron, De lapidibus (Abel) ch. XLVIII, p. 194, lines 12-16; Damigeron, XLVIII (Pitra): Pitra, Spicilegium, Vol. III, p. 335; Marbode, De Lapidibus, clearly states that the chrysolite to exert its full power, required to be set in gold. Kunz, ibid., pp. 66-67. On beryl already Pliny notes, that „Many people consider the nature of beryls to be similar to, if not identical with, that of emeralds.” (Nat. Hist., XVII, 20). 215 Cf. Damigeron, De lapidibus (Abel) ch. XXXV, p. 190, line 21: „similis oleo Apollinis.” 216 Harpocration of Alexandria (4th c.) in his litteromantic magical treatise (which is preserved as the first book of the Cyranides) attributes this virtue to the onyx corresponding to the letter omicron. „Engrave a quil (ortyx) on the onyx-stone, and the sea perch (orphos) under its feet. Put beneath the stone some of the preparation for the lamp, and no one will see you, not even if you carry something off. Anoint your face with some of the preparation and wear the ring, and no one will see you, whoever you are or whatever you are doing.” ( Cyranides 1.15.33-7) The lamp-mixture: „Grind the eyes of a quail or of a dusky grouper with some water, and keep them in a glass vessel for seven days. Then add a little olive oil and put it in a lamp.” The o-plant omitted from the amulet is the oleander (onothursis). The amulet seems to depend in part for its power on a sympathy of names: the sea perch (orphos) alludes to shroud one in the darkness (orphné). Cf. Maryse Waegeman, Amulet and Alphabet: Magical Amulets in the First Book of Cyranides. Amsterdam: Brill Academic Pub., 1987; Daniel Ogden, Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds: A Sourcebook. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002, p. 264. See also: D. Kaimaikis, Die Kyraniden. Meisenheim am Glan: Hain, 1976; Louis Delatte (ed.), Textes latins et vieux français relatifs aux Cyranides, Bibliothèque de la Faculté de philosophie et lettres de l'Université de Liège, fasc 93. LiègeParis: Droz, 1942.; Joan Evans, Magical Jewels of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, particularly in England. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1922 [rprt. New York: Dover, 1976], p. 18-19. 217 Marbode of Rennes' (1035-1123) De Lapidibus: considered as a medical treatise with text, commentary, and C.W. King's translation, together with Marbode's minor works on stones, ed. John M. Riddle, Sudhoffs Archiv, Zeitschrift für Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Beiheft 20 - Steiner, Wiesbaden, 1977, on heliotrope: §29, p. 67; cf. Migne, Patrologia Latina, Vol. clxxi, col. 1737-70. (with parallel French translation), on heliotrope: col. 1757 sqq, 48 intrude the green chalcedony218 like drops of blood, constricts cardiovascular circulation219 and in this way expels poisons and increases longevity 220. When he turns to the question of invisibility, as the most extraordinary gift of this gem, leaving the refutation of Pliny (and his faithful copyist Isidore), he prescribes the recipe of invisibility as such: „If it is joined to the plant of the same name, and consecrated by the prescribed song, with a powerful word, it will withdraw who ever holds it from human sight221.” And if it would not be clear enough, at the end of his poem, he calls the steel ring of Prometheus with the fragment of the Caucasian rock as true archetype of the proper use of gems on digits222, indicated that the heliotrope has to be set in a bezel of a ring. Albertus Magnus (1193–1280) accepted Marbode's lore about the heliotrope. For him, as an Aristotelian clergyman, these special hidden properties were originated from the heliotrope's essence, its forma specifica („its form as species”)223 and not from its quality. This distinction between effects due to quality and effects due to form was common in the Middle Ages and in this regard, it means to clarify, that the effects of the stone in question cannot be explained by means of Aristotelian causality and it cannot be attributed exclusively to the primary opposites (dry, wet, hot, cold) and their combinations; therefore they can only be discovered through experimenta, („experiences”)224. However the masters of experiments as Albertus made their best to find and to 218 For the science of mineralogy, „Agate, Heliotrope, Onyx, Plasma, Sard, are all varieties of Calcedony differently coloured by metallic oxides. Consists of silica and alumina. Native form : botryoidal (grape-like) masses ; but more frequently found in rolled pebbles.” Cf. Ch. W. King, The natural history, ancient and modern, of precious stones and gems, and of the precious metals. London: Bell & Daldy, 1867, p. 341. 219 Cf. Michael Papio (2003), "Editor's Notes," Heliotropia - An online journal of research to Boccaccio scholars: Vol. 1: Iss. 1, Article 7. Available at:http://scholarworks.umass.edu/heliotropia/vol1/iss1/7; p. 3. 220 Marbode, Liber lapidum seu de gemmis, §29, lines 441-442. On the next line he thought necessary to warn his reader: „Nec falli poterit, lapidem qui gesserit istum.” / „Do not be deceived, a stone [alone] could not do this well.” 221 Cf. Marbode, Liber lapidum seu de gemmis, §29, lines 245-247: „De heliotropio. / Ex re nomen habens est heliotropia gemma, / Quae solis radiis in aqua subiecta batillo, / Sanguineum reddit mutato lumine solem, / Eclypsimque novam terris effundere cogit. / Denique post modicum vas ebullire videbis, / Aspergique foras subitae scaturiginis imbrem, / Ut fit cum nimbis distillat turbidus aer. / Imbres de coelo vocat, adstringitque serenum: / Se quoque gestanti dat plurima vaticinari, / Atque futurarum quasdam cognoscere rerum. / Hosque bonae famae, quibus est data, laudibus ornat, / Servat et incolumes, producens tempora vitae. / Sanguinis adstringit fluxum pellitque venena; / Nec falli poterit, lapidem qui gesserit istum. / Tot bona divino data sunt huic munere gemmae, / Cui tamen amplior hic concessa potentia fertur; / Nam si iungatur eiusdem nominis herba, / Carmine legitimo, verbo sacrata potenti, / Subtrahit humanis oculis quemcunque gerentem. / Hanc nunc Aethiopes, nunc Cyprus et Africa mittit / Sanguinis aspersam guttis, similemque smaragdo.” Cf. Liber lapidum seu de gemmis varietate lectionis et perpetua annotatione illustratus a Johanne Beckmanno (etc.) Gottingae: Dieterich; 1799.§ 29, lines 429449, pp. 57-59. http://data.onb.ac.at/ABO/%2BZ16626820X 222 Marbode, Liber lapidum seu de gemmis, §61, lines 720-721: „Anulus ut gemmam digitis aptandus haberet, / Dicitur inprimis fecisse Prometheus usum, / Caucaseae rupis quem fragmina lucida ferro / Inclusisse ferunt, digitoue recepta tulisse.” Cf. Beckmann, ibid., pp. 88-89. Because Isidore in his Etymologies, XVI, 16. also copied Pliny's account on this, it is hard to tell who was the immediate source of Marbode. 223 Albertus followed Aristotle, who distinguished between matter (hyle, ὕλη) and form (morphē, μορφή, "shape"). For Aristotle, matter is the undifferentiated primal element: it is rather that from which things develop than a thing in itself. He conceived being (ousia) as a compound of matter and form. The development of particular things from this germinal matter consists in differentiation, the acquiring of particular forms of which the knowable universe consists. Because the Forms are the essences of various objects: they are that without which a thing would not be the kind of thing it is. The Aristotelian theory of forms originated in his master, Plato's theories, who wrote in Cratylus 389: "For neither does every smith, although he may be making the same instrument for the same purpose, make them all of the same iron. The form must be the same, but the material may vary. " The forma specifica is the form, which makes a species. 224 The term experimenta is referring to “events that were indeterminate or purely contingent, and hence could be known only by experiencing.” Cf. Willam Eamon, Science and the Secret of Nature. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1994, p. 56. The special properties themselves (Arabic: khāṣṣa, Hebrew: segullot), although frequently were called occultus („hidden”), they and their study did indeed belong to natural science. All the Arab, Hebrew and Christian thinkers of the Middle Ages agree with that. Cf. Dov Schwartz, Studies on Astral Magic in Medieval Thought. Tr.: David Louvish & Batya Stein. The Brill Reference Library of Judaism Vol. 20. Leiden- 49 explain these effects. That is why he added to Marbode's account that the heliotrope stone was called gem of Babylon by the necromancers, who used it for darkening the sun and making tempest. He explained that the phenomenon was not actually an eclipse, but simply a result of evaporated water, an artificial cloud, which made an obstacle for the rays of the Sun to appear red and thick. After that grandiose spectacle, the cloud made a useful labor, when condensed and came down as drops of rain. For this work, the stone must be anointed with the juice of the heliotrope plant and must be consecrated by certain song and engraved characters. The heathen chief priests used this stone on feasts of their idols, because if demon possessed persons were present, they could foretell the future. Apart from that he faithfully repeats the claims about the stone's special properties225, i. e. to make its owner a man of good reputation, to give him safety and long life, to stop the flow of blood, to restore and to maintain sexual health as well as to prevent others to see him, if it is anointed with heliotrope juice as was said before226. Albert's disciple, Thomas of Cantimpré (1201–1272) also a Dominican friar, put very little to his master's teaching, but with style227. He dramatizes the scene of the heathen cult very much by Boston: Brill, 2005, pp. 40-48. 225 The special properties (or segulot, ‫)סגקלות‬ ‫ ד‬come from the formal cause, i. e. the essence of the thing and not from outer sources like demons or magic, etc. As Aristotle classifies: „There are four causes underlying everything: first, the final cause, that for the sake of which a thing exists; secondly, the formal cause, the definition of its essence (and these two we may regard pretty much as one and the same); thirdly, the material; and fourthly, the moving principle or efficient cause.” Cf. Aristotle, De generatione animalium, Book I, ch. i, 715a. tr. Arthur Platt, in: The Works of Aristotle, Vol V, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1910. As Aristotle explained, the efficient cause of generation contained in the male principle and the material in the female. (Ibid., ch. ii, 716a) „If, then, the male stands for the effective and active, and the female, considered as female, for the passive, it follows that what the female would contribute to the semen of the male would not be semen but material for the semen to work upon. This is just what we find to be the case, for the catamenia have in their nature an affinity to the primitive matter.” (Ibid., I, 20, 729a, lines 28-34.) But the essence of human is beyond the sexes: the formal cause is neither material, nor moving cause. 226 Albertus Magnus, De Mineralibus, II.5: „ELIOTROPIA lapis est viridis fere smaragdo similis, respersus sanguineis guttis. Hunc eliotropiam dicunt esse vocatum necromantici, qui est gemma Babylonensis: quia si ungatur succo herbae ejusdem nominis, et in vas aqua plenum remissus, facit sanguineum solem videri sicut si pateretur eclipsim. Cujus causa est: quia totam aquam ebullire facit in nebulam, quae inspissando aerem impedit solem videri, nisi quasi in rubore et spissa nube rorando: postmodum autem descendit illa nebula rotando sicut per guttas pluviae. Oportet autem quodam carmine sacratus sit, et quibusdam characteribus mixtus: et si tunc arreptitii praesentes sint, divinando quaedam praedicunt: propter quod templorum pontifices isto lapide utebantur, et maxime in festis idolorum. Dicitur autem reddere hominem bonae famae et incolumen et longae vitae, et contra fluxum sanguinis et venerea valere. Dicitur etiam quod unctus herba sui nominis, ut praediximus, visum fallit in tantum ut hominem prohibeat videri. Invenitur autem pluries in Aethiopia, Cypro, et India.” Cf. Opera omnia, ed. Borgnet (Paris, 1890), vol. 5, Mineralia: pp.1-116; on p. 36. English translation: cf. Albertus Magnus, Book of Minerals. tr. Dorothy Wyckoff, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1967. 227 Even such splendid Renaissance writer as Agrippa was so enchanted by his phrase „gemma reddit hominem invisibilem” to apply it himself in DOP I,13 (Perrone, p.110, l. 3-4): „heliotropius lapis visum perstringit et gestantem invisibilem reddit”/„The Stone Heliotrope dazles [dazzles] the sight, and makes him that wears it to be invisible.” In the other place where he wrote more accurately on this stone and herb, he follows Albertus Magnus, but even there he uses the 'follower of sun' (solsequium) designation for the plant. Cf.: DOP I,23.: „Item heliotropius lapis uiridis ad modum iaspidis, uel smaragdi, guttis rubeis stellat', facit constantem, gloriosum & bona famae, confert ad uitae longitudinem: & est uirtus eius mirabili, quam habet in radios solares, quos in sanguinem conuertere dicit, hoc est, apparere sanguineos, quasi Sol pateretur eclipsim, quando uidelicet inungitur succo herbae eiusdem nomis, & in uas plenum aquae ponitur: & est alia uirtus eius mirabilior in oculos hominum, quorum aciem ita perstringit, atquae ita obcaecat uisum hominum, ut videri non permittat gestantem se, quod tamen non facit sine adiutorio herbae eiusdem nominis, quae & heliotropium uocatur, hoc est solsequium. Has uirtutes & Albertus magnus, & Guilelmus Parisiensis in scripturis suis confirmant.” / „Also the stone heliotropion, green like the jasper, or emerald, beset with with red specks, makes a man constant, renowned and famous, also it conduceth to long life; and the virtue of it indeed is most wonderful upon the beams of the Sun, which it is said to turn into blood i. e. to appear of the colour of blood, as if the Sun were eclipsed, viz. when it is joined to the juice of an herb of the same name, and be put into a vessel full of water; there is also another virtue of it more wonderful, and that is upon the eyes of men, whose sight it doth so dim, and dazzle, that it doth not suffer him that carries it to see it, and this it doth not do without the help of the herb of the said name, which also is called heliotropium, i. e. 50 pointing to the bubbling water as scattered around the vessel full of water and emerging as a shadow into the sky. Not less fascinating when he shows the demon-possessed heathen priests when cutting themselves as the soothsayers of the Ba'al did it in their famous confrontation with Elijah the prophet on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:28). Finally, he recognizes the plant heliotrope as the poetic 'bride of the sun' or 'follower of sun' (solsequium)228. Of course, the stress made by the Dominican authors on the demonic character of the heathen utilization of the heliotrope for divination and magic was not pointless. As already Augustine (354430) declared, both the pagan sorcerers in the past and their modern followers in the present „are entangled in the deceitful rites of demons who may masquerade under the names of angels 229.” These rites are revealed by the spirits themselves, they instruct men what rites to perform and by what names to call them in their invocations. By only this demonic revelation have the magic arts efficacy. The demons are enticed by men to work marvels not by offerings of food, as if they were animals, but by symbols which conform to the individual taste of each spirit, namely various stones, planets, trees, animals, incantations, and ceremonies230. That's why the entire arts of the magicians are simply invocations of demons who as Lactantius (c. 250 – c. 325) described, „deceive human vision by blinding illusions so that men do not see what does exist and think that they see what does not exist231.” Their abilities to predict the future and to perform wonders according to Augustine, come from their natural qualities, i. e. the keenness of their senses, their rapidity of movement, their longevity and long experience; and the subtlety of their aerial bodies, which enables them to penetrate human bodies or effect the thoughts of men without being aware of their presence 232. But they certainly have limitations given by their Creator, first of all the laws of nature by which they are bound like any other creature. Albertus was not the only among his contemporaries who understood that. The influential theologian and bishop of Paris, William of Auvergne (1180/90-1249) after a careful and comprehensive discussion of the nature of demons, and the scope of their operations within the generally accepted model of the universe, he demonstrated that the God-given laws of nature could be used both by learned humans and by the demons, and even the latter remain bound by the natural laws (either apparent or hidden) despite their greater powers 233. This theoretical distinction sets clearly apart the natural magic (an invention of him, which is defined as the eleventh part of the natural philosophy, that is a new science classified into the Aristotelian system of sciences) from the follower of the Sun. These virtues doth Albertus Magnus and William of Paris confirm in their writings.” 228 Thomas Cantimpratensis, Liber Natura Rerum. Text. Berlin: De Gruyter, 1973, book 14, xxix, elitropia pp. 361362: „Elitropia lapis est, qui radiis solis vase aqua pleno subiectus sanguineum solem reddit, ac si pateretur eclipsim. Nec mora ipsum vas | in quo iacet videtur ebullire et aquam spargere velut ymbrem. Hoc facto arrepticii, si presentes sint, videntes rapiuntur extra se et predicunt futura. Hic lapidis gestantem producit in longa vitae tempora, sanguinem stringit et fugat venena et contra dolos tutum facit. Proinde si elitropia eiusdem nominis herba subiecta lapidi fuerit et legitimo carmine sacrata, gemma reddit hominem invisibilem. Et notandum quod ab aliquibus dicitur, quod elitropia herba idem est quod flos, qui sponsa solis vel solsequium dicitur. Hanc gemmam fert Ethiopia, Cyprus et Affrica. Instar smaragdi viridis est et sanguineis guttis aspersa.” 229 Augustinus, De civitate Dei, X,9. 230 Ibid., XXI,6. Cf. Thorndike, ibid., Vol. I, p. 506. 231 Lactantinus of Gaul, Divine Institutiones, II, 15. Cf. Thorndike, ibid., Vol. I, p. 466. 232 Augustinus, De divinatione daemonium, in: Migne, Patrologia Latina, Vol XL, pp. 581-592. Cf. Thorndike, ibid., Vol. I, p. 508. 233 Cf. Anne Lawrence-Mathers & Carolina Escobar-Vargas, Magic and Medieval Society, London-New York: Routledge, 2014, p. 76. On William's demonology, see: Thomas B. de Mayo, The demonology of William of Auvergne: by fire and sword. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2007; on his life and works: Noël Valois, Guillaume d'Auvergne, Évèque de Paris (1228–1249): Sa vie et ses ouvrages. Paris: Picard, 1880, and Roland J. Teske, Studies in the philosophy of William of Auvergne, Bishop of Paris (1228-1249). Milwaukee (WI): Marquette University Press, 2006. 51 demonic manipulation of nature234. The idolatrous cults of the stars surely work by these demonic manipulations. They use four kind of figures: seals, rings, characters, an images 235, all of them forbidden by the Church together with elective astrology. But the hidden (occult) properties of precious stones and other natural objects are spiritual powers emanating from the supreme but they are based purely on natural laws and as such could be used by learned individuals without risking the salvation of their souls.. For instance, the various virtues attributed to sapphire and jasper, etc. are natural and celestial236. Regarding to the heliotrope, he explains: „as the power of the stone turns the brightness of the sunlight to a ruby shade, so it may be that the potency of its color prevents the spectators from discovering at all the color of the man who wears it, just as it said that a musical instrument strung with snakeskin draws the sound of all other instrument237.” This distinction was very important for the medieval philosophers engaged in occult activities, because on it depended condemnation or clearing from the charges of forbidden magic. 234 Guillelmus Parisiensis, De fide et legibus [De Legibus – written between 1228–30], ch. 24, p. 69. In: Guilielmi Alverni Opera Omnia Tomus Duobis Contenta, Tomus Primus. Paris-Orlèans, Andreas Pralard, 1674; reprint: Frankfurt am Main, 1963. Vol I. Cf. Thorndike, History of Magic, Vol. II, pp.338-371; Page, Magic in the Cloister, p.172; Paola Zambelli, The „Speculum Astronomiae” and Its Enigma: Astrology, Theology, and Science in Albertus Magnus and His Contemporaries, Boston Studies in the Philiosophy of Science 135. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1992, 208-9; Benedek Lang, Unlocked Books: Manuscripts of Learned Magic in the Medieval Libraries of Central Europe. University Park (PA): Pennsylvania State University Press, 2008 pp. 25 sqq. 235 De Legibus Ch. 23, p. 65. William explicitly named as an example of this cult, the rings and seal of Solomon with their „execrable consecrations and detestable invocations.” See also, De Legibus, ch. 26, p. 81. 236 De Legibus, ch. 27, p. 87. and De universo, II, iii, 22. p. 999. 237 Guillelmus Parisiensis, De universo creaturarum [De universo – written between: 1231—36], II, iii, 22. p. 998. Cf. Thorndike, ibid.,Vol. II, p. 363. See also: William of Auvergne, The Universe of Creatures, tr. Roland J. Teske. Mediaeval Philosophical Texts in Translation, no. 35 - Milwaukee, WI, Marquette University Press, 1998. Very interesting, that the heliotrope's mechanism of action adumbrated by William, is very similar of the opal (optallio) as described by the lapidaries: „Of this Optallius it is said in Lapidario, that this Optallius keepeth and saveth his eyen that beareth it, cleere and sharp and withouz griefe, and dimmeth other men's eyen that be about, with a manner clowde, and smiteth them with a maner blindnesse, that is called Amentia, so that they may not see neither take heede what is done before their eyen. Therefore it is said that it is the most sure patron of theeves.” Cf. Stephen Batman (d.1584), Uppon Bartholome, his Booke De Proprietatibus Rerum. London: Thomas East, 1582, lib. xvi, cap. 73, p 264; cited by Kunz, The curious lore of precious stones, p. 150. 52 Article Thirteen How dangerous was for a lay person to investigate the occult virtues of nature it is clearly shown by the tragic death of Francesco degli Stabili or as better known Cecco D'Ascoli (1269-1327), who was an unorthodox astrologer238 and was burned at the stakes by the condemnation of Inquisitors from the same Dominican Order whose above mentioned theoreticians prepared the theological background for that, while they practiced this art themselves without any threat or condemnation. In the last part of his commentary on Sacrobosco's De sphaera mundi239, which was his first work banned by the Inquisition, he expounds upon different explanations of the miraculous eclipse at Jesus Christ's death240, and rules out that it was created by utilizing a heliotrope241 on the base, that it would be only a local phenomenon. Very striking how carefully Cecco's account follows - both in the Sphera and in his (also banned) didactic poem, the Acerba - the Albertan description of the powers of the heliotrope stone 242. Only in one point he differs from the traditional view 243: he 238 In the Vatican transcript of his Inquisitional trial (Codice riccardino 1895) he was accused of practising astrological divination. Some of his predictions, i.e. on the military success of Louis IV of Bavaria, his coronation as emperor in Rome and advising against initiating a war against him „until there were favorable signs from the heaven,” could be the same time also politically problematic, but the fact is, that he was condemned and executed because of his unorthodox astrology. Cf. The Bitter Age a Banned Book by Cecco d’Ascoli, Medieval Heretic. Tr. Diane Murphy Capponi Editore, 2015, p. 13; Thorndike, History of Magic, Vol II. pp. 953–4, 959. 239 Johannes de Sacrobosco, also written Ioannis de Sacro Bosco (c. 1195 – c. 1256) was a scholar, monk, and astronomer who lectured at the University of Paris. His work on the machina mundi, „the machine of the world” was a readable and the most successful of several competing thirteenth-century textbooks on the Ptolemaic universe, based on Ptolemy's Almagest (in Gerard of Cremona' Latin translation of 1175) updated by the Arabic astronomers Thabit ibn Qurra, al-Biruni, al-Urdi and al-Fargani. Cf. Olaf Pedersen, "In Quest of Sacrobosco", Journal for the History of Astronomy, 16 (1985): 175-221. 240 In the Alexandrinus variant of Gospel of Luke (Luke „A” 23:44-45) the darkness accompanied the Crucifixion is attributed to an eclipse. This fictional 'eclipse' was mentioned in pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite's letter addressed to Polycarp and gave rise to a medieval legend about an eclipse taking place at the Crucifixion, cf. PseudoDionysius: the complete works. Tr. Colm Liubheid. The Classics of Western Spirituality. Mahwah (NJ): Paulist Press, 1987, p. 268. Of course, solar eclipse is impossible at full moon, when the Passover is held. 241 Cicchi Esculani viri clarissimi in Spheram Mundi enarratio [Sphera], 410: „Alii dicunt quod illa eclipsis fuit facta in Hierusalem virtute elitropie. Elitropia est quidam lapis, ut superius dixi vobis, viridis et habet guttas sanguineas. Si ponatur in concha aque plena ita quod sol tangat ipsum lapidem, elevantur statim vapores et obscurant statim orizontem in illa civitate. Iste lapis vulgariter dicitur orfanella que reddit hominem invisibilem. Et si secum iungatur herba que dicitur elitropia, non accipit aspectum hominum ut portans eum non potest videri, sicut aliqui dicunt. Sed sicut magnes, id est, calamita, habet proprietatem attrahendi ferrum, sic elitropia habet proprietatem ammovendi et fugandi hominum oculos a gestante ut non videatur. Sed isti qui dicunt quod eclipsis fuit facta virtute elitropie false dicunt, quia obscuritas que fit per elitropiam non fit nisi in una civitate, sed eclipsis in morte Christi fuit universalis per mundum in eadem hora que fuit in Hierusalem.” Cf. Lynn Thorndike, The Sphere of Sacrobosco and its commentators. Chicago: University of Chicago Press – London: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1949, pp. 343-411. 242 Cecco D'Ascoli, L'Acerba, a cura di Achille Crespi, Cesari. Ascoli Piceno 1927, III.17 lines 45-62: „Elitropia, che è detta l’orfanella, / Verde è del corpo con sanguigne gotte: / Marte la forma con la trista stella. / Nell’acqua fredda dove il Sole spire / Se questa metti, parrà che ciangotte / L’acqua fervente per lo gran bollire. // Anche, se metti questa in acque chiare, /Sì che lo raggio del Sol la percota, / Sanguigna l’aria subito traspare / Sì che lo Sole a noi si mostra oscuro / In fin che questa pietra sia remota. / Con questa può, chi vuol, essere furo. // Giunta con questa l’elitropia pianta, / Come la calamita il ferro sugge, / Così, sugando, il nostro viso incanta. / Restringe il sangue quando è l'uom ferito; / L’aspro veleno da lei si distrugge; / Chi seco l’ebbe non fu mai fallito. ” Modern English translation: The Bitter Age a Banned Book by Cecco d’Ascoli, Medieval Heretic. Tr. Diane Murphy (Capponi Editore, 2015) III, ch. 51, lines 3107-24, p. 185. Cf. also: Marco Berisso, “Il lapidario dell’Acerba,” in Cecco d’Ascoli: Cultura, scienza e politica nell’Italia del Trecento. Atti del convegno a Ascoli Piceno, 2005. Rome: Istituto storico italiano per il Medio Evo, 2007, pp. 53-68. 243 Cf. Marsilio Ficino, De vita coelitus comparanda, ch. 1. lines 99-100: „Solaria vero sunt omnia ex lapillis et floribus quae heliotropia nominatur, quia vertuntur ad Solem.” / „Solar things are: all those gems and flowers which are called heliotrope because they turn towards the Sun.” Cf. Marsilio Ficino, Three Books on Life. A Critical Edition and Translation with Introduction and Notes by Carol V. Kaske and John R. Clark. Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies, Vol. 57. / The Renaissance Society of America Renaissance Texts Series Vol. 11. Tempe AR, 1998. pp. 248-249. At least Ficino (1433-1499) knew well the heliotrope, not like Giovanozzo di Perino alias Calandrino 53 expressed his opinion that the heliotrope (or orfanella244) is formed by the influence of the planet Mars and the Saturn („the dismal star”) 245 and not as it was generally accepted under the Sun. He clearly attributed the turbulent, tempest-making power of the stone to the Mars 246 and the bloodcooling effect to the Saturn247, which together seem to able to cause eclipse and darkness in which no colors and no distinguishable shapes. Nevertheless this unorthodox astrological explanation of the special virtue of the stone based on the same belief as the orthodox Solar thesis, that is, on the part which the celestial bodies play in the harmony of the world as described by the science of Antiquity. The most known poetic summary of this harmony is in the Psalm 19 as follows: (d. 1318), his fellow citizen, who searched the river Mugnone to find one, if we can believe in Bocaccio's account (Decameron, VIII, 3). 244 Already Albertus wrote about the orphanus stone, which „is in the crown of the Roman Emperor, and none like it has ever been seen; for this very reason it is called orphanus. It is of a subtle vinous tings, and its hue is as though pure white snow flashed and sparkled with the color of bright ruddy wine, and was overcome by this radiance. It is a translucent stone, and there is a tradition that formerly it shone in the night-tie; but now, in our age, it does not sparkle in the dark. It is said to guard the regal honor.” Cf. Opera omnia, ed. Borgnet (Paris, 1890), vol. 5, Mineralia: pp.1-116; on p. 41; translated by G.F.Kunz in The curious lore of precious stones, p. 147. This gem is believed to have been a sui generis variety of opals. The opal itself was called patronus furorum („patron of thieves”) in the medieval lapidaries, because being an eye-shape stone, it cures the diseases of the eye, makes sharp and clear its wearer eye and in the same time dims other men's eye, rendering its wearer invisible. So, the orfanella / heliotrope was held as a little brother of the great orphanus / ophtalm(i)us, sharing its special property, because green opals are very common and the heliotrope has some resemblance of them. About opal's invisibility virtue, cf. also Pseudo-Albertus Magnus, Liber aggregationis, seu Liber secretorum de virtutibus herbarum, Lapidum, et animalium quorundam. [Ferrara, Severinus Ferrariensis, c1477]. English: Albertus Magnus The Boke Of Secretes London (1560), facsimile reprint: Amsterdam-New York: Da Capo Press / Theatrvm Orbis Terrarvm Ltd. 1969; and Albertus Magnus, (attr) The Book of Secrets of Albertus Magnus: of the virtues of Herbs, Stones and Certain Beasts: Also a Book of the Marvels of the World, ed. Michael R. Best & Frank H. Brightman. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1973, Book II., pp. 35-36: „Take the stone Ophthalmus, and wrap it in the leaf of the Laurel, or Bay tree; and it is called Lapis Obtalmicus, whose colour is not named, for it is of many colours. And it is of such virtue, that it blindeth the sights of them that stand about. Constantius [probably Constantine the Great] carrying this in his hand, was made invisible by it.” The opal as an eyeball-shape stone has a connection with Völundr the elf-prince blacksmith (as Kunz called him: the Scandinavian Vulcan, cf. ibid. p. 146). In the Völundarkviða, S. 25. and 35. we read that the smith in his terrible revenge, made jarknasteina from the eyes of the children of Nidud, the king of Njars. The stone as eorclanstān (Anglo-Saxon) also appears in the Beowulf, line 1208. Jacob Grimm (in his Teuthonic Mythology, tr. James Steven Stallybrass. London: G. Bell & sons, 1883, p. 1217) conjectures that this stone was the same as the orphanus / optahalmius stone: „the oval milk-white opal”. This occurrence and interpretation was the source of Tolkien's archenstone in The Hobbit, as well as some feature of the One Ring and Sauron in The Lord of the Rings, too. Cf. The Annotated Hobbit. Revised and expanded edition annotated by Douglas Anderson – J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit or There and Back Again. Illustrated by the author. Boston-New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2002, pp. 293-294, n.1. The archenstone was the „kingly regalia” of the dwarf-kings of Erebor similarly to the orphanus stone. Sauron as the Great Lidless Eye (sharpened to see everything even the thought of the possessors of the lesser rings); and the rings' power to make their wearers invisible and to show them the invisible world are clearly interpreted from the two-fold virtues of the opal detailed in the lapidaries. (According to the Tolkien, only the three elven rings did not share this invisibility property of the other rings, because Sauron had not any part in their making.) It seems that Tolkien did not know or did not care about it what Albertus mentioned in the above cited passage, that the opal looses his "opalisation" and translucency as time goes by. The cause of this phenomenon is very simple: dehydration, because the opal as a hydrated amorphous form of silica (SiO2·nH2O) contains 3-21% water. 245 Cf. Acerba, III, 17 line 48 (Crespi) / III, ch. 51, line 3109. p. 185. (Murphy). 246 Cf. Acerba, I,1 lines 34-35: „which [the planet Mars] causes such storms and tempests / that the power of the planet traps us all.” Translated by Diane Murphy, ibid., p. 24. According to him, the Solar hematite (verbatim „bloodstone”) has the opposite powers, protects from tempests and „It fights fires if placed against the sun, / This gem can cool down boiling water / and will protect orchards from harm / by keeping locusts and birds away. ” cf. Acerba, III,53. Lines 3233-3238. Translated by Diane Murphy, ibid., p. 189. 247 Even healing power of the heliotrope could be explained from classical authors as „Saturno-Martian,” that is Hephaestian. Lemnian earth (terra Lemnia) from the spot on which Hephaestus had fallen was believed in Antiquity 54 „The heavens declare the glory of God, the dome of the sky speaks the work of his hands. Every day it utters speech, every night it reveals knowledge. Without speech, without a word, without their voices being heard, their line goes out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world. In them he places a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom from the bridal chamber, with delight like an athlete to run his race. It rises at one side of the sky, circles around to the other side, and nothing escapes its heat248.” For most of the modern readers these lines seem to talk about the starry heaven and the sunny sky as the wonderful works in which God's glory manifested. But for men of former ages this divine glory was and remained to be a continuous divine emanation249, which as Plotinus formulated it „a circumradiation - produced from the Supreme but from the Supreme unaltering - and may be compared to the brilliant light encircling the sun and ceaselessly generated from that unchanging substance250.” This circumradiation produces about the Supreme One (Τὸ Ἕν) and from his essence, „some outward-facing hypostasis251,” which continuously attached to it as long as it retain its to cure madness, the bites of snakes, and haemorrhage, and priests of Hephaestus knew how to cure wounds inflicted by snakes. Cf. Lucius Flavius Philostratus (c. 170/172 – 247/250), Heroicus (On Heroes, 213–214 AD), v. 2; archbishop Eustathius of Thessalonica (c. 1115 – 1195/6), ad Homeri Iliadem or Commentary on Homer's Iliad [edition: Eustathii archiepiscopi Thessalonicensis commentarii ad Homeri Iliadem pertinentes, vols. 1-4 (ed. Marchinus van der Valk). Leyden: Brill, 1:1971; 2:1976; 3:1979; 4:1987.], p. 330; Dict. Cret. ii. 14.; and Smith' lexicon entry „terra Lemnia”, p. 384. 248 Cited according to Complete Jewish Bible (CJB) tr. Dr. David H. Stern. Ps.19:1-6. MT Psalm 19:2-7: ‫ דמסמ פד גרים‬,‫המ שה ממ יג ם‬ ‫ יהצה א‬,‫הה אה דרץ‬-‫בד כהל‬.‫ נג דשמה ע קולהם‬,‫ בד לג י‬:‫ וד אר ין דדבה גרים‬,‫אר מד ר‬-‫אר ין‬. ‫דה עמת‬-‫ יד חמ ודה‬,‫ ימבג יעמ אר מד ר; וד למיד להה לד למיד להה‬,‫יום לד יום‬.‫ ממ גג יד הה הרקג יעמ‬,‫אר ל; וממ עדשר ה יהדה יו‬-‫כד בוד‬ -‫ותקופהתו עמל‬--‫או‬ ‫ד‬ ‫ מוצה‬,‫ גמקד צר ה המ שה ממ יג ם‬.‫ להרוץ אר מרח‬,‫ יר צר א מר חקפהתו; י גהשיש כד גג בור‬,‫כד חה תה ן‬--‫ וד הוא‬.‫אר הד ל בה הד ם‬-‫ שה ם‬,‫ גמלריהד ם; למשד מד ש‬,‫ ובג קד צר ה תר בר ל‬,‫קמ והם‬ ‫ מר חמ מה תו‬,‫קד צותה ם; וד אר ין נג דסתה ר‬. Cf. Complete Jewish Bible : An English Version of the Tanakh (Old Testament) and B'Rit Hadashah (New Testament). Clarskville (MA)-Jerusalem: Jewish New Testament Publications, 1998. 249 The equivalents of this Latin word [emanatio - „which flows forth,” or "out-flowing"] are in the Ancient Greek: aporroē (ἀπορρόη), "effluence"; in Hebrew: shefa / šępp a (‫)שדפמע‬, „flow” [which is used in the theoretic Kabbalah for the emanation channeled by the sefirot], and rūhaniyyāt (‫)רוחניית‬, „spirituality” [a term for the influence of the stars in Medieval astral magic to translate the Stoic/Neoplatonic pneuma, πνεῦμα]. The concept of rūhaniyyāt differs greatly from the Biblical ruach ( ‫„ רוחמ‬wind” also translated as „spirit”), because the Stoic/Neoplatonic pneuma („breath”) a mediator between psyche (ψυχή “soul” or “blow”) & soma (σῶμα „body”), and unified with the later; while the Biblical ruach is connected with the body through the nefesh (‫„ נדפדש‬life”, translated as „soul” or „living boundary”) and after death it returns to God who bestowed it. The Zohar because of its archaizing style, sometimes uses the ruach instead of rūhaniyyāt, but rather the Aramaic mazzala (‫„ )מזלא‬flux of destiny,” As Daniel Matt notes: „The word ‫( מזלא‬mazzala) means „constellation, planet, planetary influence, zodiacal sign, destiny, fortune, guardian angel.” On the Zohar, mazzala is associated with the root ‫( נזל‬nzl), „to flow,” and often refers to the flow of emanation from Bina,” which corresponds to the firmament, raqi'a ( ‫)רקג יעמ‬. ‫ ה‬Cf. Shlomo Pines,“On the Term Rūhaniyyāt and its Origin, and on Judah Halevi’s Doctrine” [Hebrew]. Tarbiz 57 (1988), pp. 511-540; Zohar 2:6a, Matt, ibid., Vol. IV, p. 17, n. 67. 250 Περίλαμψιν ἐξ αὐτοῦ μέν, ἐξ αὐτοῦ δὲ μένοντος, οἷον ἡλίου τὸ περὶ αὐτὸ λαμπρὸν ὥσπερ περιθέον, ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἀεὶ γεννώμενον μένοντος. Plotinus (c. 204/5 – 270), Ennead V.1.6, translated by Stephen Mackenna. See also, Plotinus: The Enneads, ed. B. S. Page, London: Faber & Faber, 1956, p. 374; Plotinus' Ennead. Ed. & tr. Arthur Hilary Armstrong, Loeb Classical Library Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1983, Volume V. (L444), pp. 30-33. 251 ἐξηρτημένην ὑπόστασιν Ibid. In Plotinus's system, the first emanation is Nous (Divine Mind, Logos, Order, Thought, Reason), identified metaphorically with the Demiurge (the Good) in Plato, Timaeus 29a-e. It is the first Will toward Good. From Nous proceeds the World Soul, which Plotinus subdivides into upper and lower, identifying 55 character. This hypostasis represents in image the engendering archetype, like heat diffuses from fire, cold from snow and fragrance from fragrant substances. And again, the hypostasis as fully achieved one also engenders, but the offspring is always minor, because it also retains something from its essence. This diffusion originates from the eternity, which is out of the realm of time, therefor it continually creates and nourishes the whole world. In this process the stars have an important part: their constant and steady speech, their line 252 directs and transfers this divine emanation to the world under the sky. Thus the works of the divine sphere above the sky were transmitted by day and night through heavenly objects, stars and planets, Sun and Moon. The eternal image of the archetype modified by the mediating spheres is imprinted on the sublunar world by the stars as celestial seals253. Thus the laws of heaven, the movement of the heavenly bodies impose their authority on earth: even a plant254 could not grow nor an animal could live without the life giving forces channeled through their rays 255, neither stones and metals could formed256 nor humans can be born257. Very important, that the emanation is transferred according to the lower aspect of Soul with nature. From the world soul proceeds individual human souls, and finally, matter, at the lowest level of being and thus the least perfected level of the cosmos. Cf. Ennead I.6.6 and I.6.9. 252 The word qav (‫ )קמ ו‬in Ps. 19:5a comes from the root ‫" קוה‬to bind together,” means a „measuring line” or „cord.” 253 Cf Job 9:7: ‫ וד ל רא יג ז הדרח; ובד עמד כוכהבג ים ימחד תר ם‬,‫הה אר מר ר למחד דרס‬. „Who commandeth the sun, and it shineth not; and by the stars sealeth.” 254 „As our rabbis taught: “Do you know the laws of heaven or impose its authority on earth? [Job 38:33: ‫ חקקות‬, ‫דהיהדמ עד תה‬ ‫תה גשים גמ דשטה רו בה אה דרץ‬-‫—]שה מה יג ם; גאם‬There is not a single blade of grass on earth that does not have a guardian angel in heaven that smites it and says to it, ‘Grow.’” [Genesis Rabba 10:6 (ed. Theodor-Albeck, 79) - cited by Reuchlin, De Arte Cabbalistica, f. LIX, too! Cf. Johann Reuchlin, On the Art of Kabbalah / De Arte Cabalistica, Tr. Martin and Sarah Goodman. Intr. G. Lloyd Jones and Moshe Idel. Lincoln & London (NE): Univ. of Nebraska Press, 1993, pp. 272/274.] This smiting and saying is the power that the supernal elements confer upon the lower creatures, and this power is the divine influence that they receive from the Prime Mover, and from it they [the supernal elements] radiate it to what is below them. And this influence flows constantly, without interruption, from the Lord, blessed be He, onto the Separate Intelligences, and that is what is called “A river of fire streamed forth before Him” [Daniel 7: 10: ‫קר דה מוהג י‬-‫ הנגרד וד נהפרק גמן‬,‫נור‬-‫]נד המ ר גדי‬. From the Separate Intelligences it emanates and flows onto the spheres and the stars, and their existence and constant movement stem from that emanation, and from here it flows and emanates onto the four elements and all created beings. It follows that the existence of all Creation derives from the divine supernal influence, as it is written, “And you keep them all alive” [Nehemiah 9:6: ‫ קכלהם‬-‫]וד אמ תה ה דמחמ ידה אד ת‬.” CF. Jacob Sikili, Torat ha-Minhah, ed. Barukh Avigdor Hefetz, vol. 2 [Safed: n. p., 1991], 2:506; cited by Dov Schwartz, Studies on Astral Magic in Medieval Thought. Tr.: David Louvish & Batya Stein. The Brill Reference Library of Judaism Vol. 20. Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2005, p. 72. In peripatetic science, the Separate Intelligences are the movers of the spheres, for Kabbalists they are the sefirot and the Prime Mover is Ensof. The Zohar – on Job 9:7 and 38:7 as proof-texts – identified the stars as memunim, „angelic deputies.” 255 Cf. Ya'qub ibn Ishaq al-Kindi (801-873), 'De Radiis', ed. M.T. D'Alverny & F. Hudry, Archives d'historie doctrinale et littéraire du moyen âge, 41 (1975), pp. 136-260 (174); M.T. D'Alverny, 'Kindiana', Archives d'historie doctrinale et littéraire du moyen âge, 47 (1981), pp. 277-287. The sophisticated magical theory of al-Kindi considered the rays of starlight as transmitters of the stellar influences. According to him, not only the stars, but the images and talismans also emit rays, like magical transmission facilities, which gain their power by attracting the celestial radiation. 256 Cf. M. Ficino, De vita coelitus comparanda, ch. XIII, lines 53-60: „But gems and metals, although they seem too hard for accepting a celestial influence, nevertheless retain it longer if they receive it, as Iamblichus confirms. That is to say, by their hardness they also retain the vestiges and gifts of the life of the world, which they had once possessed while embedded in the earth, for a very long time after being rooted out. On this score, at last, they are judged to be apt materials for capturing and holding celestial things. Also it is probable … that things so beautiful cannot be fused under the earth without a consummate effort of the heavens, and that the power impressed in them once and for all from that effort remains. For the heavens have laboured an immense length of time in concocting and assembling these things.” Cf. Kaske-Clark, ibid., Book III, pp. 308-309. However, alchemists in this time, tried to reproduce this crystallization process much more swiftly; e.g. Ramon Llull, (c. 1232 – c. 1315) or someone who wrote in his name, gives an elaborate description of the composition of precious stones, including heliotrope from various „waters,” cf. Raymondus Lullius, Testamentum Raymundi Lullii ... duobus libris universam artem chymicam complectens, & eiusdem compendium animae transmutationis artis metallorum. Köln: Johannes Birkmann, 1573, Compendium Animae Transmutationis, 2,2, p. 348. 257 Cf. Ibn Ezra's Commentary on Exodus 3:15: „The human soul is of the same kind. It receives power from above in accordance with the configuration of the planets, that is, the configuration of each planet vis- à-vis the heavenly 56 the momentary location of the individual stars, planets, Sun and Moon. Because their relation, motions and aspects among themselves are always change, therefor the transmitted heavenly endowments are also modified from time to time: everything depends on precise timing. Abu Ma'shar the celebrated Muslim astrologer who presented astrology as a natural sciences, goes even further and clearly defines the celestial objects as 'signs and guidance' (dala'il wa hidaya)258 for the world below, and their motions cause the elements to move in the sublunar world and by that they cause generation and decomposition of material objects. This picture of the world as the universal stock of matter pervaded through and through by a part of god is similar to the great chain of being in the Stoicism, where the entire universe is ensouled matter with parallel lines of the cosmic sympathy259 (correspondences) on which astrology and astral magic are predicated. These parallel lines are supposed to be caused by the mediating spheres, prominently the stars, which refract the supreme divine light into the spectrum. Then these celestial rays form, grow, nurture and move the universe of beings in the sublunar world, where each being is separated from the other, containing a spark of divine essence in it. By conflation of the forces, which are in the mundane sphere are widely separated 260, some hoped to draw down261 these heavenly forces for their own benefit. Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499) who wrote a detailed treatise on this topic disguised as a commentary to some passages of Plotinus 262, summarizes the process of hosts at the time of a person’s birth. If the human soul grows wise, it will share the mysteries of the angels and will be able to receive great power from a supreme power that received it from the light of the angels. The person will then be in conjunction with the glorious God.” Cf. Dov Schwartz, Studies on Astral Magic in Medieval Thought, p. 13; Moshe Idel, “Hitbodedut as Concentration in Jewish Philosophy” [Hebrew], in Shlomo Pines Jubilee Volume: On the Occasion of His Eightieth Birthday, ed. Moshe Idel, Warren Zeev Harvey and Eliezer Schweid, Jerusalem: Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought, 1988. 258 Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhani, Kitab al-madkhal al-kabir ila 'ilm ahkam al-nujum (The Great Introduction), ed. Richard Lemay, 9 vols. Naples: Institutio Universitario Orientale, 1995-6, Vol. II, p. 2. The celestial objects' role as signs of times is based on the Biblical account of their creation. But their rule over the day and night – interpreted astrologically as 'guidance' – is not so easily justified claim against the Biblical prophets, even if many astrologers (Jew, Christian and Muslim) tried to prove. Cf. Gen. 1: 14-16: ‫ בר ין המ יום ובר ין‬,‫ לד המ בד גדיל‬,‫ יד הג י דמאר רר ת בג דרקג יעמ המ שה ממ יג ם‬,‫ומי ראמד ר אללהג ים‬ :‫שנרי המ דמאר רר ת המ גד דר לג ים‬-‫ת‬ ‫ אד ד‬,‫ מוימעמ ש אללהג ים‬.‫כרן‬-‫הה אה דרץ; ומיד הג י‬-‫ לד הה גאיר עמל‬,‫ וד הה יו לג דמאורר ת בג דרקג יעמ המ שה ממ יג ם‬.‫ ולד י גהמים וד שה נג ים‬,‫המ להיד להה; וד הה יו לד אר תר ת ולד מוע גדדים‬ ‫ וד אר ת המ כוכהבג ים‬,‫המ מה אור המ קה טר ן לד מד דמשד לדת המ למיד להה‬-‫ וד אד ת‬,‫ לד מד דמשד לדת המ יום‬,‫המ מה אור המ גהדר ל‬-‫אד ת‬. / „And God said: 'Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth.' And it was so. And God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; and the stars .” The Biblical prophets are clearly against such claims: e.g. Jeremiah 10:2-3: ‫ ומר אר תות‬,‫תלד מה דו‬-‫ל‬ ‫דד דרך המ גויג ם אמ ג‬-‫ אד ל‬,‫כר ה אה ממ ר יד הוהה‬ ‫ הד בד ל הוא‬,‫חקקות הה עמ גמים‬-‫ כג י‬.‫ מר הר מה ה‬,‫ירחמ תו המ גויג ם‬-‫ כג י‬:‫תר חה תו‬-‫ אמ ל‬,‫המ שה ממ יג ם‬: / „Thus saith the LORD: Learn not the way of the nations, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the nations are dismayed at them. For the customs of the peoples are vanity;” that is idolatry. 259 Samuel Sambursky, Physics of the Stoics. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1987, pp. 41-43; Robert B. Todd, “Monism and Immanence: The Foundations of Stoic Physics” in The Stoics, ed. John M. Rist. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978, pp. 137-160 (on 151); Liba Chaia Taub, Ptolemy’s Universe: The Natural Philosophical and Ethical Foundations of Ptolemy’s Astronomy. Chicago, Ill.: Open Court, 1993, p. 129; Richard Kieckhefer, Magic in the Middle Ages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995, pp. 131-133. 260 Cf. Synesius, De insomnia, 132B1-D13 (J. P. Migne, Patrologia Graeca, Paris: Imprimerie Catholique, 1857–1866, vol. 66: 1285a-b), section 3 in Ficino's translation, [Marsilii Ficini Opera omnia. Basel, 1575; rpt. Turin, 1959], p. 1969; Kaske-Clark, ibid. p. 441, n 11; Brian P. Copenhaver, “Iamblichus, Synesius and the Chaldaean Oracles in Marsilio Ficino's De Vita Libri Tres: Hermetic Magic or Neoplatonic Magic?” in Supplementum Festivum: Studies in Honor of Paul Oskar Kristeller, eds. James Hankins, John Monfasani, and Frederick Purnell, Jr., Binghamton (NY): Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, 1987, pp. 441–55. 261 In the Hebrew astro magical texts the expression “drawing down” [horadah or hanahah] is used, Cf. Dov Schwartz, Studies on Astral Magic in Medieval Thought. Tr.: David Louvish & Batya Stein. The Brill Reference Library of Judaism Vol. 20. Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2005. p. IX. 262 Ficino translated the Enneads into Latin (as he did with the Corpus Hermeticum, and some important works of Synesius, Porphyry, etc.) and wrote a lengthy commentary on it. As clear from an early version of the title, De vita coelitus comparanda („On Obtaining Life from the Heavens” or as Schumaker suggested „On Guiding one's Life by the Stars”), which published in 1489 as the third book of De Vita, („On Life”) supposed to be a commentary to 57 incorporating the combined powers of a star, stone, herb, that is of constructing „natural talisman” as follows: „Thebit263 the philosopher teaches that, in order to capture the power of any of the stars just mentioned264, one should take its stone and herb and make a gold or silver ring and should insert the stone with the herb underneath it and wear it touching [your flesh]. Do this when the Moon passes the star or looks at it with a trine or sextile aspect, and when the star itself is passing the Midheaven or the Ascendant265. But I, indeed, would compound the things which pertain to stars of this sort in the form of a medicine rather than of a ring, applied internally or externally, waiting, of course, for the aforesaid proper time. And yet the ancients thought highly of rings. For Damis and Ennead 4, Book 3, Chapter 11, but in reality, only as a starting point or rather as an acceptable excuse on elaborating the theory and apology of astro magical talismans (imagines) from Hermetic texts. Cf. Kaske-Clark, ibid., pp. 25-28; D.P. Walker, Spiritual & Demonic Magic from Ficino to Campanella. Magic in History. University Park (PA): The Pennsylvania State Univ. Press, 2003, pp. 3-59. with 75-84; Wayne Schumaker, The Occult Sciences in the Renaissance: A Study in Intellectual Patterns. Berkeley-Los Angeles-London: Univ. of California Press, 1972, pp. 120-133; Frances A. Yates, Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition. Chicago-London: Chicago Univ. Press, 1991, pp. 62-83; Paul Oskar Kristeller, The Philosophy of Marsilio Ficino. Tr. Virginia Conant, New York: Columbia University Press. 1943, pp. 16-21; Michael J. B. Allen, „Paul Oskar Kristeller and Marsilio Ficino: E tenebris revocaverunt,” in Kristeller Reconsidered. New York: Italica Press, 2006, pp. 1-18; Liana Saif, The Arabic Influences on Early Modern Occult Philosophy. Palgrave Historical Studies in Witchcraft and Magic. Houndmills: Palgrave MacMillan 2015, pp. 95-123; Thomas Moore, The Planets Within: The Astrological Psychology of Marsilio Ficino. Great Barrington (MA): Lindisfarne Books, 1990. 263 Al-Ṣābiʾ Thābit ibn Qurra al-Ḥarrānī (Arabic: ‫ثابت بن قرة‬, Latin: Thebit/Thebith/Tebit; 826 – 901). Thabit was a Sabean scientist who was born in Harrān (known as Carrhae in antiquity) and lived and worked in the Abbasid Bagdad. His most influential work in astral magic was translated to Latin by Adelard of Bath in Antioch with the title: Liber Prestigiorum Thebidis secundum Ptolomeum et Hermetem (early 12th cent.) and by John of Seville in Toledo as De Imaginibus (late 12th cent.). The first version includes inscriptions on rings, suffumigations, and invocations of spirits, too. John of Seville's translation lefts them out, clearly marking their illicit character. Cf. Francis Carmody, The Astronomical Works of Thabit b. Qurra. Berkeley and Los Angeles: Univ. of California Press, 1960, pp. 169, 180-97. [It contains both Latin versions.]; Charles Burnett,"The Arabic Hermes in the Works of Adelard of Bath," in: Hermetism from Late Antiquity to Humanism: La Tradizione Ermetica dal mondo tardo-antico all'umaniesimo, ed. Paolo Lucenti, Ilarria Parri, & Vittoria Perrone Compagni. Turnhout: Brepols, 2003, 369-84; Charles Burnett & Gideon Bohak, „A Judeo-Arabic Version of Ṭābit ibn Qurra's De Imaginibus and PseudoPtolemy's Opus Imaginum,” in: Islamic Philosophy, Science, Culture, and Religion: Studies in Honor of Dimitri Gutas. eds. Felicitas Opwis & David Reisman. Islamic philosophy, theology and science, v. 83 – Brill, Leiden, 2012, pp. 179- 200; Benedek Lang. Unlocked Books: Manuscripts of Learned Magic in the Medieval Libraries of Central Europe. (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2008), p. 94. 264 Ficino here refers to the Hermetic Liber de quindecim stellis, quindecim lapidibus, quindecim herbis, et quindecim figuris, about the brightest stars' occult virtues, which was erroneously attributed to Thabit, but it is in fact a Spanish-made, Latin translation of an Arabic re-elaboration of an Alexandrian Greek text (which sometimes also referred as the 'lapidary of Enoch'). The Arabic intermediate text was made by Masha'allah ibn Atharī (or Mīshā ben Yithro, c.740–815 CE) the Jewish astrologer who took an agnostic standpoint regarding to the metaphisical or physical reasons of how the stars influence the world below. Cf. „Le Traité Hermétique De Quindecim Stellis, Quindecim Lapidibus, Quindecim Herbis Et Quindecim Imaginibus,” in: Textes latins et vieux français relatifs aux Cyranides, ed. Louis Delatte. Bibliothèque de la Faculté de philosophie et lettres de l'Université de Liège, fasc 93. Liège-Paris: Droz, 1942, pp. 241-75; Carmody, The Astronomical Work of Thabit ibn Qurra, pp. 179-97; Joan Evans, Magical Jewels, pp. 108-109, 246-249; Frances J. Carmody, Arabic Astronomical and Astrological Sciences in Latin Translation: A Critical Bibliography. Berkeley-Los Angeles-London, 1956, p. 56; Lynn Thorndike, „Traditional Medieval Tracts Concerning Engraved Astrological Images,” Mélanges Auguste Pelzer. Louvain, 1947, pp. 221-227; Lynn Thorndike: "The Latin Translations of Astrological Works by Messahala", Osiris 12 (1956), pp. 49–72; David Pingree: "Māshā'allāh: Greek, Pahlavī, Arabic, and Latin Astrology", in Perspectives arabes et médiévales sur la tradition scientifique et philosophique grecque. Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 79. Leuven-Paris 1997, pp. 123–136; David Pingree: "From Alexandria to Baghdād to Byzantium: The Transmission of Astrology", International Journal of the Classical Tradition, Summer 2001, 3–37; David Pingree: "The Byzantine Translations of Māshā'allāh on Interrogational Astrology", in The Occult Sciences in Byzantium. Ed. Paul Magdalino, Maria V. Mavroudi. Geneva, 2006, pp. 231–243. „Like many Hermetic magic texts that emphasized occult powers [segullot] in celestial bodies rather than instructing the practitioner to seek the assistance of spirits, it escaped censure, and a 58 Philostratus266 relate that Hiarchas, the chief of the Indian wise men, made seven rings in a similar way, named after the seven stars, and gave them to Apollonius of Tyana, who afterwards wore one of them each day, distributing them according to the names of the days [of the week]. Hiarchas told Apollonius that his grandfather, a philosopher, had lived for one hundred thirty years, perhaps because of his reliance upon a celestial gift of this sort. Apollonius, then, used his and looked young, so they say, until he was a hundred 267. But in brief, if rings of this sort 268 have any power from on high, I do not think that it pertains so much to the soul or to our gross body as to the spirit269, which is affected in this way or that as the ring is heated little by little, so that it is made firmer or clearer, stronger or milder, more austere or more joyful. These influences pass over completely into the body and somewhat into the sensual part of the soul which quite often gives in relatively large number of copies survive. The Liber de quindecim stellis describes the virtues of fifteen stars, stones, herbs, and magic characters the practitioners's aim being to construct talismans incorporating the combined powers of a star, stone, herb, and character. A scholia (explanatory note or commentary) attributed to Messahala lists suffumigations to be used in the operations and considers the spiritual aspects of stars.” [Sophie Page, Magic in the Cloister: Pious Motives, Illicit Interests, and Occult Approaches to the Medieval Universe, University Park, (PA): Pennsylvania State Univ. Press, 2013 pp. 75-76]; In De vita coelitus comparanda, ch. 8. lines 1-41 Ficino used the Liber de quindecim stellis in a constructive way. „he omits the Hermetic images but does include a brief description of their respective powers. He also adds three stars to the Hermetic list: the Umbilicus Andromedae, the Ala Corvi, counted twice (dextra and sinistra), and the Humerus Equi.” [Kaske-Clark, ibid., p. 437, n. 1.] Agrippa, takes Ficino list with some modifications (leaving out the Spica, changing Cauda Ursae Maioris/Benetnash to Cauda Ursae Minoris/Polaris) in DOP II, 31. Cf. On the identification of the stars in the list in the Hermetic text and Agrippa' Ficinian list, see: André Jean Festugière, La Révélation d'Hermès Trismègiste. vol. I: L'astrologie et les sciences occultes. Paris: J. Gabalda, 1944, pp. 160-169. 265 Midheaven is the zenith; and Ascendant points to the heavenly object (star, planet, moon, etc.), which is rising at the moment. Ficino deliberately avoid here to mention the inscriptions of images, names, characters, and the suffumigations, which his source, Messahala as well as Agrippa considered to be very important. Cf. DOP I, 47: „Modus autem construendi annulos eiusmodi, talis est: quando videlicet stella aliqua ascendit fortunata, & a Luna foeliciter aspecta, vel sibi coniuncta, debemus lapidem herbamque huic stellae subditam accipere, atque annulum ex metallo huic stellae conformi fabricare, et in eo laillum insigere herba uel radice subiecta: denique inscriptiones, imaginum, nominum, characterum, praeterea suffumigationes non praetermittere: sed haec alibi discutiemus, ubi de imaginibus & characteribus tractandum erit.” / „Now the manner of making these kinds of Rings, is this, viz. when any Star ascends fortunately, with the fortunate aspect, or conjunction of the Moon, we must take a stone, and Herb that is under that Star, and make a Ring of the Metall that is suitable to this Star, and in it fasten the stone, putting the Herb, or root under it; not omitting the inscriptions of images, names, and Characters, as also the proper suffumigations, but we shall speak more of these in another place, where we shall treat of Images, and Characters.” As Joan Evans notes, „The many instances in which the colour of some part of the sigil [image] is described suggest that though they are given as sigils for gems their use on parchment was also contemplated.” Cf. Joan Evans, Magical Jewels of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, particularly in England. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1922 [rprt. New York: Dover, 1976], p. 162. 266 Cf. Lucius Flavius Philostratus (c. 170/172 – 247/250), Vita Apollonii, 3.41: „And Damis says that Iarchas gave seven rings to Apollonius named after the seven stars [i.e., the planets], and that Apollonius wore each of these in turn on the day of the week which bore its name.” / φησὶ δὲ ὁ Δάμις καὶ δακτυλίους ἑπτὰ τὸν Ἰάρχαν Ἀπολλωνίῳ δοῦναι τῶν ἑπτὰ ἐπωνύμους ἀστέρων, οὓς φορεῖν τόν Ἀπολλώνιον κατὰ ἕνα πρὸς τὰ ὀνόματα τῶν ἡμερῶν. [Philostratus. The Life of Apollonius of Tyana The Epistles of Apollonius and the Treatise of Eusebius . With and English Translation by F.C.Conybeare. London: William Heinemann – New York: The Macmillan Co., 1912, Vol. I, pp. 320-323] Cf. also Philostratus: Life of Apollonius of Tyana, Vol. 1: Books 1-4 (Loeb Classical Library, No. 16), ed. Christopher P. Jones, Cambridge (MA): Harvard University Press, 2005; Matthias Dall'Asta, Philosoph, Magier, Scharlatan und Antichrist: zur Rezeption von Philostrats Vita Apollonii in der Renaissance. Kalliope - Studien zur griechischen und lateinischen Poesie, 8. Heidelberg: Winter, 2008. 267 As Kaske & Clark pointed out, „Hiarchas' grandfather (VA 3.30) and Apollonius (VA 8.29) lived to a ripe old age, but this longevity is not described in Philostratus as due to the wearing of rings.” (Kaske-Clark, ibid., p. 438, n. 19.) Agrippa did not only accept Ficino interpolatio, but zealously added to it: „Sic legimus apud Philostratum Iarcham sapientum Indorum principem, septem annulos hac lege confectos & septem planetarum virtutibus, ac nominibus insignitos tradidisse Apollonio, quos ille singulis diebus singulos gestaverit, iuxta dierum nomina distinguens.quorum beneficio ipse annum centesimum ac tricesimum vixerit, insuper & iuventae nitorem semper retinens.” / „So we read in Philostratus Jarchus, that a wise Prince of the Indians bestowed seven Rings made after this manner, marked with the vertues, and names of the seven Planets to Apollonius, of which he wore every day 59 to the body270.” What Ficino gives here, it clearly shows his intention to avoid the accusation of practicing idolatrous star-worshiping and demonic invocation. He persuasively pretend to be a well-learned medical clergyman who try to interpret Neoplatonic texts. His hypocrisy (thanks to his ecclesiastical status271 and influential patrons) was successful: he was finally cleared from all charges and was regarded as an accepted Christian author on the topic, despite that he in later chapters of this same book quiet openly elaborates his theory of images (referring to the „god-making passage” of the Hermetic272 Asclepius273, but never to his primer source, the magical collection named Picatrix274), which is crucial to understand the real modus operandi of his „natural talismans” including the one, distinguishing them according to the names of the dayes, by the benefit of which he lived above one hundred and thirty years, as also alwaies retained the beauty of his youth.” (DOP I, 47.) - Someone can wonder that this account would be which is alluded by Tolkien when he describes his Rings of Powers as bestowing longevity to their wearers as well as when he imagined a group of seven magic rings, which obviously designed to capture planetary influences. The Elven magic also has some Ficinian tinge, which is assured by Tolkien: „Their 'magic' is Art, delivered from many of its human limitations: more effortless, more quick, more complete (product, and vision in unflawed correspondence).” Tolkien, Letter, 131, pp. 168-169. 268 These similar devices was enumerated by Agrippa from Ludovicus Caelius Rhodiginus (1469-1525), Antiquarum Lectionum commentarii libri XVI. Venezia: Aldo Manuzio & Andrea Torresano, 1516, 3:26 then 3:25. Cf. DOP I, 47: „Simili modo Moses Hebreorum legislator ac princeps, in Aegypto magia imbutus, annulos amoris & oblivionis confecisse legitur apud Iosephum. Erat etiam, narrante Aristotle, apud Cireneos annulus Batti, gratitudinis atque honoris habens argumentum. Legimus insuper Eudamum quendam philosophum annulos contra serpentum morsus, fascinationes atque daemonia confecisse. Idem de Salomone narrat Iosephus. Quinque apud Platonem legimus Gygi Lydorum regi annulum fuisse mirandae ac invisitate virtutis, cuius sigillum cum ille palmam convertisset, a nullo videbatur, ipse omnia videns: qua annuli opportunitate fretus, reginae stuprum intulit, regem dominum occidit, & quoscunque sibi obstare arbitrabatur interemit, atque in his eum fascinoribus nullus videre poterat, tandem eo annuli beneficio rex Lydiae factus est.” / „In like manner Moses the Law-giver, and ruler of the Hebrews, being skilled in the Egyptian Magick, is said by Josephus to have made Rings of love, and oblivion. There was also, as saith Aristotle, amongst the Cireneans a Ring of Battus, which could procure love and honour. We read also that Eudamus a certain Philosopher made Rings against the bites of Serpents, bewitchings, and evil spirits. The same doth Josephus relate of Solomon. Also we read in Plato that Gygus, King of Lydia had a Ring of wonderfull, and strange vertues, the seal of which, when he turned toward the palm of his hand, no body could see him, but he could see all things: by the opportunity of which Ring he ravished the Queen, and slew the King his Master, and killed whomsoever he thought stood in his way, and in these villanies no body could see him, and at length by the benefit of this Ring he became King of Lydia.” 269 The spirit as Ficino uses this term is a mediator between soul and body and as such it is very similar both to the Stoic pneuma (πνεῦμα – "breath") and the Neoplatonic ochema (ὄχημα - „ethereal vehicle,” „astral body”). It is the ever-changing divine emanation, the structuring, living and generating force, a „body not a body as it were” („corpus quasi non corporis” - De Vita III.3.11-12.). „This spirit assuredly lives in all as the proximate cause of all generation and motion, concerning which the poet said, „A Spirit nourishes within.” It is wholly clear and hot by its own nature, moist, and life-giving, having acquired these gifts from the higher gifts of Soul.” („Ipse vero ubique viget in omnibus generationis omnis proximus auctor atque motus, de quo ille: „Spiritus intus alit.” Totus est suapte natura lucidus calidusque et humidus atque vivificus, ex dotibus animae superioribus dotes eiusmodi nactus.” - De Vita III.3.36-39.) In the stones, this spirit is hexis ('cohensive pneuma' or 'pneuma that turns back to itself '), of which „is inhibited by the grosser matter”. The next stages of the spirit is defined by Galen: 'Every plant is directed by physis ('growth'), and every animal by physis and psyhe (soul) together; if at any rate we all use the name physis for the cause of feeding and growth and such activities, and use psyche for the cause of sensation and selfmovement.' In the human body – because all unified body are instances of 'complete blending' (krasis diʼ holōn) of spirit (pneuma) and matter (hyle) -, it is the medical spirit, which was defined by Galen and the Medieval doctors as „a vapour of the blood – pure, subtle, hot and clear” („vapor quidam sanguinis purus, subtilis, calidus et lucidus” De Vita I.2.12-13). This spirit in the human is an instrument with which we „are able to measure and grasp the whole world” („mundum universum metiri quodammodo et capere potest” - ibid., line 10). In the universe it is the spiritus mundi: „the world generates everything through it (since, indeed, all things generate through their own spirit); and we can call it both „heavens” and „quintessence.” („per quem mundus generat omnia, quandoquidem et per spiritum propprium omnia generant, quem tum coelum, tum quintam essentiam possumus appellare.” - D e Vita III.3.24-26.). [Cf. Kaske Clark, ibid., pp. 42-44, 110-111, 256-257; D.P. Walker, „The Astral Body in Renaissance Medicine,” Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 21, 1-2 (1958), pp. 119-133; D.P. Walker, Spiritual & 60 magic rings in question. „Yet the Arabs and Egyptians ascribe so much power to statutes and images fashioned by astronomical and magical art that they believe the spirits of the stars are enclosed in them. Now some regard the spirits of the stars as wonderful celestial forces, while others regard them as daemons attendant upon this or that star. They think the spirits of the stars – whatever they may be – are induced into statues and talismans in the same way that daemons customarily use on the occasions when they take possession of human bodies and speak, move themselves or other things, and work wonders through them. They think the spirits of the stars do similar things through Demonic Magic from Ficino to Campanella. Magic in History. University Park (PA): The Pennsylvania State Univ. Press, 2003, pp. 4-14, 38-40; A. A. Long, "Soul and body in Stoicism," Phronesis 27 (1982), pp. 34 – 57, repr. in: A. A. Long, Stoic Studies. Hellenistic Culture and Society 36. Berkeley-Los Angeles-London: Univerity of California Press, 2001, pp. 224-249; G. Lloyd, „Pneuma between body and soul,” Journal Of The Royal Anthropological Institute, Volume 13(2007), Issue Supplement s135-s146. According to the Stoicists, right after birth, the pneuma physikon is hardened into pneuma psychikon by the baby's very first inhalation of could outside air, cf. Long (1982) p. 44.] 270 Marsilio Ficino, De vita coelitus comparanda, ch. 8. lines 43-61: „Thebit philosophus docet ad captandam alicuis stellae modo dictae virtutem lapidem eius accipere herbamque eiusdem, anulumque aureum facere vel argenteum, in quo lapillum inseras herba subiecta gerasque tangentem. Id autem efficias, quando Luna subit stellam aut aspicit aspectu trino vel sextili, et stella in medio percurrit coelo vel ascendente. Ego vero quae ad eiusmodi stellas attinent in formam potius medicinae quam anuli componerem, intrinsecus vel extrinsecus adhibendae, opportunitate videlicet praedicti temporis observata. Tametsi prisci anulos magnifecerint. Nam Damis et Philostratus | narrant Hiarcham, sapientum Indorum principem, simili quaedam ratione septem anulos confecisse, stellarum septem nomiibus apellatos, eosque Apollonio Theano dedisse, qui deinde singulos diebus singulis gestaverit, iuyta dierum nomina hos distinguens. Dixisse vero Hiarcham Apollonio avum suum philosophum annos centum atquae triginta vixisse, eiusmodi forsan coelesti munere fretum. Quo et Apollonius deinde usus centesimo etiam anno, ut aiunt, iuvenem praeferebat. Denique si quid eiusmodi anuli virtutis habent ex alto, id quidem non tam ad animam vel ad crassum corpus pertinere arbitror quam ad spiritum, calefacto paulatim anulo, sic inde vel sic affectum, ut firmior efficiatur aut clarior, vehementior aut mitior, serverior aut laetior. Quae quidem affectiones in corpus quidem omnino et in animam sensualem quodammodo, plerunqueindulgentem corpori, transeunt.” Latin text edited by John R. Clark and its translation by Carol V. Kaske, cf. Kaske-Clark, ibid., pp. 278-281. 271 „Ficino was ordained as a deacon and as a priest in 1473, and then he was elected to the parish of San Cristoforo a Novoli in January, 1474, the ceremonies were performed by the vicar of the archbishop of Florence who at that particular time was the pope's nephew, Cardinal Pietro Riario. … In March of 1487, Ficino became a canon of Florence Cathedral, after Lorezo's son Govanni had renounced his place in Ficino's favor.” Cf. Paul Oskar Kristeller, Studies in Renaissance thought and letters. Roma: Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, 1996, Vol IV. pp. 270, 274. 272 On Hermetica cf. A.D. Nock-A.J.Festugière (eds.), Corpus Hermeticum. Paris: Les Belles Letres, 1946-1954; Brian P. Copenhaver, (ed., trans.), Hermetica: The Greek Corpus Hermeticum and the Latin Asclepius in a New English Translation, with Notes and Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992; A.J. Festugière, La Révélation d'Hermès Trismègiste. Vols. I-IV, Paris: Gabalda, 1944-54; Garth Fowden, The Egyptian Hermes. A Historical approach to the late pagan mind. Princeton (NJ): Princeton Univ. Press, 1993. 273 Cf. Asclepius 24a: „(Hermes:) What has already been said about man, although marvellous is less so than this: that man has been able to discover the divine nature and produce it, is admirable beyond all marvels. Our first ancestors, then, when they were in grave error concerning the gods, being incredulous and paying no attention to worship and religion, invented the art of making gods. Having done so, they added a virtue appropriate to it, taken from the world’s nature, and mixed these; since they could not make souls, they evoked the souls of demons or angels, and put them into images with holy and divine rites, so that through these souls the idols might have the power of doing good and evil... (Asclepius:) ...of what is the quality of these terrestrial gods? (Hermes:) It consists, O Asclepius, of herbs, stones and aromas, which have in them a natural divine power. And it is for the following reason that people delight them with frequent sacrifices, with hymns and praises and sweet sounds concerted like the harmony of the heavens: that this heavenly thing, which has been attracted into the idol by repeated heavenly rites, may bear joyously with men and stay with them long.” Cf. D.P. Walker, Spiritual & Demonic Magic, The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2003, p 40-41.See also: Brian P. Copenhaver, ed. and trans., Hermetica: The Greek Corpus Hermeticum and the Latin Asclepius in a New English Translation, with Notes and Introduction (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), p. 90. Ficino alluded to this particular passage three times (Ch. 13, l.13-15; Ch. 20. l. 21-35; & Ch. 26, l. 77-13); see also: DOP I,38 & 39. William of Auvergne – who condemned these rites – 61 images. They believe that the daemons who inhabit the cosmic fire are insinuated into our bodies 275 through fiery or ignited humors, and likewise through ignited spirits and fiery emotions. Similarly they think that through rays caught at the right time and through fumigations, lights and loud tones, the spirits of the stars can be introduced into the compatible materials of images and can work wonders on the wearer or bystander. This could indeed be done, I believe, by daemons, but not so much because they have been constrained by a particular material as because they enjoy being worshiped276.” Moreover Ficino insists that a natural talisman can work without demons, by „a life or something vital from the Anima Mundi and the souls of the spheres and of the stars.” He explains this very accidentally mentioned, that Hermes Trismegistus' natural gods (=images) lose their virtues sixty years after their manufacture, cf. De Legibus, Ch. 23, p. 64. Obviously the use of herbs and aromas explains this. The Latin Asclepius is a translation of the Greek „Perfect Discourse,” which has a fragmentary Coptic translation, too. Cf. The Nag Hamadi Library. ed. James M. Robinson. San Francisco (CA) HarperSanFrancisco, 1990, pp. 330-338. The Coptic text contains this passage (Codex vi,8 fol. 68:25-70:2) and clearly states „they [the idols] have soul and breath” (Codex vi, 8, fol. 69:33-34, ibid., p. 334. On the numerical determination of the body we read: „For death occurs, [which] is the dissolution of the labors of the body and (the dissolution of) the number (of the body), when it (death) completes the number of the body. For the number is the union of the body.” Codex vi,8, 76,6-11. Ibid., pp. 336-337. This statement points to a composite number as a magical bound between spiritual entity and its talismanic body. 274 Maslama al-Qurṭubī's Ġāyat al-ḥakīm (Lat. Picatrix). „The Picatrix was attributed erroneously to the astronomer and mathematician Maslama al-Majriti (d. c. 398/1008), an attribution made in the Muqaddima of Ibn Khaldun. It has become widely accepted that it was penned by the Andalusian Maslama al-Qurtubi as identified by Maribel Fierro and confirmed by Godefroid de Callataӱ. See David Pingree, „Some Sources of the Ghayat al-hakim,” Journal of the Wartbourg and Courtauld Institutes, 43 (1980), pp 1-15; ʽabd al-Rahman b. Muhammad Ibn Khaldun, Muqaddima, ed. Darwish Juwaydi (Beirut: al-maktaba al-ʽasriyya, 200), pp. 483, 507. Mushegh Asatrian, 'Ibn Khaldun on Magic and the Occult', Iran and the Caucasus, 7/1 (2003), pp 73-123 (97-99). Maribel Fierro, „Batinism in al-Andalus. Maslama b. Qasim al-Qurtubi Author of the Rutbat al-hakim and Ghayat al-hakim,” Studia Islamica, 84 (1996), pp 87-112 (on 106). Godefroid de Callataӱ, 'Magia en al-Andalus: Rasa'i Ikhwan alSafa', Rutbat al Ḥakim y Ghayat al-Hakim (Picatrix)', Al-Qantara, 34/2 (2013), pp. 297-344.” Cf. Liana Saif, The Arabic Influences, p. 201, n.8. Main editions of the text: Arabic: "Picatrix" von Pseudo-Maǧrīṭī (Das Ziel des Weisen), herausgegeben von Hellmut Ritter, Studien der Bibliothek Warburg Vol. 12. Leipzig-Berlin: B.G. Teubner, 1933; German translation: "Picatrix" : das Ziel des Weisen von Pseudo-Maǧrīṭī. Transl. into German from the Arabic by Hellmut Ritter and Martin Plessner. Studies of the Warburg Institute Vol. 27. London: The Warburg Institute-University of London, 1962; critical edition of the Latin (1264) version: Picatrix the Latin Version of the Ghayat Al-Hakim, ed. David Pingree. Studies of the Warburg Institute Vol.39. London: The Warburg InstituteUniversity of London, 1986. Liana Saif is preparing an English translation from the Arabic for the Warburg Institute. As Charles Burnett noted: „Picatrix is not the kind of work that one would wish to read from cover to cover. It is a hotch-potch of prayers to the planets, astrological theory, recipes for fumigations and talismans – a rag-bag of magical lore from Egypt and Grace, India and Arabia.” Cf. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland (New Series), Vol. 120, Issue 02 (April 1988), p. 403. 275 Cf. Acts, 16:16-18. on the fortune-telling slave girl possessed by πνεῦμα πύθωνα (‫אוב‬-‫)במ דעלמת‬. See also Chrysostom's comment, who wrote: „For whereas by certain mystical rites and witchcraft a certain person had imprisoned a demon in a man, and the man divined, and in his divination was thrown down and torn, and was unable to endure the violence of the demon, but was on the point of perishing in that convulsion; he saith to the persons who were practicing such mystical arts, Loose me, I pray you: The mighty God no longer mortal flesh Can hold. And again, Unbind my wreaths, and bathe my feet in drops From the pure stream; erase these mystic lines, And let me go. For these and such like things, (for one might mention many more,) point out to us both of these facts which follow; the compulsion which holds down the demons and makes them slaves; and the violence to which they submit who have once given themselves up to them, so as to swerve even from their natural reason. And the Pythoness too: (for I am compelled now to bring forward and expose another disgraceful custom of theirs, which it were well to pass by, because it is unseemly for us to mention such things; but that you may more clearly know their shame it is necessary to mention it, that hence at least ye may come to know the madness and exceeding mockery of those that make use of the soothsayers:) this same Pythoness then is said, being a female, to sit at times upon the tripod of Apollo astride, and thus the evil spirit ascending from beneath and entering the lower part of her body, fills the woman with madness, and she with disheveled hair begins to play the bacchanal and to foam at the mouth, and thus being in a frenzy to utter the words of her madness. I know that you are ashamed and blush when you hear these things: but 62 vaguely, referring only that „everything can be easily accomplished by the intermediation of the Anima Mundi, since the Anima Mundi generates and moves the forms of natural things through certain seminal reasons implanted in her from the divine.” These seminal reasons come from the Platonic Ideas, therefore justly called „gods, since they are never cut off from the Ideas of the Supreme Mind277.” So, we are back again to the Graces and other inhabitants of the Olympos. they glory both in the disgrace and in the madness which I have described. These then and all such things. Paul was bringing forward when he said, “Ye know that when ye were Gentiles, ye were led away unto those dumb idols, howsoever ye might be led.” Cf. A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church. Ed. Philip Schaff. Edinburgh: T&T Clark – Grand Rapids (MI): Eerdmans, 1889, Vol. XII. [Chrysostom: Homilies on the Epistles of Paul to the Corinthians], Homily XXIX, I. Cor. xii, 2 pp.169-170. On demons, the Church Fathers frequently use the same material, as the Neoplatonist. In this case, the quoted verses were taken from an old Oracle, utilized among others by Porphyry in a Treatise of the Philosophy of Oracles. Porphyry notes on this verse: “You see, he bids them erase the lines that he may depart: as though these detained him, and not only these, but the other things too about their apparel: because they wore certain portraitures of the deities who were invoked.” Cf. Hales' citation from Eusebius (Evang. Præp. v.) in Henry Savile (1549-1622), Tou en hagiois patros hemon Ioannou Archiepiskopou Konstantinoupoleos tou Chrysostomou ton heuriskomenon, Etonae in Collegio Regali, 1613, vol. viii. pt. ii. p. 278. 276 De vita coelitus comparanda, ch. 20, lines 21-35: „Quanquam Arabes [i. e. Picatrix 4.5(5), German tr. pp.193-197] et Aegyptii [Asclepius 24a and 37-38] tantum statuis imaginibusque attribuunt arte astronomica et magica fabricatis, ut spiritus stellarum in eis includi potent. Spiritus autem stellarum intelligunt alii quidem mirabiles coelestium vires, alii vero daemonas etiam stellae huius illusive pedissequos. Spiritus igitur stellarum qualescunque sint, inseri statuis et imaginibus arbitrantur, non aliter ac daemones soleant humana nonnunquam corpora occupare, perque illa loqui, moveri, movere, mirabilia perpetrare. Similia quaedam per imagines facere stellarum spiritus arbitrantur. Putant daemonas, mundani ignis habitatores, per igneos huores vel ignitos similiterque per ignitos spiritus et affectus eiusmodi mostris insinuari corporibus. Similiter stellarum spiritus per radios opportune susceptos suffumigationesque et lumina tonosque vehementes competentibus imaginum materiis inseri, mirabiliaque in gestantem vel propinquantem efficere posse. Quae quidem nos per daemonas fieri posse putamus, non tam materia certa cohibitos quam cultu gaudantes.” Latin text by John R. Clark and its translation by Carol V. Kaske, cf. Kaske-Clark, ibid., pp. 350-351. 277 De vita coelitus comparanda, ch. 26, lines 83-83, and 124-127: „vitam quandam vel vitale aliquid ex anima mundi et sphaerarum animis atque stellarum … anima mundi conciliante confici posse, quatenus illa naturalium rerum formas per seminales quasdam rationes sibi divinitus insitas generat atque movet. Quas quidem rationes appelat etiam deos, quoniam ab ideis supremae mentis nunquam destituuntur.” Latin text by John R. Clark and its translation by Carol V. Kaske, cf. Kaske-Clark, ibid.,pp. 388-391. 63 Article Fourteen The Moon as the astrologers teach has a special connection with fertility and birth. Because she is the nearest heavenly body, she is the birth canal of every celestial influence bestowed upon plants, animals, humans as well as metals or stones, that is why the position of the Moon 278 was essential in making talismans279, including magical rings. The astro magical praxis essentially is nothing other than an imitation of birth, when the stellar gifts are sealed into the newborn device. The talismans are to be made at the chosen time, at the best available moment, when the most beneficent (or if the purpose of the maker is such, the most harmful) influences flow on them. They were considered as living beings who have individual fates to live, born to give blessings or curses, to protect friends, to destroy enemies, to heal or to cause wounds and ailments, foretell the future. Some magicians among them Ficino, tried to hide or beautify the true nature of their talismans, but they were originally miniaturized cult images280, idols of the worship of stars and various spiritual beings connected with them. Their bodies made from selected stones, metals, woods or other material thought to be appropriate for the purpose. They are shaped in a form, which was the most suitable to contact with them. And they were inscribed to ensure the connection between image and spiritual reality: with a graven picture, or a graven sign (character), or a name. Frequently even the purpose of their making and their owner were written in them. Finally they were sanctified by prayers, suffumigations, sacrifices and other religious rites. And after „they were born,” they were cared with reverence, kept in ritual purity281, operated by prayers and supplications. 278 Already in the Theban Magic Library (or as it better known the Greek Magical Papyri = Papyri Graecae Magicae, abbreviated PGM) we found that the best time for making magical rings or binding spells when the Moon is in the Leo. (PGM VII, 299). Cf. The Greek magical papyri in translation including the Demotic spells, ed. Hans Dieter Betz, 2nd ed. Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press, 1992, p. 124. On the Moon (Selene) and her astrological role in magic, see Theodor Hopfner, Griechisch-ägyptischer Offenbarungszauber: mit einer eingehenden Darstellung des griechisch-synkretistischen Daemonenglaubens und der Voraussetzungen und Mittel des Zaubers überhaupt und der magischen Divination im besonderen. Vol 1. (Studien zur Palaeographie und Papyruskunde ; v. 21) Leipzig: H. Hassel-Verlag, 1921. Vol 2. (Studien zur Palaeographie und Papyruskunde ; v. 23) Leipzig : Haessel, 1924. [new edition of vol. 1 and vol. II Part 1, and Part 2: Amsterdam: Hakkert, 1974, 1983 & 1990.], Vol I, secs. 826-828; Delatte, Annalecta Atheniensia, Vol. I, p. 411. The Sepher Maphteah Shelomo, fol. 57a (Gollanz 1914) contains a formula „to swear (‫ )להשביע‬or to sanctify (‫ )להקדיש‬a ring on the day of Sabbath [i. e. after the outgoing of it!] when the moon in increase (grows).” 279 „Indeed, the word talisman itself is derived from the Arab version of ἁποτέλεσμα, the influence of the heacvenly bodies upon the universe.” Cf. Joan Evans, Magical Jewels of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, particularly in England. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1922 [rprt. New York: Dover, 1976], p. 14. See also: Alexander Fodor, Sufism and Magic. Amulets from the Islamic World. Keszthely: Helikon Castle Museum, 2009. 280 Cf. Ian S. Moyer, Jacco Dieleman, „Miniaturization and the Opening of The Mouth in a Greek Magical Text ( Pgm Xii.270-350),” Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions, Volume 3, Issue 1 (2003), pp. 47–72; Jacco Dieleman, Priests, Tongues, and Rites. The London-Leiden Magical Manuscripts and Translation in Egyptian Ritual (100-300 CE). Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2005, pp. 170-175; Jonathan Z. Smith, „Trading places,” in: Ancient Magic and Ritual Power, eds. Marvin Meyer & Paul Mirecki. Boston-Leiden: Brill, 2001, pp. 13-28. 281 In the story of Ma'aruf we read a reference to it: „And it was his wont, of the excellence of his piety, that, when Ma'aruf was minded to have to lie with a woman, he would doff the enchanted seal-ring from his finger, in reverence to the Holy Names graven thereon, and lay it on the Pillow, nor would he don it again till he had purified himself by the Ghusl-ablution.” (Burton, Arabian Nights, Night 1001, Vol. X, p. 50.) - Ghusl means to wash the entire body with water. This post-coital ablution of the Qur'an (S.4:43, S.5:6.) based on Leviticus 15:18: ‫ אדשד ר יג דשכמב גאיש אר תה ה‬,‫וד גאשה ה‬ ‫עהרב‬ ‫הה ד‬-‫ וד טה דמאו עמד‬,‫וד הרחדצו במ ממ יג ם‬--‫ז מהרע‬-‫שכד במ ת‬. ‫ ג‬/ „The woman also with whom a man shall lie with secretion of semen, they shall both bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the even.” Josephus connects this rule with the Hippocratian doctrine on pneumatic expulsion of semen (Hipp. Vol. iii, p. 748; Aristotle, Historia animalium, VII,7, 586a, l. 15-18), when he writes in Contra Apionem, II,25 §203: καὶ μετὰ τὴν νόμιμον συνουσίαν ἀνδρὸς καὶ γυναικὸς ἀπολούσασθαι: ψυχῆς γὰρ ἔχειν τοῦτο μερισμὸν πρὸς ἄλλην χώραν ὑπέλαβεν: καὶ γὰρ ἐμφυομένη σώμασιν κακοπαθεῖ καὶ τούτων αὖ θανάτῳ διακριθεῖσα. διόπερ ἁγνείας ἐπὶ πᾶσι τοῖς τοιούτοις ἔταξεν. / „It gave instruction to wash also after the lawful intercourse of a man and a woman; for it supposed that this constitutes a division of the soul (as it passes) into another place. For the soul suffers when it is implanted in bodies and again when it is separated from them at death. Hence it ordered purification in all such cases.” Flavius Josephus 64 The sources of these cults rooted in the Ancient religions of the near East, chiefly in the SumerianAkadian and the Egyptian religious systems, where elaborated rites existed for making alive cult images of deities282. These religions especially from the Neo-Babylonian 283 times onward, showed a tendency to become systematized and theologically interpreted as star-cults. In the Late Antiquity, this tendency has given birth to a full-grown, syncretized religious system in which a universal astral theory played the leading philosophical basis 284. The Stoicism285, Neoplatonism as well as the Hermetism286 are all came from this religious background, which survived after the Christian and Islam conquests, in – sometimes banned - philosophical or magical books and in its purest form, in Translation and Commentary. Ed. Steve Mason, Vol 10: Against Apion. Tr. and comm. John M.G.Barclay. LeidenBoston: Brill, 2007, pp. 286-287. Cf. also ibid., II,24 §198 and in Ant. 3.78, 263. On the pneumatic expulsion, cf. e.g.: Aristotle, De generatione animalium, I, 20, 728a lines 9-12: „And as to the pleasure which accompanies coition it is due to emission not only of semen, but also of a spiritus (πνεῦμα), the coming together of which precedes the emission.” [tr. by Arthur Platt, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1910. Vol V.]; Historia animalium, VII,7, 586a, l. 15-18: „In the emission of sperm there is a preliminary discharge of air, and the outflow is manifestly caused by a blast of air; for nothing is cast to a distance save by pneumatic pressure.” See also ps-Aristotle, Problemata xxx. l. 953b 33. 282 On the Egyptian rituals, cf. Eberhard Otto, Das ägyptische Mundöffnungsritual (= Ägyptologische Abhandlungen. Bd. 3, 1–2, 2 Bände (Bd. 1: Text. Bd. 2: Kommentar.). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1960; Hans-Werner Fischer-Elfert & Friedhelm Hoffmann, Die Vision von der Statue im Stein: Studien zum altägyptischen Mundöffnungsritual. Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag, 1998; J.F. Quack, Fragmente des Mundöffnungsrituals aus Tebtynis. In: K. Ryholt (Hrsg.): The Carlsberg Papyri 7. Hieratic Texts from the Collection. Kopenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, 2006, S. 69-150; Ann Macy Roth, „The psš-kf and the „Opening of Mouth Ceremony“: A Ritual of Birth and Rebirth,” Journal of Egyptian Archaeology (JEA). Bd. 78, 1992, S. 113–147; Ann Macy Roth, „Fingers, Stars, and the „Opening of Mouth Ceremony“: The nature and Function of the nṯrwj-Blades,” Journal of Egyptian Archaeology (JEA). Bd. 79, 1993, S. 57–79; Ann Macy Roth, Catharine H. Roehrig: „Magical bricks and the bricks of birth,” In: Journal of Egyptian Archaeology (JEA). Bd. 88, 2002, S. 121–139. The fundamental publication of Eberhard Otto is a synoptic edition and commentary of the written and pictorial sources range in date from Old Kingdom to Roman Period. He distinguishes 75 „episodes” of the rites, which classified in nine distinct part [Episodes 1-9: preliminary rites; Episodes 10-22: animation of the statue; Episodes 23-42: meat offerings aligned with Upper Egypt; Episodes 43-46: meat offerings aligned with Lower Egypt; Episodes 47-71: funerary meal; Episodes 72-75: closing rites]. The publications of Ann Macy Roth draw special attention to the birth-connection of the core ritual, that is the touching the statue with special instruments, including the ritual adze, which is a chisel of metal (Episodes 26-27), with the small finger (Episode 33), and the presentation of instruments including the spooned blade known as peseshkaf (Episodes 34-41). The „re-born” motive, the „reversing of time” is clearly shown by the concluding phase of the ritual, in which the image is set up in its final position, and the person conducting the ritual moves backwards out of the sacred space, brushing away any footprints (Episodes 70-75). The opening of the mouth ritual was employed for the animating of temple statues as well as of mummies. The version of the Opening of the Mouth ritual on the north wall of the rear chamber in the mortuary chapel of the vizier Rekhmira (fl. 14561401 BC) at Thebes ('Theban Tomb 100') is one of the earliest and the longest, with 51 of the 75 attested episodes, and one of the best-preserved and best-published, cf. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/museumsstatic/digitalegypt//religion/wpr.html by University College London. On the parallel with Psalm 51, cf. Benjamin Urrutia, "Psalm 51 and the 'Opening of the Mouth' Ceremony." Scripta Hierosolymitana: Publications of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Vol. 28 (1982), pp 222–223. On the Mezopotamian rituals: Born in Heaven, Made on Earth: Making of the Cult Image in the Ancient Near East. ed. Michael B. Dick. Winona Lake (IN): Eisenbrauns, 1999; Sidney Smith, „The Babylonian ritual for consecration and induction of a divine statue,” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, New Series 61 (1925), pp. 37-60; A. M. Blackman, „The rite of opening the mouth in Ancient Egypt and Babylonia,” Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 10 (1924), pp. 47-59. - As Moshe Idel emphasized it, the 'golemmaking passage' in BT Sanhedrin 65b, is actually a polemy against such pagan magical practicing involving the animation of statues; cf. Moshe Idel, Golem: Jewish Magical and Mystical Traditions on the Artificial Anthropoid. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press, 1990, pp. 27-43. 283 Cf. Erica Reiner, „Astral Magic in Babylonia,” Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, New Series, Vol. 85, No. 4 (1995), pp. 1-150; especially on pp. 139-142. Reiner emphasizes, that „the power sought to imbue the string or the individual stones is that coming from the stars. For this reason they must be exposed to irradiation by stars.” (Ibid, p. 127). But „only in the Babylonian, late version that the process takes on the character of what may already be called "astral religion" while the Assyrian recension testifies only to the belief in stellar irradiation, the effect of which has permeated, as we saw, several crucial areas of Babylonian science and religion.” (Ibid., p. 142). 65 the religion of the Sabean community287 whose prominent scholars like Thābit ibn Qurra planted its doctrines in the Arabic world288, which was equally eager to accept these ideas from the astrological and philosophical text of the Antiquity, from their Byzantian, Persian and Jewish mediators, or from the Sabean source itself. This is the reason, why the astrology and astral magic came to Europe chiefly as Arabic texts289. The first magic rings whom we know from the magical literature of the Late Antiquity were mostly solar290, because the rings as such have a distinctive connection with solar deities, like Ra in Egypt291 and Šamaš292 in Mesopotamia. The ring of invisibility is surely needed solar influence: if the Sun closes his eye who else could see? But later we read about magical rings which captured the 284 Laszlo Kakosy (1932-2003), "Decans in Late-Egyptian Religion," Oikumene, Vol. 3 (1982), pp. 163–191; Laszlo Kakosy, Egyptian and Ancient Star-religion [Hungarian] Apollo Konyvtar 9, Budapest: Akademiai Kiado, 1978. I can not cite Prof. Kakossy brilliant and comprehensive work without expressing my gratitude for his kind help and wise advice, which helped my work very much in its beginning. He was the first with whom I discuss this project and who expressed his interest later, even in his last letter to me. Regrettable, that he could not see the end of the work. R.I.P. See also, Prayer, Magic, and the Stars in the Ancient and Late Antique World, eds. S. Noegel, J. Walker, and B. Wheeler. University Park (PA): Pennsylvania State Univ. Press, 2003. 285 Cf. Samuel Sambursky, Physics of the Stoics. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1987; Robert B. Todd, “Monism and Immanence: The Foundations of Stoic Physics” in The Stoics, ed. John M. Rist, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978; Liba Chaia Taub, Ptolemy’s Universe: The Natural Philosophical and Ethical Foundations of Ptolemy’s Astronomy. Chicago (IL): Open Court, 1993. 286 Cf. Hermetism from Late Antiquity to Humanism: La Tradizione Ermetica dal mondo tardo-antico all'umaniesimo, ed. Paolo Lucenti, Ilarria Parri, & Vittoria Perrone Compagni. Turnhout: Brepols, 2003; Garth Fowden, The Egyptian Hermes. A Historical approach to the late pagan mind. Princeton (NJ): Princeton Univ. Press, 1993; Hermeticism and the Renaissance: Intellectual History and the Occult in Early Modern Europe, ed. Ingrid Merkel and Allen Debus, London & Toronto: Associated University Presses, 1988; Kevin van Bladel, The Arabic Hermes : From Pagan Sage to Prophet of Science, Oxford Studies in Late Antiquity. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2009. 287 Cf. Michel Tardieu, “Sabiens Coraniques et ‘Sabiens’ de Harran,” Journal Asiatique 274 (1986): 1-44; Jan Hjaerpe, Analyse critique des traditions arabes sur les sabéens harraniens. Uppsala: Skriv Service, 1972; Kevin van Bladel, The Arabic Hermes : From Pagan Sage to Prophet of Science, Oxford Studies in Late Antiquity. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2009, pp. 64-120; Yves Marquet, “Sabéens et Iḥwān Al-Ṣafá,” Studia Islamica 24 (1966), pp. 35-80, 25 (1967), pp. 77-109; Henry Corbin, “Rituel sabéen et exégèse ismaelienne du rituel,” Eranos Jahrbuch 19 (1950), pp. 181-246; Daniil Avraamovitch Khvolson (1819-1911), Die Ssabier und der Ssabismus, vols. 2. St. Petersburg: Buchdruckerei der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1856. 288 Cf. David Pingree, The Thousands of Abu Mashar. London: University of London, 1968, pp. 17-18; Kristen Lippincott and David Pingree, “Ibn Al-Hātim on the Talismans of the Lunar Mansion,” Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 50 (1987): 57-81. Daniil Avraamovich Khvolson, Über die Überreste der altbabylonischen Literatur in arabischen Übersetzungen. St. Petersburg: Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1859, rep. Amsterdam 1968; Dov Schwarz, Astral magic, p. 35. 289 The main texts are: Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi (787-886), Kitab al-Madkhal al-kabir ila 'ilm ahkam al-nujum („The Book of the Great Introduction to the Judgements of the Stars”), Ya'qub ibn Ishaq al-Kindi (801-), De Radiis; Maslama al-Qurṭubī's Ġāyat al-ḥakīm („The goal of the Wise,” its Latin translation as Picatrix); Avicenna, Metaphysics of Kitab al Shifa' (The Book of Healing”); and the anonymus Theology of Aristotle (which is in fact a paraphrase of Plotinus' Six Enneads) and Sirr al-asrar („Secrets of Secrets”). Cf. Liana Saif, The Arabic Influences, p. 3; Liana Saif, „The Arabic theory of astral influences in early modern medicine,” Renaissance Studies Volume 25, Issue 5 (November 2011), pp 609–626. 290 E.g.: the shrew-mouse ring in the Demotic London-Leyden Magical Papyrus, col. XIII, 11-29. (PDM xiv, 376394); the so-called Hermes' ring (PGM V, 213-303); and the two ring spells in the P.Lugd.Bat. J 384 V (PGM XII, 201-269 and PGM XII, 270-350). The shrew-mouse was associated with the solar god Horus of Letopolis, [Cf. Emma Brunner-Traut, „Spitzmaus und Ichneumon als Tiere des Sonnengottes,” Nachrichten von der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Göttingen: Philologisch-Historische Klasse 7, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1965; Bengt Peterson, ‘Shrew mouse and ichneumon as divinities,’ Medelhavsmuseet Bulletin 21 (1986), pp. 11-13.] The 'Hermes' Ring' is a scarab engraved with Isis, but the spell is addressed to Helios. As Morton Smith notes, „the ring is said to be „of Hermes” because the spell first identifies the magician with Hermes-Toth. As Toth he Invokes Osiris (the Nile).” The two all-purpose rings (both called as wʽ gswr, Demotic for „a ring” or „one ring”) are clearly consecrated to Ra (Helios); in the first case by using „the great and holy and good-for-all-things name” [PGM XII, 207] of The Lord of Hosts (αδωναῖε σαβαώθ / ἰαώ σαβαώθ), and „the baboonic name” of the Sun [PGM XIII, 84], 66 virtues of the Saturn293, the Jupiter, the Mars, the Venus294, the Moon and the Mercury or even a series of seven planetary rings295 like the rings, which were given to Apollonius of Tyana. There were magic rings for the Zodiacal signs, for the thirty-six decans 296 as well as some of the other forty-eight celestial forms297 and for the twenty-eight houses (mansiones) of the Moon, which were so eloquently listed and described in The Arabian Nights by the wise Tawaddud298. Of course, composite talismans were also created, by which more than one celestial entity thought to be exploited. The four rings of the seasons 299 were surely such devices each one collecting double virtues. The 'Great Ring' of Eliphas Levi, which was called by him one time as Ring of Gyges 300, „the number of the year” = Abrasax [Ἀβρασαξ - ʽbrʽ-s(t)ʽks]; and the later case by the „invocation to OUPHŌR,” that is the ultimately abbreviated version of the Ancient Egyptian Opening of the Mouth rite [Egyptian wp. t-r]. Cf. The Demotic Magical Papyrus of London and Leiden by Francis Llewellyn Griffith & Herbert Thompson, 3 vols. Oxford: H. Grevel & Co., 1904–1909. [Vol I. rpt.: The Leyden Papyrus, New York: Dover, 1974], Vol I, pp. 94-99, [and on Hieratic version of the Abrasax name: pp. 146-147: notable the middle element (-s(t)-) of the name, which is written by the equivalent of the F29 hieroglyph (a cow´s skin pierced by an arrow), denoting the Ancient Egyptian verb sat („to shoot, to eject, to pour out, to throw”), referring again to the „far-shooting” Apollo! For the deciphering and interpreting of the hieratic name I owned thank to Aayko K. Eyma]; The Greek Magical Papyri, pp. 104-106, 161-165, and 217-218; Hopfner, Offenbarungszauber, Vol 2, § 294-295; Lynn R. LiDonnici, „According to the Jews: Identified (and Identifying) 'Jewish' Elements in the Greek Magical Papyri,” in Heavenly Tablets: Interpretation, Identity and Tradition in Ancient Judaism. eds. Lynn R. LiDonnici &Andrea Lieber, Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2007, pp. 87-110. particularly pp. 104-105; Jacco Dieleman, Priests, Tongues, and Rites. The London-Leiden Magical Manuscripts and Translation in Egyptian Ritual (100-300 CE). Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2005, pp. 147-175; Abrasax: Ausgewählte Papyri religiösen und magischen Inhalts, I, Gebete. Abhandlungen der RheinischWestfälischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Papyrologica Coloniensia, 17.1. eds. Reinhold Merkelbach & Maria Totti. Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag, 1990. Vol. I, pp. 155-78. On the astrological-astro magical literature of the Antiquity, see: Wilhelm Gundel & Hans Georg Gundel, Astrologumena. Die astrologische Literatur in der Antike und ihre Geschichte. Sudhoffs Archiv. Vierteljahresschrift für Geschichte der Medizin und der Naturwissenchaften, der Pharmazie und der Mathematik. Beiheft 6, 1966. 291 In this context, the Sn (or shen)-ring and the scarab beetle are the most important factors. For the iconography of the Sn-ring and its function as a magical protection, with reference to the sun god, et al., see W. Wendrich, "Entangled, Connected, or Protected? The Power of Knots and Knotting in Ancient Egypt," in K. Szpakowska, ed., Through a Glass Darkly: Magic, Dreams, and Prophecy in Ancient Egypt. Swansea: The Classical Press of Wales, 2006, pp. 254–258. For the verb Sn(j), connoting magical protection, see Robert K. Ritner, The Mechanics of Ancient Egyptian Magical Practice. Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization No. 54. Chicago (IL): The Oriental Institute. 1993, p. 57, n. 266; for the king as a Snj-"enclosing" the land, gods, etc., said at coronation, see ibid., 59, n. 271; also note the later Egyptian derivation Snty, "to exorcise," said of forces hostile to the sun, e.g. Apep, as in the famous Apep Book (ibid., 43, n. 197, citing already the 1933 publication of that text by Faulkner). For the vocabulary of "encircling" more generally (incl. Sn, et al.), see ibid., 57–67. For the Sn-ring as the eye of the sun, see John Coleman Darnell, The Enigmatic Netherworld Books of the Solar-Osirian Unity: Cryptographic Compositions in the Tombs of Tutankhamun, Ramesses VI and Ramesses IX. Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 198. Friburg: Academic Press / Göttingen: Vanderhoeck & Ruprecht, 2004, p. 171, n. 35 and 339, n. 286. For the Sn-ring as a symbol of the royal/solar ba, see Joshua Aaron Roberson, The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Earth. Wilbour Studies in Egypt and Ancient Western Asia. Atalanta (GE): Lockwood Press, 2012, p. 266. For the Sn-rings + "half sky" signs as a the solar "pylons of heaven," depicted in the Followers of Horus motif and associated also with the birth-matrons Isis and Nephthys, see Wolfhart Westendorf, "Die geteilte Himmelsgöttin," in I. Gamer-Wallert and W. Helck (eds.), Festschrift Emma Brunner-Traut. Tübingen: Attempto-Verl., 1992, 349–351. For seals, scarabs and rings, cf Percy E. Newberry, Scarabs: An Introduction to the Study of Egyptian Seals and Signet Rings. London: Archibald Constable & Co, 1906 [Cheaper resissue: 1908]. 292 Šamaš (Sumerian: Utu), usually depicted with a rod and a seal ring. His symbol is the solar disc, which took the form of a four-pointed star, with curved lines emerging between each point toward the corners (as it shown on the limestone “Tablet of Šamaš” of king Nabu-aplu-iddina, in the British Museum, where the seal ring and rod also clearly seen, cf. BM 91000, dated: 860 BCE-850 BCE). He was historically associated with Saturn, cf. Morris Jastrow, Jr., "Sun and Saturn," Revue d'Assyriologie et d'Archéologie Orientale. Vol. 7, No. 4 (1910), pp. 163-178. 293 „Liber Saturni survives in one known manuscript: Firenze, BNC,II.III.214, fols. 33r-38r. This text describes how to make the ten rings of Saturn, the four rings of Jupiter, and three rings that appear to be associated with Mars. The sections concerning Jupiter and Mars probably belong to the Liber planetarum.” Cf. Sophie Page, Magic in the 67 another time as Ring of Solomon 301, was intended to capture all powers of the seven planets as a reservoir of its master's will302. The Navaratna303 of the Indians is a similar talisman, which invented to assemble all positive influences of the nine celestial bodies called grahas of the Vedic astrology (Jyotiṣa)304. The cults of the heavenly bodies (or more precisely of the spiritual beings behind or inside them) have a definitely demonic and dangerous aspect as the Sefer ha-Atsamim [The Book of Substances], a work on astral magic erroneously ascribed to Ibn Ezra warned its readers 305. Because the celestial „spirituality,” which was drawn down by the rituals of the magicians are mostly demons, who are connected to the particular celestial power involved in the rites. They are the most available by the Cloister: Pious Motives, Illicit Interests, and Occult Approaches to the Medieval Universe. University Park, (PA): Pennsylvania State Univ. Press, 2013, p.168., n. 109. 294 Liber Ptolemaei de XII annulis Veneris, qui tractat de lapidibus insculpendis ad producendum mirabiles effectus, et incipit sic: Accipe jaspidem viridem in die et hora. Cf. Trithemius, Antipalus Maleficiorum, Book 1, chapter 2. [in: Peuckert, Will-Erich. Pansophie Vol.1. Berlin: Schmidt, 1956, pp. 47 ff.]; Paola Zambelli, The Speculum Astronomiae and Its Enigma: Astrology, Theology and Science in Albertus Magnus and his contemporaries. Boston Studies in the Philiosophy of Science 135. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1992, pp. 244-245; Paola Zambelli, White Magic, Black Magic in the European Renaissance. Leiden: Brill, 2007, pp. 101 ff. 295 De septem annulis septem planetarum (On the seven rings of the seven planets), which begins thus: „Divisio lunae quando impleta fuerit etc.” („The division of the Moon when it is full etc.”), attributed to Hermes Trismegistos. Cf. Trithemius, Antipalus Maleficiorum, Book 1, chapter 2. [in: Peuckert, Pansophie. Vol.1, pp. 47 ff.] Cf. Paola Zambelli, The Speculum Astronomiae and Its Enigma, pp. 244-245; Paola Zambelli, White Magic, Black Magic in the European Renaissance. Leiden: Brill, 2007, pp. 101 ff; Frank Klaassen, The Transformations of Magic: Illicit Learned Magic in the Later Middle Ages and Renaissance. University Park (PA): Pennsylvania State Univ. Press, 2013, pp. 34-35, 39, 98-99, 128-131, 137, 144-45; Joan Evans, Magical Jewels of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, particularly in England. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1922 [rprt. New York: Dover, 1976] 296 Decans (Ancient Egyptian: bakiu, Anc. Greek: δεκανοί) are 36 constellation, each of them marked a decanal our of the night for the ancient Egyptians. They called decans („tenths”) because every ten days, a new decanic star group takes the former's place and their heliacal rising [just before sunrise] markes the 36 ten day-periods of the year. The Liber Sacer, or Sacred Book of Hermes Trismegistos „is a list of decan images, and of stones and plants in sympathy with each decan, with instruction as to how to engrave the images on the correct stone, which is to be fixed into a ring together with the relative plant; the wearer of the ring must abstain from all foods antipathetic to the decan.” Cf. Otto Neugebauer, "The Egyptian "Decans," in Astronomy and History: Selected Essays. New York: Springer, 1983, pp. 205–209; Charles-Émile Ruelle, „Hermès Trismégiste, le livre sacré sur les décans. Texte, variantes et traduction française,” Revue de Philologie, de Littérature et d'Histoire Anciennes 32.4 (Oct 1, 1908), pp. 247-277; David Pingree, „The Indian Iconography of the Decans and Horâs," Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, vol. 26, no. 3/4 (1963), pp. 223-254; Kakosy, “Decans in Late-Egyptian Religion” in Oikumene 3 (1982), pp. 163–191; Kakosy, "Die Mannweibliche Natur Des Sirius In Ägypten," Studia Aegyptica 2 (1976), pp. 41-46; Joanne Conman, “The Egyptian Origins of Planetary Hypsomata,” Discussions in Egyptology. Volume 64 (2006-2009), pp. 7-20; Festugière, La Revelation d'Hermes Trismegiste, vol. I, pp. 139. sqq; Thorndike, History of Magic, vol. II, p. 221; F.A. Yates, Giordano Bruno, p. 48. 297 I.e. the 48 constellations desribed by Hipparchus and preserved in Ptolemy's Almagest, Books VII and VIII. [The Almagest survived, like most of Classical Greek science, only in Arabic manuscripts (hence its familiar name, from Arabic al-majisṭī „greatest”). Because of its reputation, it was widely sought and was translated twice into Latin in the 12th century, once in Sicily and again in Spain.] The images of the Pleiades, the Ursa Maior, the Dog Star, and the Corvus are the most frequently used talismans, but the others are also had been taken in account for various magical purposes, cf. DOP II, 37: „but of these the more principal are accounted, Pegasus which prevaileth against the diseases of horses, and preserveth horsemen in battle; Then is Andromache, which begetteth love betwixt husband and wife, so that it is said even to reconcile adulterers: Cassiopeia restoreth weak bodies and strengtheneth the members; Serpentarius chaseth away poysons [poisons], and cureth the bitings of venemous beasts: Hercules giveth victory in war; the Dragon with both the Bears maketh a man crafty, ingenious, valiant, acceptable to the gods and men: Hydra conferreth wisdom and riches, and resisteth poysons [poisons]. Centaurus bestoweth health and long old age: Ara conserveth charity, and maketh one acceptable to the gods; Cetus maketh one amiable, prudent, happy both by sea and land, and helps him to recover his lost goods: the Ship affordeth security in the waters; the Hare prevaileth against deceits and madness; the Dog cureth the Dropsie, resisteth the plague, and also preserveth from beasts, and fierce creatures. Orion granteth victory: The Eagle giveth new honors, and preserveth the old. The Swan freeth from the Palsie and the Quartain [quartan]: Perseus freeth from Envy and Witchcrafts, and 68 astro magical acts and as the magicians claimed, they can be bound to serve by the so called „Solomonic art”. All jinni in the Arabian Nights are of this kind, including Al-Ra’ad al-Kasif („Eardeafening Thunder”) and Abú al-Sa’ádát („the Father of Prosperities”): they are created from fire and smoke, terrible to see and even in their status as magically bound servant, they are and remain very dangerous. Against this immanent danger, elaborate invocation rites, powerful guarding talismans and special shielding devices are applied. These practices were detailed in a special genre of the books: the grimoires306. Many of the medieval grimoires purported to be „Solomonic” in fact Christian works, from the late medieval times, the Renaissance and onward. The famous Clavicula Solomonis is a 14th or 15th preserveth from Lightnings and Tempests: The Hart preserveth Phrenetical and mad people.” 298 Peter of Abano, Liber experimentorum mirabilium de annulis secundum 28 mansiones lunae („Book of marvelous experiments with rings according to the 28 mansions of the moon”) = in BN7337 (15 th century), f. 131-8 as „Annulorum experimenta.” Cf. Thorndike, Vol. II. p. 912; Trithemius also referred this work in his Antipalus Maleficiorum, Book 1, chapter 2. [in: Peuckert, Pansophie. Vol.1, pp. 47 ff.] Cf. Paola Zambelli, The Speculum Astronomiae and Its Enigma, pp. 244-245; See also, A. W. Greenup, Sefer ha-Levanah The Book of the Moon London, 1912; Picatrix 1.4; Kristen Lippincott and David Pingree, “Ibn Al-Hātim on the Talismans of the Lunar Mansion,” Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 50 (1987): 57-81; Ficino, De vita coelitus comparanda, ch. 18, lines 93-104 [Kaske-Clark, ibid.,pp. 388-391], DOP II,33 & 46. Tawaddud's lecture on the Manázil (Arabic for mansions) in Night 454, cf. Burton, ibid., Vol. V, pp. 228-229. As she says „they are disposed in the order of the letters of the Abjad-hawwaz or older alphabet [i.e. the Hebrew], according to their numerical power, and in them are secret virtues which none knoweth save” their Creator. 299 De quatuor annulis (On the four rings), which Solomon entitles with the names of his four disciples, which begins like this: „De arte eutonica et ydaica etc. („On eutonic and ydaic art etc.”) Cf. Trithemius, Antipalus Maleficiorum, Book 1, chapter 2. [in: Peuckert, Pansophie. Vol.1, pp. 47 ff.] Cf. Paola Zambelli, The Speculum Astronomiae and Its Enigma, pp. 244-245. There is an account of these four rings in the calligraphic Lansdowne MS 1203, fol. 80-85 [“Maniére de faire les bagues Astronomiques composeés des Métaux, appellées Talismans” / “Manner of making the astronomical rings, composed of metals, called talismans”] attached to the “Abognazar” (Ibn Ezra?) version of the Clavicula Solomonis. (See also: Bibliothèque nationale de France, Fr. 25,314, which was wrote by the same scribe.) As Joseph H. Peterson pointed out, the Abognazar version of De quatuor annulis uses the seven "Olympic Spirits" [detailed in ‫ ארבעתאל‬Arbatel de Magia Veterum: Summum Sapientiae studium, Basel, 1575] to create rings with blended astral influences of the planets. Cf. http://www.esotericarchives.com/solomon/l1203.htm 300 "To become invisible one of three things is necessary - the interposition of some opaque medium between the light and our body, between our body and the eyes of the spectators, or the fascination of the eyes of the spectators in such a manner that they cannot make use of their sight. Of these methods, the third only is magical. … The only writers who have discoursed seriously of the ring of Gyges are Jamblichus, Porphyry, and Peter of Apono. What they say is evidently allegorical, and the representation which they give, or that which can be made from their description, proves that they are really speaking of nothing but the great magical arcanum. One of the figures depicts the universal movement, harmonic and equilibrated in imperishable being; another, which should be formed from an amalgam of the seven metals, calls for a description in detail. It has a double collet and two precious stones - a topaz, constellated with the sign of the sun, and an emerald with the sign of the moon; it should bear on the inner side the occult characters of the planets, and on the outer their known signs, twice repeated and in kabbalistic opposition to each other; that is, five on the right and five on the left; the signs of the sun and moon resuming the four several intelligences of the seven planets. Now, this configuration is no other than that of a pentacle signifying all the mysteries of magical doctrine, and here is the occult significance of the ring: to exercise the omnipotence, of which ocular fascination is one of the most difficult demonstrations to give, we must possess all science and know how to make use of it. ... The person who desires to be seen always makes himself observed, and he who would remain unnoticed effaces himself and disappears. The true ring of Gyges is the will; it is also the rod of transformations, and by its precise and strong formulation it creats the magical word. … The Hebrew terms ‫אהיה‬, ‫אמן‬ ‫יהוה‬, ‫אגלא‬, have been considered by all kabbalists as the keys of magical transformation.” [Éliphas Lévi, Transcendental Magic. Its Doctrine and Ritual. A complete translation of “Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie” with a bibliographical preface by Arthur Edward Waite. London: Georg Redway, 1896, The Ritual of Transcendent Magic, Ch. xiv, pp. 283-286. A picture of this particular ring can be seen in Donald Tyson's edition of Occult Phil., p. 142.] As Evelyn Underhill (1875–1941) paraphrased Eliphas Levi, as the par excellence magus of the Golden Dawn, the will „is king, not only of the House of Life, but of the universe outside the gates of senses. It is the key to „man limitless”, the true „ring of Gyges”, which can control the forces of nature known and unknown.” Cf. Evelyn Underhill, Mysticism, Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library, 2003, p. 153. 69 century Italian Renaissance Christian compilation, originally probably Italian or Latin (even if it was translated to Hebrew in early eighteen century) 307. Some of its Greek sources came directly from the magic scrolls of the Late Antiquity, but mostly indirectly through the Arabic renderings of the originals as the Neoplatonic and Hermetic philosophers and magicians of the Renaissance understood them. The practices elaborated in the grimoires and their precursors are usually condemned308 and rightly. As Jeremiah the prophet wrote: „Every man is proved to be brutish, for the knowledge--every goldsmith is put to shame by the graven image--that his molten image is falsehood, and there is no spirit in them, They are vanity, a work of delusion; in the time of their visitation they shall perish, The portion of Jacob is not like 301 Because Eliphas Levi Zahed [Hebraized from his original name, Alphonse Louis Constant (1810–1875)] considered both the ring of Gyges and the signet of Solomon as 'the Great Arcanum,' their representation are practically the same - a ring with two collet positioned in opposite with each others: ‫ ۝‬On the ring of Solomon: „The Ring of Solomon is at once round and square and it represents the mystery of the quadrature of the circle. It is compose of seven squares so arranged that they form a circle. Their bezels are round and square, one being of gold and the other of silver. The ring should be a filagree of the seven metals. In the silver setting a white stone is placed and in the gold one there is a red stone. The white stone bears the sign of the Macrocosm, while the Microcosm is in the red stone. When the ring is worn upon the finger, one of the stones should be turned inwards and the other outward, accordingly as it is desired to command spirits of light or darkness. The planetary powers of this Ring can be accounted for in a few words. The will is omnipotent when armed with the living forces of Nature. Thought is idle and dead until it manifests by word or sign; it can therefore neither spur nor direct will. The sign, being the indispensable form of thought, is the necessary instrument of will. The more perfect the sign the more powerfully is the thought formulated, and the will is consequently directed with more force. Blind faith moves mountains, and what therefore would be possible to faith if enlightened by complete and indubitable science? If the soul could concentrate its planetary understanding and energy in the utterance of a single word, would not that word be allpowerful? The Ring of Solomon, with its double seal, typifies all science and faith of the Magi expressed by one sign.” Cf. Éliphas Lévi, The History of Magic. [Histoire de la Magie, 1860] Translated by Arthur Edward Waite. Foreword by Donald Weiser. [Rider, 1913.] Boston, MA / York Beach, ME: Weiser Books, 2001. Ch. VII, p. 366. „Here is the formula for the ring: Take a small quantity of gold and twice the amount of silver at the hours of the sun and the moon, and mix them together; add three parts similar to the first of well refined copper, four parts of tin, five of iron, six of mercury and seven of lead. Mix them all together at the hours corresponding to the metals, and make the whole into a ring with the circular part flattened and slightly broad, permitting characters to be engraved on it. Make a square setting in this ring to hold a [rose-]red lodestone mounted in a double ring of gold. Engrave the double seal of Solomon on the stone, above [a hexagram with a tau] and below [his magic seal]. Engrave the ring with the occult signs of the seven planets as illustrated in the magical Archidoxis of Paracelsus or in Agrippa's Occult Philosophy; magnetize the ring strongly by consecrating it every day for a week with the ceremonies appointed in our ritual. The ring must then be wrapped in a silk fabric and, after fumigation, may be carried on your person. A round piece of metal or a talisman prepared in the same manner would have as much virtue as the ring. Anything prepared like this is a sort of reservoir of the will. It | is a magnetic reflector which can prove very useful, although it is never essential.” Cf. Éliphas Lévi, The Great Secret: or Occultism Unveiled. Translated by A.E. Waite. York Beach (Maine): Samuel Weiser, 2000, Book II, Ch. XI [The Arcana of Solomon's Ring], pp. 62-63. The „double seal of Solomon” on p. 61. See also, Le Grand arcane, ou, L'occultisme dévoilé. Paris: Chamuel, 1898, Vol II, pp. 109-111, The double seal is on p. 107, which surely comes from the Abognazar version of the Clavicula Solomonis. In this posthumous work as his testament, Levi (who quit both from seminary and from cloister) shown himself as a devout Catholic sage, surely more acceptable for a Catholic Tolkien, than the Anglican A.E. Waite or his disciple, the also Anglican Charles Williams (1886–1945), Tolkien's fellow-Inkling. And yet this last incarnation of Levi (who was a reactionist: loyalist and enemy of the enlightenment) remained the authoritative source for the members of The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, including A.E. Waite, Ch. Williams or E. Underhill. On Eliphas Lévi's biography, cf. Christopher McIntosh, Eliphas Lévi and the French Occult Revival, London: Rider, 1972. and M.E.'s informative http://www.la-rose-bleue.org/Biographies/Levi.html Retrieved May 25, 2009. 302 The talisman (in Rune magic: taufr, „tine”) always has a purpose, the will of its creator manifested in an abridged and cryptographic form. Eliphas Levi's mystical grandiloquence, the reservoir of will (réservoir de la volonté [Grand arcane 1898, p. 111]) refers to the externalization of the will, even the soul and the hamingja („magical force,” / „shape-sifting force”). [On making Rune magic talisman, cf. Edred Thorsson [Stephen Edred Flowers], Futhark: A Handbook of Rune Magic, Boston (MA)/York Beach (ME): Red Wheel/Weiser, 1984, pp. 98-123.] Tolkien's Ruling Ring is surely connected with these ideas. Its inscription is the externalised will and malevolence of Sauron, which serves as the purpose or ørlög („fate”) of the Rune magic: „Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, 70 these; for He is the former of all things, and [Israel] is the tribe of His inheritance; the LORD of hosts is His name.309” Ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul.” / „One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.” (Cf. LOTR, Book II, Chapter 2). As Tolkien lastly revealed, neither versions are accurate transcription of the original. „I have tried to play fair linguistically, and it is meant to have a meaning not be a mere casual group of nasty noises, though an accurate transcription would even nowadays only be printable in the higher and artistically more advanced form of literature.” [Cf. J.R.R. Tolkien, "Words, Phrases and Passages in Various Tongues in The Lord of the Rings", Parma Eldalemberon 17 (2007), pp. 11-12: ] The inscription itself as was shown on the ring contains only four words, or exactly four names in Tengwar: „Ashnazgdurbatulûk, Ashnazggimbatul, Ashnazgthrakatulûk Aghburzumishikrimpatul;” let me add: female names. (The -at is from -eth, a traditional Tolkienian ending for female names, a derivative of -itta also a female ending. Besides, the ash – 'translated' as „one” - probably alludes to the Hebrew word for „woman,” „wife”: ‫אשה ה‬,‫ ג‬usually transcribed by Christian 'qabbalists' as ash). The referred linguistic feature of the Black Speech (agglutinative) can not hide the meaning of the six basic roots in these names. As Tolkien admitted, the nazg is from Gaelic Irish nasc / Scottish nasg, which „also means, and prob. originally meant, a bond, and can be used for an 'obligation'.” (Letters, 297, p. 414). On the other hand, nazg is an anagram for ganz (German „whole”); and the „Qabbalistic' numerical value of the „One Ring,” (ash nazg, šnzg, ‫ )שנזג‬is the same as „counterpart helper” ('ezer kenegdo ‫)ער זדר כד נדגד דו‬, i.e. three hundred and sixty; referring to the homonyms, whole ~ hole, and also being an allusion to a female ( ‫)נד קר בה ה‬. The semantic field is of a bridal ring: it is a bond, both for the lesser rings and for the One Ring, even for his maker, who planted into it the greater part of his native power (hamingja) for „a matrimony with the evil.” All power comes from this source: the rings of power are actually a chain, that's why the lesser ring lost their power, when the Ruling Ring annihilated. The idea is originally Platonic (the magnetic stone does not simply attract the iron rings just by themselves; it also imparts to the rings a similar force. [Cf. Ion ch. V, 533d-e; but among others, William of Auvergne, Albertus Magnus, Ficino, Agrippa (DOP I,16), Éliphas Lévi also delightedly refers to it.] The North is the place of the evil both in the Bible and in Tolkien's pseudo-myths; the „magnet” clearly draws into this direction [denoted by Tolkien with the constellation Ursa Major = ‫ עהש‬/ ‫בה נדיהה‬-‫` עמ יג ש עמל‬Ayish "bear (with her sons)" in Job 9:9, 38:31]. As already Ursula K. LeGuin pointed out, „the directionality is extremely important all through” the Lord of the Rings. (Cf. Ursula K. LeGuin, „Rhythmic Patterning in The Lord of the Rings,” Meditations on Middle Earth, ed. Karen Haber. St. Martin's Press, 2001, pp. 101-116.) The gimb- root, surely associated with the gimbal [i. e. a series of concentric metal rings, an Ancient device already described by Philo of Byzantium (280–220 BC)] and with the compass suspended by it, which is a necessary tool to find our way. The other „actual congruences (of form + sense)” alluded by Tolkien in the above mentioned letter, are probably from Latin: durb- (durus, „hard” / durabilis, „durable”); thrak- (traho, „pull,” „drag,” „draw”); burzum (bursa, „pouch,” „purse”); and from Middle Dutch/Low German: krimp- (crimpen, “to crimp” [or maybe Proto-Germanic *krimpaną]). 303 The oldest literary account on Navaratna (Sanskrit: नवरतन), "nine gems," in Varāhamihira's (505–587 CE) Brihat Jataka (Sanskrit: बहज तकम), which is considered as the standard text-book on Vedic astrology, and sometimes described as "India's foremost astrological text." The celebrated passage is cited by Raja Sir Sourindro Mohun Tagore (1840-1914), Mani-Mala, Part 1: Or a Treatise on Gems (1879) [reprint: Kessinger Legacy Reprints, 2008], p. 575, verse 79, and Vaidyanātha Dīkṣita (born c.1425-1450), Jātaka Pārijāta. Tr. & ed. V. Subramanya Sastri, New Delhi: Ranjan Publications, Vol 1, chap. 2, sloka 21, p. 55, as follows: „मण क तर स त ममल मकतफल शतग /मह स च ववदम मरकत स"म स गरतमतम / दवज स च पषपर मसरच स ( वज शन /नल ननमल ( मन शच गददत गमदव.द/ क ( ” / „The Ruby is the Sun's (Surya - E) precious stone; a pure spotless pearl that of the Moon (Chandra - NW). Coral belongs to Mars (Mangala - S). Mercury's (Budha - N) precious stone is the emerald shaped like the bird Garuda. Topaz belongs to Jupiter (Bṛhaspati - NE). Venus (Shukra - SE) owns diamond. Saturn's (Shani - W) gem is the stainless sapphire. Agate and the lapis lazuli or turkois are said to belong to the remaining planets Rahu (the ascending node of the Moon - SW) and Ketu (the descending node of the Moon), respectively.” Cf. Kunz, Curious Lore of Precious Stones, pp. 242245. On the distribution of planets according to the compass, cf. Jātaka Pārijāta, Vol 1, ch. 2, sloka 23, p. 56. 304 The Indian prayer (stotra) for the consecration of the Navaratna talisman is points to Vishnu and clearly intended to be royal insignia. That's why Kunz suggested „a Hindu origin of the nine gems, „the covering” of the King of Tyre,” 71 Article Fifteen Despite Jeremiah's explicit statement, some thought that the ensoulment of a talisman is yet possible. Not by the cheap tricks of the magicians, who tried to entice demons to them. Not by the way as Ennana310 the Ancient Egyptian storyteller wrote, that a practitioner encloses his own soul in them311. But through a mystical union with the divine: „But know this that such images work nothing, unless they be so vivified that either a natural or Celestial, or Heroical, or animistical, or demoniacal, or angelical virtue be in them, or assistant to them. But who can give a soul to an image, or make a stone to live, or metal, or wood, or wax? and who can raise out of stones children unto Abraham? Certainly this Arcanum doth not enter into an Artist of a stiff neck; neither can he (Ibid., p. 231). But the transmission of the nine gem system seems to be exactly on the other way, because the Book of Ezekiel dated from the seventh century BC, that is more than one thousand year before Varāhamihira. The Navaratna („nine gems”) is surely an early Medieval idea in India, because the older texts - including the most Ancient Rig Veda (c. 1500–1200 BC) - mention only seven ratnas, which is in accordance with the seven planets of the Babylonian contemporary sources. The involving the ascending and descending nodes into the ratnas, is a significantly later tradition. [Rahu the ascending node is the point of intersection between the ecliptic and the plane of the lunar orbit where the Moon is ascending from the South to the North. In ancient European texts, it is referred to as the dragon's head (Ո Caput Draconis, or Anabibazon). Ketu, the descending node is the point where the Moon is descending from North to South, in Europe it is the dragon's tail (ʊ Cauda Draconis, or Catabibazon).] 305 „When the power that draws them down overcomes the spiritualities, they will come down to act and comply with what is asked of them, and those who bring them down will be killed if they lack the skills to bring down the spirituality as is fitting, through the places, the incense burning, the sacrifices, the clothes, the meals, and the sayings.” cf. Sefer ha-Atsamim [Book of Substances], ed. Menasheh Grosberg. London: Rabinovitch, 1901, p. 14; Schwarz, Astral magic, p. 10. 306 „The expression „grimoire” is a distortion of grammaria, „grammar,” that is a book written in Latin, but it took on the meaning of a textbook of magic, because 'for a long time, the language of the grimoires was Latin - a disjoined Latin without syntax or consistent spellic, a macaronic Latin with a mixture of heavily distorted Greek an Hebrew words.” Cf. Claude Lecouteux, The Book of Grimoires: The Secret Grammar of Magic. Rochester (VT): Inner Traditions, 2013, Ch. 8. on magic rings. Scientific studies on grimoires, e.g. Invoking Angels: Theurgic Ideas and Practices, Thirteenth to Sixteenth Centuries. ed. Claire Fanger. University Park (PA): The Pennsylvania State Univ. Press, 2012. 307 Cf. G. Scholem, „Die Stellung der Kabbala in der europaischen Geistesgeschichte,” Wissenschaftskolleg Berlin, Jahrbuch 82 (1983), pp. 281-9, reprinted in his Judaica, vol. 4. Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp, 1984, pp. 7-18. and G. Scholem, „Some Sources of Jewish-Arabic Demonology,” Journal of Jewish Studies, xvi (1965), pp. 1-13, here p. 6; cf. idem, Mada'e ha-Yahadut, Jerusalem, 1926, vol. i, p. 116.). The publication of the Hebrew translation: Hermann Gollanz (1852-1930), Clavicula Salamonis. Frankfurt: Kaufmann / London: Nutt, 1903; H. Gollanz, Sepher Maphteah Shelomo. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1914. See also: Claudia Rohrbacher-Sticker, „A Hebrew Manuscript of Clavicula Salomonis Part II,” British Library Journal, 21. (1995), pp. 128-136 – on British Library Or. MS 14759, which is proved to be the second part of Or. MS 6360 [publ. by A. W. Greenup, Sefer ha-Levanah The Book of the Moon. London, 1912], together a complete Hebrew manuscript of the Clav. Solom, which probably the ancestor of the Gollanz-text. See also: Reimund Leicht, Astrologumena Judaica. Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der astrologischen Literatur der Juden. Texts and Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Judaism, vol. 21. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2006, pp. 342-357, which gives full textual critics. 308 As defined by the Roman Inquisition, „It is superstitious to expect any effect from anything when such an effect cannot be produced by natural causes, by divine institutions,or by the ordination and approval of the Church.”And as the Malleus Maleficarum added: „On this account unknown characters and suspected names, and the images or charts of necromancers and astronomers, are altogether to be condemned as suspect.'” Cited by Christopher I. Lehrich, The language of demons and angels. Cornelius Agrippa's Occult Philosophy. Brill's Studies in Intellectual History, vol. 119. Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2003, p. 46. 309 Cf. Jeremiah 51:17-19: ‫ ממ עששי ה תמ על תע עי ים; בד ערת‬,‫ הד בד ל הר מה ה‬.‫רוחמ בה ם‬-‫ וד ל רא‬,‫ כג י שד קד ר נג דסכו‬:‫צר ררף גמפה סד ל‬-‫ הר בג יש כהל‬,‫אה דה ם גמדמ עמת‬-‫נג בד עמר כהל‬ ‫ דשמו‬,‫ יד הוהה צד בה אות‬:‫ מנ דחלהתו‬,‫וד שר בד ט‬--‫יוצר ר המ כר ל הוא‬-‫ כג י‬,‫כד אר לדה חר לדק מיעדקוב‬-‫ ל רא‬.‫ י ראבר דו‬,‫פד קק דה תה ם‬ 310 Ennana (fl. c. 1200 to 1194 BC) is the author of the Tale of the two brothers, preserved in P. D'Orbiney (P. Brit. Mus. 10183). His name shows connection with Inanna, the Sumer name of Astarte, perhaps he was of Mezopotamian origin. Cf. Charles Edward Moldenke (1860-1935), The Tale of the Two Brothers: A Fairy Tale of Ancient Egypt; the D'Orbiney Papyrus in Hieratic Characters in the British Museum; the Hieratic Text, the Hieroglyphic Transcription. British Museum. Dept. of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities; Watchung (NJ): Elsinore Press, 1898; Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, vol.2, 1980, p. 203. The story is very interesting not only 72 give those things which hath them not. No body hath them but he who doth (the Elements being restrained, nature being overcome, the Heavens being over-powered) transcend the progress of Angels, and comes to the very Archetype itself, of which being then made a cooperator may do all things312.” Following an old pass313, the ecstatic kabbalah of Abraham Abulafia (1240-1291) and his followers, offered this by solitude and mental concentration (hitbodedut) as well as by equanimity (hishtawwut). The methods based on the Sēpher Yəṣîrâh ('The book of Formation') and elaborated by generations of Hebrew Kabbalists. Contemplating divine names, combining Hebrew letters, mystical-magical prayers and study – they are the methods by which these goals (i. e. becoming cooperator, vessel and channel for the divine) thought to be achieved 314. Johannes Reuchlin (14551522) suggests the same315, only that the Pentagrammaton was the supreme name in his soliloqia. because of the motive discussed in the next note, but because of the two women who appears in it. On the one hand, Bata wife is a precursor of Potiphar's (Gen.39:6-20; called as Zuleika in the Mohamedan tradition and in the Jewish Sefer Ha-Yashar, Vayeshev. Venice. 1625). On the other hand, Anpu's consort made by the divine Ennead for him is very much alike to Pandora. 311 In P. D'Orbiney we read „I shall draw out my soul, and I shall put it upon the top of the flowers of the acacia. … He found a seed. He returned with it. Behold this was the soul of his younger brother. He brought a cup of cold water, and he cast the seed into it; and he sat down, as he was wont. Now when the night came his soul sucked up the water; Bata shuddered in all his limbs, and he looked on his elder brother; his soul was in the cup. Then Anpu took the cup of cold water, in which the soul of his younger brother was; Bata drank it, his soul stood again in its place, and he became as he had been.” (Cf. Egyptian Tales, Translated from the Papyri, ed. W.M. Flinders Petrie, vols. 2. London: Methuen, 1895-1913; rprt. in one vol.: Mineola (NY): Dover, 1999, pp. 91-106, on 97 and 102.) This is the first literary appearance of such an act, which came from shamanism and manifested in such works as the Arabian Nights [cf. Sayf al-Muluk and Badiʾa al-Jamal, in. Burton, Arabian Nights, Night 769-770, vol. VII, pp. 350-352, where Hatim, the prince of the Blue Jinni hides his soul in 'the crop of a sparrow enclosed in a little box'] , Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray [where the soul of the protagonist is in the picture], or the Harry Potter series [in The Half-blood Prince and The Deathly Hallows, where the horcruxes contains Voldemort's soul-particles]. Cf. Kira Van Deusen, Singing Story, Healing Drum: Shamans and Storytellers of Turkic Siberia. Montreal: McGill-Queens's UP, 2004, p. 62; Rebecca R. Stone, The Jaguar Within: Shamanic Trance in Ancient Central and South American Art. Austin: Univ. Of Texas Press, 2011, pp. 28-29; World Religions: Eastern Traditions, ed. Willard G. Oxtoby, Roy C. Amore, & Amir Hussain. 4th Edition. Oxford University Press, 2014. pp. 9, 256-319; See also, Robert Allan Monroe (1915–1995), Journeys Out of the Body, Garden City (NY): Doubleday, 1971. [New York: Broadway Book, 2014]; James George Frazer, The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion. 3rd ed., 12 vols., London-New York: Macmillan, 1906-15. [rtprt. 1920]. 312 DOP II, 50: „Illud autem scias, nihil operari imagines ejusmodi, nisi vivificentur ita quod ipsis aut naturalis, aut coelestis, aut heroica, aut animastica, aut demoniaca vel angelica virtus insit, aut adsistat. At quis modo animam dabit imagini, & vivificabit lapidem, aut metallum, aut lignum, aut ceram atque 'ex lapidibus suscitabit filios Abrahae'? Certe non penetrat hoc arcanum ad artificem durae cervicis: nec dare poterit illa, qui non habet. Non poterit illa dare qui non habet : habet autem nemo, nisi qui jam cohibitis elementis, victa natura superatis coelis, progressus Angelos, ad ipsum Archetypum usque transcendit, cuius tunc cooperator effectus, potest omnia.” 313 E.g. Neḥuniah ben Hakanah, Akiba, ben Azai, Ben Zoma, Elisha ben Abuja (Aḥer), etc. Rashi explains the words „enter pardes” (‫)נכנסו לפרדס‬ ‫ו‬ as „ascended to heaven by means of a sacred name.” Cf. Gershom Scholem, Jewish Gnosticism, Merkabah Mysticism, and Talmudic Tradition. New York: The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1965, p. 17, and pp. 14-19; G. Scholem, Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism. New York: Schocken Books, 1995, pp. 52-53. See also, BT. Hagigah 14b; 2. Chorintians 12:2-4. 314 G. Scholem, Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism, pp.119-155; Moshe Idel, The Mystical Experience in Abraham Abulafia. SUNY Series in the Anthropology of Work. Albany: SUNY Press, 1988; Moshe Idel, Abraham Abulafia: An Ecstatic Kabbalist. Lancaster, CA: Labyrinthos, 1992; Moshe Idel, Hasidism: Between Ecstasy and Magic (Suny Series in Judaica: Hermeneutics, Mysticism, and Religion) Albany: SUNY Press, 1995, pp. 55, 103-226; Lehrich, The language of demons and angels, p. 153. 315 Johannes Reuchlin (1455-1522), De verbo mirifico [On the wonder-working Word], sig. b 4r: „[it is] that we ourselves are producers of marvelous works above human powers, and although at the same time constituted in nature, we hold dominion over it, and work wonders, portents and miracles which are signs of the divinity – by the one name, which I have been eager to explain to you.” Ibid., sig. g 5r: „Therefore the name of the incarnate Son of God, IHSUH, is none other than the name of the Lord, the Tetragrammaton, but for the assumption of one letter, „s”; which with the deity of the first syllable, soaks, immerses and steeps the second syllable, that is, the human 73 The Pentagrammaton is Jhesuh, ‫יהשוה‬, a Christian "Cabalistic' rendering of the name of Jesus Christ316. The power of the words and names, by which a believer achieves wonderful deeds based solely on the divine revelation as Reuchlin emphasized: God is spiritus, the Word the spiratio and man the spirans. By these divine names angelic deputies (memunim)317 and their hosts, as well as demons (šedîm, ‫ שר גדים‬and śeˁîrim ‫)שעג גירם‬ ‫ ד‬318 could be conjured according to the practical kabbalists. Forming golem319, shuting up spirits in magical objects320, creating talismans for every purposes, making ring of invisibility – everything can be achieved; works like the Sepher Raziel321 give the clues for such practices, which frequently amalgamated the art of names with the Hermetic astral magic. nature which has been imbibed by the pored-out oil.” Cf. Johannes Reuchlin: Sämtliche Werke, eds. Widu-Wolfgang Ehlers, Hans-Gert Roloff & Peter Schäfer, vols. 1-4, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt: Frommann-Holzboog, 1999, Vol 1, pp. 197–443; Charles Zika, Exorcising Our Demons: Magic, Witchcraft, and VisualCulture in Early Modern Europe. Studies in Medieval and Reformation Thought, vol. 91. Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2003, pp. 21-69 (on 31, and 59-60); Charles Zika, „Reuchlin's De Verbo Mirifico and the Magic Debate of the Late Fifteenth Century,” Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Vol. 39 (1976), pp. 104-138; Reuchlin und seine Erben: Forscher, Denker, Ideologen und Spinner. eds. Peter Schäfer, Irina Wandrey, Pforzheimer Reuchlinschriften, Bd. 11, Ostfildern: Thorbecke, 2005; Elliot R. Wolfson, „Language, Secrecy, and the Mysteries of Law: Theurgy and the Christian Kabbalah of Johannes Reuchlin,” Kabbalah: A Journal for the Study of Jewish Mystical Texts 13 (2005), pp. 7-41, also in: Invoking Angel, pp. 312-340. 316 The Hellenized name Jesus (Ἰησοῦς) is originally Joshua ( ‫ )ידהושקעמ‬as it is proved by the New Testament itself (Hebrews, 4:8); already Lefèvre d'Etaples, in his Quincumplex Psalterium (1508) noted that. Pico della Mirandola, Nicholas of Cusa and Johannes Reuchlin suggested an another orthography, the ‫ יהשוה‬to involve the Tetragrammaton. It was a futile effort, because Joshua is a theophoric name. 317 Cf. Joshua Trachtenberg, Jewish Magic and Superstition. A Study of Folk Religion Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press., 2004, p. 69: „every single thing on earth, animate or inanimate, from man through all of creation, birds and beasts, trees and brooks, even to the last blade of grass, owns its angelic representative above. This is the heart of the angel-lore. Houses and cities, winds and seasons, months and hours and days, each star above, each speck of dust underfoot, no thing in nature or in fancy exists independently of its memuneh, its heavenly "deputy" (literally, "appointed one"). These "deputies" are the agents through whom the universe operates—in fact, the activities that go on in the world are nothing more than reflections of their acts. "It is a well-known 'mystery' that no nation is destroyed until its celestial 'prince' has first fallen." This belief was coupled with the conception of astrology that each man is accompanied by a star which governs his existence, so that we have sometimes the cumbersome duplication, the angel, or "deputy" of a man's star, both charged with guiding and guarding him, the ultimate responsibility residing with the angel. "Every affair in which a man is engaged here on earth is first indicated up above by the angel of his star." These angels are both representatives and defenders of their earthly charges in the heavenly courts, as well as motivators of action below.” 318 Cf. Nahmanides's commentary on Exodus 20:3: “The third kind of idolatry appeared afterwards when people began worshiping the demons which are spirits, as I will explain with God’s help. Some of them too are appointed over the peoples to be masters in their lands and to harm their beleaguered ones and those who have stumbled, as is known of their activity through the art of necromancy, as well as through the words of our Rabbis. It is with reference to this [third kind of idolatry] that Scripture says, ‘They sacrificed to demons, no-gods, gods they had never known, new gods, who came but lately, whom your fathers dreaded not’ [Deuteronomy 32:17: ‫ מלשידיים ל רא‬,‫יג זדבד חו‬ ‫ ל רא דשעהרום אד בר תר יכדם‬,‫ ל רא יד דה עום; חדדה גשים גמקה רר ב בה או‬,‫ אללהג ים‬-- ‫]אללהמ‬. Scripture ridicules them [the Israelites], saying that they sacrifice also to the demons who are no gods at all. That is to say, they are not like the angels who are called eloah. Instead, they are gods that they had never known, meaning that they found in them no trace of might or power of rulership. Furthermore, they are new to them, having learned only lately to worship them from the Egyptian sorcerers, and even their wicked forefathers such as Terah and Nimrod did not dread them at all. Of this [kind of idolatry] Scripture warns, ‘They shall offer their sacrifices no more to the demons after whom they stray’ [Leviticus 17:7: ‫ אדשד ר הר ם זר נג ים אמ ח רדריהד ם‬,‫ מלשלעיירים‬,‫זגבד חר יהד ם‬-‫ אד ת‬,‫יג זדבד חו עוד‬-‫]וד ל רא‬.” Cited by Schwarz, Astral magic, p. 63. 319 Cf. Moshe Idel, Golem: Jewish Magical and Mystical Traditions on the Artificial Anthropoid. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press, 1990; Aryeh Kaplan, Sefer Yetzirah = Book of Formation: in theory and practice. Rev. ed. York Beach (ME): Red Wheel/Weiser, 1997, pp. 125-141, 154 and 164. Eleazar of Worms (c. 1176–1238) [known as Eleazar ben Judah ben Kalonymus or Eleazar Rokeach] and Judah Loew ben Bezalel, (c. 1520 –1609) [know also as Maharal of Prague] were famed as actual makers of golems. The golem-making appears as a practical elaboration of a Talmudic text, which as Idel pointed out is actually a polemy against heathen 'godmaking' rites, including the Hermetic one. The „golem-making passage” is the BT. Sanhedrin 65b: „And when R. 74 Of course this type of magic found practitioners not only among Jews but Christians as well 322. Johannes Trithemius (1462–1516) boasted that he made a ring of invisibility 323 by using the Ineffable Name, while his pupils, Cornelius Agrippa324 and Paracelsus325 published the theory and practical side of this kind of kabbalistic magic, which became an important source of the Rosicrucian movement in the seventeenth century. These books were used and abused together with the medieval grimoires in the eighteenth century when the enlightenment made war against the forces of medieval darkness, and again when the magical 'revival' (or counter-revolution) of the nineteenth century arrived, which produced the modern literature labeled as „occultism.” The authors of these works promised to fulfill all desire of humankind as Timolaus enumerated already in the Antiquity: „I want Hermes [Trismegistos] to meet me and give me a set of rings with certain Akiba reached this verse [Deut. 18:11], he wept: If one who starves himself that an unclean spirit may rest upon him has his wish granted, he who fasts that the pure spirit [the Divine Presence] may rest upon him — how much more should his desire be fulfilled! But alas! our sins have driven it away from us, as it is written, But your iniquities have separated between you and your God [Esa. 59:2]. Raba said: If the righteous desired it, they could [by living a life of absolute purity] be creators, for it is written, But your iniquities have distinguished between etc. Rabbah created a man, and sent him to R. Zera. R. Zera spoke to him, but received no answer. Thereupon he said unto him: 'Thou art a creature of the magicians. Return to thy dust.' R. Hanina and R. Oshaia spent every Sabbath eve in studying the 'Book of Creation', by means of which they created a third-grown calf and ate it.” As already Harry Freedman (1901-1982), the translator of this text in the Soncino edition noted it: „The Book of Creation, Heb. Sefer Yezirah, is the title of two esoteric books. The older, referred to here, was a thaumaturgical work popular in the Talmudic period. It was also known as Hilkoth Yezirah (Laws of Creation), and is so called in the same story quoted on 67b. Rashi there states that the creation was performed by means of mystic combinations of the Divine Name, which does not come under the ban of witchcraft. Its basic idea is that the Creation was accomplished by means of the power inherent in those letters (Cf. Rab's saying: 'Bezalel knew how to combine the letters by which heaven and earth were created'. Ber. 55a. Cf. also Enoch LXI, 3 et seq.; Prayer of Manasseh: Ecc. R. III, 11 on the magic power of the letters of the Divine Name), and that this same power could be utilised in further creation. The work was ascribed to Abraham, which fact indicates an old tradition, and the possible antiquity of the book itself. It has affinities with Babylonian, Egyptian, and Hellenic mysticism and its origin has been placed in the second century B.C.E., when such a combination of influences might be expected. It is noteworthy that Raba's statement above, though not mentioning the Sefer Yezirah, insists on freedom from sin as a prerequisite of creation by man, v. J.E., XII, 602.” 320 Shutting up a spirit in a ring: cf. Sepher Maphteah Shelomo, fol. 66A (Gollanz 1914) telling „how to shut up (‫)סגור‬ a spirit in a ring, so that you may converse with it by day and by night, and it will teach you if you wish all that can be done in the world”; see also: Liber de spiritibus inclusis (The Book of Enclosed Spirits), in BAV Pal. Lat 1375, fols. 269v-270r [Lynn Thorndike, „Johann Virdung of Hassfurt Again,” Isis 25 (1936), pp. 363-71, on 365; Lang, Unlocked Books, pp. 116-118. According to this treatise, the conjuror had to use suffumigations and animal sacrifices.]; Les Talismans ou Douze Anneaux (Lansdowne MS 1202, fol. 172-178; Lansdowne MS 1203, fol 85-91; Wellcome MS 4670; cf. http://www.esotericarchives.com/solomon/anneaux.htm ed. by Joseph H. Peterson, © 2004 / tr. by Talia Felix © 2015), which gives details [mansion of the moon, metal, stone, character, spirit name, & suffumigation] of a series of magic rings with enslaved spirits [the characters carved in the rings and the names of the spirits shall be written with the blood of a white dove on virgin parchment and placed under the stone into the collet]; See also “How to enclose a spirit in a christall stone (or berill glasse)” in: Reginald Scot, The Discoverie of Witchcraft, being a reprint of the first edition published in 1584, edited with explanatory notes, glossary, and introduction by Brinsley Nicholson. London: Eliot Stock, 1886, Book XV, Ch. 12, pp. 344-346. [After a five day fast and pray the following will be done. 5 circle in a row on the north side, and five sword in a row in the south side; between them three squares inscribed in each other, the least with an inscribed double circle, which consists also an inscribed square with an inner lesser square, where the magister stands. All them are circumscribed in a rectangle. Each circle has an inscribed demonic name („Sitrael, Malanthan, Thamaor, Falaur, and Sitrami”), they are raised from the north to appoint a spirit servant to indwell in the crystall. When the charm is successfull, the crystall becomes dark. See also figure 295 on p. 346: „A figure or type proportionall, shewing what forme must be observed and kept, in making the figure whereby the former secret of inclosing a spirit in a christall is to be accomplished, etc.”] Both the Christian and Jewish religion forbid such practices as idolatry, based on the second commandment and Deut.18:10-11. Cf. BT Sanhedrin 65a: “But 'Ulla answered: The Mishnah there refers to a Ba'al oh who burnt incense to a demon. Raba asked him: But is not burning incense to a demon idolatry? — But Raba said: It [i.e., the Ba'al ob in Kerithoth] refers to one who burns incense as a charm. Abaye said to him: But burning incense as a charm is to act as a charmer, which is merely prohibited by a negative precept? — That is so, but the Torah decreed that such a charmer is stoned Our Rabbis taught: [There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or daughter pass through to the fire…] Or a charmer [‫ חה בד ר‬,‫ וד חר בר ר‬Deut. 18:11]. This applies to one who 75 powers: one is to keep the body always strong and healthy, invulnerable and free from disease, another to make the wearer invisible like the ring of Gyges, a third to make me stronger than thousands of men and able easily to carry by myself a weight that thousands together could hardly move, and another to lift me flying far above the earth - let me have a ring for this as well. Then a ring to put anyone I want to sleep and open every door as I approach, releasing bolts and bars - let one ring do both. But in particular let me have one more, the most delightful of all, one that when I wear it will make the pretty boys and women and whole peoples fall in love with me - no one will fail to love me and think me desirable: I shall be on every tongue. Many women will hang themselves in despair, boys will be mad for me and think themselves blessed if I but glance at one of them, and pine away for grief if I ignore them. Just let me be better than Hyacinthus or Hylas or Phaon the Chian. All these let me have and not for a short time: for I shall not live the measure of human life but for a thousand years, renewing my youth and always casting off old age about every seventeen years, as a snake sloughs its skin. While I have all this I shall want for nothing: all that others own would be mine as long as I could open doors, put watchmen to sleep, and pass in myself unseen. Whatever remarkable sight there were in India or beyond the North Wind, whatever precious possession, whatever dainty morsel or pleasant drink, I should not send for them, but fly there myself and enjoy them all to satiety. That winged beast the griffin or the Phoenix bird in India may be unseen by other, but I should see it : I alone would know the source of the Nile and how much of the earth is uninhabited and if people live head-downwards in the southern half of the world. Again I should know the nature of the stars and the moon and the sun itself without trouble, being insensitive to fire; sweetest pleasure of all, on the self-same day I should give Babylon the name of the Olympic victor, and after breakfast perhaps in Syria dine in Italy. If I had an enemy I could pay him out by dropping a stone on his head unseen and cracking his skull : my friends I charms large objects, and to one who charms small ones, even snakes and scorpions. Abaye said: Therefore even to imprison wasps or scorpions [by charms], though the intention is to prevent them from doing harm, is forbidden.” On Christian ban on charming, see for example: Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and William of Auvergne op. cit. 321 Sefer Raziel ha-Mal'akh. ed. Isaac ben Abraham, Amsterdam: 1701. Lat. version: Liber Razielis (1259) Cf. Reimund Leicht, Astrologumena Judaica. Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der astrologischen Literatur der Juden. Texts and Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Judaism, vol. 21. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2006, pp. 187-294. and 331-341; Sophie Page, „Uplifting souls: The Liber de essentia spirituum and the Liber Razielis,” in: Invoking Angels: Theurgic Ideas and Practices, Thirteenth to Sixteenth Centuries. ed. Claire Fanger. University Park (PA): The Pennsylvania State Univ. Press, 2012, pp. 79-112. 322 Cf. Don C. Skemer, Binding Words: Textual Amulets in the Middle Ages. University Park (PA): Pennsylvania Univ. Press, 2006. 323 Trithemius's ring was made from electrum (the Biblical hashmal, ‫)חמ דשממ ל‬, a natural alloy of silver and gold, with an inscribed Tetragrammaton. The ring must be cast at the precise time the person wishing to bear it was born. The ring has great power, which can utilized for different purposes. When his owner want to be invisible, it shall be worn on the left thumb and turned inside toward the palm to be hidden. Worn on any other finger it allegedly antidotes poison and changes colour in the presence of enemies. Cf. Johannes Tritheim Abt zu Spanheim, Wunder-Buch von der göttlichen Magie: dem Planeten- und Geburtsstunden-Einfluss: Mit vielen wichtigen Abbildungen. Passau, Anno MDVI., rpr. Stuttgart: J. Scheible, 1851, p. 275; George Frederick Kunz, Rings for the finger. Philadelphia & London: J.B.Lippincott, 1917, p. 314. 324 The Third Book of the De occulta Philosophia is nothing other than a text book of Christianised practical kabbalah (‫ )קמ בה להה מעשית‬following Johannes Reuchlin and Francesco Zorzi. Cf. Christopher I. Lehrich, The language of demons and angels. Cornelius Agrippa's Occult Philosophy. Brill's Studies in Intellectual History, vol. 119. LeidenBoston: Brill, 2003, pp. 155- 206-209; Philip Beitchman, Alchemy of the Word: Cabala of the Renaissance. Albany (NY): SUNY Press, 1998, pp. 80-100; Joseph Leon Blau, The Christian interpretation of the Cabala in the Renaissance, New York: Columbia University Press, 1944; François Secret, Les Kabbalistes Chretiens de la Renaissance. Paris: Dunod, 1964 [revised ed.: Milan: Arma Artis / Neuilly-sur-Seine: Archè, 1985]; The Christian Kabbalah: Jewish mystical books and their Christian interpreters, ed. Joseph Dan. Cambridge (MA): Harvard College Library, 1997; François Secret, „Du "De occulta philosophia" à l'occultisme du XIX° siècle,” in: Charis: Archives de l'Unicorne 1 (1988), pp. 5-30. 325 Paracelsus, Archidoxis Magicae, in Opera Omnia. Genève: Jean Antoine & Samuel de Tournes, 1658, vol II, pp. 544-573, and in Sämtliche Werke, ed. Karl Sudhoff. Münich & Berlin: Oldenbourg, 1933, vol. XIV, pp. 437-498. English tr. The Archidoxes of Magic. 1656. [Reprints: London: Askin, 1975 and Kessinger Legacy Reprints: 2010.] 76 could help by pouring gold on them as they slept. Then if there was a haughty person or a rich and bullying tyrant, I could pick him up and throw him down the cliffs twenty furlongs off. I could meet my darlings without let or hindrance : I'd go in unseen and put everyone to sleep but them alone. What a wonderful thing, aloft and out of arrow-shot, to spy on embattled armies and, if I wished, to support the vanquished and send the victors to sleep and to give victory to fugitives turned back from their flight. In a word I should make human life my plaything, all things would be mine and I would be thought by all others a god. This is the supreme bliss which cannot be destroyed or schemed against, being particularly accompanied by health in a long life326.” The books of this type, like The Black Poulet (La poule noire)327, which boastfully promised twenty 326 Lucian of Samosta (125–180), Navigium („The Ship or The Wishes,” tr. K. Kilburn), 42-44: ἐγὼ δὲ βούλομαι τὸν Ἑρμῆν ἐντυχόντα μοι δοῦναι δακτυλίους τινὰς καὶ τοιούτους τὴν δύναμιν, ἕνα μὲν ὥστε ἀεὶ ἐρρῶσθαι καὶ ὑγιαίνειν τὸ σῶμα καὶ ἄτρωτον εἶναι καὶ ἀπαθῆ, ἕτερον δὲ ὡς μὴ ὁρᾶσθαι τὸν περιθέμενον, οἷος ἦν ὁ τοῦ Γύγου, τὸν δέ τινα ὡς ἰσχύειν ὑπὲρ ἄνδρας μυρίους καὶ ὅ τι ἂν ἄχθος ἅμα μυρίοι κινῆσαι μόλις δύναιντο, τοῦτο ἐμὲ ῥᾳδίως μόνον ἀνατίθεσθαι, ἔτι δὲ καὶ πέτεσθαι πολὺ ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἀρθέντα, καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο εἶναί μοι δακτύλιόν τινα: καὶ μὴν καὶ ἐς ὕπνον κατασπᾶν ὁπόσους ἂν ἐθέλω καὶ ἅπασαν θύραν προσιόντι μοι ἀνοίγεσθαι χαλωμένου τοῦ κλείθρου καὶ τοῦ μοχλοῦ ἀφαιρουμένου, ταῦτα ἀμφότερα εἷς δακτύλιος δυνάσθω. τὸ δὲ μέγιστον ἄλλος τις ἔστω ἐπὶ πᾶσιν ὁ ἥδιστος, ὡς ἐράσμιον εἶναί με περιθέμενον παισὶ τοῖς ὡραίοις καὶ γυναιξὶ καὶ δήμοις ὅλοις καὶ μηδένα εἶναι ἀνέραστον καὶ ὅτῳ μὴ ποθεινότατος ἐγὼ καὶ ἀνὰ στόμα, ὥστε πολλὰς γυναῖκας οὐ φερούσας τὸν ἔρωτα καὶ ἀναρτᾶν ἑαυτὰς καὶ τὰ μειράκια ἐπιμεμηνέναι μοι καὶ εὐδαίμονα εἶναι δοκεῖν, εἴ τινα καὶ μόνον προσβλέψαιμι αὐτῶν, εἰ δ᾽ ὑπερορῴην, κἀκεῖνα ὑπὸ λύπης ἀπολλύσθω, καὶ ὅλως ὑπὲρ τὸν Ὑάκινθον ἢ Ὕλαν ἢ Φάωνα τὸν Χῖον εἶναί με. καὶ ταῦτα πάντα ἔχειν μὴ ὀλιγοχρόνιον ὄντα μηδὲ κατὰ μέτρον ζῶντα τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης βιοτῆς, ἀλλ᾽ ἔτη χίλια νέον ἐκ νέου γιγνόμενον διαβιῶναι ἀμφὶ τὰ ἑπτακαίδεκα ἔτη ἀεὶ ἀποδυόμενον τὸ γῆρας ὥσπερ οἱ ὄφεις: οὐδὲν γὰρ δεήσει με ταῦτα ἔχοντα: πάντα γὰρ ἐμὰ ἦν ἂν τὰ τῶν ἄλλων, ἐς ὅσον ἀνοίγειν τε τὰς θύρας ἐδυνάμην καὶ κοιμίζειν τοὺς φύλακας καὶ ἀθέατος εἶναι εἰσιών. εἰ δέ τι ἐν Ἰνδοῖς ἢ Ὑπερβορέοις θέαμα παράδοξον ἢ κτῆμα τίμιον ἢ ὅσα ἐμφαγεῖν ἢ πιεῖν ἡδέα, οὐ μεταστειλάμενος, ἀλλ᾽ αὐτὸς ἐπιπετόμενος ἀπέλαυον ἁπάντων ἐς κόρον: καὶ ἐπεὶ γρὺψ ὑπόπτερον θηρίον ἢ φοῖνιξ ὄρνεον ἐν Ἰνδοῖς ἀθέατον τοῖς ἄλλοις, ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ τοῦτο ἑώρων ἄν, καὶ τὰς πηγὰς δὲ τὰς Νείλου μόνος ἂν ἠπιστάμην καὶ ὅσον τῆς γῆς ἀοίκητον, καὶ εἴ τινες ἀντίποδες ἡμῖν οἰκοῦσι τὸ νότιον τῆς γῇς ἡμίτομον ἔχοντες. ἔτι δὲ καὶ ἀστέρων φύσιν καὶ σελήνης καὶ αὐτοῦ ἡλίου ῥᾳδίως ἔγνων ἂν ἀπαθὴς ὢν τῷ πυρί, καὶ τὸ πάντων ἥδιστον, αὐθημερὸν ἀγγεῖλαι ἐς Βαβυλῶνα, τίς ἐνίκησεν Ὀλύμπια, καὶ ἀριστήσαντα, εἰ τύχοι, ἐν Συρίᾳ δειπνῆσαι ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ. εἰ δέ τις ἐχθρὸς εἴη, ἀμύνασθαι καὶ τοῦτον ἐκ τοῦ ἀφανοῦς πέτρον ἐμβαλόντα τῇ κεφαλῇ, ὡς ἐπιτετρῖφθαι τὸ κρανίον, τούς τε αὖ φίλους εὖ ποιεῖν ἐπιχέαντα κοιμωμένοις αὐτοῖς τὸ χρυσίον: καὶ μὴν εἴ τις ὑπερόπτης εἴη ἢ τύραννος πλούσιος ὑβριστής, ἀράμενος αὐτὸν ὅσον ἐπὶ σταδίους εἴκοσιν ἀφῆκα φέρεσθαι κατὰ τῶν κρημνῶν. τοῖς παιδικοῖς δὲ ἀκωλύτως ὁμιλεῖν ἂν ἐξῆν εἰσιόντα ἀθέατον κοιμίσαντα ἅπαντας ἄνευ ἐκείνων μόνων. οἷον δὲ κἀκεῖνο ἦν, τοὺς πολεμοῦντας ἐπισκοπεῖν ἔξω βέλους ὑπεραιωρούμενον; καὶ εἰ δόξειέ μοι, προσθέμενος ἂν τοῖς ἡττημένοις κοιμίσας τοὺς κρατοῦντας νικᾶν παρεῖχον τοῖς φεύγουσιν ἀναστρέψασιν ἀπὸ τῆς τροπῆς. καὶ τὸ ὅλον, παιδιὰν ἐποιούμην ἂν τὸν τῶν ἀνθρώπων βίον καὶ πάντα ἐμὰ ἦν καὶ θεὸς ἐδόκουν τοῖς ἄλλοις. τοῦτο ἡ ἄκρα εὐδαιμονία ἐστὶ μήτε ἀπολέσθαι μήτε ἐπιβουλευθῆναι δυναμένη, καὶ μάλιστα μεθ᾽ ὑγιείας ἐν μακρῷ τῷ βίῳ. Cf. Lucian's Works, vols. 8, Loeb Classical Library L430, London: Heinemann – Cambridge (MA): Harvard Univ. Press, 1913, Volume VI, pp. 479-484. 327 Full French title: „La poule noire. Sciences des talismans et anneaux magiques, art de la nécromancie et de la cabale, pour conjurer les esprit aériens et infernaux, les sylphes, les ondins, les gnomes: acquérir la connaissance des sciences secrètes; découvrir les trésors et obtenir le pouvoir de commander à tous les êtres, déjouer tous les maléfices et sortilèges.” [„The Black Pullet, or the Hen with the Golden Eggs, comprising the Science of Magical Talismans and Rings, the Art of Necromancy and of the Kabalah, for the Conjuration of Ærial and Infernal Spirits, of Sylphs, Undines and Gnomes, serviceable for the acquisition of the Secret Sciences, for the Discovery of Treasures, for obtaining power to command all beings and to unmask all Sciences and Bewitchments.”] The modern edition of La poule noire (and the connected Le Livre des Conjurations du Pape Honorius. Enchiridion de Sa Sainteté le Pape Léon III. Le Dragon rouge. Le Génie et le Trésor du Vieillard des Pyramides. La Chouette noire. Rituel de Haute Magie de Cornélius Agrippa), cf. Grimoires et Rituels Magiques, ed. by François Ribadeau Dumas (1904-1998). Paris: Pierre Belfond, 1972 [Présentation de François Ribadeau Dumas: 1998]. English tr.: The Black Pullet: Science of Magical Talisman. York Beach (ME): S. Weiser, 1972. See also: Arthur Edward Waite (18571942), The Secret Tradition in Goëtia: The Book of Ceremonial Magic, including the rites and mysteries of Goëtic theurgy, sorcery and infernal necromancy. London: William Rider and Son, 1913, pp. 113-133. As Waite describes it, La poule noire is a book of black magic, though disguised: „a methodised version of Aladdin with an inner meaning by Astaroth” (ibid., pp. 113 & 116). The first half of the book there is a detailed description of twenty magic rings made from bronzed steel with accompanying embroidered satin talismans as well as a magic wand and 77 magical rings for all purposes, are snares, full of deceits, justly called as „peddling grimoires” („grimoires de colportage”). Their readers, if they take them seriously, lost time and life of their own for a complete lunacy. It is surely wiser to accept Lycinius' advise: „But tell me this: why cannot just one ring do all this for you? Why must you go about weighed down by such a load of rings on one finger of your left hand? There are too many, and your right hand must take its share. Yet there is one more ring you most certainly need to put on, one which will stop your fooling and wipe away all this drivel. Or perhaps a stronger dose of hellebore than usual will be adequate?… That's what you'll find soon when your happiness and your great wealth take wings and are gone and you have to come back from your treasures and your diadems just as you are, like sleepers awaking after a pleasant dream, … and your wings dissolve, and falling from heaven you must walk on earth, having lost all those rings which have slipped off your fingers328.” a magic circle. Each ring and talisman purported to give power over spirits of elemental fire (salamanders), which are surely eulogized astral demons. The other half gives instruction how to create a gold-finding magical bird. The book sources are works popular and written in 18/19 century, e.g. Comte de Gabalis [on elemental spirits], Terasson's Sethos [the subterranean syringes or tunnels of the great Pyramid as a place of initiation and habitat of the magii], Le Grimoire du Pape Honorius; and some older material, like the Clavicula Solomonis and pseudoAgrippa's Fourth Book, whose instructions of making infernal signatures are attested. „A certain correspondence between the talismans and the Tarot Trumps is indeed unmistakable, at least in some instances, and seems to indicate that the work has a more definite occult aspect than would appear at first sight. It is the symbolism of the Trumps Major redirected towards the Powers of the Deep” (ibid., p. 130). This little booklet was well-known among British occultist in Waite's time, surely was known by Charles Williams and Tolkien. The Sauronian rings of powers surely owned much for the anonym author of La poule noire. The 'language of magi'' feautured in this book, it is in fact a garbage from different languages without syntax and style, but the meaning of many words describes girls from bordellos. Regarding to the names conjured and the language of the magicians, it is strongly recomended to follow Abraham Abulafia wise counsel: „when you hear something about some names, and you know not what their qualities are, keep away from them until you understand their qualities.” (cf. Abulafia, Get ha-Shemot p. 7.) - Cf. On elemental spirits: Abbé N. de Montfaucon de Villars (1635-1675), Le Comte de Gabalais. Paris: Claude Barbin, 1670. [English tr.: The Comte de Gabalis. London: The Brothers, 1913]; Paracelsus, Archidoxis Magicae. On syringes: Abbé Jean Terrasson, Séthos. Histoire ou vie, tirée des monuments, Anecdotes de l'ancienne Égypte; Ouvrage dans lequel on trouve la description des Initiations aux Mystères Égyptiens, traduit d'un manuscrit Grec. 1731, nouvelle édition, corrigée sur l'exemplaire de l'auteur, Desaint, Paris, 1767; Jan Assmann, Die Zauberflöte. Oper und Mysterium. Carl Hanser Verlag, München-Wien, 2005, referring to Ammianus Marcellinus XXII, 15.30 = Ammien Marcellin, 140. and Lucian, Philopseudes, cap. 23. On magical bird: Sefer Ha-Tamar. Das Buch von der Palme des Abu Aflaḥ aus Syracus. Ein Text aus der arabischen Geheimwissenschaft. Nach der allein erhaltenen hebräischen Uebersetzung. Herausgegeben und übersetzt von G. Scholem. 59 + 50 pp., 8vo. Part I, Jerusalem, 1926; Part II, Hannover: Heinz Lafaire, 1927. [On creating of a magic bird by Solomon the king. Twenty aphorisms ("ma'amarim") by Solomon appended to it, each of which, with the exception of the first, refers to a special work.] The authority of La poulet Noire remained in the shadow, French occultists (e.g. Dr. Gérard Encausse=Papus - 18651916) suggested that it was fabricated at Rome. I am inclined to believe that La poule noire was published during the reign of Louis XVIII (1814-1824) and not in the end of 18 th century, even if it refers to Napoleon's Egyptian expedition (1799) as a contemporary event. The oldest edition with date: Paris: Brasseur ainé, 1820, signed by A.J.S.D.R.L.G.F. See, Robert Yve-Plessis, Essai d'une bibliographie Française méthodique et raisonnée de la sorcellerie et de la possession démoniaque. Genève: Slatkine Reprints, 1970, p. 138, no. 1096. One of the first author who has taken it seriously was Frinellan (alias Simon Blocquel 1780 -1863), in his Le Triple Vocabulaire Infernal Manuel du Démonomane, Paris 1844, who published several books under various pseudonyms, perhaps this compliatio is his work, too. 328 Navigium, 45-46, pp 483-487: ἀτὰρ εἰπέ μοι καὶ τόδε, τί δή ποτε οὐχ εἷς δακτύλιος ἅπαντα ταῦτα δύναταί σοι, ἀλλὰ τοσούτους περιημμένος βαδιῇ τὴν ἀριστερὰν πεφορτισμένος κατὰ δάκτυλον ἕνα; μᾶλλον δὲ ὑπερπαίει ὁ ἀριθμός, καὶ δεήσει καὶ τὴν δεξιὰν συνεπιλαβεῖν. καίτοι ἑνὸς τοῦ ἀναγκαιοτάτου προσδεῖ, ὃς περιθέμενόν σε παύσει μωραίνοντα τὴν πολλὴν ταύτην κόρυζαν ἀποξύσας. ἢ τοῦτο μὲν καὶ ὁ ἐλλέβορος ἱκανὸς ποιῆσαι ζωρότερος ποθείς; … οἷα ὑμεῖς πείσεσθε μετ᾽ ὀλίγον, ἐπειδὰν ἡ εὐδαιμονία μὲν ὑμῖν καὶ ὁ πολὺς πλοῦτος οἴχηται ἀποπτάμενος, αὐτοὶ δὲ καταβάντες ἀπὸ τῶν θησαυρῶν τε καὶ διαδημάτων ὥσπερ ἐξ ἡδίστου ὀνείρατος ἀνεγρόμενοι … τῆς πτερώσεως διαλυθείσης καταπεσόντα ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ χαμαὶ βαδίζειν ἀπολέσαντα τοὺς δακτυλίους ἐκείνους ἅπαντας ἀπορρυέντας τῶν δακτύλων. - The sliperiness is also a basic characteristic of the Tolkienian One Ring: she desertes Isildur in the greatest peril for his death and the same treacherous „Precious” elopes with Bilbo from Gollum. 78 Article Sixteen As we have seen, myth-makers and fable-tellers, skalds and bards, magicians and mystics, astrologers and enchanters, hell-raisers and theurgists have all tried to catch a glimpse of truth about the Šêgal, but in vain, because every one of them made efforts only for ulterior motives, i. e. for possessing the power of multiplication itself, gaining the unlimited power and using it as their own. But this cannot be possible, because the Šêgal is created by the blessed Holy One as a counterpart helper and companion for his Anointed One: as his adoratrix and in the same time as a mother of his children. To do this, she has to forget her father's house: the material world, where from she comes329 and she has to step up an another level of being, because she was rendered to be not only a physical, but a spiritual spouse of someone who came from above. The love of her husband does this miracle, if she accepts it. As soon as she binds herself to her memories, she forgets 330 the love of her husband and the divine purpose for which she was made, she becomes barren, a hated witch and harlot, possessed by everyone who wishes and yet she remains ultimately hostile, alien and lonely. In this state of her humiliation, she lost all her power to multiply: her gems are diminished, her clear robes changed to scarlet, and she drunkenly grasps her chalice full of abominations until she will be utterly teared for pieces and scattered away. Do not use her. Feel sorry for her. Flee from her. Never hate her. This is all, which I wanted to tell and bestow about the Ḥôṯam Toḵnît or the Seal-ring of Proportion, who is the Šêgal. In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this at twenty-eighth (28) day of Tevet, Five Thousand and Seventy-six after the creation of the world. Sappir Tohar-Tov The above Instrument consisting of seventy-nine (79) type-written pages, including the page on which our signatures are subscribed was at the date thereof signed, sealed, published and declared by the said Sappir Tohar-Tov as and for his last will and testament, in the presence of us, who at his request and in his presence and in the presence of each other, have subscribed our names as witnessed thereto. Pjotr Mamzerovits Nonnatov, residing at Erlau-Apator, Ogreska. Dr. Teref Aryeh, residing at Boden, Hagarstan, Western Tourkia. 329 Cf. Psalm 45:11-12: ‫לו‬-‫ וד הג דשתמ חדוג י‬,‫הוא אדדר נמיג ך‬-‫ כג י‬:‫וד יג דתאה ו המ מד לדך יהפד ירך‬.‫ ובר ית אה בג יך‬,‫ וד המ גטי אה דזנרך; וד גשכד חג י עמ מר ך‬,‫במ ת דור גאי‬-‫ש דמעג י‬. ‫ ג‬/„'Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father's house; So shall the king desire thy beauty; for he is thy lord; and do homage unto him.” 330 Cf. Hos. 2:15: „‫ וד אר גתי שה כד חה ה‬... ‫„ "ומתמ עמד נג זדמה ה‬and she decked herself with her ring ... and forgot me.” The annuli amoris et oblivionis (rings of love and oblivion) attributed to Moses the Law-giver is surely an allusion to this passage. (The idea that the ring of remembrance is for the male, could be explained by linguistic properties. The same root, zachar (‫ )זכר‬means both „male” (‫ זהכהר‬Gen.1:14) and „remembrance” (‫ רזכדר‬Ex.17:14.). Cf. Bahir 182; Zohar 1:48b; 2:92a (Pikkudin), 118b (Ra'aya' Meheimn') 138a; 3:80b; Reuchlin, De arte cabalistica, f. 65C / pp. 296, 299. As already George Campbell Macaulay (1852–1915) noted, the story of Moses' rings comes not from Josephus, who describes only Moses marriage with Tharbis, the Ethiopian princess (Antiquitates, 2,10,2 [252-253]), but from Petrus Comestor (also known as Pierre le Mangeur, d. 1178), a medieval French admirer of him. The last mentioned author is the source for Albertus Magnus and Roger Bacon (c. 1214 –1292?), as well as (via Rhodigianus) for Agrippa. Cf. Petris Comestoris Scolastica Historia: Liber Exodi, 6, , col. 1144 (in: Migne, Patrologia Latina vol. 198, col. 1144); Albertus, De Mineralibus 2:3,4; Opus Majus of Roger Bacon, ed. by John Henry Bridges. London-EdinburghOxford: Williams and Norgate, 1900, Vol 1, Pars 4, p.392; DOP I, 47. 79 Bibliography Abraham Abulafia, Get Ha-Shemot - Divorce of the Names, tr. by Sharron Shatil. Providence University, 2007. Theodor W. Adorno, „Fragmente über Wagner,” Zeitschrift für Sozialforschung, 8, issue 1/2 (19391940), pp. 1–49. Theodor W. Adorno, Versuch über Wagner, Berlin-Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1952. [Eng. tr.: In Search of Wagner, tr. Rodney Livingstone, London-New York: Verso, 2005.] Theodor W. Adorno, „Wagner, Nietzsche and Hitler,” Kenyon Review. Volume, 9. Issue, 1. (Winter, 1947), pp. 155-162. 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Most important web-links: Archive: [https://archive.org/] Esoteric Archive: [http://www.esotericarchives.com/] Germanic Mythology: [http://www.germanicmythology.com] Google Books: [https://books.google.com] Mechon Mamre: [http://www.mechon-mamre.org] Perseus: [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu] Sacred Texts: [http://www.sacred-texts.com/] Wikipedia: [https://www.wikipedia.org/] 100 On the author Peter J. Barta was born on February 1, 1965. He is a freelance researcher and writer. He lives in Budapest, Hungary. His main interest is in history of religion, philosophy, literature and culture, including magic and kabbalah. His first study on magic squares and Renaissance magic appeared in 1989, the very same year when he became a reborn Christian and visited Jerusalem. Although after that he used to work as a legal attorney in the private sphere, he continued his research, which focused on the Bible and the culture history of its interpretation by several authors with very different religious background since Antiquity. The present book is a brief summary of his results. 101