Picatrix
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Picatrix (Arabic: Ġāyat al-Ḥakīm [fī l-siḥr] "The Goal of the Sage [in sorcery]") is a grimoire of uncertain origins, probably written circa 1200 AD. Offering talismanic and astrological guidance, the text clearly comes from a non-European ethos.
It has been attributed to al-Majriti (an Andalusian mathematician), but this attribution is doubtful, and the author is sometimes listed as "Pseudo-Majriti". Originally written in Arabic, a Latin translation appeared in 1256 from the court of Alphonso X of Castile.
The book had a major influence on West European magical thinking from Marsilio Ficino in the 1400s, to Thomas Campanella in the 1600s, to Ivan Chtcheglov in the 20th century. The edition in the British Library passed through several hands: Simon Forman, Richard Napier, Elias Ashmole and William Lilly.
[edit] Editions
- Picatrix: Das Ziel des Weisen von Pseudo-Magriti, aus dem Arabischen ins Deutsche übersetzt von Hellmut Ritter und Martin Plessner [Picatrix: The Goal of the Wise Man by Pseudo-Magriti, translated from Arabic into German by Ritter and Plessner]. London: Warburg Institute, 1962 (=Studies of the Warburg Institute 27).
- David Pingree, The Latin Version of the Ghayat al-hakim, Studies of the Warburg Institute, University of London (1986), ISBN 0854810692 [1]
- review: Brian Vickers, Isis, The History of Science Society, University of Chicago Press (1990).
- review: William R. Newman, The Journal of the American Oriental Society (1993).
- Ouroboros Press has published books 1 and 2 in their English translation, Ouroborous Press (2002), ASIN: B0006S6LAO [2]
- Béatrice Bakhouche, Frédéric Fauquier, Brigitte Pérez-Jean, Picatrix: Un Traite De Magie Medieval, Brepols Pub (2003), 388 p., ISBN 978-2-503-51068-2.
