This article examines the imagery of the goddess Venus in medieval sources of astrological magic, focusing on a zoomorphic hybrid Venus characterized by avian features. Furthermore, the article examines the transmission of this motif into early modern printed sources and talismans. The most renowned among surviving items related to the hybrid Venus is the 18th-century medallion known as Catherine de Medici’s talisman, depicting on one side a classical Venus figure, and on the other, a seated Jupiter alongside a hybrid with the head and feet of a bird. In previous scholarship it has been argued that the hybrid figure, interpreted as Venus, derives from Cornelius Agrippa and the medieval magical compendium Picatrix. The study demonstrates that the same hybrid Venus appears in several other medieval sources predating Agrippa and independent of the Picatrix. These sources, explored in this article in detail, offer a new insight into the evolution of the zoomorphic Venus, providing a deeper understanding of the ways in which non-Christian and non-classical astrological iconography was transformed and found pathways within medieval literature. Based on the findings of this research, De sigillis attributed to Arnoldus Saxo, seems to provide the most direct model for depicting two distinct Venus figures within the same talisman. The article further argues that the avian hybrid Venus was a dynamic figure among non-classical hybrids, appearing in a relatively wide range of sources, including contexts where astrological hybrids were a rarity.
Picatrix: A Medieval Treatise on Astral Magic Translated with an introduction by Dan Attrell and David Porreca
A manual for constructing talismans, mixing magical compounds, summoning planetary spirits, and determining astrological conditions, Picatrix is a cornerstone of Western esotericism. It offers important insights not only into occult practices and beliefs but also into the transmission of magical ideas from antiquity to the present. Dan Attrell and David Porreca’s English translation opens the world of this vital medieval treatise to modern-day scholars and lay readers.
19.09.12 Attrell/Porreca (eds.), Picatrix: A Medieval Treatise on Astral Magic
Attrell, Dan, and David Porreca, trans. Picatrix: A Medieval Treatise on Astral Magic, Magic in History. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2019. pp. xii, 372. $39.95 (hardback). ISBN: 978-0-271-08212-7 (hardback).
Venus of Tan-Tan
The Venus of Tan-Tan is an alleged artifact found in Morocco. It and its contemporary, the Venus of Berekhat Ram, have been claimed as the earliest representations of the human form.
Traces of Necromantic Divinatory Practices in the Picatrix
In the famous medieval magical manual called the Picatrix, the unknown author describes the phenomenon of magic with the term nigromantia. As is well known, the original meaning of the Greek term necromantia has a more concise meaning. It is used for a special kind of divination, i.e., divination through the parts of a cadaver and the conjured spirit of the dead. Seemingly, in the Picatrix, no necromantic ritual can be found; moreover, the author stresses that his main goal is pious, i.e., to find the path leading to the ultimate source of the universe, the one and only God. In my article, I show that on some pages of the Picatrix, there are traces of divinatory practices that may be connected to the original meaning of the term nigromantia. In the third book of the manual, descriptions of some interesting rituals attributed to the pagan Sabeans of Harran and their teacher, the god Hermes can be found. During the practices, the magician involved conjured spirits of the heavenly bodies and powers as well. Because of this, by looking closely at and analyzing the given text, it is possible to piece together a complex web of necromantic and demonic divinatory rituals.
Explaining the Most Important Artemis II Photos
Lily Seika Jones
Illustration for the 2025 edition of ‘The Last Unicorn’ by Peter S. Beagle, published with The Folio Society.
Pappus of Alexandria Book 7 of the Collection
The seventh book of Pappus's Collection, his commentary on the Domain (or Treasury) of Analysis, figures prominently in the history of both ancient and modern mathematics: as our chief source of information concerning several lost works of the Greek geometers Euclid and Apollonius, and as a book that inspired later mathematicians, among them Viete, Newton, and Chasles, to original discoveries in their pursuit of the lost science of antiquity. This presentation of it is concerned solely with recovering what can be learned from Pappus about Greek mathematics. The main part of it comprises a new edition of Book 7; a literal translation; and a commentary on textual, historical, and mathematical aspects of the book. It proved to be convenient to divide the commentary into two parts, the notes to the text and translation, and essays about the lost works that Pappus discusses. The first function of an edition of this kind is, not to expose new discoveries, but to present a reliable text and organize the accumulated knowledge about it for the reader's convenience. Nevertheless there are novelties here. The text is based on a fresh transcription of Vat. gr. 218, the archetype of all extant manuscripts, and in it I have adopted numerous readings, on manuscript authority or by emendation, that differ from those of the old edition of Hultsch. Moreover, many difficult parts of the work have received little or no commentary hitherto.
Entangled Magic in the Medieval Latin West
This article focusses on the history of learned magic in late medieval Europe, breaking a period of about 500 years into chronological stages to explore how medieval supporters and critics of magic represented the art and responded to each other’s arguments, then reframed their own in a continuous dynamic entanglement. In this period learned magic texts from diverse religious and cosmological traditions (primarily Christian, Jewish, Arabic and Greco-Roman) circulated among people familiar with, and emotionally invested in, a great variety of institutional and informal rituals. Sources reveal a vibrant culture of exchanges of texts between members of religious orders, physicians and lay men, clerics and lay women – a culture of entanglement: discussion, borrowing, critique and adaptation alongside practitioner-client relationships and necessary secrecy and concealment.
Typothèque Esa le Septantecinq - home -
La typothèque de l’ESA le 75 collecte une série de caractères typographiques libres et gratuits créés par les étudiant·es de l’orientation Graphisme. Chaque année, les BAC 2 s’initient à la création de caractères dans le cadre d’une semaine de workshop animée par Flore Van Ryn et un·e intervenant·e invité·e (Structure Baton, Antoine Gelgon, Étienne Ozeray, Laurent Müller, Mariel Niels). Depuis 2015, les invité·es proposent différentes approches de la lettre dont la diversité des formes de cette typothèque témoigne. Les glyphes sont dessinés collectivement en dehors des éditeurs de fontes avant d’être finalement rassemblés manuellement dans FontForge pour générer les polices. D’autres caractères alimentent cette collection, dessinés cette fois individuellement par des étudiant·es de BAC 3 dans le cadre de leur travail de fin d’étude. Si vous faites usage de ces fontes, merci de créditer les dessinateur·ices et la typothèque afin de les relier au contexte pédagogique de leur création-diffusion. École Supérieure des Arts de l'image le 75 www.leseptantecinq.be
Makapansgat pebble
The Makapansgat pebble or Makapansgat cobble is a carved jasper pebble with clear markings of a crude rendition of a human face, in fact at least two possible faces. The stone's chemical makeup prevents natural weathering effects to render both blastomic metapmorphis and shape erosion at the time of formation, even if all surfaces were polished naturally afterwards which indicates the requirement for foreign biological intervention. Some scholars argue that it is the oldest known manuport, though it should be noted that original interpretations of the stone were taken from the perspective that no "man-like creature" could have been intelligent or expressed art because they were not white.Raymond A. Dart, the original discoverer of the pebble, was later credited with providing the scientific racism that formed the basis for Apartheid.
joão (@johnfields091.bsky.social)
Lisboa/Portugal Books, comics, records/music, films, games (interests, not activities). Mostly random thoughts in short form here, and in long(ish)-form on my blog. https://sobreiromecanico.tumblr.com/ (Photo: Eurasian Eagle Owl by Paul Bankowitsch)
Tipographia
Visual archive of graphic design, typography and things printed in Portugal. A collection by...
Black and Tan Floral Leaves Seamless Hand Drawn Flowers Botanical Art Mid Century Modern Wall Decor Digital Download - Nieuwe Market©
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Waxing crescent Moon, 1.72% illuminated tonight. Venus shining SO bright in the beautiful dusk sky. I actually love how both Venus & the Moon are on the edge of the tree line. Shout-out to my wife 😍 who told me you could see them from the back garden #venus #moon #photography #nikonphotography
