From Hermetic Magic to the Magic of the Marvels

This paper focuses on the relationships between Hermetic magic and the magic of marvels. The magical texts associated with the names Hermes, Belenus and Toz Graecus form the basis of Hermetic magic; the Book of the Marvels of the World (De mirabilibus mundi) is the most significant magic text to treat marvels. They did not form a single coherent genre, but rather were two different sources of astrological techniques that were categorized frequently under the natural sciences and empirical and experimental approaches to nature. Both are centred on how magic operates to create artificial life. The Hermetic image magic texts deal with instructions for the drawing down of spiritual power or celestial virtue into objects, in order to transform them into instruments of magical action, whilst the magic of marvels represents an attempt to situate magical practices within a broader natural philosophical framework.