Lux Esoterica (Nifiluz)

The Covenant of the Sages: The Oath of the Liber Juratus In the thirteenth century, as the university libraries of Europe began to absorb the translations of Arabic and Jewish astrological texts, a class of clerical scholars emerged who sought to reconcile these new sciences with the Christian faith. These scholars, who came to be known as the "clerical underworld," practiced a form of ritual magic that was highly sophisticated, literate, and deeply anchored in church liturgy. To protect their teachings from the fires of the Inquisition, a legendary assembly of eighty-nine magical masters gathered to compile their secrets into a single, definitive volume: the Liber Juratus Honorii , or the Sworn Book of Honorius . Attributed to Honorius of Thebes, a mythological figure combining the attributes of a priest and a magician, the Sworn Book begins with a dramatic prologue. It describes a global persecution of the magical arts by the Church authorities, who were accused of ignor...

The Legacy of the Paduan Physician: Peter de Abano and the Magic of Seven In the early fourteenth century, the university town of Padua was home to one of the most brilliant medical and philosophical minds of the era: Peter de Abano ( Petrus de Apono ). A professor of medicine, astrology, and natural philosophy, Peter had traveled widely, translating the works of Galen and studying the Arabic astrological traditions in Constantinople. But his brilliance drew the attention of the Inquisition, which accused him of heresy, pacts with spirits, and possessing the secret of the philosopher's stone. Though he died in prison before his trial could be completed, his name became legendary, and in the centuries that followed, various magical texts were attributed to him to capitalize on his reputation. Among these pseudepigraphal works, the most famous is the Heptameron , or "The Seven Days," first published in Latin in the late sixteenth century as an appendix to Heinrich Cornel...