The Occult Sciences in the Renaissance: a study in intellectual patterns

The Occult Sciences in the Renaissance: a study in intellectual patterns

Wayne Schumaker

Berkeley, University of California Press

Astrology. Introduction ; The beginning of all-out attack: Giovanni Pico's Disputationes adversus astrologiam divinatricem ; Pro-astrological writings ; Further attacks -- Witchcraft. the human impact ; The theory of witchcraft ; Witches' activities ; Steps toward the denial of witchcraft -- White magic. Preliminary distinctions: natural magic, spiritual magic, goëtia or black magic, astrological magic ; Natural magic and Giovanni Baptista Della Porta's Magiae naturalis libri viginti ; Astrological magic and Marsilio ficino's De vita coelitus comparanda ; Spiritual or ceremonial magic and Cornelius Agrippa's De occulta philosophia libri tres -- Alchemy. Introduction ; History of alchemy ; Alchemical processes ; The mystical doctrine ; Mental habits: the importance of analogy ; Gain and loss in the disappearance of faith -- Hermes trismegistus. Background ; the Hermetic documents ; General characterization of the doctrine ; Detailed analysis ; Hermetic influence on the continent ; Hermetic influence in England.

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