Tractatus Astrologico Magicus
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The ''Book of Soyga'', also titled ''Aldaraia'', is a 16th-century Latin treatise on
magic Magic or magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces ** ''Magick'' (with ''-ck'') can specifically refer to ceremonial magic * Magic (illusion), also known as sta ...
, one copy of which was owned by the Elizabethan scholar
John Dee John Dee (13 July 1527 – 1608 or 1609) was an English mathematician, astronomer, teacher, astrologer, occultist, and alchemist. He was the court astronomer for, and advisor to, Elizabeth I, and spent much of his time on alchemy, divination, ...
. After Dee's death, the book was thought lost until 1994, when two manuscripts were located in the
British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...
(Sloane MS 8) and the
Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley, it is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in ...
(Bodley MS. 908), under the title ''Aldaraia sive Soyga vocor.'' The Sloane MS 8 version is also described as ''Tractatus Astrologico Magicus'', though both versions differ only slightly.Jim Reeds, John Dee and the Magic Tables in the Book of Soyga, pg. 3.


Provenance

Elias Ashmole Elias Ashmole (23 May 1617 – 18 May 1692) was an English antiquary, politician, officer of arms, astrologer, freemason and student of alchemy. Ashmole supported the royalist side during the English Civil War, and at the restoration of Char ...
recorded that the
Duke of Lauderdale Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ...
owned a manuscript titled ''Aldaraia sive Soyga vocor'' that had formerly belonged to Dee. The manuscript was sold at auction in 1692 and is now probably Sloane MS 8, based on Jim Reeds' identification. Bodley MS. 908 was donated to the Bodleian Library in 1605.


Contents

Jim Reeds notes that the Bodley 908 MS consists of 197 pages including ''Liber Aldaraia'' (95 leaves), ''Liber Radiorum'' (65 pages), and ''Liber decimus septimus'' (2 pages), as well as a number of shorter and unnamed works totaling approximately ten pages. The final 18 pages of the manuscript contain 36 tables of letters. The Sloane MS 8 manuscript consists of 147 pages, mostly identical to the Bodley manuscript, with the exception that the tables of letters appear on 36 pages, and the ''Liber Radiorum'' is presented in a two-page summarized version. Amongst the incantations and instructions on
magic Magic or magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces ** ''Magick'' (with ''-ck'') can specifically refer to ceremonial magic * Magic (illusion), also known as sta ...
,
astrology Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions ...
,
demonology Demonology is the study of demons within religious belief and myth. Depending on context, it can refer to studies within theology, religious doctrine, or occultism. In many faiths, it concerns the study of a hierarchy of demons. Demons may be n ...
, lists of conjunctions, lunar mansions, and names and genealogies of
angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...
s, the book contains 36 large squares of letters which Dee was unable to decipher. Otherwise unknown medieval magical treatises are cited, including works known as ''liber E'', ''liber Os'', ''liber dignus'', ''liber Sipal'', and ''liber Munob''.Jim Reeds, John Dee and the Magic Tables in the Book of Soyga, pg. 4.


Analysis

Jim Reeds, in his short work ''John Dee and the Magic Tables in the Book of Soyga'' which also appeared abbreviated in an essay, notes a proclivity to record words backwards in the MS, citing as examples ''Lapis'' reversed as ''Sipal'', ''Bonum'' reversed as ''Munob'', and the title of the MS, ''Soyga'', as ''Agyos, literis transvectis'', revealing a practice which sought to obscure some of the works cited. 'Soyga' is ‘Agios’ (Greek for "Holy") spelled backwards. Reeds writes:
The ''Book of Soyga's'' preoccupation with letters, alphabet arithmetic, Hebrew-like backwards writing, and so on, is of course characteristic of the new Cabalistic magic which became popular in the sixteenth century, exemplified by the great compilation of Agrippa of Nettesheim (1486-1535), and borrowing authority both from the
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
humanist interest in the Kabbala expressed by such figures as
Pico Pico may refer to: Places The Moon * Mons Pico, a lunar mountain in the northern part of the Mare Imbrium basin Portugal * Pico, a civil parish in the municipality of Vila Verde * Pico da Pedra, a civil parish in the municipality of Ribe ...
and Reuchlin and from the supposed Biblical antiquity of the Kabbalah."
Of the square tables that obsessed Dee, Reeds continued, "Although... not themselves a characteristic feature of the traditional Kabbalah, they had by Agrippa's time become an integral part of the
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
magical Cabala."


Significance

In 1556, Dee proposed the founding of a national English library to Queen Mary, but his plan was not implemented. In consequence, Dee amassed the largest library in England at the time using his personal funds, consisting of at least 3,000 printed volumes and a large number of manuscripts. The library was pilfered during Dee's six-year trip to continental Europe between 1583 and 1589, and Dee was forced to sell many more volumes upon his return due to penury. After his death in 1608 or 1609, the still-considerable remnants of the vaunted library were ransacked until nothing remained. During Dee's long trip to the continent, he sought to supernaturally contact angels through the services of a
scryer Scrying, also referred to as "seeing" or "peeping," is a practice rooted in divination and fortune-telling. It involves gazing into a medium, hoping to receive significant messages or visions that could offer personal guidance, prophecy, revela ...
,
Edward Kelley Sir Edward Kelley or Kelly, also known as Edward Talbot (; 1 August 1555 – 1597/8), was an English Renaissance occultist and scryer. He is known for working with John Dee in his magical investigations. Besides the professed ability to se ...
. On the subject of the ''Book of Soyga'', Dee claimed to have questioned the angel
Uriel Uriel , Auriel ( ''ʾŪrīʾēl'', " El/God is my Flame"; ''Oúriḗl''; ''Ouriēl''; ; Geʽez and Amharic: or ) or Oriel ( ''ʾÓrīʾēl'', "El/God is my Light") is the name of one of the archangels who is mentioned in Rabbinic tradition ...
about the significance of the book and asked for guidance. The reply that Dee received was that the book had been revealed to
Adam Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam ...
in
Paradise In religion and folklore, paradise is a place of everlasting happiness, delight, and bliss. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical, eschatological, or both, often contrasted with the miseries of human ...
by angels, and could only be interpreted by the archangel
Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...
. After Harkness rediscovered the two copies of the book, Jim Reeds uncovered the mathematical formula used to construct the tables (starting with the seed word given for each table), and identified errors of various types made by the manuscripts' scribes. He showed that a subset of the errors were common to the two copies, suggesting that they were derived from a common ancestor which contained that subset of errors (and thus was presumably itself a copy of another work). Although Reeds deciphered the construction algorithm and the code words used in crafting the tables, the actual contents and significance of the tables remain mysterious. He writes, "The treatise in the ''Book of Soyga'' which discusses the tables, ''Liber Radiorum'', has a series of paragraphs mentioning the code words for twenty-three of the tables, together with number sequences which stand in unknown relation to the words."Jim Reeds, John Dee and the Magic Tables in the Book of Soyga, pg. 7.


See also

*
Grimoire A grimoire () (also known as a book of spells, magic book, or a spellbook) is a textbook of magic, typically including instructions on how to create magical objects like talismans and amulets, how to perform magical spells, charms, and divin ...
* Voynich manuscript *''
Three Books of Occult Philosophy ''Three Books of Occult Philosophy'' (''De Occulta Philosophia libri III'') is Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa's study of occult philosophy, acknowledged as a significant contribution to the Renaissance philosophical discussion concerning the powe ...
''


Notes


References

* * *


External links


Edited and translated by Jane Kupin

The ''Book of Soyga''English Translation by CLAVIS EDITIONS
{{DEFAULTSORT:Book Of Soyga 16th-century books Bodleian Library collection Books about magic British Library additional manuscripts Treatises