Apollonius of Tyana January 22, 2009
Posted by egabriel in History of Magic.Tags: antiquity, bestseller, columns, combination, creation, doctrine, fake, figures, heaven, interest, magical, magician, magus, manuscript, memoirs, novel, philosopher, powers, talismans, teacher, traveling
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The third magician of interest in that period of the Roman Empire was Apollonius of Tyana. Between 217 and 238 Flavius Philostratus wrote his Life of Apollonius of Tyana. It was a lengthy novel about magical powers of Apollonius. According to Philostratus, this novel was born out of the memoirs of somebody named Damis, who was a disciple of great magic user Apollonious. He claimed that the memoirs were owned by empress Julia Domna, mother of emperor Caracalla.
In any case Philostratus creation was a literary fake. From the pages of the novel Apollonius emerges as an ascetic traveling teacher. He is usually labeled a new Pythagoras, and he does represent the same combination of philosopher and magus that Pythagoras was. According to Philostratus, Apollonius traveled far and wide, as far as India, teaching ideas reasonably consistent with traditional Pythagorean doctrine. Anyway, this manuscript became a bestseller in Roman empire of Late Antiquity. Apollonius was so popular that talismans allegedly made by Apollonius appeared in several Greek cities of the Eastern Roman Empire, as if they were sent from heaven. Some magical figures and columns dedicated to him were also erected in public places to protect the cities from plagues and evil.
Magical papyri October 24, 2008
Posted by egabriel in History of Magic.Tags: antiquity, books, concepts, cults, effects, formulas, fraction, gestures, ingredients, interest, literature, magic, magical, manuscripts, mystery, papyri, poetry, points, practitioners, prose, recipes, ritual, rituals, talent, terms, texts
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It seems, that a huge interest in magic was on the rise in the Hellenistic period, especially around 3d century b.c. Piles of texts, both literary and some from actual practitioners, in Greek and in Latin came to us from this time. Truly speaking, a lot of existing magical papyri was written in the first centuries after Christ, but the manuscripts’ concepts, formulas and rituals reflect the earlier Hellenistic period. These magical papyri are no doubt only a fraction of the magical literature available in antiquity. The ascendancy of orthodox Christianity by the 5th century CE had much to do with this. This is reflected by the book of Acts where the Apostle Paul convinces many Ephesians to bring out their magical books and burn them.
The language of the magical texts reflects various levels of literary skill. Generally they are standard Greek, and may well be closer to the spoken language of the time than to poetry or artistic prose left to us in literary texts. Many terms are borrowed from the mystery cults. The texts are often written as we might write a recipe. In other words the magic requires certain ingredients. Of course it is not just as simple as knowing how to put a recipe together. Appropriate gestures, at certain points in the magical ritual, are required to accompany the ingredients, different gestures it would seem produce various effects. A magical ritual done in the right way can guarantee the revealing of dreams and of course the rather useful talent of interpreting them correctly.
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The first examples of the zodiac October 15, 2008
Posted by egabriel in History of Astrology.Tags: ancient, archaeologists, astrology, burial, calculators, charts, combination, competition, desert, examples, historical, history, importance, interest, life, minds, origin, pharaohs, place, positions, pyramids, role, signs, sky, star, sun, zodiac
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History of ancient astrology. As far as I know, astrology of ancient Egyptians appeared slightly later in ancient Babylon. The outcome of this historical competition is still not clear, because the archaeologists still did not make up their minds. But we know, that astrology has a very ancient history in Egypt, with star charts found there going back to 4,200BC.
Egyptian astrology was dominated by the combination of the sun and the dog-star Sirius, as it foretold when in the year the Nile river would flood, bringing fertility and life to what was otherwise barren desert. The pyramids of Egypt also reflect the importance given to astrology, as they are oriented towards the North pole of the sky and had a dual role as burial place for the pharaohs and astrological calculators. Various pharaohs took an interest in astrology. Ramses II or Ozymandias as he was traditionally better known, was credited with fixing the positions of the cardinal signs Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn. Some zodiac signs are said to be Egyptian in origin, including Aries, Leo, and possibly Gemini. Anyways, the first examples of the zodiac as we know it today appeared in ancient Egypt.
How it progressed in the United States September 19, 2008
Posted by egabriel in History of Astrology.Tags: articles, astrological, astrology, attempt, books, columns, complex, concepts, contention, controversy, descriptions, factor, forecasts, interest, journalists, magazines, materials, modern, newspapers, period, points, popular, position, practice, public, readers, result, serious, sun, war, writings
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The serious and complex writings on astrological practice and concepts in America progressed into a new period of popular. Many complex astrological materials were simplified to attempt to carve a clear line through points of contention and controversy.
Great public interest in astrology made publishers realize that millions of readers were interested in astrological forecasts and the interest grew ever more intense with the advent of America’s entry into the First World War. The war heightened interest in astrology. Journalists began to write articles based on character descriptions and astrological forecasts were published in newspapers based on the one and only factor known to the public: the month and day of birth, as taken from the position of the Sun when a person is born. The result of this practice led to modern-day publishing of Sun-Sign astrology columns and expanded to some astrological books and magazines in second half of the twentieth century.
How it was in the beginning September 19, 2008
Posted by egabriel in History of Astrology.Tags: astrologer, astrological, astrology, celebrities, distribution, forecasts, horoscope, interest, journals, papers, popular, practice, precedent, readings, texts
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In the first half of twentieth century a great surge of popular interest in astrology took place in the US. A very popular astrologer Evangeline Adams from New York City helped quench the public’s thirst for astrology readings with many accurate forecasts. Adams was even arrested and charged with illegal fortunetelling in 1914. But the case was dismissed when Adams correctly read the horoscope of the judge’s son provided with just his birth date. Her acquittal set a precedent, establishing that astrologers can practice freely and was not guilty of any wrongdoing.
The wave of interest towards astrology even increased by wide distribution of astrological journals, text, papers, and textbooks throughout the United States. Astrologers became celebrities, like, for example, Alan Leo, Sepharial, Paul Cheisnard and Charles Carter.
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