TO THE REVEREND FATHER LORD JOHANNES TRITHEMIUS, ABBOT OF SAINT JAMES in the suburbs of Würzburg, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa of Nettesheim.

Decorative woodcut initial letter 'C' depicting a human figure within an architectural or floral frame.
When I stayed with you recently (Reverend Father) in your monastery at Würzburg original: "Herbipolis," the Latin name for Würzburg, Germany for some time, we conferred together on many things concerning chemistry alchemy; the study of transforming matter, many things concerning magic, many things concerning the Kabbalah a form of Jewish mysticism, and other hidden sciences and arts which still lie concealed in secret. A great question arose among other things: why Magic itself—since it once held the highest peak of sublimity by the judgment of all ancient philosophers, and was always held in the greatest veneration by those ancient wise men and priests—was afterwards always hateful and suspect to the holy fathers from the beginning of the nascent Catholic Church, and finally exploded by the theologians, condemned by the sacred canons, and furthermore proscribed by the decrees of all laws.

Looking for the cause, in my judgment it is none other than this: that through a certain fatal corruption of times and men, many pseudo-philosophers have crept in under the assumed name of Magi. Through various sects of errors and factions of false religions, they have gathered together many truly execrable superstitions and deadly rites, as well as many wicked sacrileges from orthodox religion, for the persecution of nature, the destruction of men, and the insult of God. They have published many books of condemned reading, such as we see circulating today, to which they have attached the most honorable name and title of Magic by theft and robbery.

Thus, while these men hoped to gain credit for their own execrable trifles with this most holy title of magic, they succeeded in making the name of magic—once most praised—today most hateful to all good and honest men, so that it is considered a capital crime if anyone dares to profess himself a magus in doctrine or works. The only exception is perhaps some crazed old woman living in the country who wishes to be believed as highly skilled and divinely powerful, so that (as Apuleius Lucius Apuleius (c. 124–170 AD), author of The Golden Ass, who was himself once accused of using magic to win a wealthy widow. says) she can pull down the sky, hang the earth, harden springs, dissolve mountains, raise the spirits of the dead, weaken the gods, extinguish the stars, and illuminate Hades itself; or as Virgil sings:

Who promises to release by her charms the minds
Of whom she wishes, but to cast harsh cares upon others;
To stop the water in rivers, and turn back the stars,
And she calls forth the spirits of the night; you will see the earth
Bellow beneath your feet, and the mountain ash trees descend from the mountains.
original: Virgil, Aeneid, Book IV, lines 487-491. Agrippa uses these classical literary examples to distinguish "popular" sorcery from the "natural magic" he intends to defend.

Then there are the things Lucan relates of that Thessalian witch The witch Erictho from Lucan’s epic poem Pharsalia, known for gruesome necromancy., and Homer concerning the omnipotence of Circe. I confess that most of these things are the result of such deceptive opinion, such superstitious diligence, and such ruinous labors that, while they cannot fall under an art that is not wicked, they nevertheless presume to clothe themselves in the venerable title of magic. Since things stood thus, I wondered greatly, and felt no less indignation, that until now no one has existed who [would defend] such a sublime and sacred discipline—