TO THE REVEREND FATHER LORD JOHANNES TRITEMIUS, ABBOT OF SAINT JAMES

in the suburb of Würzburg, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa

of Nettesheim sends greetings.

A large decorative woodcut initial 'C' depicting two robed scholars or clerics in a room with a tiled floor and a window revealing a landscape.

When I stayed with you recently (Reverend Father) for some time in your monastery at Würzburg original: "Herbipolim." The Latin name for the city of Würzburg., we consulted together on many things regarding chemistry original: "chymicis." In this period, alchemy and chemistry were not yet distinct fields., many things regarding magic, and many things regarding cabalistic Refers to Kabbalah, a school of thought in Jewish mysticism which Agrippa integrated into his Christian occult philosophy. matters, as well as other secret sciences and arts that still lie hidden in obscurity. Among our discussions, a great question arose: why is it that Magic itself—which once held the very highest peak of sublimity by the judgment of all ancient philosophers, and was always held in the greatest veneration by those ancient sages and priests—later became hateful and suspect to the holy fathers from the beginning of the rising Catholic Church? Why was it eventually exploded by Theologians, condemned by the sacred canons, and furthermore proscribed by the decrees of all laws?

Reflecting on the cause of this, it is in my judgment nothing else but that, through a certain fatal depravity of times and men, many pseudo-philosophers and "Magi" in name only have crept in. Through various sects of errors and factions of false religions, these men gathered together many truly execrable superstitions and death-dealing rites, as well as many wicked sacrileges drawn from orthodox religion, for the persecution of nature, the ruin of men, and the insult of God. They have published many books of rejected reading—such as we see circulated today—to which they have prefixed the most honorable name and title of Magic through theft and robbery.

Thus, while they hoped to win credibility for their own execrable nonsense with this most holy title of magic, they succeeded in making that once-most-lauded name of magic today the most hateful to all good and honest men. Now, it is considered a capital crime if anyone dares to profess himself a "magician" through his teaching or works—unless perhaps it is some mindless old woman living in the countryside, who wishes to be believed as highly skilled and powerful in the divine, so that (as Apuleius Lucius Apuleius (c. 124–170 AD), a Platonist philosopher and author of The Golden Ass, who was himself once accused of using magic to win a rich widow. says) she might be able to pull down the heavens, suspend the earth, harden springs, melt mountains, raise the spirits of the dead, lower the gods, extinguish the stars, and illuminate Hell itself. Or as Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro, the Roman poet. Agrippa is quoting the Aeneid, Book 4, lines 487-491. sings:

She promises to release by her charms the minds

of whom she wills, but to cast harsh cares upon others;

To stop the water in rivers, and turn the stars backward;

She calls forth the spirits of the night; you will see the earth

groan beneath your feet, and the ash trees descend from the mountains.

Then there are the things related by Lucan Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (39–65 AD), author of the epic Pharsalia, which features the gruesome witch Erictho. concerning that Thessalian witch, and by Homer concerning the omnipotence of Circe The sorceress from the Odyssey who turned Odysseus's crew into swine.. I confess that most of these things are the result of such deceptive opinion, such superstitious diligence, and such ruinous labors that, since they cannot fall under any art that is not wicked, they nevertheless presume they can clothe themselves in the venerable title of magic. Since things stood thus, I wondered greatly—and was no less indignant—that no one has emerged until now who [would restore] so sublime and sacred a discipline...