Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard

336 Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard

Agrippa (1486–1535)

Heinrich Cornelius

Agrippa von Nettesheim was a

German mystic and alchemist.

Born near Cologne, he studied

both medicine and law at the

University. In 1506, by the age

of 20, he had established a se-

cret society in Paris devoted to

astrology, magick, and Qabalah

and became court secretary to

the Holy Roman Emperor. He went on to lecture on

occultism in the French University of Dôle, where he

set up a laboratory in the hopes of synthesizing gold.

For the next decade or so he traveled Europe, making

a living as an alchemist and conversing with important

early humanist scholars. Hounded out of Cologne by

the Inquisition, Agrippa set up a medical practice in

Geneva, and in 1524 became personal physician to the

Queen Mother at the court of King Francis I in Lyons.

When the Queen Mother abandoned him, he moved

to Antwerp, but he was later banned for practicing

medicine without a license. Agrippa then became his-

toriographer at the court of Charles V.

Agrippa wrote on a great many topics, including

marriage and military engineering, but his most im-

portant work is the three-volume De occulta

philosophiae (“Of the Occult Philosophy”), a defense

of “hidden philosophy” or magick, which draws on

diverse mystical traditions—alchemy, astrology, and

Qabalah. This book had a profound influence on the

development of Western magick. Agrippa embraced

astrology, divination, numerology, and the power of

gems and stones. It was said that he practiced necro-

mancy, conjured various demons, found the Philo-

sopher’s Stone, and even traveled to the New World.

Knowledgeable in law, theology, medicine, and phi-

losophy, he spoke eight languages and has been called

the Renaissance Man of the occult world.

Paracelsus (1493–1541)

Philippus Aureolus

took the pseudonym of

Theophrastus Bombas-

tus von Hohenheim. Af-

ter receiving his doctor-

ate from the University

of Ferrara, he called

himself Paracelsus

(“alongside Celsus”—

the ancient Roman phy-

sician). He was a Swiss

physician, scholar, and

alchemist who studied

with an abbot known for his writings on the Qabalah.

Paracelsus’s interest in alchemy and metallurgy took

him to many mines in Germany, Hungary, and other

countries, where he was often employed as an analyst.

He was the first to describe zinc, and he developed the

use of such minerals as mercury in healing potions for

his medical practice. It is said that Paracelsus learned

the secret of the Philosopher’s Stone from an Arabian

Wizard in Constantinople. He owned a speculum

(magick scrying mirror), and he gave detailed instruc-

tions for making one. Believing that the stars and plan-

ets influenced life, he made and used talismans inscribed

with planetary sigils on various appropriate metals.

In 1536, Paracelsus published his medical discov-

eries and theories in a book called Die Grosse Wund-

artzney (“The Great Miraculous Medicine”) wherein

he linked good health with living in harmony with

Nature. Other writings, such as Liber Azoth (“Book

of Azoth”—tincture of Mercury) and Archidoxa (“Rul-

ing Doctrines”) have had a great influence on occult-

ists, alchemists, and mystics.

Nostradamus (1503–1566)

History’s greatest pro-

phet, Michel de Nostre-

dame was best known by the

Latin version of his last

name, Nostradamus (“Our

Lady”). His Jewish family

claimed descent from the

Issachar tribe, noted for

prophecy. His grandfather

taught him Greek, Latin, He-

brew, math, and astrology. Nostradamus studied phi-

losophy in Avignon and received his medical license

from the University of Montpelier.

Possessing a seemingly miraculous ability to heal

the incurable, Nostradamus treated sufferers of the

Black Plague. In a tragic irony, his first wife and two

children died of the plague, and the Inquisition then

accused him of heresy. For the next six years he wan-

dered around France, caring for plague victims and

studying the occult. In 1546, he married again and had

six children. Using water scrying, Nostradamus was

able to receive visions of the future. Starting in 1550,

he issued an annual Almanac of predictions, and in

1556, he published Centuries, his famous book of

prophecies from his time to the end of the world in

3799. He became famous throughout Europe for his
      predictions, and the French Royal Family asked him
      to come to Paris to prepare their astrological charts.
      He saw that all seven sons would gain the crown, and
      all would die.
      Near the end of his life, Nostradamus was wel-
      comed at the court of Catherine de Médici, where he
      continued making predictions, including that of his
      own death, which occurred exactly as he described it.
      His enigmatic quatrains have been reinterpreted by
      each generation since, and more than 40 are believed
      to have already come true.


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