What's the difference between the medieval notion of magic

>>48815343
I can't give you much of a scholarly opinion, but I've read that the renaissance was a surprisingly superstitious time, and a lot of modern occultism was basically rooted in renaissance era LARPing that had very little to do with ancient mystery cults or pagan folk traditions.

>>48815343
It's mostly because there was a shift in the definition of magic. The tradition definition of "magic" way back when was to worship to gain benefits and power from beings that are not YHWH. Good "magic" was basically just "miracles" (or thaumaturgy).

And then folks such as Aleister Crowley came along and just said "Fuck that shit, I'm a wizard!". And started memeing various ancient religious practices, thus developing the early-modern (which in turn developed into the modern) idea of magic.

>>48816068
After the fall of constantinople freek scholars brought many ancient lost texts about magic with them, namely hermetic & neo-platonic scriptures

This led to a revival of the western esoteric tradition

Astrology, Alchemy, and Theurgy made a comeback

>>48815343
Bump for interest, when I get back from my jog I'll post up a bit about paganism and neopaganism

File: a collection of alchemical and hermetic emblems - sequences 1-p32-1.png (1017KB, 840x603px) Image search: [Google]

1017KB, 840x603px

In many ways they were similiar, hermeticism was at its height. Saint Thomas Aquinas wrote at length on the subject in one of his books, describing the methods of the sorcerers.

The general process was quite simple. The medieval magus would, through various rituals and invocations, summon a demon or spirit by lengthy flattery, then once it was brought forth, would with stern will command it. Almost all magic was done through the summoning of spirits. There were other forms, such as the supernatural powers of faeries, and minor willworking of various kinds, and even the Kabballah, by which Rabbis could say the various Names of God to perform miracles.

The early modern magician was a more refined breed, in two respects. First, was that alchemy was far more advanced and important then its medieval incarnation, as chemistry slowly developed and real results were made possible. Secondly, in their attitudes towards magic.

The Medieval scholar found magic evil, but also had his wits about him. The Scholastics 'knew' what magic was, how it worked, why it was forbidden, how to oppose it, and the various interconnections thereof. Aquinas sounds positively bored discussing the subject in Summa Contra Gentiles, mostly mocking the mages for engaging in slavishness and flattery to summon a spirit, but then acting like its master once it was brought forth.

On the other hand, the early modern magus had far more fear and mystery to him. As strange as it sounds, he was more superstitious than his predecessor. This is probably due to the influence of Protestanism, which infected everything in Europe with a dreary pessimism and a feeling of divine inevitability. The story of Faustus actually happens almost entirely because Faust sells his soul for magic, but when people try and convince him he can get it back by repenting to God and giving the magic back, he refuses, because he thinks he's already hopelessly damned.

>>48816484
>After having replaced his pet lion's tongue with a live snake, setting his gunpowder barrel on fire and breeding two new kinds of flower in a single vase, the bored wizard looks at the crescent scythe flying into the sun's face and wonders "is this all there is to life?"

It's magic, I ain't gotta explain shieet!

vs

Enlightenment is man's leaving his self-caused immaturity. Immaturity is the incapacity to use one's intelligence without the guidance of another. Such immaturity is self-caused if it is not caused by lack of intelligence, but by lack of determination and courage to use one's intelligence without being guided by another. Sapere Aude! Have the courage to use your own intelligence! is therefore the motto of the enlightenment.

>>48819106
>courage

The "bold" are all too often reckless fools, willing to throw away their already short lives for causes that will cease to matter in the cosmic blink of an eye.

By the time the Elders awaken, the pitiful worms, those that speak and those that do not, which infest this tiny ball of stone will have been scoured away by the baleful light of the sun. The vast oceans will swell with the melting ice, and boil away. The Ancient Ones will awaken to naught but bare rock, floating in the void as the Daystar gasps its last.

Courage is a lie. Hope is an illusion. The endless march of Time will grind all things into dust. You will fail.

>>48815343
Math

>>48820671
Weirdly enough, this

Math was seen as magical like anything else

Mathematics were like cheat codes to the universe, and finding sympathetic hermetic relations between mathematical phenomenon and IRL phenomenon could cause what the casual observer considers "magical" affects