The Three Books of Occult Philosophy - Cornelius Agrippa - Renaissance Hermeticism Cabala and Magic

Cornelius Agrippa's 1533 The Three Books of Occult Philosophy is, perhaps, the most famous magical tome in western history. In it, he describes the process by which the magus may return to their prelapsarian, semi-divine state through the process of a reformed natural, celestial and ceremonial magic. Neither a textbook nor a summa, this work is often more celebrated or maligned than actually understood. What does Agrippa actually teach? How do we square his Hermetic idealism with his otherwise radically skeptical attitudes in his other major work of this period? This episode of Esoterica examines this (in)famous text of magic, astrology and cabala.

#agrippa #occult #philosophy #magic

[TheEsotericaChannel]

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[Self-replicating_whatnot]

"You say she's a witch, huh? Well, let me tell you that neither she, nor you lot, know anything about magic"

[amandapanda]

"I told you I'd come back to the dog, " 😂 never stop! You're my favorite. So educational & fun.

[LuxPerp]

So good I had to listen three times, the second and third times at my laptop with many browser tabs open so I could frequently pause and look up references. Thanks for this.

[MarchandDeModes]

The juxtaposition of reason + mystic union w God, is SHEER GENIUS. Ask yourself: what would Plato have said to Jesus Christ, or vice versa? At his final trial before pontius pilate, the question was posed: are you the King of the Jews? The answer: My kingdom is the Kingdom of Truth. To which pilate replied: "What is Truth" (platonic tradition)

[Eliphas_Leary]

Thank you for this extremely interesting and enlightening video, Doc. Though I'm not too familiar with Agrippa's DOP, I read it a long time ago and mainly use it as an example for how knowledge can be hidden in plain sight (eg. Book I, chap. 44), there is one question regarding DOP that came to my mind several years ago: Here in Cologne we have a culture of humor, subtlety in the use of sarcasm and dancing on the fine line between being serious and making fun of something/someone is bred into kölsche people from the day they are born. And in the foreword to the first book of DOP there are passages that remind me of this kölsche humor. Now the question is, has any one ever looked at the text keeping in mind the humorous culture Agrippa probably grew up in? Of course that would require to know the degree of humouristic way to handle things was part of Cologne's culture in the days of Agrippa, it was probably not so far evolved as it is nowadays.

[greymagician]

There's a new English translation of the "Three Books of Occult Philosophy" coming out November 2021 by Eric Purdue.

[derickpoteet]

I swear every episode just melts my brain. Love the content and the subtle humor..I just need a dictionary to keep up lmao

[WhoeverNevermind]

That feeling when you think you already have every book you need for your thesis but you discover Agrippa exists.

[emeraldcitymystic]

This is one of my favorite YouTube Channels and I love your area of study for your PhD, Dr Sledge. Excellent and important choice. Thank you for sharing your work on YT. 🥰

[wendykleeb]

Just bought the Donald Tyson compilation. I reallu love videos discussing the occult philosophy. It was the version most accessible to my experience and intellect. Thanks.

[JDG]

Thank you! These videos on the Three Books are going to help me out a lot while reading Purdue's Translation. Very excited I am going to start the book today and this is my first time reading Agrippa from cover to cover. Appreciate all the resources you have available to us absolutely amazing supplements to many people's studies.

[BridgetteBentley]

I’m glad I found one of the renaissance videos, Agrippa’s book on the occult is one of my favorites! Thank you so much 🙏✨

[PKM]

This is the first video I’ve come across of yours and I must say that you make this multitudinous overwhelming material very digestible. Thank you for your work!

[quercus]

I would love you to do a video on Albrecht Dürer's "Melencolia §I" engraving, which Aby Warburg described as 'the ripest and most mysterious fruit of the cosmological culture of the age of Maximilian I.' There is so much Agrippa and Ficino in that image.

[NigelJackson]

Great examination of DOP and the career of the 'Daemonic Knight'. I think Agrippa's role was that of a magisterial synthesizer/codifier of late mediaeval Hermetism, Astral and Ceremonial Magic. He pulls it all together with typical Teutonic rigour and precision. I've sometimes wondered whether the 'De Incertitudine' points to a kind of 'docta ignorantia', an apophatic mystical transcendence of the elaborate edifices of human knowledge in ascent to/realization of God's Word? I also appreciated your emphasis on Agrippa's integrally Christian-Catholic spiritual world-view (particularly his grounding in Pauline theology and Dionysian Neoplatonic angelology). I love Agrippa's 3 Books, been immersed in their study for years...this was a very useful video, thank you.

[anthonyarcanumsanctumregnu]

I love these 3 books and even the 4th book, it's debated if He really wrote it or not but either way it's nice to have a Grimoire style book on much of his teachings and be able to set them to practice! Love it and the plagerizing version the Magus by Francis Berret .

[oliveinsat]

Francis Yates OG? Is that OG like original gangster? It can't be original gangster. Oh my god.... my ignorance. 🥴

[traviswadezinn]

I agree! would be great to see the movie!

[voa]

Bravo Dr. Justin Sledge after 15 years of reading and researching you have so eloquently awnsered all the questions I once had. Thank you very much!