★★★★★ 5
Value of Alternative Viewpoints
Format: Hardcover
I was pleased to see the new complete translation of Picatrix by Dan Attrell and David Porreca released in the Magic in History Series of Penn State Press. Picatrix is central to European astrological magic that it deserves an academic treatment. In addition, the willingness of Penn State Press to release a complete translation of Picatrix shows how things have changed in the past decade and the yeoman work done by mages such as Austin Coppock, Alexander Cummins and Cliff Low to delve deeply into astrological magic.
As the translators point out at page 2 this version of Picatrix is, "specifically intended for students and scholars of the history of science and magic" In addition to the complete text of the Latin Picatrix in English translation the translators provide useful historical accounts of the pre-history of Picatrix and of the Latin text, Picatrix's exposition of the path of the sage, the use of the terminology nigromancia for astrological magic and the cosmology of Picatrix. Most interesting is a statistical breakdown of the types of magic in Picatrix. Finally, the translators elucidate their view of the importance of psychoactive drugs in ritual, though the translators insist at page 28 that they do not, "wish to suggest that all magic in the Picatrix can be explained away as drug addled delusion…"
Coming as it does from an academic perspective, focused on history and social science the Attrell and Porreca translation provides a valuable orientation and background for the contemporary practitioner of astrological magic. No single translation can do justice to a work as complex as Picatrix and anyone who is serious about astrological magic or interested in Picatrix should certainly get a copy of the Attrell and Porreca translation as well as the Greer and Warnock Picatrix and the forthcoming Arabic Picatrix translation.
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Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2019
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