While reading the Sophie Page book, Magic in Medieval Manuscripts, I found the views of magic and its place within Christianity very intriguing. More specifically, whenever Page discusses the Ars Notoria on page 39. The Ars Notoria is supposedly a, "Holy Art," and is the sacrament revealed to Solomon. Within Christianity it is believed that Solomon was the wisest man to ever live because God bestowed upon him great wisdom, "...like the sand on the seashore," (1 Kings 4:29 NKJV) And through this art it was believed one could gain the same wisdom and understanding Solomon had. The Ars Notoria consisted of a program of prayers, inspection, ritual diagrams, and ascetic practices all of which were undertaken for months, and upon completion the practitioner would gain great wisdom (39). One really interesting factor within this whole process is the ritual diagrams. These diagrams reveal a sense of superstition or magical element through their structure.They are in a circular form and have holy and angelic names, prayers, and magical characters within them. Unfortunately I couldn't find an image I was satisfied with for the blog post but on page 40 of Sophie Page's book there is a very detailed image. This image shows the circular form and on first glance it looks like the rings around a planet. Page comments on the shape of the diagrams saying, "[It's] appropriate both to their cosmological role in connecting the human practitioner to the divine realm and their function as objects of contemplation," (41). I think this parallels the use of Astronomy along with religion. the cosmological role of getting the practitioner closer to the divine seems to me the same or close to the same goal astronomers were seeking.
My final point today is the debate about magic, and its place within the church during the middle ages. The previously idea/art discussed was controversial among the religious scholars. Page explained that there were church members and clergy members that were not only discussing it but attempting the Ars Notoria. However, Thomas Aquinas condemned the techniques and goals of Ars Notoria saying it was advocating the use of ritual techniques to achieve knowledge which should rather be endowed by God's grace alone. However is this necessarily true? Were these techniques what supposedly brought upon the wisdom and knowledge or was the process of Ars Notoria a preparation or a tool to be able to receive the knowledge God would shed upon the practitioner?
Page, Sophie. Magic in Medieval Manuscripts. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2004.
You pose some very interesting questions that I myself have been asking more and more the further this class progresses. There seems to be a lot of gray area when it comes to magic and religion, both of which oftentimes seem to mix together. I think it is a matter of realizing that some religious practice (even today) does involve a form of ritual, so to speak. Since it has been pointed out to us that a lot of what we do on a day-to-day basis is considered ritual, it would seem that the word is much more innocent than these people might have thought and worried about.
ReplyDeleteDearest Ben,
ReplyDeleteYour thoughts about Page's book are coherent with mine! What I thought was extremely interesting was how magicians dealt with demons in a nearly identical way that exorcists (who were part of the church) dealt with them. With lines that blurry how do you find out which actions are for the holy mission and which are for the devil. Also, what is very invigorating about your post is how you mentioned the work of astrology (aka magic) in the Ars Notoria. It does not make sense that a holy book would contain "unholy magic". It makes us think of what clearly splits the line between the good and evil magic? If people are being persecuted and hunted for these types of acts shouldn't there be a clear dividing line so that no one can be confused and worried that they might be dabbling in the wrong side of magic?