OCCULTURE 125: Dan Attrell // The Picatrix, Astral Magic & Platonic Orientalism

The Modern Hermeticist himself in the house. Dan Attrell is here to talk all about translating one of the preeminent texts, maybe the preeminent text, in the history of Western esotericism: the Picatrix. The Picatrix is perhaps the premiere text written on the subject of astrological magic - a manual for constructing talismans, mixing magical compounds, summoning planetary spirits, and determining astrological conditions. Originally composed in Arabic around the 11th century, it was then translated into Latin in the 13th century, and it is that Latin translation that Dan and his co-translator David Porecca have worked to produce this new English version, which offers important insights not only into occult practices and beliefs but also into the transmission of magical ideas from antiquity to the present. Dan is an historian, classicist, philosopher, and musician. He has a Bachelor of Arts in History and Classical Studies, a Masters in Ancient Mediterranean Cultures from the University of Waterloo with a thesis on shamanic motifs in the ecstatic mystery rites of Attis and Cybele. He’s also completed a Post-Baccalaureate in Classics at UCLA, focusing on the translation of ancient Greek and Latin texts. And he is currently at the University of Waterloo doing his PhD in History on Renaissance Hermeticism/Platonic Orientalism, Medieval religion, and science. Some of you also know him from his Modern Hermeticist YouTube channel, where he has more than 30,000 subscribers and has produced some of the most in-depth material on the subject of Hermeticism in his series of lectures called Encyclopedia Hermetica.   PATREON EXTENSION Listen at patreon.com/occulture The morality and ethics of the Picatrix Nigromancy vs necromancy The hierarchy of beings in the Picatrix The concept of Perfect Nature Trying to figure out what the hell the quadrivium actually is The original author of the Arabic text The concept of God in the Picatrix and in magic The type of rituals in the Picatrix The role of psychoactive substances in Picatrix rituals The intentions of the original author   RESOURCES The Picatrix on IndieBound The Picatrix on Amazon Dan’s website Dan’s YouTube channel   DONATE If recurring monthly support via Patreon isn’t your thing, we do accept one time-donations via PayPal, Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple. Every little bit helps.   MERCH Tees, tanks, hoodies, crops, hats. Check ‘em out on our website or at our Etsy shop.   SOCIAL Twitter Instagram Facebook Tumblr   MUSIC Vestron Vulture - “I Want to Be a Robot (Tribute to Giorgio Moroder)”   PRODUCTION & LICENSING This podcast is produced in the Kingdom of Ohio and is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International. Executive Producers: Mike K., Carter Y., Mauricio G., Alyssa S., Daniel R., Kelly C., Bruce H., David G., Jeremy V., Marcelo T., Christopher B., Timothy W., Nick F., Michael Q., Jamaica J., Mute Ryan, John W., Paul S., Andy E., Colleen F., Catalina M., Saliyah S., Michael W., Raymond G., Kevin C., Michael S., Blake S., Kyle A.   REMINDER Love yourself. Think for yourself. Question authority.