The Ars Notoria: Enhancing Memory and Gaining Knowledge

In this episode, we're talking about the Ars Notoria, a 13th-century Latin textbook of magic (now retroactively called a grimoire) from Northern Italy, which claims to grant its solitary practitioner an enhancement of his or her mental faculties (i.e., memory, eloquence, and intelligence), spiritual faculties for communicating with angels, and the acquisition of earthly and heavenly knowledge through ritual magic.

The magical ritual that it describes expresses both religious orthodoxy and esoteric elements which captivated young boys, university students, and clerics for its promise of a fast-track to gaining knowledge rapidly. This textbook of magic has a complicated history, both mythical and historical. 

In this episode, Matthias Castle (who has just completed a new Latin translation of the book) discusses the weird and wonderful magic that the Ars Notoria has to offer.

Show Notes:

Ultraculture With Jason Louv page

Magick.Me

The Adept Initiative

Ars Notoria