Hellmut Ritter - Picatrix In Arabic (19.9 MB)
Book downloads: 2431
Picatrix is the name used today, and historically in Christian Europe, for a grimoire originally written in Arabic entitled yat al- ak m, which most scholars assume was written in the middle of the 11th century, 1 though a supported argument for composition in the first half of the 10th century has been made. 2 The Arabic title has been translated as "The Aim of the Sage" or "The Goal of The Wise". 3 The original Arabic work was translated into Spanish and then into Latin during the 13th century. The name "Picatrix" is also ... More >>>Book can be downloaded.
Note that, unfortunately, not all my books can be downloaded due to the restrictions of copyright. However, most of the books on this site do not have copyright restrictions. If you find any copyright violation, please contact me at . I am very attentive to the issue of copyright and try to avoid any violations, but on the other hand to help all fans of magic to get access to information.
If you are having difficulty downloading books, or you are looking for a book that is not on the site (but maybe it is in my home library), please write me a email to
and I will try to help, I can send the book by e-mail
darkbooks.org began in early 2008 I am happy to donate my time to providing you this resource, I would also like to note, that, although I try, I do not always have enough time to deal with the site, including, unfortunately, I do not always have time to answer all letters, because I have to earn money for a living. If you can financially help me, it would free me from the worries of earning money for living, perhaps partially, but ideally completely, then all 100% of my time could be devoted to the site. Also I do pay monthly web server/files storage and hosting costs to keep this site on the air. Please consider making a donation to help me continue this activity and devote more time to it or at least offset the cost of paying for storage/hosting. Even a small contribution helps!
Picatrix is the name used today, and historically in Christian Europe, for a grimoire originally written in Arabic entitled yat al- ak m, which most scholars assume was written in the middle of the 11th century, 1 though a supported argument for composition in the first half of the 10th century has been made. 2 The Arabic title has been translated as "The Aim of the Sage" or "The Goal of The Wise". 3 The original Arabic work was translated into Spanish and then into Latin during the 13th century. The name "Picatrix" is also sometimes used to refer to the author.
Picatrix is a composite work that synthesizes older works on magic and astrology. One of the most influential interpretations suggests it is to be regarded as a "handbook of talismanic magic". 4 Another researcher summarizes it as "the most thorough exposition of celestial magic in Arabic", indicating the sources for the work as "Arabic texts on Hermeticism, Sabianism, Ismailism, astrology, alchemy and magic produced in the Near East in the ninth and tenth centuries A.D." 5 According to Eugenio Garin "In reality the Latin version of the Picatrix is as indispensable as the Corpus Hermeticum or the writings of Albumasar for understanding a conspicuous part of the production of the Renaissance, including the figurative arts." 6 It has significantly influenced West European magical thinking from Marsilio Ficino in the 15th century, to Thomas Campanella in the 17th century. The manuscript in the British Library passed through several hands Simon Forman, Richard Napier, Elias Ashmole and William Lilly.
According to the prologue of the Latin translation, Picatrix was translated into Spanish from the Arabic by order of Alphonso X of Castile at some time between 1256 and 1258. 7 The Latin version was produced sometime later, based on translation of the Spanish manuscripts. It has been attributed to Maslama ibn Ahmad al-Majriti an Andalusian mathematician , but many have called this attribution into question. Consequently, the author is sometimes indicated as "Pseudo-Majriti".
The Spanish and Latin versions were the only ones known to western scholars until Wilhelm Printz discovered an Arabic version in or around 1920.
The work is divided into four books, which exhibit a marked absence of systematic exposition. Jean Seznec observed "Picatrix prescribes propitious times and places and the attitude and gestures of the suppliant he also indicates what terms must be used in petitioning the stars." As an example, Seznec then reproduces a prayer to Saturn from the work, noting that Fritz Saxl has pointed out that this invocation exhibits "the accent and even the very terms of a Greek astrological prayer to Kronos. This is one indication that the sources of Picatrix are in large part Hellenistic."