The Soul of the World

About this book

Why should any of it work? This notebook is the seventh and last of Book II in a series that divides Agrippa's work by theme. It contains Book II, chapters 53–60: why no divination is complete without astrology; what a lot is and where its power comes from; the soul of the world in Manilius, Lucan, Boethius and Virgil; the same proved by reason; why the world soul is rational; the names of the celestial souls — the Bacchi and Muses, the gods of the elements and the twelve gods of the zodiac; the many names of the seven governors of the world; and the closing chapter on the power of prayer and the ascent of the mind.

What is inside

• 8 complete chapters of Agrippa's text, nothing shortened
• every chapter in four parts: In Agrippa's words · In plain words · Terms (with the Latin) · Historical note — where the idea comes from and what modern science says
• 8 original illustrations in an antique archival style
• 2 printable charts: the gods of the world soul (the zodiac wheel of twelve gods, the souls of the elements) and the seven governors with their epithets and the ladder of the mind
• foreword, closing words and a 46-term glossary

Who it is for

Readers of Renaissance philosophy, Neoplatonism, the history of divination and the Western esoteric tradition who want the original text made readable — and honestly explained.

About the series

1 The Power of Numbers · 2 The Sacred Numbers · 3 Marks and the Tables of the Planets · 4 Harmony and the Measure of Man · 5 Observations of the Heavens · 6 Images, Talismans and Characters · 7 The Soul of the World. Each notebook sold separately.

A historical text, not a manual.