The Arabic Influences on Early Modern Occult Philosophy

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-vi

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Liana Saif

   Pages 1-8

3. Arabic Theories of Astral Influences: Abu Ma’shar al-Balkhi

   • Liana Saif

   Pages 9-26

4. Arabic Theories of Astral Magic: The De radiis and the Picatrix

   • Liana Saif

   Pages 27-45

5. Textual and Intellectual Reception of Arabic Astral Theories in the Twelfth Century

   • Liana Saif

   Pages 46-69

6. Magic in the Thirteenth Century: Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas and Roger Bacon

   • Liana Saif

   Pages 70-94

7. Early Modern Astral Magic: Marsilio Ficino

   • Liana Saif

   Pages 95-123

8. The True Magic and Astrology of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola

   • Liana Saif

   Pages 124-143

9. The Magic and Astrology of John Dee

   • Liana Saif

   Pages 144-171

10. Celestial Souls and Cosmic Daemons

    • Liana Saif

    Pages 172-194

11. Conclusion

    • Liana Saif

    Pages 195-200

12. Back Matter

    Pages 201-277

    PDF

Investigating the impact of Arabic medieval astrological and magical theories on early modern occult philosophy, this book argues that they provided a naturalistic explanation of astral influences and magical efficacy based on Aristotelian notions of causality.

• Astral magic
• astrology
• early modern
• occult philosophy
• Islam
• Picatrix
• De radiis
• al-Kindi
• Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi
• John Dee
• causality
• Arabic
• Francis Bacon
• occult
• Thomas Aquinas

• St Cross College, University of Oxford, UK

  Liana Saif

Liana Saif is British Academy postdoctoral fellow at the Oriental Institute in the University of Oxford (St. Cross College), UK. She is interested in Western and Islamic occult thought and the exchange of esoteric ideas between the two worlds. As part of her current project entitled 'On the Margins of Orthodoxy: Magic in Medieval Islam,' Saif is preparing an English translation of the Arabic magic compendium Ghayat al-hakim known as the Picatrix.

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