Medieval Magic - Scholastic Analysis of Magic and Necromancy in the Middle Ages

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  • Опубликовано: 16 июн 2024
  • Scholasticism was the greatest intellectual movement of the Middle Ages. In this episode of Esoterica we explore the attitudes of medieval philosophers, theologians and scientists concerning magic. From Augustine where magic is a demonic deception to the rise of natural magic and medieval necromancy we will see that just beneath the surface there is a great deal of subtlety among these thinkers. Further, we will also notice that necromancy and black magic are always at the edges acceptable theory and practice.
    Recommended Readings:
    Kieckhefer - Magic in the Middle Ages - 978-1107431829
    Thorndike - History of Magic and Experimental Science vol. 2
    Magic in History Series - Penn State
    #magic #medieval #demons

Комментарии • 125

  • @TheEsotericaChannel
    @TheEsotericaChannel  3 года назад +12

    Make Sure to Subscribe & Consider supporting Esoterica by
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    • @ronwhittaker6317
      @ronwhittaker6317 4 месяца назад

      been a student of evil for the last 25 years for the first year, you couldn't have told me that was the path I was on.
      i started with a very different intention' i just wanted to be a better provider' and up jumped the devil. my research took a hard left and i discovered or let's say rediscovered a web of never-ending rabbit holes..''the ones that did end you could disregard'' because they always existed just under the surface,..said all that to say this.
      evil has certain weaknesses it can't shed because it is wholly flawed in every way it's how one recognizes it, and there is only one way to deal with the matters of evil. investigate it expose it drive it out into the open stamp it to death in public. "it needs your content so it publishes" , and fill the void it left with good. or it will only refill it.
      any other method you are just gambling your soul. Your soul is everything that makes you,,, you , it is not a mythical thin whispy cloud of light . it is very tangible here in this realm.from ink to paper to your ability to function here on earth. You are an entity. think of evil as sheer destruction it's not many entities. it is 'one' with many personas. and it is not to be trifled with by the vain and the ignorant one must know it like the back of its hand so i has no room to riggle. The temptation to toy with it is great, don't.
      you will only control it long enough to kill it and it's best not to do it alone and it's aware of that.
      why you must surround yourself with only the soundest sort of people if at all. then there's the matter of the cards if you attack evil you will only shuffle the deck . it's why you need to be holding all the cards and strike the anvil a the right time' it's not holkas polkas. it's very real and it lives everywhere at all times just as God does.. they both are instantiation. only God is absolute, evil is absolutely destructive it is ant-existence. leave no doubt.
      your power over it is minimal at best sucicant and that only comes from wisdom and therein lies the struggle and your duties to God ' yourself and not least humanity. there is no need for magic, there is only might that comes from what one "knows" all of ''man'' must be wise or suffer a fate worse than death mind you we stand on the eve of that fate.very little strength comes from just one man the real power comes from comes from the enforcement of good men. God said to his people "I am'. What are"we"? we are born only the subject to God alone the only rightful ruler.
      life is like a good game of poker / the Game of Thrones. to win or just survive "we" have to leave"our" ego out of it. always invest in the tangible never gamble. magic? don't bother. just learn to walk above the watermark and learn to avoid the blows, and grow eyes in the back of your head,. stay out of debt. we suffer the Hegelian dialectic don't be a fool.

  • @THOUGHTFORMPrime
    @THOUGHTFORMPrime 10 месяцев назад +10

    The line of “Lord, make me chaste but not yet” is such a fire line

  • @PapaYo4XXX
    @PapaYo4XXX 3 года назад +63

    Clerical Necromantic Underground sounds like an awesome Band name!

    • @TheEsotericaChannel
      @TheEsotericaChannel  3 года назад +39

      The secret agenda of my channel is to come up with a good band name every episode :)

    • @PapaYo4XXX
      @PapaYo4XXX 3 года назад +3

      @@TheEsotericaChannel thnx for the laugh! Lol'd for real!

    • @PapaYo4XXX
      @PapaYo4XXX 3 года назад +5

      @@TheEsotericaChannel also please keep up your humor injected into these videos, they make them so much more intimate.

    • @TheModernHermeticist
      @TheModernHermeticist 3 года назад +4

      That's the Kieckhefer magic!

    • @TheEsotericaChannel
      @TheEsotericaChannel  3 года назад +5

      @@TheModernHermeticist He gets a shout at the end :)

  • @PathOfAvraham
    @PathOfAvraham 3 года назад +64

    The most influential esoteric philosophical reflection of the 21st century:
    "...Magnets, how do they work?"

    • @TheEsotericaChannel
      @TheEsotericaChannel  3 года назад +35

      Verily unto thee do I say, "whoop" and also "whoop."

    • @neestovekin8251
      @neestovekin8251 3 года назад +1

      Ahaha, beat me to the punchline!

    • @greggrobinson5116
      @greggrobinson5116 3 года назад +1

      They're still trying to figure that out. Though we know quite well how it behaves, we still don't know what it "is".

    • @arxaer
      @arxaer Год назад

      @@TheEsotericaChannel 😀 Not even Feynman: ruclips.net/video/MO0r930Sn_8/видео.html

    • @Dowlphin
      @Dowlphin 8 месяцев назад

      @@greggrobinson5116 Is seems common if not inherent in the scientific establishment: This behaves this way because that behaves that way because that behaves that way because...
      Really a squaring of the circle. There is so much untapped power in conditioning minds towards root cause understanding.
      One could almost suspect a normalized demonic obfuscation scheme being at play there, and that being why things keep getting worse for humankind.

  • @helenathesoviet9195
    @helenathesoviet9195 3 года назад +37

    Brilliant, synthetic but very detailed. It's far better than the courses delivered in Coursera. I wish you, as always, all the best in your journey, Dr. Sledge! You have a real vocation for what you do and you're passionate in what you do: that is, sharing knowledge to others. Your videos always make my day :)

  • @MaryAnnNytowl
    @MaryAnnNytowl 2 года назад +2

    Fascinating! I'm really enjoying this playlist - thanks for making & sharing it with us! ❤️❤️

  • @mikehunt8375
    @mikehunt8375 3 года назад +4

    This information is priceless! I love the way you lay it out, easy to understand, with some witty statements. Best teacher and videos on RUclips! Much appreciated for the links and reading materials! If everyone was like this guy the world would be an amazing place! 😁👌🤯

  • @waynedryden6737
    @waynedryden6737 Год назад +1

    These videos are super fun! Great material for my weekly ttrpg!! Thankd Dr. Sledge!

  • @leadroftherats8488
    @leadroftherats8488 3 года назад +16

    11:22 I don't summon demons. But if I did, it would go a little something like this...

    • @TheEsotericaChannel
      @TheEsotericaChannel  3 года назад +13

      Just how far these guys were able to get away with this whole "I didn't summon a demon but here's how you might, maybe." shtick really impresses me especially when when a woman a few centuries later could be accused of witchcraft at the drop of a hat and burned with pretty much no evidence. Not that we had/have a problem with widespread misogyny or anything.

  • @amra6010
    @amra6010 3 года назад +10

    Thank you Esoterica, extremly interesting episode!

  • @ChrisWizzerd
    @ChrisWizzerd 3 года назад +11

    I really enjoy these videos on forgotten religious magic, I find it very intriguing! Where would I find literature on older magic spells? I’m super curious on how some of this stuff was written.

  • @kameelffarag
    @kameelffarag 2 года назад

    Dr Sledge, you hammer your subjects amazingly.

  • @boyscoutalchemist
    @boyscoutalchemist 3 года назад +2

    1k subs and this is my favourite channel :) Loving your work.

  • @biff-6603
    @biff-6603 3 года назад +5

    Bravo! Excellent episode!
    But you stopped at the most interesting part. Please do part 2! It will be really cool if you did the Renaissance thinkers like Marcilio Ficiono and Pico Della Mirandola and how they chose to sincretize "high magic" like Hermeticism and Kabbalah with Christianity while giving even more ammo to the Inquisition to fight folk magic. Then talk about the Elightment and how natural magic developed into science.

  • @louisea.sanfacon4323
    @louisea.sanfacon4323 3 года назад +11

    I would like to know more about Hildegard von Bingen and the occult properties of plants and gems that she found. The books about her that I know are mostly about the "scientific" healing properties of plants, not about her "New Age" visions about the magical effects of plants and gems.

    • @TheEsotericaChannel
      @TheEsotericaChannel  3 года назад +2

      Was planning to make that into an episode - did you see my other Hildegard episode?

    • @louisea.sanfacon4323
      @louisea.sanfacon4323 3 года назад +5

      @@TheEsotericaChannel Yes I have seen your previous video about Hildegard, very interesting 😊👍

  • @lordnate948
    @lordnate948 3 года назад +2

    Really interesting!! Please keep the vids coming, thanks!

  • @bromisovalum8417
    @bromisovalum8417 3 года назад +4

    Those magical ointments John of Salisbury mentions contained well known deliriant plants of the Nightshade family. These not only are able to product "real" hallucinations, as in not being able to discern between a dream image and reality, so not the colourful fantastical images produced by things like LSD, they also affect the eyes pretty badly. In fact even today atropine is still used to cause mydriasis in ophtalmology. They can affect the eyes permanently and even cause blindness. Even a moderate dose affects the eyes so significantly, one can't read fine print anymore for about 3-4 days afterwards.

  • @LyraMeldy
    @LyraMeldy 2 года назад +1

    very clear and detailed. Thank you

  • @jasmyneemmerick
    @jasmyneemmerick 3 года назад +15

    LOL at "I might end up in Dante's hell."

    • @TheEsotericaChannel
      @TheEsotericaChannel  3 года назад +5

      The struggle is real, friend :)

    • @Self-replicating_whatnot
      @Self-replicating_whatnot 2 года назад +2

      If you are going to Dante's hell you ought to make sure you land with the sorcerers. The rest of the crowd there seems kinda boring.

  • @TheHundredHeads
    @TheHundredHeads 10 месяцев назад +1

    So funny you mention Lynn Thorndikes set and how you would have to get lucky to find a set. I found the first 6 volumes for $3 each.
    Happy to have found your channel. Very interesting content

  • @jesperandersson889
    @jesperandersson889 3 года назад

    An ethnographical account (of scholasticism) of the Magical Ages (Dark Ages for short) - love it!

  • @rickbrookes9491
    @rickbrookes9491 3 года назад +8

    “It’s a bit...
    Weird... it’s really weird!”
    LOL

    • @TheEsotericaChannel
      @TheEsotericaChannel  3 года назад +3

      I mean, it's not like I'm calling local pre-schools to see if his number is accurate or anything.

  • @Dale_The_Space_Wizard
    @Dale_The_Space_Wizard 3 года назад +4

    Extremely interesting.

  • @lux1020
    @lux1020 2 года назад

    fantastic video!!!!!!

  • @witchjoseph3492
    @witchjoseph3492 2 года назад

    Such a great video

  • @brettmeldahl4456
    @brettmeldahl4456 9 месяцев назад +1

    Thanks!

  • @felipevcosta
    @felipevcosta 2 года назад +1

    Fantastic! A just learned some about my dreams end demons. And I do believe demons are somehow spiritual and psychological, one or another or both!

  • @bredmond812
    @bredmond812 2 года назад

    I've gone through 4 or more of your videos in a row now in the last hour and a half or so, and you mentioned way back in one of those videos something about seminars and online classes or something that you will be starting. Do you have more information that I can look at?

  • @soarel325
    @soarel325 2 года назад +1

    Do you have an overview on what exactly constituted “necromancy” to the scholastics? Was it synonymous with all magic (save for those who explicitly distinguished necromancy from natural magic) or was it specifically magic that involved the invocation of spirits or in particular demons? I’m familiar with the late medieval and renaissance usage of “necromancy” as a synonym for evil or black magic, but I’m not sure if the usage here refers to all magic as a whole or specifically to invoking of demons.

    • @TheShadowOfMars
      @TheShadowOfMars 2 года назад +2

      The word clearly means "death divination", so the original necromancy was probably talking to the ghosts of specific dead people. From there the word was applied more generally to any art of getting information or benefits from spirits.

  • @jacobsipes
    @jacobsipes 2 года назад +1

    "Though he ended up in Dante's Hell....I'll probably end up in Dante's Hell...." I felt this. Lol

  • @anthonystark6379
    @anthonystark6379 Год назад

    Semi unrelated question: Do you have a list somewhere of all the works you've recommended at the end of your videos? (Because if not I'm gonna compile one, because I need that to exist like, last week)

  • @Alexander-Kurtz
    @Alexander-Kurtz 3 года назад +1

    Doctor, have you done any research on the:
    Liber Vaccae
    Kitab al-Nawamis
    Activarum Liber Institutionum
    Aneguemis Liber
    ?.

  • @HiddenDragon555
    @HiddenDragon555 3 года назад +11

    Clerical Necromantic Underground is never going to not sound cool. I think this history also helps explain many tropes in genre fiction. Specifically how in both fantasy and urban fantasy your more likely to encounter demons then you are angels and any character's powers are more likely to be based on something demonic.

    • @TheEsotericaChannel
      @TheEsotericaChannel  3 года назад +10

      Interesting point - also I just think people like bad guys for some reason

    • @0mn1vore
      @0mn1vore Год назад

      This might also come down to authors trying to avoid too much deus ex machina in the story. Demons tend to grant favours with strings attached, and with limitations, unlike gods who can just snap their fingers and give the protagonists an unbeatable edge -- a magical flaming sword that can level cities, or whatever. Cool toy, but overpowered protagonists make for some predictable victories.
      [Okay, that said, now I have an idea for a story where some Chosen One *is* granted an insane amount of power early on in their quest, but they still manage to screw things up, Pratchett style.]

    • @Dowlphin
      @Dowlphin 8 месяцев назад

      @@TheEsotericaChannel I think that comes from societal morals enforcement instead of healing of tensions. I.e. being a good person becomes a battle against unresolved urges/trauma instead of a self-evidently desirable path.
      That borrowed power is more desirable will come from it being easier to attain, which it is only because the system has been shaped this way 'by demons'.

  • @Gunslinger65
    @Gunslinger65 Год назад +1

    Shalom!

  • @Dowlphin
    @Dowlphin 8 месяцев назад

    I just had this philosophical thought: What if all the meticulous details dug up by scientific pursuit are actually an obfuscation of / distraction from what in older times was still more visible?
    Then particles do stuff through their nature so that no one asks why anymore but moves on to hunting for the next smaller particle.
    Then magnets project a magnetic field and no one asks where the ever-replenishing force comes from anymore.
    We have enough empirical examples of how easily masses of people can lose sight of their own hand in front of their faces.
    This kind of global distraction scheme could also explain why despite all our efforts, things keep getting worse for us. This can only happen through misconceiving the nature of things.

  • @helenbostock2350
    @helenbostock2350 2 года назад +1

    I think Scott has point and I think you can do this. William right. I glad you didn't go to details of this practice. Young boys hum. I think the bible full of magic you taught that. Wow it forbidden but you can experiment. Untresting how they go around the problems. Glad to hear your views on the past.

  • @mactravis4729
    @mactravis4729 Год назад

    Can you do a video on magic schools? Like the ones in Toledo during the Middle Ages. Attended by Eustis.

  • @haydenheffernan2396
    @haydenheffernan2396 2 года назад +1

    This is a comment noting that I love this content.

  • @ahviouslyanarchy9188
    @ahviouslyanarchy9188 3 года назад +5

    I sometimes think about how I'd be burned at the stake if I lived at a different time in history. You probably would be too. But I'd be honored to burn at the stake alongside such a brilliant scholar as yourself. You've truly become my favorite channel.

    • @Iconicnotcon
      @Iconicnotcon 3 года назад +1

      I’d definitely be burned or hanged back in those times, I mean I am a magus so

  • @thornsilverhollysong1715
    @thornsilverhollysong1715 3 года назад +2

    I read necromantic texts for the articles...and definitely no other reason.

  • @henriquedias3431
    @henriquedias3431 3 года назад +2

    You really should make a video about the book of abramelin, if you already have please reply with the link because I couldn’t find it. Thanks

  • @Babylon2060
    @Babylon2060 3 года назад +2

    Is Gnosticism, Hermeticsm and esotericism the same ?
    If not what makes them different?

    • @sgtstull
      @sgtstull 3 года назад +3

      Gnosticism is Christian, Hermeticism is not, esotericism is more of a blanket term for "secret knowledge"

    • @DanKaraJordan
      @DanKaraJordan 2 года назад +2

      @@sgtstull Gnostic Christians are Christian, of course, but you can be a Neo-platonic Gnostic and just be a pagen. Also, most Hermetic practitioners, historically, were Christians, though some were pagan and some Jewish and Muslim. Hermeticism does not imply a particular religion.

  • @pattiroberts5078
    @pattiroberts5078 Год назад

    Hurah for team vagueness

  • @changer1285
    @changer1285 3 года назад +1

    "In the next step of the invocation SWIM call upon the....."

  • @thomasdoubting
    @thomasdoubting Год назад +1

    14:00 jupp, straight out of D&D.
    No wonder the Christians had a fitt and panic! 💬

  • @YoungMule
    @YoungMule Год назад

    There’s a trend in wellness science that makes new evidence of old folk wisdom seem like deep insight. People like Andrew Huberman espousing the value of sunlights, sleep, social interaction, meditation etc and backing it with science. Don’t get me wrong this is great but it feels insincere with the persistent antagonism to religion that our culture has. It’s like “new research suggests that spending time with loved ones will lead to a healthier life!!! “ And every religious person is like yeah duh that’s been in our scriptures for 1000s of years. This is all to say that I wonder how similarly our modern scientific religiosity structurally matches the ways that ancient people thought of magic. It has always surprised me how logical the world of the esoteric was to these people, in its own way.

  • @almightytallestred
    @almightytallestred 2 года назад

    I gave the 999th thumb up. Which looks like a pretty magical number to me.
    Now who's gonna be the lucky number 1000? ^^

  • @clockworkgnome
    @clockworkgnome 2 года назад

    Food for the algorithm

  • @davidnotonstinnett
    @davidnotonstinnett 7 месяцев назад

    Michael Scott: I DECLARE *NECROMANCY*

  • @greggrobinson5116
    @greggrobinson5116 3 года назад +3

    I know your topics are quasi-religious so a lot of religious stuff gets involved, but watching you has given me a new (& stunned) appreciation of how utterly and completely Christianity just took over the West for well over a thousand years, suffocating any other kind of thought or the possibility of intellectual progress. Maybe Islam was like that as well, but other than that I can't really think of any comparable religious takeovers of every aspect of a society.

    • @zakuro8532
      @zakuro8532 2 года назад +2

      Yes, european history is very christian. European magic is christian.

  • @Babylon2060
    @Babylon2060 3 года назад +3

    How do I teach Hermeticsm to my 8 year old?
    I'm a Thelemite and am struggling to teach this stuff to my daughter.

    • @Iconicnotcon
      @Iconicnotcon 3 года назад

      Have you introduced her to it yet?

    • @greggrobinson5116
      @greggrobinson5116 3 года назад +3

      ??? What? Like you're looking for a My Little Golden Book on Hermeticism? Have you tried using hand puppets?

  • @top5in512
    @top5in512 3 года назад

    🔮🔮🔮🔮🔮

  • @cagedweller6223
    @cagedweller6223 Год назад +2

    This is.. depressing.. I thought I found a righteous spirituality in white magick, LBRP and middle pillar work, but now I feel like I'm inviting in lil demonic harassers and giving them attention because of the dreams I've been having. Confused now..

  • @Dragonfly434
    @Dragonfly434 3 года назад +1

    Major bruh moment

  • @saintaugustine4104
    @saintaugustine4104 3 года назад +4

    Doctor, can you seriously say “Michael Scott” and not think “The Office”?

    • @ajarnmichelle
      @ajarnmichelle 3 года назад

      Thought the exact same thing! haha!

    • @drewduncan5774
      @drewduncan5774 2 года назад

      Magic is the true threat level midnight.

    • @gabrielkaterle5949
      @gabrielkaterle5949 2 года назад

      The worst part of summoning demons...was the dementors

  • @grndragon7777777
    @grndragon7777777 3 года назад +1

    I've heard you talk about necromancy and a lot of your videos. Hmmmmmm

    • @TheEsotericaChannel
      @TheEsotericaChannel  3 года назад +1

      Mostly because it's just the word the medievals and ancient use for 'bad magic' - honestly, the term just ends up meaning very little the way it gets used.

  • @bretbarnett6024
    @bretbarnett6024 Год назад +1

    They portray this in a way, that is not very balanced.
    Tenpole Tudor the british punk band of the late 1970's became known with their album: "Swords Of A Thousand Men".
    The lead singer Mr. Tudor had found out that his ancestry is the Tudors.
    What he withheld was that he was a chosenite and of course the Tudors were people of the nose tribe too.
    The magic noses were not known only to poison the wells but poison Christians with their concoctions & potions camouflaged as doctors.
    On the Synod of Salamanca in middle age Europe was mentioned that the J's become physicians only to poison Christians.
    Oxford Languages: Synod: an assembly of the clergy and sometimes also the laity in a diocese or other division of a particular Church.
    Laity:
    1. lay people, as distinct from the clergy.
    2. ordinary people, as distinct from professionals or experts.
    The Arab Muslimi empire made laws in 333 A.D. (After Christ) against the Jays to become physicians, as they also killed with their concoctions the muslims camouflaged as doctors.
    An interesting point of reference in this scenario of manipulation, is the case of the company "Merck".
    Merck, a multinational pharmaceutical corporation, is providing worldwide via distribution their drugs in a continental spectrum.
    It was Merck, who had it's first Apothecary - meaning drug store in the world, opened up in Darmstadt Germany in the 1660's - late medieval Europe.
    Of today their drug stores are spread all over the world. Its not a coincidence that the Greek word Pharmaceutical-Pharmakia by definition is translated as=Sorcery & Magic.
    Only in the occult world of the magic noses, a poison is accepted through a medical establishment and by health care provision (health care providers like medicaid and others) as a means of healing and help to get well and get better.
    Book reference:
    Murder by Injection by Eustace Mullins.---
    The Terror Of Pediatric Medicine by Dr. Sircus.---
    The Plot Against The Church by Maurice Pinay.---
    The War Of Antichrist With The Church And Christian Civilization by Dillon.---
    Freemasonry And The Anti Christian Movement by Reverend Cahill.---
    A Study In American Freemasonry by Arthur Preuss.---
    The Rulers Of Russia by Reverend Denis Fahey.---
    The Octopus by Elizabeth Dilling.---
    The Red Network by Elizabeth Dilling.---

  • @jeanettewaverly2590
    @jeanettewaverly2590 3 года назад +2

    Team Vagueness 🤣

  • @ronwhittaker6317
    @ronwhittaker6317 4 месяца назад

    weird how you mentiond ontology and the subject just caught my eye recently and i stubbled across your chanlle started out life in a "christain " family and and no one ever mentioned ''' Epistemology damn it people are irresponsible. grr🤬

  • @jeremiahlarkins618
    @jeremiahlarkins618 3 года назад +2

    It's too bad magic only comes down through time with a chrostian filter. Id like to see magic that isn't done in jesus name.

  • @Monkforilla
    @Monkforilla 2 года назад

    But I thought magic wasn’t real? Also you say “according to Agustine” (one of the philosophers)
    Like why should I trust this guy? There have been many people claiming divine or outlandish things they can do for ages or that this things exist like Agartha the fake underground city that everyone though was real cause the guy who wrote it said it was

    • @DanKaraJordan
      @DanKaraJordan 2 года назад +5

      This is a history course on escotericism, so he speaks from the perspective of the Medieval writers and practitioners. He is in no way saying that any of this actual magic is real, but just reporting about what different figures throughout the Medieval period thought about this topic.
      That said, St. Augustine is not just a philosopher. He is the most important Theological Doctor of the Catholic Church and if you are a Roman Catholic, his opinion should be profoundly important to you. The same is true of St Thomas Aquinas, who is the Catholic Angelic Doctor of the Church and still concedered THE authrority on the nature of supernatural beings.
      If you are not a Catholic (or an Anglican/Episcopalian or Lutheran), then Augustine's thoughts on magic should be of no special, authoritative concern to you and you can feel free to disregard them as nothing more than a quaint historical oddity.

    • @gypsydonovan
      @gypsydonovan 2 года назад +1

      @@DanKaraJordan excellent & accurate reply. I was going to say something similar but probably less eloquent, so thank you.

    • @goldengun9970
      @goldengun9970 2 года назад

      Have you seen the vile hate that came from Augustine. I do not trust one word Augustine says about anything