Techniques of Solomonic Magic

«I alsC? owe a debt of gratitude to Ioannes Marathakis whose original translation of the Hygromanteia provided a key link in the Solomonic chain.» — Skinner declara en los agradecimientos qué pieza le abrió la cadena salomónica: la traducción de la Hygromanteia hecha por Ioannes Marathakis, que es la que le permite enlazar el eslabón griego con el latino; el escaneo imprime *alsC?* por *also*

«I wish to thank the staff of libraries who have over the years provided me with digital copies of the many relevant manuscripts, particularly the British Library and the Wellcome Trust, and for their permissions to reproduce folios from a selection of these manuscripts: these are separately acknowledged in the text.» — la base documental que declara: copias digitales de manuscritos facilitadas por bibliotecas a lo largo de los años, señaladamente la British Library y el Wellcome Trust, con permiso para reproducir folios

«I have been interested since childhood in the arts of Theron Ware, and on occasion discussed them with James when he lived in Henley in the mid 1970s. Blish was of course much more famous for having novelised a number of the Star Trek episodes than he ever was for his intimate knowledge and understanding of the grimoires and of the monks who used» — Skinner explica la imagen de cubierta por una novela: dice haberse interesado desde niño en las artes de Theron Ware, el mago de *Black Easter* de James Blish, a quien trató en Henley a mediados de los setenta; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«My original thesis was primarily a study of learned Solomonic ritual magic, geographically restricted to Egypt, the eastern Mediterranean and Europe. Its objective was to identify the transmission and common elements of magical techniques and implements from the PGM of Egypt (1st - 5th century) through Byzantine Greek Solomonic manuscripts (6th - 16th century) such as the Hygromanteia, to European Latin and English Solomonic grimoires (13th» — Skinner delimita el objeto y el marco temporal de la tesis de la que sale el libro: la transmisión de técnicas e instrumentos desde los papiros griegos de Egipto, siglos I a V, por los manuscritos bizantinos, siglos VI a XVI, hasta los grimorios latinos e ingleses; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«Grimoires are magician's handbooks of ritual invocation and evocation. They are not meant to be primers in magic, but were simply the working handbooks of magicians.» — la definición de grimorio que emplea: manual de invocación y evocación, no cartilla de iniciación sino cuaderno de trabajo del mago

«The word is supposedly derived from the French grammaire meaning 'grammar,' as in a grammar or primer of magic, but I have my doubts about this derivation.» — y la reserva que pone en la misma plana sobre la etimología corriente: dice dudar de que *grimoire* venga de *grammaire*

«A few grimoires reached Western Europe before those that used the Solomonic method.l Non-Solomonic grimoires such as the Juratus or the Ars Notoria circulated in manuscript in Western Europe as early as 1225.» — Skinner data la circulación europea de los grimorios no salomónicos —el Juratus y la Ars Notoria— en fecha tan temprana como 1225

«The most popular grimoire,2 the Clavicula Salomonis appeared in Europe apparently fully fledged in the 15th century, rather than evolving from simpler works.» — y adjudica a la Clavicula Salomonis una aparición sin genealogía visible: llega a Europa en el siglo XV ya formada, en vez de evolucionar desde obras más simples. Su criterio de popularidad es el número de manuscritos conservados

«The usual assumption, voiced by a number of scholars is that it must derive from Jewish originals.» — el supuesto académico que va a discutir: que la Clavicula deriva de originales judíos

«The assumption of a Hebrew origin is based on their typical attribution to Solomon the Hebrew king, a typical target for pseudepigraphical authorship. This assumption was given further credence by the discovery of the Sepher Maphteah Shelomoh, or the Book of the Key of Solomon, a grimoire written in cursive Hebrew dating from 1700.» — según Skinner, ese supuesto descansa en la atribución a Salomón —blanco típico de la pseudoepigrafía— y quedó reforzado por el hallazgo del Sepher Maphteah Shelomoh, manuscrito en hebreo cursivo de hacia 1700

«The present book disproves that assumption, and discredits this support by demonstrating that this specific Hebrew manuscript cannot be the source of the Latin Clavicula Salomonis, as it was itself translated from a Latin and Italian original.» — y la tesis con la que Skinner responde: sostiene que ese manuscrito hebreo no puede ser fuente de la Clavicula latina porque él mismo se tradujo de un original latino e italiano

«No researcher, except for Ioannis Marathakis,1 has shown in detail the transmission of specific sections and procedures from the Greek manuscripts of the Hygromanteia to the Latin Clavicula Salomonis, although Richard Greenfield has indicated its possibility.» — el estado de la cuestión tal como Skinner lo declara: nadie salvo Marathakis ha mostrado en detalle el paso de secciones y procedimientos del griego al latín, aunque Greenfield lo apuntara como posible. La plana escribe *Ioannis* donde los agradecimientos escriben *Ioannes*, y las dos grafías se conservan

«At the same time the origin of one part of the Clavicula Salomonis, the pentacles, appearing in a few Text-Groups of the Clavicula Salomonis, has been traced to a previously unnoticed Hebrew manuscript text.» — Skinner acota su propia tesis: una parte de la Clavicula —los pentáculos, y solo en algunos grupos textuales— sí procede de un manuscrito hebreo hasta ahora inadvertido

«The use of Hebrew god names is simply a by-product of their having filtered into Graeco-Egyptian magic practice from Jews living in Alexandria rather than an indication of the origin of these techniques.» — y explica el rastro hebreo por contacto y no por origen: los nombres divinos hebreos habrían entrado en la práctica greco-egipcia desde los judíos de Alejandría

«The intention is purely one of identifying the techniques and their transmission using handbooks written by or used practically by the magicians themselves.» — el criterio de fuentes que declara: identificar las técnicas y su transmisión con manuales escritos o usados por los propios magos

«In this book I have approached magic as another form of technology, establishing how its techniques evolved, and charting their development and evolution.» — y el marco con que las trata: la magia como una tecnología más, de la que se puede establecer cómo evolucionaron sus técnicas

«The idea for this book came from two passages in Richard Greenfield's Traditions of Belief in Late Byzantine Demonology in which he sets out his work on Byzantine demonology.» — Skinner declara de dónde le vino la idea: de dos pasajes de *Traditions of Belief in Late Byzantine Demonology*, de Richard Greenfield

«My research is therefore primarily drawn from ancient texts, many still in manuscript; specifically those written by the practitioners of magic themselves, rather than those written by their critics and adversaries.» — y la consecuencia metodológica que saca: trabajar sobre textos antiguos, muchos aún manuscritos, escritos por practicantes y no por sus críticos

«In the course of researching the main questions, a number of subsidiary questions arose, some of which needed to be answered before further progress could be made with addressing the main question:» — Skinner declara que las preguntas subsidiarias fueron surgiendo durante la investigación y que algunas había que responder antes de seguir con la principal

«Any accurate definition of magic must involved the concepts of another world of spirits, demons and gods.» — el axioma con que Skinner funda su definición: no hay definición exacta de magia que no cuente con otro mundo de espíritus, demonios y dioses

«These entities formed the bedrock of how magicians thought of their art. Without considering gods, daimones, angels and spirits it is well nigh impossible to form a sensible definition of magic which relies solely upon the works of the magicians, rather than on that of commentators.» — y su razón: esas entidades son el lecho de roca de cómo pensaban su arte los magos, de modo que una definición apoyada en las obras de los magos y no en las de los comentaristas no puede prescindir de ellas

«Such attempts at defining magic are on a par with a scientist who does not believe in the existence of radio waves, yet» — el símil con que Skinner descarta las definiciones que excluyen a los espíritus: es el científico que no cree en las ondas de radio; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y sigue en la 20

«tries to explain the functioning of a radio: it cannot be done without making a complete nonsense of the definition.» — continuación del símil en la plana siguiente: explicar la radio sin las ondas hace de la definición un disparate. La frase arranca a media plana porque el encabezado corrido del libro se interpone en la capa de texto

«It is like an attempt to describe chess without acknowledging the existence of the invisible rules which govern the movement of the individual pieces.» — segundo símil, el del ajedrez: describir el juego sin admitir las reglas invisibles que gobiernan el movimiento de las piezas

«Such rules have no real existence, but without them the game of chess is impossible to play, or to write sensible commentary upon.» — y su límite, en la misma plana: Skinner concede que las reglas no tienen existencia real, y sostiene que sin ellas no se puede jugar ni comentar el juego con sentido

«In the ancient world the existence of daimones, spirits and gods was a given.» — el dato histórico en que apoya el criterio: en el mundo antiguo la existencia de daimones, espíritus y dioses se daba por supuesta

«Any definition recognizable to, and welcomed by, its ancient practitioners would have to include mention of daimones, gods, spirits, etc.» — de donde saca su prueba de aceptabilidad: una definición que el propio mago antiguo reconociera tiene que nombrar daimones, dioses y espíritus

«My working definition of magic is therefore basŬd on how magic was actually practised and how it was understood in Graeco-Egyptian Egypt, in the Greek speaking Mediterranean, and in the Greek and Latin grimoires of Europe.» — Skinner declara sobre qué corpus está calibrada su definición de trabajo; el escaneo corrompe *based* en la plana

«Magic is the art of causing change through the agency of spiritual creatures rather than via directly observable physical means: such spiritual creatures being compelled or persuaded to assist, by the use of sacred words or names, talismans, symbols, incense, sacrifices and materia magica.» — la definición de trabajo, entera: arte de causar cambio por agencia de criaturas espirituales y no por medios físicos observables, compelidas o persuadidas con palabras y nombres sagrados, talismanes, símbolos, incienso, sacrificios y materia magica

«Here 'spiritual' is defined to mean non-physical, with no ethical connotation, and 'spiritual creature' to mean a non-physical entity, ranging in definition or substance from elementals, spirits, demons, daimones, angels, archangels, even gods and goddesses, to discarnate humans (both saintly and prematurely dead).» — y la aclaración terminológica que la acompaña: *espiritual* significa aquí no físico, sin connotación ética, y la escala de criaturas espirituales va de los elementales a los dioses e incluye a los humanos descarnados

«Magic divides this universe into a specific hierarchy of spiritual creatures in order to deal with it more effectively. Like any science, one of the first steps is analysis, where the constituent parts need to be identified and labelled.» — según Skinner, la jerarquía de criaturas espirituales cumple en la magia la función analítica de cualquier ciencia: identificar y etiquetar las partes

«Utilising the practitioners own world view, and their own records, might be construed as taking an entirely ernie point of view, but as the subject is treated from the point of view of a technology, with an objective examination of the materials and methods of the practitioners, the vantage point from which these are viewed is therefore really quite an etic one.» — y su respuesta a la objeción de emismo: tratar la magia como tecnología, examinando materiales y métodos, deja el punto de mira en lo ético aunque los datos sean los del practicante; el escaneo imprime *ernie* por *emic*

«Although divination is often seen as part of magic, divination is essentially a passive method, whereas magic is an active method for changing things. Magic seeks to change the future proactively whilst divination only seeks to foretell it.» — la línea que Skinner traza entre magia y adivinación: la adivinación es método pasivo que solo busca predecir, la magia es método activo que busca cambiar

«That part of astrology that calculates the correct time for certain actions ( electional and katarchic astrology) is however a part of magic.» — con la excepción que él mismo marca: la astrología eleccional y katárquica, la que calcula el momento propicio, sí cuenta como magia

«Techniques like lychnomanteia, lekanomanteia and hygromanteia, which occur in the PGM and were practised throughout the Byzantine period, are not divination but are evocation supplemented by the use of a skryer.» — y la reclasificación que propone para las tres técnicas homónimas de los papiros: no son adivinación sino evocación asistida por un vidente

«Learned magic is much better documented, as it was usually practised by literate members of the ruling establishment or priestly class in every culture.» — el corte entre magia aprendida y magia popular: la aprendida está mejor documentada por practicarse entre la clase letrada

«Folk magic is, by its very nature, passed on verbally, often by illiterate practitioners.» — y su reverso: la magia popular se transmite de palabra, a menudo entre practicantes analfabetos

«In contrast Egyptian magicians were mostly of the priestly class, and later in both Byzantium and Latin Europe of the Middle Ages, grimoires beautifully written in Ecclesiastical Latin were found often in the possession of aristocrats or highly educated monks or clerics.» — el dato con que ilustra el corte: los magos egipcios eran sacerdotes, y los grimorios medievales estuvieron en manos de aristócratas, monjes o clérigos muy formados

«There is in fact no word for 'witch' in Latin, because the concept in its current form was absent from the ancient world, no matter how often commentators have attempted to impose it retrospectively.» — Skinner niega que exista palabra latina para el término inglés *witch* y adjudica su uso a una imposición retrospectiva de los comentaristas

«Despite this title often being translated as 'The Hammer of the Witches', the W<?rd maleficus simply meant 'wicked or criminal,' and initially had no specific tinge of 'magic' about it.» — y lo apoya en el título del *Malleus*: sostiene que *maleficus* significaba malvado o criminal y no tenía al principio matiz de magia; el escaneo imprime *W<?rd* por *word*

«As 'witch' is a word that was not used in antiquity, being of Anglo-Saxon derivation, it is not relevant to the present study of techniques which are firmly rooted in antiquity.» — de ahí su decisión de excluir el término del estudio

«Witchcraft is primarily concerned with European village or folk magic from the 11th century to the late 17th century.» — y la acotación con que define lo que deja fuera: la brujería como magia popular europea, del siglo XI al XVII tardío

«witchcraft reconstructed in the 1950s and 1960s by Gerald Gardner, Alex Sanders and Stuart and Janet Farrer has no part in this study, nor has the mis-application of this word to non-European, Asian or African cultures.» — Skinner excluye también la neobrujería reconstruida por Gerald Gardner, Alex Sanders y Stuart y Janet Farrer, y objeta que el término se aplique a culturas no europeas, asiáticas o africanas. La cita arranca partida: la fuente imprime la palabra con guion al final del renglón y unirla fabricaría un término inexistente

«There is a clear distinction between the simple spells or cantrips of witches or village cunning folk, and the traditions of learned magic.» — la distinción que Skinner sostiene entre los conjuros rimados de las brujas y curanderas de pueblo y las tradiciones de magia aprendida

«Witchcraft was handed down from one practitioner to another, often within the same family, was seldom written up in books of practice, and relied upon herbs, dolls, images and adapted household goods and simple materia magica.» — y el inventario que da de la primera: transmisión familiar, casi nunca por escrito, con hierbas, muñecos, imágenes y utensilios domésticos adaptados

«Learned magic is practised from complex handbooks (grimoires)» — frente al de la segunda, que Skinner hace arrancar de manuales complejos; el tramo se corta aquí porque el troceo reemite el marcador de plana al abrir el chunk siguiente, con la misma plana a los dos lados

«requiring inscribed circles, much pŭeparation, robes, incense» — y su continuación en la misma frase: círculos inscritos, preparación, túnicas e incienso, más el equipo consagrado de antemano —cuchillos, pentáculos y lámenes— que la cita no alcanza porque la fuente parte *pre-consecrated* con guion de renglón; el escaneo imprime *pŭeparation* por *preparation*

«Greenfield also makes the point quite emphatically that Byzantine Solomonic magic or sorcery has no connection whatsoever with witchcraft:» — Skinner apoya el corte en Greenfield, a quien introduce diciendo que niega enfáticamente todo vínculo entre la magia salomónica bizantina y la brujería

«The term witch, not being a Greek word, also does not appear in any of the Byzantine magical handbooks.» — y añade el argumento léxico: el término inglés no es palabra griega y no aparece en ningún manual mágico bizantino

«Having indicated the historic, geographic and taxonomical limits of this book, it is necessary now to sub-divide learned magic. At an early period, probably in the Islamic world, magic was divided into 'astral magic' and 'ritual magic.'» — Skinner abre la subdivisión de la magia aprendida y data el corte en el mundo islámico: magia astral frente a magia ritual

«In the context of Islam, Ibn Nadim (c. 930-995/998 CE) in the encyclopaedic Kitab al-Fihrist distinguished four different types of magic (sihr):» — según Skinner, Ibn Nadim distingue en el *Kitab al-Fihrist* cuatro clases de *sihr*

«Mu'azzimun seeks to subjugate devils, jinn, and spirits via the licit method of invocations reinforced by purity, devotion, prayer, and fasting. This is effectively the Solomonic ritual magic method.» — la primera de esas cuatro, y la que Skinner identifica con el método salomónico: sujetar diablos, genios y espíritus por invocación lícita reforzada con pureza, devoción, oración y ayuno

«A second variety deals with demons, jinn, and spirits, but involves instead offering them illicit sacrifices, and probably concurrently leading a dissolute life;» — la segunda, que trata con los mismos seres pero por sacrificios ilícitos

«Astral magic which is concerned with the passive charging of talismans and the associated timing astrological calculations;» — la tercera: carga pasiva de talismanes con el cálculo astrológico del momento

«We can safely ignore the last item, leaving just three types of magic.» — Skinner descarta la cuarta —trucos y juegos de manos— y se queda con tres

«Four centuries later Ibn Khaldiin (1332-1406), who drew some of his ideas from the Picatrix, distinguished only two types of magic (amalgamating the first two types of Ibn Nadim):» — y pasa a Ibn Khaldiin cuatro siglos después, que toma ideas del Picatrix y reduce la clasificación a dos fundiendo las dos primeras. La grafía del nombre es la que imprime la capa de texto

«Illicit demonic magic, identified as sorcery (which includes Solomonic magic);» — la primera de las dos, según Skinner: magia demoníaca ilícita, identificada con la hechicería, en la que cae la magia salomónica

«Talismanic magic, acting upon the world of the elements using the 'spiritualities of the stars,' numbers, the corresponding qualities of physical things, and the position of the stars in the firmament.» — y la segunda: magia talismánica que obra sobre el mundo elemental con las espiritualidades de los astros, los números y las cualidades correspondientes de las cosas

«It is now recognized that pharmakis is much more closely allied to root-cutting, the compounding of herbal potions and poisoning than to magic, although it is recognized that such women may, like courtesans, also deal in magic.» — en nota, Skinner objeta la traducción del griego *pharmakis* por bruja: la palabra tira más a cortadora de raíces, componedora de pócimas y envenenadora, aunque concede que esas mujeres también trataran en magia

«This distinction between sorcery and astral or talismanic magic migrated to Europe with the translations of Arabic texts in the 12th and later centuries.» — Skinner data la llegada de la distinción a Europa con las traducciones del árabe del siglo XII en adelante

«Perhaps the longest European list of books on magic is to be found in the Antipalus Maleftciorum ('The Enemy of Witchcraft') of Trithemius, which contains in excess of 77 titles.» — y señala el *Antipalus Maleficiorum* de Trithemius como la lista europea más larga de libros de magia, con más de setenta y siete títulos; el escaneo imprime *Maleftciorum*

«It dates from 1508, but was not published till 1605.» — con el desfase entre composición y publicación que él mismo marca: 1508 frente a 1605

«Trithemius characterises the first 40 of the books in his list as necromancy (by which he meant nigromancy, or the black art, sorcery, rather than the conjuration of the dead), and most of these first 40 titles are Solomonic in nature.» — según Skinner, Trithemius llama nigromancia a los primeros cuarenta títulos de su lista —el arte negro, no la conjuración de muertos— y casi todos son salomónicos

«The following 37 books in this catalogue, are separated by Trithemius who makes a clear distinction between the foregoing books dealing with the evocation of spirits and the following 37 books on astral magic that deal with planetary images, figures, rings, seals (often attributed to Hermes or Kyranides),2 the sympathetic connections between stars, plants, stones and animals, and their use in talismanic magic.» — y separa los treinta y siete siguientes como magia astral: imágenes planetarias, figuras, anillos y sellos atribuidos a Hermes o a los *Kyranides*, con las conexiones simpáticas entre astros, plantas, piedras y animales

«In 1486 Ficino and Pico explored the possibility of the existence of a third category, which they called Natural Magic.» — según Skinner, Ficino y Pico exploran en 1486 una tercera categoría, la magia natural

«This reputedly operated without the intervention of spirits or demons, and with only minor input from the stars.» — que, según se decía, obraba sin intervención de espíritus ni demonios y con aporte menor de los astros

«Trithemius' pupil, Henry Cornelius Agrippa (1486-1535), following Ficino and Pico, again dividing magic into three types, following the same split of ritual magic and astral magic, plus the additional (and by now theologically useful) category of Natural Magic:» — y Agrippa, discípulo de Trithemius, vuelve a partir la magia en tres siguiendo a Ficino y Pico, con la magia natural ya como categoría teológicamente útil

«Ceremonial Magic. Theological Magic, which is effectively Ritual Magic dealing with invocation/ evocation of angels and demons;» — la primera de las tres de Agrippa según Skinner: magia ceremonial o teológica, que es magia ritual de invocación y evocación de ángeles y demonios

«Natural magic might reasonably be seen as dealing directly with nature, utilising herbs, animals and minerals to bring about surprising effects.» — la tercera: trato directo con la naturaleza mediante hierbas, animales y minerales

«Natural magic was considered licit because it did not claim to involve the intervention of spirits.» — y la razón de su licitud, según Skinner: no alegaba intervención de espíritus

«In a sense Natural magic was a prelude to the scientific and Aristotelian study of nature.» — con la consecuencia que él saca: la magia natural como preludio del estudio científico y aristotélico de la naturaleza

«The first stream, I image' magic or astral magic, came from the Hermetic and Muslim world especially Harran in Mesopotamia, arrived in Europe via the translators working in Spain from the 11th century onwards, but fell out of favour in Europe in the 17th century.» — Skinner traza la primera corriente, la magia de imágenes o astral: sale del mundo hermético y musulmán, señaladamente de Harrán, entra por los traductores de España desde el siglo XI y cae en desuso en el XVII

«It relied upon the engraving or drawing of images at an appropriate moment of time, often in relationship to the 28 Mansions of the Moon.» — y describe su técnica: grabar o dibujar imágenes en el momento oportuno, a menudo en relación con las veintiocho mansiones de la Luna

«Astral magic is not part of Solomonic magic and so is excluded from this study.» — y la excluye del estudio por no ser parte de la magia salomónica

«This is a far too limited a definition of "ritual magic texts" unless he is only here referring to the few very Christianised grimoires, such as the Ars Notoria, the work of John of Morigny, and parts of the Liber Juratus, all of which reached Latin Europe in the 13th and 14th century before Solomonic magic, which arrived in Latin Europe after the 14th century.» — Skinner objeta la definición de magia ritual que atribuye a Klaassen: solo valdría para los grimorios más cristianizados —la Ars Notoria, la obra de Juan de Morigny, partes del Liber Juratus—, llegados a la Europa latina antes que la magia salomónica

«These early grimoires rely to a large extent upon a succession of prayers. In the unique case of the Ars Notoria, these prayers were focussed by the contemplation of notae,3 which provided for rapid assimilation of a wide range of subjects.» — y caracteriza esos grimorios tempranos por la sucesión de oraciones, focalizadas en la Ars Notoria por la contemplación de las *notae* para asimilar deprisa muchas materias

«There is reliance upon angels in these early grimoires, but no evocation of spirits or demons.» — con el rasgo que los separa de lo salomónico: se apoyan en ángeles y no evocan espíritus ni demonios

«So here we have a further subdivision of ritual magic into pietistic and prayerful procedure relying on angels, as found in the Ars Notoria and Liber Juratus, and full blown ritual evocation involving spirits and demons as well, as found in the Solomonic grimoires.» — de donde Skinner saca una subdivisión más dentro de la magia ritual: la vía piadosa y orante de la Ars Notoria y el Liber Juratus frente a la evocación plena de los grimorios salomónicos

«Solomonic magic is that form of learned ritual magic which concerns itself with invoking/ evoking a wide range of 'spiritual creatures,'4 including the gods, daimones, angels, demons, spirits and sometimes the dead.» — la definición de magia salomónica que el libro adopta: magia ritual aprendida que invoca o evoca criaturas espirituales, dioses, daimones, ángeles, demonios, espíritus y a veces los muertos

«It is learned magic, relying primarily upon written material for its transmission.» — primer rasgo distintivo de los ocho que enumera: magia aprendida que se transmite por escrito

«The magician will always be enclosed in a magical circle when evoking or invoking.» — segundo: el mago siempre dentro de un círculo mágico

«Procedures will involve a number of magical implements which will have been consecrated prior to the main operation.» — tercero: instrumentos consagrados antes de la operación principal

«The nomina magica used to compel the spirits will often be of Jewish origin, but not exclusively so.» — cuarto, con su límite dicho: los nombres mágicos suelen ser de origen judío, pero no solo

«The format of the invocations has a structure and specific sequential method often expressed as: consecratio dei; invocatio; evocatio; constrictio; ligatio; licentia.» — quinto: la secuencia fija de seis pasos de la invocación, en latín

«Manuscripts of Solomonic magic are systematic treatises and not just a collection of unconnected magical recipes, although sometimes such recipes will have accreted at the end of the text.» — sexto: los manuscritos son tratados sistemáticos y no colecciones de recetas sueltas, aunque a veces se les peguen recetas al final

«The putative author is often (but not always) listed as King Solomon,2 and mention may be made of his son Rehoboam, although these techniques were almost certainly not invented by the historical King Solomon.» — séptimo: el autor putativo suele ser el rey Salomón, con mención de su hijo Roboam, y Skinner declara casi con seguridad que el Salomón histórico no inventó estas técnicas

«They may not even necessarily be of Jewish origin. Despite many of the god and angel names being of Jewish origin, the method appears not to be.» — y separa dos cosas que se confunden: aunque muchos nombres divinos y angélicos sean de origen judío, el método parece no serlo

«Some Solomonic manuscripts include a second 'book' with a range of up to 49 planetary pentacles, whose origin will be considered later in chapter 5.4.2.» — octavo: un segundo libro con hasta cuarenta y nueve pentáculos planetarios en algunos manuscritos

«The use of a protective circle, the prior consecration of implements, the nomina magica and the six sequential steps will be in this book referred to as the 'Solomonic method.'» — Skinner fija así el término que usará en todo el libro: círculo protector, consagración previa, nomina magica y los seis pasos

«Thus some grimoires, like the Ars Notoria, do not use the Solomonic method as defined above, but rather rely upon prayers and notae.» — y su consecuencia clasificatoria: la Ars Notoria queda fuera del método salomónico por apoyarse en oraciones y notae

«As an accompaniment to this volume, I suggest you have to hand copies of some of the source texts: The Magical Treatise of Solomon or Hygromanteia by Ioannis Marathakis; The Veritable Key of Solomon by myself and David Rankine; The Key of Solomon by MacGregor Mathers, Sepher Raziel: Liber Salomonis by Don Karr; and The Lesser Key of Solomon by Joseph Peterson.» — Skinner enumera los textos fuente que recomienda tener a mano al leerlo, entre ellos su propia Veritable Key con David Rankine y la Lesser Key de Joseph Peterson

«Other 'Solomonic' authors or pseudo-authors/ editors include Rabbi Solomon, Toz Graec, Rabbi Abognazer, Armadel, Geo Peccatrix, etc. Discussion of the real identity of these authors is only incidental to the objectives of this book. The term 'Solomonic' will therefore be used as an identifier of typical content rather than a specific author.» — en nota, Skinner declara su criterio de uso del adjetivo: nombra otros autores o pseudoautores salomónicos —Rabbi Solomon, Toz Graec, Rabbi Abognazer, Armadel, Geo Peccatrix— y aclara que *salomónico* le sirve de marca de contenido, no de autoría

«Magic has, in the early part of the 20th century, often been looked down upon as a subject with no theoretical framework, just a collection of unconnected superstitious practices and beliefs.» — Skinner nombra la lectura que quiere desplazar: la magia tenida a principios del siglo XX por conjunto de prácticas supersticiosas sin marco teórico

«I would like to dispose of that view by showing the amount of detailed theory behind the preparation and sequencing of magical rituals.» — y declara con qué se propone responder: mostrando la cantidad de teoría detallada que hay detrás de la preparación y la secuencia de los rituales

«For the practitioner there is always an underlying rationale, theory and structure upon which his practice is based. This might not be scientifically rigorous method, but it has the elements of logic and repeatability (an expectation of repeatable results), which are by definition scientific.» — el argumento de fondo, con su límite dentro: para el practicante hay siempre teoría y estructura, y aunque el método no sea científicamente riguroso tiene lógica y expectativa de repetibilidad

«Part of the theoretical background of learned magic is the acceptance of the existence and involvement of non-physical entities. In most cases the magical effect is seen to be achieved via the good offices of a non-physical entity, or spiritual being, be it spirit, demon, or angel.» — según Skinner, el trasfondo teórico de la magia aprendida incluye aceptar entidades no físicas por cuyo oficio se produce el efecto

«The learned practice of magic does not operate in a vacuum, but presupposes the existence of what Dr John Dee (1527-1608) referred to as 'spiritual creatures.'» — y de ahí toma el término que usará todo el libro: *spiritual creatures*, tomado de John Dee

«This is a convenient categorisation as it does not involve the user in possibly bogus moral distinctions between the various inhabitants, real or imaginary, of the worlds beyond the immediately perceptible physical plane.» — con la razón por la que lo prefiere: no obliga a distinciones morales acaso falsas entre los habitantes de los mundos no perceptibles

«Dee realised and mentioned a number of times in his Diaries, that even if he attempted to invoke an angel, quite often a 'deceiving spirit' would turn up instead, no matter how many prayers he said, or how many precautions he took.» — según Skinner, Dee anotó repetidas veces en sus diarios que al invocar un ángel comparecía a menudo un espíritu engañador, por muchas oraciones y precauciones que tomara

«Dee therefore pragmatically subsumed both angels and demons (who are after all theologically just their fallen brethren) as well as lesser spirits, and a host of classical creatures like nymphs and sprits, as well as his more locally recognised fairy folk, under the heading of 'spiritual creatures.'» — y de ahí, siempre según Skinner, la solución pragmática de Dee: meter bajo un mismo rótulo ángeles, demonios, espíritus menores, ninfas y las hadas de su tierra

«He used 'spiritual' here in opposition to 'physical,' rather than as any kind of moral judgement.» — con la precisión que Skinner subraya: en Dee lo espiritual se opone a lo físico y no es juicio moral

«Western cultural conditioning has tended to limit us to thinking of such entities only in the Church-approved categories of angels and demons, with perhaps the addition of fairies and ghosts.» — Skinner objeta el estrechamiento cultural que reduce esas entidades a las categorías aprobadas por la Iglesia

«A wider outlook, which included the Classical world and Asia would bring into this grouping follets (French elvish spirits), dryads, fauns, sylphs (Classical Greek or Roman), devas and daityas (Indian), toyos (Malay), Ting-Chia shen (Chinese), fox-spirits (Japanese), and so on.» — y ensancha la lista con follets franceses, dríadas, faunos, sílfides, devas y daityas indios, toyos malayos, Ting-Chia shen chinos y espíritus zorro japoneses

«For the practitioner of magic these 'spiritual creatures' are not imaginary, and the results of their actions are real.» — y fija el punto de vista desde el que trabaja: para el practicante esas criaturas no son imaginarias y sus efectos son reales

«Any examination of the classical texts of magic, where there is a tradition of written manuals of magic, will confirm that at the base of any magical» — la generalización que sostiene sobre los manuales de magia clásicos; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y la frase sigue en la 30

«operation is the use (by appeal or coercion) of one or more spiritual creature.» — su continuación: en la base de toda operación mágica está el uso, por súplica o coerción, de una o más criaturas espirituales. La frase arranca a media plana porque el encabezado corrido se interpone en la capa de texto

«In this context, spiritual creatures are universally acknowledged to have the power to grant various boons above and beyond the ability of mankind (or at least the petitioner) to do the same.» — con la propiedad que Skinner les adjudica: se les reconoce poder de conceder dones por encima de la capacidad del hombre o del peticionario

«Even the simplest form of cantrip, or rhyming spell said over a cauldron or a wax doll often presupposed the assistance of a spiritual creature of one sort or another.» — y la extiende hasta el conjuro rimado más simple dicho sobre un caldero o un muñeco de cera

«Although many witches caught up in the terrible embrace of the Inquisition were not so prompt in admitting that such spells were performed via the offices of a familiar, a spirit, or an imp, they did not often claim to have power to act solely by themselves.» — con el matiz que él mismo pone sobre los procesos inquisitoriales: muchas acusadas no admitían de buen grado el oficio de un familiar, pero tampoco solían alegar poder propio

«Religion deals with god (monotheistic), or the gods and goddesses (polytheistic), while magic deals with these plus all the other 'spiritual creatures.'» — primera de las cuatro diferencias que Skinner traza entre religión y magia: el alcance de los interlocutores

«At a simplistic level, religion deals with its gods and goddesses on a request basis, using prayer, or the professional intercession of priests to convey the requests of the faithful to the specified divinity. Only occasionally will a priest cross this line to attempt to coerce a lesser spiritual creature (an example of this is the rare performance by a priest of an exorcism). Magical practice, on the other hand, regularly uses coercive methods.» — segunda: la religión pide y la magia coacciona con regularidad, salvo el cruce ocasional del exorcismo

«The settings for each practice are completely different. Seldom was magic performed in a church, and seldom were the rituals of monotheistic religions performed in groves or the wilderness (Moses' moveable Tabernacle being a notable exception). The practitioners of magic preferred settings where few humans go (not just to avoid detection) but because it was often said that the spirits (like wild animals) shied away from human contact or the bustle of the city. Monotheistic religion is practiced in public buildings often in cities.» — tercera: los escenarios, con la razón que da la propia tradición —que los espíritus rehúyen el trato humano— y con el Tabernáculo móvil de Moisés como excepción declarada

«The question of legality forms a fourth but not very useful distinction. In ancient Egypt magic was legal and a part of daily life, with» — cuarta y, según Skinner, la menos útil: la legalidad, que en el Egipto antiguo amparaba la magia como parte de la vida diaria; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«the single exception of magical acts against the Pharaoh or his family (which is effectively treason anyway).l In Babylon and Classical Rome and Greece, laws were frequently enacted against malefica and behaviour that included poisoning and other essentially anti-social behaviour, rather than for reasons of theology.» — su continuación en la plana siguiente: la única excepción egipcia era el acto mágico contra el faraón o su familia, y en Babilonia, Roma y Grecia se legislaba contra los *malefica* por antisociales, no por razones de teología

«So the distinction of legality has a limited temporal scope, rather than being the basic distinction between magic and religion as has been maintained by some scholars like Jonathan Smith for example, who erroneously opined that illegality was the "one universal characteristic" of magic.2. Besides, as the definition of what is legal differs from one culture to another, and from one time to another, it is not a very useful defining criterion.» — y por qué la descarta: el alcance temporal es limitado y lo legal cambia de cultura en cultura

«It is not possible to distinguish the two on the basis of objectives as has sometimes been suggested, as often the purposes of prayer or magic will coincide with the same human wants and needs. However, this no more provides a kinship between magic and religion than does the need to get well provide a kinship between the x-rays of western medicine and the needles of a Chinese acupuncturist.» — Skinner descarta también el criterio de los objetivos, con el símil de los rayos X y las agujas del acupunturista: coincidir en el fin no emparenta los métodos

«Let us dwell for a while on the similarities. Historically the magician and priest has often been the same person. Typically both monks and priests in the Middle Ages may have dabbled in learned magic on the side, and it is well established that ancient Egyptian priests would often earn a living during their time away from the temple, doing magic for clients» — y consigna la semejanza que sí admite: mago y sacerdote han sido a menudo la misma persona, con monjes y clérigos medievales y sacerdotes egipcios trabajando para clientes fuera del templo

«But this does not invalidate the argument that the techniques of religion and magic were separate, and the entities they attempted to deal with were also separate.» — sin que eso, dice, invalide la separación de técnicas y de entidades

«Magic on the other hand tends to command spirits, demons and other spiritual creatures, constraining then, rather than requesting their aid - a method or approach never used by religion.» — el contraste que remata la sección: la magia manda y constriñe donde la religión pide o soborna modestamente

«There are two types of magical command: invocation and evocation. Invocation deals with gods, archangels and angels, but still using compulsion.» — y la partición interna del mando: invocación para dioses, arcángeles y ángeles, aun con compulsión

«angels, but still using compulsion. Evocation is derived from evoco, meaning "to call out; to summon the spirits of the dead; in a hostile manner to call upon the enemy to come out and fight; to call forth.» — la etimología con que Skinner funda el otro término: *evoco* como llamar fuera, convocar a los muertos, retar al enemigo a salir

«Interestingly it is also used by Cicero to mean "to call forth a [tutelary] deity from a besieged and hostile city by promising [it] a temple in Rome, [if it betrays its own city]" and more prosaically "to summon for military service.» — con el uso ciceroniano que añade: llamar fuera a la deidad tutelar de una ciudad sitiada prometiéndole templo en Roma

«The emphasis is clearly on hostility and compulsion, and indeed the Mediaeval and modern usage of the word is to call and constrain a spirit, a spirit of the dead, or a demon.» — y la conclusión que saca: el acento está en la hostilidad y la compulsión, y así se usa el término en el uso medieval y moderno

«The distinction is important as it also affects the method. Rituals of evocation contain words and formulae to constrain the spirit or demon, and the method requires the construction of a very definite barrier between the caller and the called, because of this implied hostility.» — según Skinner, la distinción tiene consecuencia técnica: los rituales de evocación exigen una barrera muy definida entre quien llama y lo llamado

«This barrier does not exist in the practice of religion.» — y es justamente lo que, dice, no existe en la práctica religiosa

«Ritual requirements for this protection are spelled out at some length in the mediaeval grimoires. A few grimoires, such as Liber Juratus aka Liber Sacer aka The Sworn Book of Honorius deal with angels, 2 and might be construed as a manual of invocation, but they still require protection such as a lamen.» — el caso límite que consigna: el Liber Juratus, también llamado Liber Sacer o Sworn Book of Honorius, trata con ángeles y podría leerse como manual de invocación, y aun así pide protección de lamen

«However the vast majority of grimoires are definitely textbooks of evocation.» — con el balance que cierra: la inmensa mayoría de los grimorios son manuales de evocación

«This Honorius is not the pseudo-Pope Honorius but Honorius of Thebes, in Greece.» — en nota, Skinner desambigua la atribución: el Honorio del Liber Juratus no es el pseudopapa sino Honorio de Tebas

«The city of Alexandria was founded on the Nile delta by Alexander the Great in 331 BCE. He planned it and then left to conquer the rest of the known world before it was built.» — Skinner abre el trasfondo histórico datando la fundación de Alejandría por Alejandro en el 331 a. C.

«His successors, the Greek Ptolemies, filled its libraries, stocked it with scholars and made it one of the greatest cultural cities the world has known.» — y adjudica a los Ptolomeos griegos la construcción de la ciudad como centro cultural

«It is less well known that Alexandria was also the well-spring of one of the most clearly recorded and detailed systems of magic.» — la tesis que le interesa: Alejandría como manantial del sistema de magia mejor documentado

«Even the Jews acknowledged Egypt as the source of much of the world's magic.» — con el testimonio que aduce: hasta los judíos reconocían a Egipto por fuente de buena parte de la magia del mundo

«The grisly murder of Hypatia, the last head of the Platonic Academy in Alexandria, at the hands of the Christians in 415 CE, helped to seal the fate of paganism and classical Greek modes of thought in Alexandria.» — según Skinner, el asesinato de Hipatia en 415 contribuyó a sellar la suerte del paganismo y del pensamiento griego clásico en Alejandría

«Finally, the loss of Egypt to Islam in 636 CE resulted in the migration (which had begun some years earlier) of Greeks (with their culture, magical practices and manuscripts) northwards to Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire which had been designated as the capital three centuries before.» — y la pérdida de Egipto ante el islam en 636 produce la migración de los griegos con su cultura, sus prácticas mágicas y sus manuscritos hacia Constantinopla

«The loss in 636 CE of control of Egypt to the Muslim invaders cut off this magical tradition from its roots.» — la consecuencia que le adjudica: esa pérdida corta la tradición mágica de sus raíces

«Magical practices, which by now had a small Jewish, and a much smaller Christian admixture, began to be referred to as Solomonic magic, or in Greek the Solomonike.» — y el momento en que, según Skinner, esas prácticas empiezan a llamarse magia salomónica, ya con un poco de mezcla judía y menos cristiana

«The most well known of these was the Hygromanteia or Magical Treatise of Solomon.» — con la Hygromanteia o Tratado Mágico de Salomón como la más conocida de ellas

«The Emperor Heraclius (575-641) was eager to promote classical Greek learning, and rather like Rudolph II of Bohemia, acted as a patron for magicians, astrologers and alchemists.» — según Skinner, el emperador Heraclio hizo de mecenas de magos, astrólogos y alquimistas, a la manera de Rodolfo II de Bohemia

«Heraclius' patronage of such subjects was confirmed by his invitation in 617 CE to Stephanos of Alexandria to come to Constantinople and teach the subjects comprising the quadrivium.» — y lo apoya en la invitación de 617 a Estéfano de Alejandría para enseñar el quadrivium en Constantinopla

«Stephanos (c. 581 - c. 641 CE) was a Neoplatonist philosopher and scientist, probably born in Athens, but residing for much of his life in Alexandria. He became Heraclius' astrologer and advisor in magical matters.» — con la identificación que da de Estéfano: filósofo y científico neoplatónico, probablemente nacido en Atenas, astrólogo y consejero de Heraclio en asuntos mágicos

«Mehmet II's attack on Constantinople in 1422 set in motion a migration from that city to Greece and Italy.» — Skinner data en 1422 el ataque de Mehmet II que pone en marcha la migración de Constantinopla a Grecia e Italia

«The final loss of Constantinople (and the rest of the Byzantine Empire) to Islam in 1453 CE,1 resulted in a transfer of much Greek culture and magic to Italy, where the Byzantine Greeks already had a territorial presence.» — y en 1453 la pérdida definitiva, que traslada cultura y magia griegas a Italia

«In Italy the Hygromanteia was soon translated into Latin to become the Clavicula Salomonis, and other Latin Solomonic grimoires.» — el eslabón central de su tesis: en Italia la Hygromanteia se traduce pronto al latín y se convierte en la Clavicula Salomonis

«Once having become available in the Latin world these grimoires rapidly migrated north from Italy to the rest of Europe especially France, Germany and England.» — y de ahí los grimorios migran al norte, a Francia, Alemania e Inglaterra

«Although 1641 sounds like an arbitrary date, it has been selected for several very good reasons.» — Skinner justifica el corte de 1641 para la etapa vernácula, en vez de darlo por supuesto

«Although Latin continued to be used, the Civil War in England help spread anti-Popish sentiment which contributed to the more frequent use of English and the beginning of the long decline of Latin.» — primera razón: la guerra civil inglesa aviva el sentimiento antipapista y con él el uso del inglés

«Another reason was the abolition of the Star Chamber in July 1641, which amounted to an almost de facto abolition of censorship, replacing it by a system of registration of publications, which favoured the production of books in English.» — segunda: la abolición de la Cámara Estrellada en julio de 1641, que equivalió de hecho a suprimir la censura previa

«The translation of the Clavicula Salomonis into the English Key of Solomon2 opened up the whole world of grimoire magic in England and later the US.» — y el efecto que le atribuye: la traducción de la Clavicula al inglés abre el mundo de la magia de grimorio en Inglaterra y después en Estados Unidos

«Other grimoires, like the Lemegeton, were translated into English in 1641 and subsequently. Between 1641 and 1663 a significant number of magical texts were printed in English rather than Latin including the English editions of» — con el Lemegeton entre los traducidos en 1641; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«highly influential magical works such as Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy, Scot's Discovery of Witchcraft, Weir's Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, de Abano's Heptameron, and Ars Notoria just to name of few.» — y su continuación, con la lista de los impresos ingleses de esos años: los Tres libros de Agrippa, el Discovery of Witchcraft de Scot, la Pseudomonarchia Daemonum de Weyer, el Heptameron de Abano y la Ars Notoria; la fuente escribe *Weir*

«Puritanism and an interest in practical magic would, on the face of it, seem like strange bedfellows, but perhaps the freedom to seek direct communication with god (without the intervention of priests) also meant an increased interest in communicating directly with other spirits as well.» — y la conjetura que Skinner ofrece como tal para explicar la coincidencia de puritanismo e interés por la magia práctica: la libertad de hablar con Dios sin sacerdote de por medio pudo alentar el trato directo con otros espíritus

«One might instinctively assume that if magic were a 'made up' subject, then each successive generation would invent something completely new, fanciful and different, whereas the reverse is actually true.» — el argumento que Skinner opone a la idea de la magia como invención: si lo fuera, cada generación inventaría algo nuevo, y ocurre lo contrario

«Although the techniques were polished and adapted by each successive culture that they passed through, it is extraordinary to note that these procedures changed very little in essence or even in detail.» — y el hallazgo que declara: pulidas y adaptadas por cada cultura, las técnicas cambian muy poco en esencia y aun en detalle

«The nomina magica gathered Christian additions as they moved out of the purely pagan milieu of Egypt into the Christian world of Byzantine Greece, and then the Latin world of Western Europe, but the method of invocation, and the form of the circles, incenses and equipment used to threaten spirits changed very little, apart from the obvious effects of scribal deterioration.» — con la distinción que sostiene: los nombres mágicos se cristianizan al pasar de Egipto a la Grecia bizantina y a la Europa latina, mientras el método de invocación, los círculos, los inciensos y el equipo apenas cambian

«Even the subjects covered by typical chapter headings in magicians' handbooks remained the same over many centuries of transmission, despite changes in language and culture.» — y extiende la continuidad hasta los propios epígrafes de capítulo de los manuales

«This topic has been covered in detail in my previous book Techniques of Graeco-Egyptian Magic.» — Skinner remite al volumen anterior para el tratamiento detallado de la magia greco-egipcia

«it is worth recalling that many of the basic techniques to be found in the Graeco-Egyptian papyri (the PGM) are to be found later in both the Hygromanteia and the Clavicula Salomonis.» — y resume la tesis que de allí trae: muchas técnicas básicas de los papiros reaparecen después en la Hygromanteia y en la Clavicula

«It is important to realise that the key nomina magica used in the PGM like Sabaoth, lAO endure from the PGM right through to the 20th century grimoires.» — el dato de continuidad que más pesa en su argumento: nombres como Sabaoth y IAO duran de los papiros a los grimorios del siglo XX

«Although some primarily Egyptian nomina magica like Bainchoooch were dropped, the bulk of those taken from Jews in Alexandra survived.» — con la excepción que consigna: los nombres netamente egipcios como Bainchoooch se pierden, y sobrevive el grueso de los tomados de los judíos de Alejandría; la fuente escribe *Alexandra*

«The methods such as threatening one spiritual creature with another, or using a phylactery or lamen or a floor circle for protection also endured.» — y las técnicas que perduran: amenazar a una criatura espiritual con otra, y protegerse con filacteria, lamen o círculo trazado en el suelo

«Very few new methods were introduced although the exact wording of the conjurations changed over time.» — con el balance que saca: se introdujeron muy pocos métodos nuevos, aunque cambiara la letra de las conjuraciones

«A certain amount of information has been lost, because of the passage of information through so many hands, not to mention the continued persecution of magicians by the church.» — y la pérdida que reconoce, por el paso por tantas manos y por la persecución eclesiástica

«However by looking back at the roots of specific techniques, it is often possible to re-discover the rationale behind the techniques, which may have become lost, and using that restore logic to the method.» — de donde saca el método del libro: volver a las raíces de cada técnica permite redescubrir la razón perdida y devolverle lógica al procedimiento

«For example, methods like the use of planetary hours to determine the correct time to perform an evocation have survived, but the method of using these and their rationale is no longer explained in the grimoires. We have to go back to the PGM for a clear statement of the rationale and the way of applying it.» — con su ejemplo: las horas planetarias sobreviven en los grimorios sin la razón que las explicaba, y esa razón hay que ir a buscarla a los papiros

«Part of my motivation for surveying the whole field of magic from Graeco-Egyptian times to the present day was to discover the rationale of these methods and to update current usage with material that has been lost over the last two millennia of difficult transmission.» — y su motivación declarada, que es también práctica: recuperar la lógica de esos métodos y actualizar el uso corriente con lo perdido

«As identified in TGEM,1 there are four specific and well-documented contributions made by Jewish magic to Solomonic magic:» — Skinner enumera cuatro aportes bien documentados de la magia judía a la salomónica, ya identificados en su volumen anterior

«God names in the PGM like lao, IHVH or Sabaoth. b) Many angel (and some) demon names.» — los dos primeros: los nombres divinos de los papiros y muchos nombres de ángeles y algunos de demonios; el escaneo imprime *lao* por *Iao*

«The practice of oil magic or bowl skrying. These skrying practices influenced the Hygromanteia but did not reach the Clavicula Salomonis.» — el tercero, con su límite: la magia del aceite y la visión en cuenco influyen en la Hygromanteia y no llegan a la Clavicula

«Because of the many references to oil and thumbnail skrying in Jewish sources, I suspect the direction of transmission was from Jewish sources to the Hygromanteia.» — y el grado de certeza con que Skinner adjudica la dirección del préstamo: dice sospecharla, no darla por probada

«It is clear that these practices formed the basis for the evocationary skrying practices delineated in the last section of the Hygromanteia (chapters 47-57» — según Skinner, esas prácticas fundan la sección final de visión evocatoria de la Hygromanteia

«In chapter 8.2, I will demonstrate very specific parallels between» — y anuncia el paralelo que expondrá más adelante; el tramo se corta aquí porque el troceo reemite el marcador de plana al abrir el chunk siguiente, con la misma plana a los dos lados

«these chapters of the Hygromanteia and a number of 16th/17th century Jewish manuscripts from the library of Moses Gaster.» — su continuación: el paralelo es con manuscritos judíos de los siglos XVI y XVII de la biblioteca de Moses Gaster

«The parallels even extend to the wording of both procedures. Because of this, despite their late date, I think it is probable that these Jewish oil and water skrying procedures were copied into the Hygromanteia.» — con el grado de certeza otra vez marcado: pese a la fecha tardía, dice tener por probable que esos procedimientos se copiaran en la Hygromanteia

«The pentacles which appear in some of the Text-Groups of the Key of Solomon are not derived from the Hygromanteia or the PGM, but come directly from an original Hebrew source.» — el cuarto aporte, y la excepción hebrea de su tesis: los pentáculos de algunos grupos textuales de la Key vienen directamente de fuente hebrea, no de la Hygromanteia ni de los papiros

«Although readers who only examined Mathers' version of the Key might reasonably assume that the pentacles were always part and parcel of the Key of Solomon, in fact they are missing from most of the unpublished manuscripts of that text, and missing completely from all the manuscripts of the Hygromanteia.» — con la advertencia que pone a quien solo conozca la versión de Mathers: los pentáculos faltan en la mayoría de los manuscritos inéditos y en todos los de la Hygromanteia

«However the pentacles are present, in a more complete form in a Hebrew manuscript entitled , ,NM , C Sepher ha-Otot» — y el manuscrito en que sí están, más completos: el Sepher ha-Otot, o Libro de los Signos

«Perhaps more aptly translated as 'The Book of the Seals,' as these pentacles are seals rather than signs.» — con la enmienda de traducción que él mismo propone en nota: mejor Libro de los Sellos, porque esos pentáculos son sellos

«This strongly suggests that the pentacles originally come from a Hebrew, not a Greek source.» — el grado de certeza con que lo concluye: dice que la evidencia sugiere fuertemente el origen hebreo de los pentáculos

«Despite Mathers' diligence in attempting to reconstruct the Hebrew from the French and English manuscripts of the Key, his work is nowhere as correct or complete as that found in this Hebrew manuscript.» — y el juicio que le merece el trabajo de Mathers: diligente al reconstruir el hebreo desde los manuscritos franceses e ingleses, pero ni tan correcto ni tan completo como el hebreo mismo

«Therefore we can say with some confidence that there was definitely a Hebrew original, for the pentacles, the proof of which lies in the existence of the very detailed pentacles in the Sepher ha-Otot, and their much less detailed form in the Latin Solomonic manuscripts.» — la prueba en que apoya la conclusión: los pentáculos muy detallados del Sepher ha-Otot frente a los mucho menos detallados de los manuscritos latinos

«The Greek manuscripts of the Hygromanteia are even less detailed just showing virtual 'thumbnails' by comparison.» — con el tercer término de la comparación: los griegos son aún menos detallados, meras miniaturas

«There is, however, no evidence earlier than 1700 CE that the Solomonic method of evocation, with a circle of protection and specific pre-consecrated ritual equipment appears in any Hebrew sources.» — y la búsqueda negativa que Skinner declara como dato: no hay evidencia anterior a 1700 del método salomónico de evocación en fuente hebrea alguna

«So it can be said with certainty that the method of Solomonic evocation comes from Greek not Hebrew sources.» — de donde saca, esta vez sin atenuantes, que el método de evocación salomónica viene de fuentes griegas y no hebreas

«In 2010 Gideon Bohak concluded that 1690 of the 140,000 Genizah fragments stored in Cambridgel fall into the 'MADA' category.» — según Skinner, Bohak clasificó en 2010 mil seiscientos noventa de los ciento cuarenta mil fragmentos de la Genizah de Cambridge como MADA

«MADA is his charming characterisation of fragments which pertain to any of the following categories: magic, astrology, divination or alchemy.» — con la sigla desarrollada: magia, astrología, adivinación o alquimia

«Bohak classifies hemerologia (24 fragments) and horologia (12) under divination, but as they deal with demons and the magical qualities of specific hours, they may more correctly be listed under magic. Such a re-allocation would have resulted in a total of 1062 (rather than 1026) fragments relating to magic.» — y la reclasificación que Skinner propone en nota: hemerologia y horologia tratan de demonios y de horas mágicas, así que él los pasaría de adivinación a magia, con lo que el total subiría de 1026 a 1062

«Note that Cambridge holds only approximately 73% of the 190,000 fragments from the Cairo Fustat synagogue, the rest having made their way to Oxford and several American libraries, so these figures, and any percentages derived from them must be treated with a little caution.» — con la cautela que él mismo pone a las cifras: Cambridge guarda solo una parte de los fragmentos y el resto se repartió entre Oxford y varias bibliotecas americanas

«Nevertheless, I believe that Bohak has successfully identified almost all MADA fragments at Cambridge.» — y, aun así, su confianza declarada en la identificación de Bohak

«Amongst those which have been published, I have not been able to detect any passages which relate directly to the Solomonic method.» — la segunda búsqueda negativa, en primera persona: entre los fragmentos publicados no ha podido detectar ninguno que se relacione directamente con el método salomónico

«Therefore, at the current state of analysis of the Genizah fragments (which cover roughly the lOth - 15th centuries, but which must also imply pre-lOth century texts), there appears to be no direct Jewish input into the method of the Hygromanteia or Clavicula Salomonis from Jewish magic in Alexandria/Cairo, except for the four specific categories of influence noted above (i.e. god and angel names, oil and water skrying and pentacles).» — y la conclusión provisional que saca, fechada en el estado del análisis: no hay aporte judío directo al método de la Hygromanteia ni de la Clavicula fuera de las cuatro categorías ya nombradas

«Worms circa 1700 was the probable origin of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage,1 a text apparently unknown to Trachtenberg.» — Skinner sitúa en Worms, hacia 1700, el origen probable de la *Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage*, texto que dice desconocido para Trachtenberg

«The method embodied in Abramelin is one of 6-18 months of prayer and strict piety followed by the use of pentacles in the form of numeric and alpha-squares,2 and not one of directly evocatory magic.» — y describe su método: de seis a dieciocho meses de oración y piedad estricta seguidos del uso de cuadrados numéricos y alfabéticos, no de evocación directa

«Although Trachtenberg's conclusions might be a little out of date, clear evidence of evocation and the Solomonic method have yet to be identified by academics in Hebrew collections in Europe.» — con el balance que ofrece: aun teniendo por algo anticuadas las conclusiones de Trachtenberg, la evocación y el método salomónico siguen sin identificarse en colecciones hebreas europeas

«The other magical classics listed above in Bohak's MADA survey of Genizah fragments, such as Sepher ha-Razim and the Harba de Moshe (Sword of Moses), contain many angelic names but no description of Solomonic method.» — el mismo resultado en los clásicos de la lista de Bohak: el Sepher ha-Razim y la Harba de Moshe traen muchos nombres angélicos y ninguna descripción del método

«In fact the Sword follows the pattern of other texts of Jewish magic, relying to a large extent on the recitation of holy names and the writing of a few talismans, rather than formalised Solomonic ritual evocation.» — y caracteriza la Espada de Moisés por lo que hace en su lugar: recitar nombres santos y escribir unos pocos talismanes

«The Hebrew Sepher Raziel (strangely missing from the above Genizah list) is more useful, but still not forthcoming about Solomonic method.» — el caso intermedio que consigna: el Sepher Raziel hebreo, ausente de la lista de la Genizah, resulta más útil y aun así calla sobre el método

«The completely umelated (except in title) Latin and English Sepher Raziel as dealt with elsewhere in this book, does however use the Solomonic method.» — frente al Sepher Raziel latino e inglés, que Skinner declara sin relación con aquel salvo en el título y que sí usa el método salomónico; el escaneo imprime *umelated* por *unrelated*

«In some manuscripts the title is deformed to Cephar Raziel and the few bits of Hebrew are almost completely unrecognizable, confirming that these particular manuscripts were written by non-Jewish scribes.» — con el indicio que aduce en nota: en algunos manuscritos el título se deforma y el poco hebreo es casi irreconocible, lo que le indica copistas no judíos

«On the whole Rabbinical Judaism warned against the studying of such hekhalot material, and so it became a separate channel closer to Kabbalistic speculations than traditional Judaism.» — según Skinner, el judaísmo rabínico previno contra el estudio del material hekhalot, que quedó como canal aparte, más cerca de la especulación cabalística

«The hekhalot literature is basically mysticism, albeit very vivid mysticism, and not part of the magical tradition.» — y la adjudicación que hace: la literatura hekhalot es misticismo, muy vívido, y no parte de la tradición mágica

«It is clear that in the context of magic there is always a hierarchy of spiritual creatures,7 in which any sense of a strictly monotheistic system is lost.» — el principio que cierra la sección: en la magia hay siempre jerarquía de criaturas espirituales, y con ella se pierde todo sentido de sistema estrictamente monoteísta

«For if there is only a meditative appeal to the one god, as in Judaism, then this is meditation or prayer rather than magic.» — con el corolario que Skinner le pone: la apelación meditativa a un solo dios es meditación u oración, no magia

«This implies that this Raziel is either much later than the Genizah period, or was solely a northern European production despite its Hebraic title.» — en nota, la alternativa que deja abierta sin arbitrar entre sus dos ramas: o el Raziel latino es muy posterior a la Genizah o fue producción europea septentrional pese al título hebreo

«One text that is often held up as a proof of the Hebrew roots of the Clavicula Salomonis, is the Sepher Maphteah Shelomoh, M W' M , 0 ('The Book of the Key of Solomon') which is found in three Hebrew manuscripts dating from 1700-1729.» — Skinner nombra el texto que suele aducirse como prueba de las raíces hebreas de la Clavicula, el Sepher Maphteah Shelomoh, y lo data en tres manuscritos de 1700 a 1729

«The Gollancz manuscript, written in cursive Hebrew m Amsterdam, dated 1700 (with 79 folios).» — el primero de los tres testimonios que describe: el manuscrito Gollancz, en hebreo cursivo, Ámsterdam, 1700

«Rosenthaliana MS 12, f. 1-74 at the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana in Amsterdam. It consists of 74 folios bound with two further but separate texts of 16 and 30 folios each. This is a manuscript» — el segundo, el Rosenthaliana MS 12 de la Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana de Ámsterdam, con setenta y cuatro folios encuadernados junto a otros dos textos; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«written by Isaac Zekel ben Yidel Kohen of Worms in Amsterdam from a copy by Judah Perez (London, 1729). It is the most complete manuscript.» — y su continuación: copiado por Isaac Zekel ben Yidel Kohen de Worms sobre una copia de Judah Perez, es el más completo de los tres

«The two manuscripts in the British Library: Oriental MS 6360 (15 folios)4 and Oriental MS 14759» — y el tercero, los dos manuscritos de la British Library que, que, según Skinner, Rohrbacher-Sticker identificó como continuación uno de otro y que suman sesenta y ocho folios; la cita se corta antes del apellido porque la fuente lo parte con guion de renglón

«Further proofs of the derivation of Maphteah Shelomoh from a Latin/Italian original can be found in the second manuscript of Maphteah Shelomoh listed above.s In the last (lOth) chapter,9 there is a _roughly drawn table of the correspondences between the planets/zodiac signs and various plants.» — la prueba interna que Skinner aduce: una tabla de correspondencias de planetas y signos con plantas en el último capítulo del segundo manuscrito

«The Latin names for the stones, plants and animals were apparently too difficult to translate, so the scribe has simply left them all in Latin:» — y lo que le parece revelador: al copista los nombres latinos de piedras, plantas y animales le resultaron demasiado difíciles y los dejó en latín

«[Jupiter] berilus; [Mars] onix; [Sun] crisolitus; [Venus] chaspis Uaspis=jasper?]; [Mercury] tophasius [topaz]; [Moon] sardius; [Saturn] carbuncolus [Carbuncle].» — la lista de piedras planetarias tal como la imprime el manuscrito, con las lecturas propuestas entre corchetes por el propio Skinner

«Likewise planetary animals appear in Latin: [Jupiter] aquila [eagle]; [Mars] equus [horse]; [Sun] leo [lion]; [Venus] omomo [woman?]; [Mercury] serpens [snake]; [Moon] bos [cow]; [Saturn] drago» — y la de animales planetarios, igualmente en latín

«found on f. 9 of the second manuscript, where the Latin names of the 12 zodiacal signs (Aries, Taurus, etc) are simply transliterated into Hebrew rather than using the Hebrew names of the months (Nissan, Iyyar, Sivan, etc) that one would expect to find if the text were truly Hebrew in origin.» — segunda prueba: los doce signos zodiacales aparecen transliterados del latín al hebreo en vez de con los nombres hebreos de los meses

«Furthermore the Gollancz Maphteah Shelomoh manuscript, which dates from 1700, is obviously much more recent than many of the Latin manuscripts of the Key of Solomon.» — el argumento cronológico: el manuscrito Gollancz es muy posterior a muchos manuscritos latinos de la Key

«This earlier manuscript might well be the one mentioned by the Italian Kabbalist Gedaliah ibn Yahya (1515-1587) in his book Shalshelet ha-Kabbalah first published in Venice in 1587.» — con la conjetura que Skinner deja como tal sobre el antígrafo: podría ser el que menciona el cabalista italiano Gedaliah ibn Yahya en su Shalshelet ha-Kabbalah

«Even if this were the source, this date is still considerably later than the earliest extant manuscript of the Hygromanteia which dates from 1440.» — y el límite que le pone él mismo: aun así esa fecha sigue siendo posterior al manuscrito más antiguo de la Hygromanteia, de 1440

«The cursive Hebrew script of the Maphteah Shelomoh is typically an Italian hand. Many Italian words appear in a transliterated form, rather than in translation, further confirming that the source text was in Italian (and Latin), rather than in Hebrew.» — el argumento paleográfico y léxico: letra cursiva de mano italiana y muchas palabras italianas transliteradas en vez de traducidas

«Possible cities of origin include Naples and Venice.2 Naples is expressly mentioned in the manuscript in the transliterated form of 'Napoli'» — con las dos ciudades que propone y el rastro concreto: Nápoles aparece transliterado en el propio manuscrito

«Most tellingly, the scribe even failed to recognise many of the Jewish elements present in their Latinised form, transliterating such words rather than translating them.» — el indicio que Skinner tiene por más elocuente: el copista no reconoce ni los elementos judíos en su forma latinizada

«Words in Greek and Arabic were similarly treated, and in a number of places (such as folios 36a and 39b) the scribe freely admits he did not understand what he was copying.» — y el testimonio del propio copista, que en varios folios admite no entender lo que copia

«Rohrbacher-Sticker has also identified a number of Christian procedural elements, such as the dipping of a cross in holy water, which would certainly not have been part of any Hebrew magical text.» — el aporte de Rohrbacher-Sticker que Skinner recoge: elementos rituales cristianos como mojar una cruz en agua bendita

«But the most astonishing name of all is that of EPB118, Erbeth (transliterated as to,$,,N),3 which derives directly from the PGM, where it is frequently found amongst the nomina magica of Egyptian derivation relating to Typhon/Seth, and which has no Hebrew roots.» — y el hallazgo que le parece más asombroso: el nombre Erbeth, tomado de los papiros y ligado a Tifón y Set, sin raíz hebrea

«Of the more than 40 examples of direct transliteration from Latin or Italian, r, to! N!, Via Itmon (the Path of Metatron)4 is one of the most interesting examples, although not mentioned by Rohrbacher-Sticker.» — con más de cuarenta transliteraciones directas del latín o el italiano, entre ellas la *Via Itmon* o senda de Metatrón, que él añade a la lista

«This phrase marks out the exit route from the Solomonic circle of protection, used by the magician to enter and exit the circle.» — y su función ritual: marca la vía de entrada y salida del círculo de protección

«Tetragrammaton is a descriptive Greek word meaning the four ('tetra') letter (' gramma') name of god. It was used by Greek writers to refer to the Hebrew» — Skinner recuerda que *Tetragrammaton* es palabra griega descriptiva del nombre divino hebreo de cuatro letras

«But this scribe assumed it was some foreign nomina magica and simply transliterated the word into Hebrew as rV ,:t, TTRGRMTON, omitting some of the vowels as one would expect. The scribe was therefore completely unaware of the meaning of Tetragrammaton.» — y saca de su transliteración la conclusión que le importa: el copista ignoraba por completo qué significaba

«This word alone is clear proof that the text is a translation from a Latin/Italian original not from a Hebrew original.» — que él tiene por prueba clara de que el texto traduce un original latino o italiano

«Finally, the part of the text which Gollancz appeared to think is most Jewish, the 26 prayers in the first book of the Sepher Maphteah Shelomoh, have been confirmed as translations of prayers found in the Latin grimoire» — y el último argumento: las veintiséis oraciones del primer libro, la parte que Gollancz tenía por más judía, se dan, según Skinner, por traducción de las del Liber Juratus

«Each of the first prayers is prefaced with a name of god. Several of these, like Agla, El, and Elohim are standard Hebrew names of god used throughout the grimoire tradition, but others, like Heklaistai and Amphimaikon are obviously of Greek origin.» — con el detalle que lo apoya: junto a Agla, El y Elohim aparecen Heklaistai y Amphimaikon, de origen griego

«One is forced to conclude that, rather than being the source of the Latin and Italian versions of the Key of Solomon, the Sepher Maphteah Shelomoh is in fact derived from them, which is quite the reverse of the usual assumption.» — la conclusión de la sección: el Sepher Maphteah Shelomoh deriva de las versiones latina e italiana de la Key y no al revés

«The claim of a Hebrew origin seems to be simply a part of the pseudepigraphical attribution to Solomon, designed by the scribe to impress the reader with its authenticity.» — y lo que Skinner adjudica a la alegación de origen hebreo: parte de la atribución pseudoepigráfica a Salomón, para dar autoridad ante el lector

«Although there is always a possibility that a Hebrew original of the Key might be found, this hope is not substantiated by the manuscripts of the Maphteah Shelomoh, despite Gollancz's belief to the contrary. If there ever was a Hebrew original, then it is still lost.» — con la abstención que él mismo se impone al cerrar: cabe siempre que aparezca un original hebreo, y si lo hubo, sigue perdido

«Of course a case could be made for a common ancestor for both Liber Juratus and» — en nota, la alternativa que considera y descarta por innecesaria, dado que el Juratus es mucho más viejo; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«It is common for Latin, French and English manuscripts of the Key of Solomon to claim Hebrew origins.» — Skinner consigna la alegación recurrente: los manuscritos latinos, franceses e ingleses de la Key dicen venir del hebreo

«The Key of Solomon King of the Hebrews, translated from the Hebrew language into Italian by Abraham Colorno, by the order of his most Serene Highness of Mantua; and recently put into French.» — el título del grupo textual AC tal como lo transcribe Mathers, con la cadena hebreo-italiano-francés y el encargo del duque de Mantua a Abraham Colorno

«These Bookes were first found in the Chaldean & hebrew (sic) tongues at Hierusalem [Jerusalem], by a Jewish Rabbi, & by him put into the greeke (sic) Language, & from thence into ye Latine, as it is said &c.» — y la misma alegación en el Lemegeton, grimorio distinto: hallado en caldeo y hebreo en Jerusalén por un rabino judío, puesto por él en griego y de ahí en latín

«The mention of a Greek intermediary copy is very interesting, as it suggests that the text was transmitted via Greek.» — lo que a Skinner le interesa de esa fórmula: el eslabón griego intermedio, que apunta a transmisión por el griego

«It is an easy presumption that anything written by Solomon must originally have been written in Hebrew.» — y la presunción que desarma: dar por sentado que lo escrito por Salomón tuvo que estar en hebreo

«Indeed it may turn out that the Greek Hygromanteia had such a Hebrew ancestor, but at this point that is far from certain.» — con la reserva que se impone: cabe que la Hygromanteia griega tuviera un antepasado hebreo, y por ahora dista de ser seguro

«The translation by Abraham Colorno (circa 1580) into Italian for Vincenzo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, (1562-1612). Colorno was a contemporary of Dee, who he might even have met at the court of Rudolph Il.» — el primero de los cinco testimonios que alegan original hebreo: la traducción al italiano de Abraham Colorno hacia 1580 para Vincenzo Gonzaga, duque de Mantua, contemporáneo de Dee

«Colorno' s translation of the Hebrew names in the Key of Solomon was criticised in a contemporary but undated letter written by "G. G. I. E. of Antwerp, Philosopher and Professor of Astrology. " This presupposes that this professor also had access to a Hebrew original in Antwerp.» — el segundo, y lo que Skinner deduce de él: una carta sin fecha criticaba la traducción de los nombres hebreos, lo que presupone acceso a un original en Amberes

«A second translation into Latin was produced soon after also for Gonzaga, by someone whose initials were 'F. L. C.'» — el tercero: una segunda traducción latina para el mismo Gonzaga, firmada con unas iniciales; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«Gonzaga may have commissioned this because he was unhappy with the first translation.» — y la razón que Skinner conjetura para el encargo: descontento con la primera traducción

«The translation into Latin by Rabbi Abognazar.2 The subsequent translation of this manuscript from Latin into French was executed by M. Barault, Archeveque d' Aries. There are records of a Jaubert de Barrault,3 Archbishop of Aries (from July 1630 - July 1643), suggesting a translation date of c.1640.» — el cuarto: la traducción latina de Rabbi Abognazar y su paso al francés por M. Barault, arzobispo de Arlés, que Skinner data hacia 1640 por los registros episcopales

«The translation into French by Pierre Morissoneau, which dates from 1796 or before.5 Two French manuscripts of the Key of Solomon dated 1796 purport on their title page to have been translated from Hebrew by Morissoneau 'Professeur des Langues Orientales, et Sectateur de Sages Cabalistes.» — el quinto: la traducción francesa de Pierre Morissoneau, con el título que se atribuye de profesor de lenguas orientales y secuaz de sabios cabalistas

«Unfortunately no trace of either Professor Morissoneau or his Hebrew original has been found.» — y la búsqueda negativa que Skinner declara: no hay rastro ni del profesor ni de su original hebreo

«In every case it has not been possible to identify the Hebrew originals, and so their existence remains unproven, but the repeated and detailed attributions in these vernacular manuscripts make it possible that a Hebrew original did indeed exist.» — el balance de los cinco, con las dos mitades dichas: no se ha podido identificar ningún original hebreo, y la insistencia y el detalle de las atribuciones hacen posible que existiera

«It is not clear where any such Hebrew original might fit into the line of transmission. There are three possibilities, in descending order of probability, none of which can be verified until such a Hebrew' text is found:» — y su abstención sobre el lugar de ese hipotético original en la línea de transmisión, con tres posibilidades que no se pueden verificar

«It could still have been derived from Latin grimoires (as in the case of the Maphteah Shelomoh), or ii) It may have been derived direct from the Hygromanteia, or iii) It may predate both, and be the source of the Hygromanteia.» — las tres, que Skinner ordena por probabilidad decreciente: derivar de los grimorios latinos, derivar de la Hygromanteia, o preceder a las dos y ser su fuente

«One interesting implement in the Key of Solomon which has claims of origin from both Greek and Jewish sides, is the ritual knife, specifically the black» — Skinner introduce el instrumento cuya procedencia se disputan las dos hipótesis: el cuchillo de mango negro

«handled knife. Such a knife, with its handle made of a goat's horn, has deep roots in Greek folk magic, but there is also an early usage of the black» — y consigna las dos raíces sin arbitrar: hondas en la magia popular griega, con mango de cuerno de cabra, y con uso temprano también del lado judío. La cita arranca y acaba partida porque la fuente corta la palabra compuesta con guion de renglón las dos veces

«The most interesting similarity however is the use of the black-handled knife in the Hygromanteia to draw a circle around a skryer who anoints his thumb with oil in which to see the vision being conjured by the magician:» — la coincidencia que más le interesa: el cuchillo de mango negro usado en la Hygromanteia para trazar el círculo en torno al vidente que se unta el pulgar con aceite

«Take a virgin boy [the skryer] and let it sit on a three legged stool. Tidy up your house, and let it be ready and clean. Trace the circle under [?around] the stool. Take a knife with a black handle, attached by three rivets, and thrust it into the circle. Scratch the boy's right fingernail and anoint it with fine oil. . . Then recite the following words near the boy's ear . . . Then ask the boy, and he will tell you what he sees.» — el procedimiento tal como lo cita de la Hygromanteia, con el niño virgen en el taburete de tres patas, el cuchillo de tres remaches clavado en el círculo y la uña ungida

«This unique combination of fingernail, oil and black-handled knife also features in Jewish evocationary skrying ritual, where the spirits thought to aid the process are referred to as the 'princes of the thumb.'» — y su paralelo judío, donde los espíritus auxiliares se llaman príncipes del pulgar

«This procedure is also described in an 11th century text by Rashi:2 He who is particular about the vessel (by means of which he divines), that he cannot do anything without the vessel that is required for that thing, as, for instance, the 'princes of the thumb', for which they require a knife, the handle of which is black.» — el testimonio de Rashi que aduce, del siglo XI: quien es escrupuloso con el instrumento no puede obrar sin él, y para los príncipes del pulgar hace falta un cuchillo de mango negro

«This technique of using a virgin boy to skry surrounded by a magic circle inscribed with a black-handled knife, whilst the magician evokes the spirits he wishes to communicate with, harks back to both Jewish practice and the practices of the PGM.» — según Skinner, la técnica entera remite a la vez a la práctica judía y a la de los papiros

«However these evocationary skrying practices are the very ones which are not found in the Clavicula Salomonis, so this does not move forward the case for a Hebrew original of the Clavicula Salomonis.» — con el límite que él mismo pone al hallazgo: esas prácticas de visión evocatoria no están en la Clavicula, así que no adelantan la hipótesis del original hebreo

«This leaves the god names, the 168 angel names, and the pentacles as the primary contribution of Jewish magic to the Clavicula Salomonis, but with the bulk of its content filtered through Greek intermediary sources.» — el saldo que hace del aporte judío a la Clavicula: los nombres divinos, los ciento sesenta y ocho nombres angélicos y los pentáculos, con el grueso del contenido filtrado por intermediarios griegos

«With these contributions of specific magical methods and equipment from Jewish sources, the balance of probabilities is that there may have been an as yet unknown Hebrew source which contributed some other material to both the Hygromanteia and the Clavicula Salomonis.» — y el grado de certeza con que cierra: el balance de probabilidades apunta a una fuente hebrea aún desconocida que aportara algo más a las dos obras

«The Hygromanteia (YypoJ.LaVtEia) is probably the most complete Byzantine Solomonic text. Extant manuscripts of the Hygromanteia only date from 1440.» — Skinner presenta la Hygromanteia como probablemente el texto salomónico bizantino más completo, con manuscritos conservados desde 1440

«Undoubtedly older manuscripts exist, and will hopefully turn up in libraries, possibly in Istanbul, Greece or Egypt, in due course.» — y declara como expectativa, no como dato, que aparecerán manuscritos más viejos en bibliotecas de Estambul, Grecia o Egipto

«I do however think it likely that the author was in fact from Alexandria, as demons such as Typhonbon,s Sarapidie,6 Apios,7 OsthridieB (which probably derive from the Graeco-Egyptian gods Typhon, Sarapis, Apis and Osiris), appear amongst the list of demons in the Hygromanteia,» — el grado de certeza con que sí adjudica el origen alejandrino del autor: lo tiene por probable, y se apoya en demonios como Typhonbon, Sarapidie, Apios y Osthridie, derivados de dioses greco-egipcios

«Sarapis is very specifically an Alexandrian god. Pharos,9 Agathoel10 and Orphor11 also appear, again confirming a very Alexandrian origin, demonstrating a possible connection back to Alexandria and the PGM.» — con el refuerzo que añade: Sarapis es dios netamente alejandrino, y Pharos, Agathoel y Orphor confirman la misma procedencia

«but apparently no demons derived from the deities of other regions or countries.» — y la búsqueda negativa que sostiene el argumento: no hay, al parecer, demonios derivados de dioses de otras regiones

«It is very clear therefore that "virtues in herbs, in words and in stones" does not adequately describe the current contents of any chapter of the Hygromanteia, and that therefore the "pseudepigraphical unit" is almost certainly grafted on by a later redactor, from some other source.» — Skinner cierra su argumento contra la unidad pseudoepigráfica: las virtudes de hierbas, palabras y piedras no describen el contenido de ningún capítulo, así que la tiene por injerto casi seguro de un redactor posterior

«Even if the "pseudepigraphical unit" dates from the 2nd century CE, its nature is one of an editor-introduced adornment and section header, rather than integral to the text, and so it is not at all a reliable guide to the dating of the whole work.» — y la consecuencia para la datación, dicha con su concesión dentro: aunque el pasaje sea del siglo II, es adorno editorial y no guía fiable para fechar la obra

«I believe that Mastrocinque is simply following Carroll and makes the mistake of thinking of the Hygromanteia Salomonis as a text of Jewish extraction, simply because of the pseudepigraphical ascription to Solomon,3 when in fact the text and techniques are firmly rooted in the Greek and Graeco-Egyptian tradition.» — la adjudicación con que Skinner responde a Mastrocinque, marcada como creencia propia: lo tiene por seguidor de Carroll y por equivocado al dar la Hygromanteia por texto de extracción judía solo por su atribución a Salomón

«The inclusion of 'lAO Sabaoth' and similar formula points merely to the early assimilation of these god names into the existing Graeco-Egyptian magical tradition (they occur frequently in the PGM), rather than indicating a direct lineage back to Jewish sources.» — y su explicación alternativa: la presencia de IAO Sabaoth apunta a la asimilación temprana de esos nombres en la magia greco-egipcia, no a un linaje judío; el escaneo imprime *lAO*

«To rephrase that, the occasional Hebraic god names are, I believe, an incidental» — que él reformula, otra vez con el verbo de creencia: los nombres hebreos son inclusión incidental y no la cepa de estas prácticas; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«Solomon occurs as a synonym for magical proficiency throughout the eastern Mediterranean being part of Arabic, Jewish, Christian and other literatures. The tradition of Solomon being a magician is if anything stronger in the Arabic tradition than the Judaic tradition. His inclusion as the supposed author of the Hygromanteia, means no more than, for example, the 19th century attribution of one handbook on geomancy to the Emperor Napoleon.» — en nota, la comparación con que Skinner desactiva la atribución: Salomón funciona como sinónimo de pericia mágica en las literaturas árabe, judía y cristiana, y su nombre pesa tanto como el de Napoleón en un manual decimonónico de geomancia

«The magical techniques found in the Hygromanteia are more refined, integrated and detailed than those found in the PGM, and have lost much of their Egyptian character, suggesting a longer period of gestation.» — el argumento técnico con que rebaja la datación temprana: las técnicas de la Hygromanteia están más refinadas e integradas que las de los papiros y han perdido carácter egipcio

«The numbering of the days of the week (Deutera, Trite, Tetarte, etc.) indicates a post-Constantine date (after 337 CE).» — primera pista interna que aduce para datar: la numeración griega de los días de la semana obliga a fecha posterior a Constantino

«If one accepts that the text is a Greek text probably generated in Alexandria, then a dating after 337 CE and no later than 642 CE (the capture of Alexandria by the Muslims) would seem to be likely.» — y la horquilla que de ahí saca, con su condicional puesto: entre 337 y la toma musulmana de Alejandría en 642

«Chapters 7 and 30 of the Hygromanteia incorporate (in both long and short versions)3 material on electional astrology which appears to be derived directly from a treatise on electional astrology written by Heliodoros,4 a 4th century astrologer to the Emperor Valens.» — segunda pista: los capítulos de astrología eleccional parecen derivar directamente de un tratado de Heliodoro, astrólogo del emperador Valente

«This refines the dating to a post 4th century date, and so provides us with a useful starting point.» — con lo que Skinner concluye de ella: un término inicial posterior al siglo IV

«Marathakis points out that the chief demon of Wednesday is listed in a number of manuscripts of the Hygromanteia as Loutzipher or Loutzepher.» — tercera pista, que Skinner toma de Marathakis: el demonio principal del miércoles aparece en varios manuscritos como Loutzipher

«This is clearly a transliteration of the Latin Lucifer. It seems very out of place for a Greek to use 'Lucifer' rather than Eosphoros, which is how that name appears in the Septuagint.» — y lo que le parece revelador: es transliteración del latín Lucifer donde un griego habría escrito Eosphoros, como la Septuaginta

«That suggests that this word was incorporated after the 405 CE completion of the Vulgate by St Jerome, who spent considerable time in Byzantine cities, including Constantinople, and who claimed to have superseded the Septuagint by returning to Hebrew sources.» — de donde propone que la palabra entró tras la Vulgata de san Jerónimo, terminada en 405

«Such a claim may, for a short period in the 5th-6th centuries, have given Loutzipher a greater appeal and credibility amongst Greek readers than Eosphoros.» — con el grado de certeza marcado: la forma latina *pudo* ganar crédito entre lectores griegos por un breve periodo

«I believe that Kabbalistic speculation had little to do with the Hygromanteia, or with the direct transmission of the techniques of Solomonic magic, as the Hygromanteia does not utilise any of the standard Kabbalistic cosmology (such as the Sephiroth of the Tree of Life),» — Skinner objeta la lectura cabalística de la Hygromanteia con un dato: el texto no usa la cosmología cabalística estándar ni las sefirot

«but from the time of the PGM, Jewish sources have provided many of the angel names, particularly those with the characteristic Hebrew suffix» — y consigna lo que sí concede a las fuentes judías: muchos nombres angélicos, señaladamente los del sufijo hebreo característico

«Even more significant than the dating, is Pingree's reference to the Hygromanteia by its earlier name AnotEA.EcrJlattKtl npayJ..LatEia. As a result of following up this clue, I would like to tentatively suggest a specific 7th century candidate for authorship of the Hygromanteia, Stephanos of Alexandria, whose claim will be considered in detail later in this chapter.» — el hallazgo que Skinner declara haber sacado de una pista de Pingree, y el grado con que lo propone: sugiere tentativamente a Estéfano de Alejandría como candidato a la autoría

«Between 644 and 1172, I can find no trace of the Hygromanteia. Although the 12th century Byzantine historian Niketas Choniates2 mentions a Solomonike in the possession of the magician Isaac Aaron in Constantinople in 1172, there is no guarantee that it was this Solomonike.» — una búsqueda negativa fechada, con su reserva: entre 644 y 1172 no encuentra rastro de la obra, y el Solomonike que el historiador Niketas Choniates atribuye al mago Isaac Aaron en 1172 no está garantizado que sea este

«One clue is that manuscripts M, N, B2 and V contain astrological material drawn from the works of Abu» — primera pista de la redacción del siglo XIII: cuatro manuscritos traen material astrológico de un autor norteafricano de geomancia de fines del siglo XII o principios del XIII; la cita se corta antes del nombre, que la fuente parte con guion de renglón

«As his works were only translated into Greek by the monk Arsenios in 1266 in Constantinople, this suggests a significant redaction of the Hygromanteia may have occurred in that city in the late 13th century.» — y el argumento cronológico: sus obras solo pasaron al griego por el monje Arsenios en 1266 en Constantinopla

«This does not yield us a totally reliable dating as the general astrological section (Chapter 7) in which it occurs is not central to the method of the Hygromanteia, but may still be a good indication of a period of editorial activity.» — con el límite que él mismo pone: la sección astrológica no es central al método, así que el indicio vale como periodo de actividad editorial y no como datación firme

«The method for determining the best times for betting on chariot races is mentioned in only one version of the Hygromanteia.l As these races were discontinued in Constantinople in 1204, we might conjecture that this version of the Hygromanteia was assembled before that date, or maybe soon after.» — segunda pista, y la conjetura que la acompaña: el método para apostar en las carreras de carros, suspendidas en Constantinopla en 1204

«I surmise therefore that the text of the Hygromanteia dates from the late 6th/ early 7th century and that it was substantially redacted in the late 13th century.» — la datación que Skinner propone al cabo, marcada como conjetura: texto de fines del VI o principios del VII, con redacción sustancial a fines del XIII

«Scholars have felt free to put forward a number of possible titles for this work, as there is no consistency of titling from one manuscript to another.» — Skinner abre la cuestión del título: no hay consistencia de un manuscrito a otro

«The identification of the title is important because it has a considerable bearing upon how we look at the text and its history.» — y explica por qué le importa: el título condiciona cómo se lee el texto y su historia

«Probably the earliest title used for this work was Apotelesmatike Pragmateia,3 a title referred to by Pingree, mentioned in H (f. 18v) and which is also the title of a work credited to Stephanos of Alexandria.» — el que tiene por más antiguo, y el enlace que le interesa: *Apotelesmatike Pragmateia* es también título de una obra atribuida a Estéfano de Alejandría

«In fact, Apotelesmatike can be simply translated as '[astrological] results.'4 So Apotelesmatike» — con la traducción que propone para el término; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y sigue en la 56

«Pragmateia most simply means the 'practical results of astrology.'» — y su continuación: el título entero significaría los resultados prácticos de la astrología

«Indeed in one sense, magic is the practical application of astrology.» — y la equivalencia que arriesga a propósito: en un sentido, la magia es la aplicación práctica de la astrología

«However this title has a confusing history, having been applied to several different texts over the last 2000 years, and Apotelesmatike was a word which was sometimes just loosely applied to any book on astrology.» — con la reserva que él mismo pone al título: se aplicó a varios textos distintos en dos mil años y a veces a cualquier libro de astrología

«Claudius Ptolemy, the Greek astrologer (c.90-168 CE), wrote a very popular astrological treatise called the Tetrabiblos (TETpaJtJA.oc;, literally 'The Four Books') which was also sometimes referred to as the Apotelesmatika, a title that was well known in the Middle Ages. It is therefore easy to see that any» — Skinner introduce la confusión de títulos: el Tetrabiblos de Claudio Ptolomeo también se llamó *Apotelesmatika*, título conocido en la Edad Media; el tramo se corta aquí porque el troceo reemite el marcador de plana al abrir el chunk siguiente, con la misma plana a los dos lados

«early reader coming across a manuscript entitled Apotelesmatika might automatically assume it was by 'Ptolemy the Greek.'» — y su continuación: cualquier lector temprano de un manuscrito así titulado lo daría por obra de Ptolomeo el Griego

«That false ascription arose because both the Tetrabiblos and the Hygromanteia were referred to at one time or another as the Apotelesmatika.» — con la explicación de la falsa adjudicación: las dos obras se llamaron alguna vez igual

«This knowledge is useful in another way, because it actually helps to solve a small mystery that has surrounded one of the often quoted authors of the Key of Solomon. That author is 'Ioh Grecis' or 'Toz Graecus.'» — en nota larga, Skinner enlaza esa confusión con uno de los autores citados de la Key

«This name is currently incorrectly interpreted as the Greek Thoth. The fact that he is also sometimes referred to as 'Ptolomaeus Graecus' or 'Ptolomeus ye Greacian' (in Sloane MS 3847) gives us the clue.» — y objeta la lectura corriente que lo identifica con Thoth, apoyándose en que el mismo nombre aparece como Ptolomeo el Griego

«In due course Ptolomy Graecus degenerated to 'Toz Grec,' the 'z' replacing a Latin contraction mark for the last part of 'Ptolemaeus.' Then 'Toz' rendered back into Greek as -ros might easily give rise to a misreading of 'Ioh' if the reader thought it was Latin.» — con la cadena de corrupción que reconstruye: la marca latina de contracción se lee como z, y el resultado devuelto al griego se malinterpreta

«Even more deformed are 'Iroe Grecis' and 'Iroe Grego.' Trithemius is also very uncertain of the name and variously transcribes it: Torzigeus, Totz Graecus, Tozigaeus and even Thoczgraecus.» — y las grafías deformadas que reúne, incluidas las cuatro con que Trithemius transcribe el nombre; se citan tal cual las imprime la capa de texto

«I suggest that the identity of 'Toz Grec' or 'Ioh Grecis,' one of the supposed authors of the Clavicula Salomonis, was in fact Ptolemy the Greek astronomer.» — la identificación que Skinner propone, marcada como propuesta: Toz Grec sería Ptolomeo el astrónomo griego

«It is pretty clear that the author so referred to was Greek, which incidentally strengthens the case for the Greek roots of the Key of Solomon.» — y lo que a su juicio se sigue para la tesis del libro: refuerza las raíces griegas de la Key

«I have shown that the "pseudepigraphical unit" is a grafted-on introduction with little relevance to the main text, so The Epistle of Solomon to his Son Rehoboam cannot ever have been the title of the whole work.» — Skinner descarta el título de Epístola de Salomón a Roboam por lo ya argumentado sobre el injerto

«Strangely, Torijano proposes that the Magical Treatise formed a sub-section of the Hygromanteia, whereas in fact the Hygromanteia section follows the Magical Treatise section.» — y objeta la ordenación de Torijano con un dato de estructura: la sección Hygromanteia sigue a la del Tratado Mágico y no al revés

«Torijano' s contention is not supported by the text which is very obviously a magical treatise, and not a work of water divination.» — con el argumento de contenido: el texto es a la vista un tratado mágico y no una obra de adivinación por agua

«From an analysis of the chapter contents it becomes apparent that it is only four chapters of the last section (chapters 49-52)3 which could» — y el recuento que lo apoya: solo cuatro capítulos de la última sección podrían llamarse propiamente Hygromanteia; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«reasonably be called a Hygromanteia, as it deals with four different methods of water skrying.» — y su continuación: esos cuatro tratan cuatro métodos distintos de visión en agua

«In fact Hygromanteia is simply the last subsection of the whole work, and therefore cannot be the main title.» — de donde concluye que el término da nombre a una subsección y no a la obra

«It seems to me possible that at some point the manuscript had a list of contents at the beginning which might well have taken a form which reflects the current contents division» — la conjetura con que explica el error, dada como posibilidad: el manuscrito pudo tener al principio un índice

«The loss of most of the first page (a common fate among unbound manuscripts) might serve to have destroyed most of the contents page leaving just 'Hygromanteia' as a residual entry. If this were so, then it might explain why the title of only the last section has been mistakenly applied to the beginning of the whole manuscript.» — y su mecanismo: perdida la primera página, quedaría *Hygromanteia* como entrada residual del índice

«Even translating 'hygromanteia' as 'water divination' is an oversimplification, for the practices referred to are clearly those of evocationary skrying utilising water and a virgin boy as a medium, rather than just simple divination.» — con la corrección de traducción que propone: no es adivinación por agua sino visión evocatoria con agua y un niño virgen por médium

«Marathakis proved grammatically that The Little Key1 of the entire Art of Hygromanteia is a later redaction.» — según Skinner, Marathakis sostuvo por vía gramatical que ese título es redacción posterior

«He suggests instead The Instruction of Solomon, but this phrase depends upon the Rehoboam passage, and does not occur in any position where it could be construed as a title.» — y la objeción que Skinner le pone a la alternativa: depende del pasaje de Roboam y no aparece en posición de título

«Delatte refers to the text in general terms as a Traite de Magie,3 and Greenfield and Torijano follow his lead with an English equivalent, the Magic Treatise and The Magical Treatise respectively.» — los títulos genéricos de Delatte, Greenfield y Torijano

«These generic vernacular titles are appropriate, but are obviously not the Greek title by which the text would have been known by its author, owners or redactors.» — que Skinner acepta como apropiados y descarta por no ser el título griego

«McCown astutely asserted that the Hygromanteia was a Greek form of the Clavicula Salomonis and therefore he refers to the Greek text by that same Latin title.» — la posición de McCown, que Skinner califica de astuta: la Hygromanteia como forma griega de la Clavicula Salomonis

«This is confirmed in manuscripts D and M which give the title as the Little Key (or Clavicula in Latin) to the text, probably in the sense of an epitome or summary of maybe a larger work.» — y la apoya en dos manuscritos que titulan el texto *Little Key*, acaso en el sentido de epítome

«Manuscripts D and M are amongst the least complete of all the manuscripts we have, but it is clear that the Latin translations subsequently made must have come from a manuscript bearing the same or similar title, as D and M.» — con la inferencia que saca: las traducciones latinas debieron partir de un manuscrito con ese mismo título

«But, having said that, the later Latin title (Clavicula) is not a correct or suitable title for the original Greek text.» — y la reserva inmediata: el título latino no es correcto para el texto griego original

«The title Solomonike has also been applied to this text, but this word is a generic description of Greek texts generally attributed to Solomon, rather than a discrete title in its own right.» — descarta también *Solomonike* por ser descripción genérica de los textos griegos atribuidos a Salomón

«Only one manuscript, A2, has the title Prayer and Conjurations of the prophet Solomon against Demons. The fact that Solomon is characterised as a prophet rather than a king, and the conjurations are described as 'prayers' directed 'against' demons, strongly suggests a later Christian interpolation.» — y el título de un solo manuscrito, que adjudica a interpolación cristiana tardía por llamar profeta a Salomón y oraciones a las conjuraciones

«Added to that, manuscript A2 is of relatively recent date (1833), very corrupt, and very short (only 11 folios), and therefore not a very reliable witness. All of which suggests that this title is not the original one.» — con la evaluación del testimonio: manuscrito de 1833, muy corrupto y muy breve

«Finally, the most appropriate and the correct title for the whole text in its present form is imbedded, logically enough, in the incipit of the longest and most complete manuscript H.» — el título que Skinner adopta al cabo, hallado en el incipit del manuscrito más completo

«or "here begins the Magical Treatise of gathering [and] drawing the spirits to one's aid.» — con su traducción del incipit griego

«Indeed, the gathering and directing of spirits is the main purpose of this and all subsequent grimoires.» — y la generalización que de ahí extiende a todos los grimorios posteriores

«Although the original title of the text was probably the Apotelesmatike Pragmateia, the title is best rendered in English as The Magical Treatise of Gathering and Directing the Spirits, or the Magical Treatise for short. As we have already seen, this book contains a sub-section whose title, Hygromanteia, has mistakenly become the title for the whole work. I will however continue to refer to it as the Hygromanteia for reasons of consistency.» — y la decisión práctica que declara: seguir llamándolo Hygromanteia por consistencia, aunque tenga por mejor otro título

«As the incipit does not appear till the first line of folio 18v, just before the Epistle of Solomon to Rehoboam, it is understandable that scholars have overlooked it.» — en nota, la razón que da de que el incipit se pasara por alto: no aparece hasta el folio 18v

«There are 20 extant manuscripts of the Hygromanteia, and of these H is the most complete.» — Skinner censa veinte manuscritos conservados de la Hygromanteia

«The most complete manuscript with regard to the magical sections, and one of the oldest, is manuscript H in the British Library.» — y señala el más completo en cuanto a las secciones mágicas, en la British Library

«The view that the Hygromanteia is simply a floating compendium of techniques is only valid if there were no visible overall consistent sequential technique: in other words, if the text were simply a collection of separate recipes, as are many magic manuscripts.» — la objeción que Skinner opone a quien la tenga por compendio flotante de técnicas: eso valdría si no hubiera secuencia técnica visible

«However this text is not a collection of variegated recipes. It has a very definite structure, divided into timing and astrological considerations; preparation of participants; consecration of equipment; two chronologically sequenced set of invocations and evocations; and finally a section on ritual skrying.» — y la estructura que le adjudica: consideraciones astrológicas y de tiempo, preparación de los participantes, consagración del equipo, dos series de invocaciones y evocaciones, y la visión ritual al final

«The different versions of the manuscript have come about as the result of the loss/ accretion of some of these parts around a core structure, due to scribal selection over time.» — con la explicación que da de la variación entre manuscritos: pérdidas y acrecencias en torno a un núcleo, por selección de los copistas

«The oldest manuscript of the Hygromanteia (B2: Bononiensis MS 3632 in the University Library of Bologna) dates from December 14th, 1440.» — la datación del manuscrito más antiguo, con día y todo

«This manuscript is particularly beautiful, clear and perfectly preserved as part of a much larger collection deceptively bound up with the spine label of just one of its component texts, Dioscorides.» — y la anomalía de catalogación que consigna: está encuadernado bajo el lomo de solo uno de los textos del volumen

«Apart from making its library location difficult, this is an example of how a collection of manuscripts, particularly a large one, can so easily end up with a title which only applies to part of the manuscripts bound together, giving rise to the possibly of mis» — con la advertencia general que saca de ahí sobre el riesgo de mala catalogación en colecciones grandes; la cita se corta antes del guion de renglón

«Of the 20 extant manuscripts of the Hygromanteia, it is possible to identify the author or copyist in five cases, and locate the place of composition also in five cases (not always the same texts).» — el censo que Skinner ofrece de autoría y lugar: identificables en cinco casos cada uno, y no siempre los mismos textos

«In the mediaeval Greek context hygromanteia was always understood as a type of evocation or nigromancy.» — Skinner objeta la traducción corriente del término: en el contexto griego medieval se entendía siempre como evocación o nigromancia

«Later when 'necromancy' became confused with nigromancy, necromancy was also confused with hygromancy.» — y explica el enredo posterior por la confusión de nigromancia con necromancia

«When hygromantic texts first passed into Latin, the term was still understood correctly.» — con el dato de que al pasar al latín el término se seguía entendiendo bien

«Even considerably later in 1559, the Index Librorum Prohibitorums banned "Hydromtin[tiae] vel Necromti[n]tieE" demonstrating that even at that point the Inquisition thought that the two terms were more or less interchangeable.» — y la prueba que aduce: el Índice de libros prohibidos de 1559 prohíbe los dos términos como si fueran intercambiables

«It was only scholars who, copying Isidore of Seville, in» — la responsabilidad que Skinner adjudica al esquema de las cuatro adivinaciones elementales: la de los eruditos que copiaban a Isidoro de Sevilla en su afán de simetría; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«his quest for a neat fourfold symmetrical classification, decided that hydromancy must have formed one of the 'four elemental forms of divination.'» — y su continuación: de ahí la decisión de que la hidromancia tenía que ser una de las cuatro

«In fact it was only geomancy (earth divination) that fitted that bill,6 as aeromancy and pyromancy were the products of the same scholars' imagination, rather than real techniques with a methodology and ongoing history of actual practical use.» — y su objeción con dato: solo la geomancia encajaba, porque aeromancia y piromancia son producto de la imaginación de esos mismos eruditos

«'Hygromancy' as used in the Hygromanteia would have been understood by its readers in the same sense as the Inquisition understood it, that is, as equivalent to Necromantice, and hence equivalent to nigromancy, and not simply one of the 'four elemental divinations' (of which at least two were fictional artificial constructs).» — de donde concluye cómo lo entendían los lectores del texto: como equivalente de nigromancia, no como una de las cuatro adivinaciones elementales

«Greenfield, with whom I am otherwise in agreement over most things, suggests as a way of getting around this impasse, that originally the demon may have been evoked into a basin of water, and that this (central) instrument has then been dropped from the ritual.» — la salida que Skinner atribuye a Greenfield, con quien dice coincidir en casi todo: que el demonio se evocara en origen a una jofaina de agua, luego perdida del rito

«I find that a contrived and highly unlikely explanation.» — y el juicio que le merece esa explicación

«An alternative derivation of hygromancy proposed in my edition of the Key of Solomon3 is more all-embracing.» — Skinner remite a su propia edición de la Key para la derivación alternativa que propone

«The use of the word Gasteromanteia to indicate the active imprisonment of spirits (with no hint of divination) in chapter 44 of the Hygromanteia, adds further weight to the widening of the range of meaning for -manteia beyond than that of simple divination.» — y el dato interno con que la apoya: el capítulo 44 usa *Gasteromanteia* para el aprisionamiento activo de espíritus, sin rastro de adivinación

«The word 'hydria' in both Greek and Latin means an 'urn' or 'water jar.'» — con el término griego y latino en que descansa toda la propuesta

«In circuitu duodecim columnae marmoreae (omnino incredibile), super ipsas columnas hydriae argenteae duodecim, ubi sigillavit Salomon daemones.» — el testimonio latino del Breviarius de Hierosolyma, del siglo VI, sobre las doce vasijas de plata donde Salomón selló a los demonios, en el Martyrium de Constantino en Jerusalén

«The Latin text specifically refers to 'hydriae argenteae' or 'silver water vessels' not just 'urns.'» — y lo que a Skinner le importa de la letra: el texto dice vasijas de agua de plata, no simples urnas

«Silver, like brass and electrum was credited with the property of being able to restrain spirits.» — con la propiedad que se atribuía a la plata, el latón y el electro: contener espíritus

«The 4th century Byzantine historian, Zosimus, who lived in Constantinople, mentioned the tradition that urns containing demons were secreted below the platform of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem.» — según Skinner, Zósimo consigna la tradición de las urnas con demonios escondidas bajo la plataforma del Templo. La ficha conserva la identificación tal como la da el libro —historiador bizantino del siglo IV, y en nota historiador pagano *fl.* 491-518—, aunque el pasaje que cita a continuación proceda de la colección siríaca del Zósimo alquimista

«Among the Egyptians, there is a book called The Seven Heavens, attributed to Solomon, [and used] against the demons; but it is not correct (to say) that it is by Solomon, since these bottles had been brought at another time to our [Egyptian] priests; [as] that is what the language employed to denote them makes one suppose, because the expression 'bottle of Solomon' is a Hebrew expression.» — el pasaje citado en bloque: en Egipto circulaba un Siete Cielos atribuido a Salomón, y la propia lengua de las botellas delata expresión hebrea

«The seven bottles in which Solomon shut up the demons were made of electrum.» — y la materia que ese mismo texto declara para las siete botellas

«The wise Solomon knows how to summon the demons; he gives a formula of conjuration and mentions the electrum, that is, the bottles of electrum, on the surface of which he wrote this formula» — con el procedimiento que le atribuye: Salomón da la fórmula de conjuro y la escribe en la superficie de las botellas de electro

«The hydriai were also mentioned in a letter dated August 1507 from the Abbot Trithemius of Wi.irzburg to his colleague Johann Virdung,4 a professor at the university of Heidelberg, and mathematician and court astrologer to the Elector Palatine.» — el segundo testimonio que Skinner aduce: la carta de Trithemius a Johann Virdung, astrólogo de corte del Elector Palatino

«Magister Georgius Sabellicus, Faustus iunior, fons necromanticorum, astrologus, magus secundus, chiromanticus, agromanticus, pyromanticus, in hydr[i]a arte secundus.» — el latín de la carta con los títulos que se arrogaba Georg Sabellicus, entre ellos ser segundo en el arte de la hydria

«Although Trithemius was not at all supportive of Sabellicus, and thought him a rogue, he was happy to record Sabellicus' claim that he was the fountainhead of knowledge about necromancy (for which read 'nigromancy') and astrology, but also that he was second (in reputation) in the art of the hydria.» — y la lectura que Skinner hace del testimonio, con su límite: Trithemius tenía a Sabellicus por bribón y aun así registró su alegación

«I propose, despite the modern literal dictionary meaning of -manteia, that hygromanteia (and hydromanteia)2 also refer to an evocationary process, which at one point used hydriai, or silver/ electrum water vases, as a spirit restraining mechanism.» — la propuesta de Skinner, marcada como tal: hygromanteia e hydromanteia designarían un proceso evocatorio que en algún momento usó vasijas de plata o electro para retener al espíritu

«A confirmation that not only were the spirits restrained by ubpia, hydria, but could also be released when the hydria were disturbed, is to be found in the Valentinian Gnostic Testimony ofTruth:» — y el tercer testimonio, gnóstico valentiniano, que aduce para la liberación de los espíritus al remover las vasijas

«and his son Solomon, whom he begat in [adultery], is the one who built Jerusalem by means of the demons, because he received [power].» — el pasaje citado: Salomón construye Jerusalén por medio de los demonios, con el poder que recibió

«When the Romans [went] up to Uerusalem] they discovered [the] waterpots, [and immediately] the [demons] ran out of the waterpots as those who escape from prison.» — y su desenlace: los romanos descubren las vasijas y los demonios escapan como de una prisión; el escaneo imprime *Uerusalem* por *Jerusalem*

«Admittedly some of Robinson's bracketed reconstructions are debatable,» — con la reserva que Skinner pone al testimonio: algunas reconstrucciones entre corchetes del editor son discutibles; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«but this is just one of several re-tellings of that particular incident.» — y su continuación: el episodio se cuenta en varias versiones

«Another possibly 4th century source also suggests that Solomon's method of spirit entrapment involved the use of bronze jars, rather than silver/ electrum:» — y la divergencia de materia que consigna sin armonizar: otra fuente hace de bronce las jarras

«I adjure you, the 960 spirits of the evil one's congregation, who swore to King Solomon, when he shut you up in the bronze jars by the archangel Gabriel, who has power over the evil» — el conjuro citado, con los novecientos sesenta espíritus encerrados por el arcángel Gabriel

«Solomon, who received wisdom from God, shut them up in bronze jars and sealed them with the name of God.» — y el sello con el nombre de Dios sobre las jarras de bronce

«It is therefore not a big leap to associate the imprisoning of spirits using urns or bottles with the procedures outlined in the Hygromanteia.» — la conclusión que Skinner saca del conjunto, medida en su alcance: no es gran salto asociar el aprisionamiento en urnas con los procedimientos de la Hygromanteia

«A small window on the owners of such manuscripts may be opened on the 14th century in Constantinople, which clearly demonstrates not only the prevalence of handbooks on magic, but also that they were owned by pious monks, physicians and members of the higher echelons of society and the ruling classes.» — Skinner presenta el episodio del que saca su retrato de los dueños de manuales mágicos: monjes piadosos, médicos y gente de las clases altas

«In 1370 a trial began in Sancta Sophia, before the Synod of Constantinople, of Theodosius Phoudoulis who was accused of practising magic, and of possessing 'infamous books.'» — el proceso de 1370 en Santa Sofía contra Theodosius Phoudoulis, acusado de practicar magia y de poseer libros infames

«The trial soon enveloped a large group of people, as the origin of these books unfolded. Phoudoulis confessed that he had received the books from Syropoulos who in turn had received them from one Gabrielopoulos, described later as "a pious monk" and in all probability also a doctor.» — y la cadena de manos que el proceso destapa, de Phoudoulis a Syropoulos y a Gabrielopoulos, monje piadoso y probablemente médico

«It was in the home of the latter that a book by Kyranides,4 and "a booklet full of demonic invocations, spells and [demon] names" by Demetrius Chloros, a priest, physician and magician, was also found.» — con lo hallado en casa de este último: un libro de los Kyranides y un cuadernillo de invocaciones demoníacas de Demetrius Chloros

«Chloros was also a secretary to the Patriarch, and a person of no mean standing in the community, in fact all three seem to be typical practitioners of learned magic.» — y la posición social de Chloros, secretario del patriarca, que a Skinner le sirve para tipificar al practicante de magia aprendida

«Chloros initially tried to hide the magic» — el desenlace del proceso empieza aquí; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y las notas al pie se interponen en la capa de texto

«behind legitimate medicine, but when the court read the texts concerned, they had no hesitation in convicting all three.» — y su continuación: Chloros escondía la magia tras la medicina legítima, y leídos los textos el tribunal no dudó en condenar a los tres

«However the very mild punishment for Chloros was simply banishment to a monastery, which was not really a great hardship for an ex» — y la pena, que Skinner califica de muy leve: destierro a un monasterio; la cita se corta antes del guion de renglón

«So it could be said that the attitude of the Church to learned ritual magic was not very stern in that period. It is likely that the popular view of magic was even more relaxed.» — de donde infiere, con el condicional puesto, que la Iglesia no era muy severa con la magia ritual aprendida en ese periodo

«The stress in many of these trials was upon books, confirming that as practitioners of learned magic, the books of procedures and invocations, the grimoires, were a most important part.» — y lo que le indica el peso de los libros en los procesos: el grimorio es parte central de la magia aprendida

«is said to have kept his books "like pearls" in safe-boxes (crEvbouKiotc;). At an earlier date a book of magic found in the possession of an individual of the influential, and apparently corrupt, court interpreter Isaac Aaron was hidden in an imitation tortoise shell.» — el detalle que cita: Gabrielopoulos guardaba sus libros como perlas en cajas fuertes, y el de Isaac Aaron iba escondido en un caparazón de tortuga fingido

«Yet another notable practitioner of magic from this decade was John Abramios, an astronomer, astrologer, defrocked priest, and possibly also a doctor.» — otro practicante de la misma década: John Abramios, astrónomo, astrólogo y sacerdote depuesto

«Another later but important figure is Giorgios Meidiates (fl. 1462) who copied a collection of magical material, including the important Testament of Solomon. He also actually wrote one of the manuscripts of the Hygromanteia, and so is very well qualified to comment on it.» — y una figura posterior que a Skinner le importa por doble título: Giorgios Meidiates copió el Testamento de Salomón y escribió además uno de los manuscritos de la Hygromanteia

«Aaron used a book allegedly by Solomon which had invocations which if read aloud II could cause legions of demons to appear,» — según Skinner, Choniates cuenta que Isaac Aaron usaba un libro atribuido a Salomón cuyas invocaciones hacían comparecer legiones de demonios

«Sikidites was an imperial secretary, and was standing with a group of people on a terrace of the Great [Topkapi] Palace overlooking the Sea of Marmara. He bet them that he could make the boatman stand up and smash all the tiles in his cargo; after they agreed, the boatman stood up and reduced the tiles to fragments with his oar, while the onlookers were helpless with laughter. He later said that he had seen a huge snake on the tiles, staring at him and menacing him with open jaws.» — la anécdota de Michael Sikidites, secretario imperial, que apostó a que haría al barquero destrozar su cargamento de tejas, y el barquero declaró haber visto una serpiente enorme

«It is tempting to suggest that this event may have happened on a Saturday morning in the third hour of Mars4 which is characterised by the Hygromanteia as an hour "for setting up a [Martial] enchantment.» — y la conjetura que Skinner ofrece marcándola como tentación: el episodio pudo caer en la tercera hora de Marte de un sábado, hora que la Hygromanteia da por propicia para montar un encantamiento

«Exact timing was one of the hallmarks of the Hygromanteia and indeed of all Solomonic ritual magic.» — con la regla general que sostiene: el momento exacto es uno de los rasgos distintivos de la magia ritual salomónica

«Punishment for causing damage by magic was sometimes blinding, and that punishment apparently eventually overtook Sikidites, but for a different offence.» — el dato penal que consigna, y su límite: a Sikidites lo cegaron, pero por otro delito

«So it would seem (from these instances) that the civil authorities in this period treated magic much more harshly than the religious authorities with an eye to the outcome, although maybe that latitude was only extended to priests, monks and imperial secretaries.» — y la inferencia que saca, con doble reserva: las autoridades civiles trataban la magia más duramente que las religiosas, y acaso esa latitud solo alcanzara a sacerdotes, monjes y secretarios imperiales

«Given that Solomon was universally accounted a magician in the eastern Mediterranean, the author could have in theory been a Jew, Muslim, Christian or a Neoplatonic/ pagan Greek.» — Skinner abre la cuestión de la autoría de la Hygromanteia dejando las cuatro opciones sobre la mesa

«The presence of "Sabbath" instead of Saturday, and "preparation" for Friday, does suggest a Jewish scribe, as does the typical angel and demon names ending in» — el primer indicio que pesa: los nombres de los días y los teónimos angélicos sugieren copista judío

«The absence of 'Jesus' or any other clearly Christian references from the New Testament almost certainly rules out a Christian author, despite Sunday being described as "the Lord's Day," as that label might have arisen from the work of a later Byzantine copyist.» — y la búsqueda negativa que descarta al autor cristiano, con la excepción del domingo llamado día del Señor, que él adjudica a copista posterior

«Any other Christian influences have only been added in much later, and in a rather awkward manner,7 making it pretty certain that the author was not a Christian.» — con el grado de certeza que le pone: los demás influjos cristianos entran tarde y de manera torpe

«From the naming of the weekdays, where Sunday is named Kyriake ( = the Lord's day)l but Saturday is called Sabbaton ( = the Sabbath), and Friday is Paraskeue (= the 'Preparation' for the Sabbath),2 it is not unreasonable to suggest that at least one owner was a Greek-speaking Jew, but this does not necessarily indicate a Jewish origin for the whole Hygromanteia, as these weekday names are still used by modern (Christian) Greeks today.» — y la reserva que él mismo opone a su propio indicio: los nombres de los días los siguen usando los griegos cristianos de hoy, así que a lo sumo indican un dueño judío helenófono

«Items such as the formula "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob" suggest a Jewish source, but seem to distance the speaker from that tradition. That mode of address sounds like the words of an outsider.» — el argumento de tono que aduce: la fórmula patriarcal distancia al hablante de la tradición que invoca

«A Jew invoking his own god in this fashion sounds like a Christian invoking Jesus as "the God of St Peter.» — con el símil que lo hace ver

«Although the author was not necessarily Jewish, he almost certainly lived in a Greek environment influenced by Judaism, such as Alexandria or Constantinople, and was Greek educated.» — y la conclusión que saca sobre el autor: viviera o no en el judaísmo, casi con seguridad vivió en un medio griego influido por él y tuvo educación griega

«I have no quarrel with the place of origin being Alexandria. Goodenough is of the opinion4 that the Hygromanteia is a Jewish adaptation of pagan Greek material. This is certainly a likely possibility, and fits with my suggestion of a possible author.» — Skinner acepta Alejandría como lugar de origen y suscribe la opinión de Goodenough de que la obra es adaptación judía de material pagano griego

«In view of this, I would like to suggest a specific candidate for authorship: Stephanos of Alexandria (c. 581 - c. 641 CE), a Neoplatonist philosopher, alchemist and astrologer, probably born in Athens, but residing in Alexandria before migrating to Constantinople on the express invitation of the Emperor Heraclius.» — y propone al candidato, con la identificación completa: Estéfano de Alejandría, filósofo neoplatónico, alquimista y astrólogo

«I realise this will be contentious, but my reasons are as follows:» — advirtiendo él mismo que la propuesta será discutida

«Stephanos was an acknowledged expert in alchemy,6 astrology and 'mathematics.' The latter term was often a polite synonym for magic.» — primera razón, con la clave léxica: *mathematics* era a menudo sinónimo cortés de magia

«Stephanos moved from Alexandria to Constantinople in 617 CE, following precisely the path of the transmission of magical techniques which are here being established» — segunda: su traslado en 617 sigue exactamente la ruta de transmisión que el libro reconstruye

«The 11th/12th century Byzantine historian Georgios Kedrenos reported that Stephanos wrote an Apotelesmatike Pragmateia.» — tercera: Kedrenos atribuye a Estéfano una obra con ese título

«However, this modern identification is only tentative, and that specific Apotelesmatike Pragmateia authored by Stephanos, might instead have been the Hygromanteia under its original title.» — y la puerta que eso abre, dicha con su condicional: la identificación moderna es solo tentativa

«Several scholars have agreed that the Usener text3 referred to could not have been by Stephanos, as it shows a detailed knowledge of the course of Islam up until the end of the 8th century,4 and therefore must have been by a later author.» — con el argumento ajeno que Skinner recoge: el texto no puede ser de Estéfano porque conoce el curso del islam hasta fines del siglo VIII

«Abu Ma' shar listed in his 9th century catalogue of astrological books by Greek writers, an Apotelesmatike by Stephanos of Alexandria, which might have been simply a book on astrology, or may have been the present text under discussion.» — cuarta razón: el catálogo de Abu Ma'shar registra una Apotelesmatike de Estéfano, que pudo ser un libro de astrología o este mismo texto

«Therefore there is no compelling reason why the particular Apotelesmatike Pragmateia mentioned by either Abu Ma' shar or Kedrenos as authored by Stephanos could not in fact have been the Hygromanteia under its earlier name.» — y la forma negativa en que Skinner enuncia la conclusión: no hay razón que obligue a descartarlo

«The electional astrology chapters (7 and 30) in the Hygromanteia clearly derive from Heliodoros. Olympiodorus (497-570) is recorded as having specifically lectured on Heliodoros in 564 CE, and Olympiodorus was known to have strongly influenced Stephanos. Therefore the inclusion of Heliodoros' material in the Hygromanteia is very suggestive.» — quinta: los capítulos de astrología eleccional derivan de Heliodoro, sobre quien Olympiodoro dio lecciones en 564, y Olympiodoro influyó fuertemente en Estéfano

«Stephanos' imperial patron and friend, the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius (reigned 610-641), was well known to be intensely interested in alchemy, astrology and magic.» — sexta: el mecenazgo de Heraclio, intensamente interesado en alquimia, astrología y magia

«from Alexandria to Constantinople at the bidding of this Emperor, and would have been expected to bring such texts with him.» — con la inferencia que añade: al mudarse por orden del emperador cabría esperar que llevara consigo esos textos

«Stephanos was a Neoplatonic Greek pagan, which fits well with the absence of explicit Christian references, and his usage of the Greek gods to designate the days of the week in the Hygromanteia.» — séptima: su paganismo neoplatónico casa con la ausencia de referencias cristianas y con los dioses griegos en los días de la semana

«Stephanos was very familiar with katarchic astrology, and lectured on Ptolemy's Handy Tables. This agrees with the great stress laid upon the importance of selecting the correct hour and day for specific magical operations in the Hygromanteia» — octava: su dominio de la astrología katárquica concuerda con el peso que el texto pone en elegir hora y día

«In Constantinople, Stephanos is reported to have taught the quadrivium, as well as giving astrological advice to the Emperor.» — novena: enseñó el quadrivium en Constantinopla y aconsejó al emperador en astrología

«There has been some reluctance to accept that Stephanos was the author of» — y la resistencia que Skinner anticipa a su propia propuesta; el tramo se corta aquí porque el troceo reemite el marcador de plana al abrir el chunk siguiente, con la misma plana a los dos lados

«even an alchemic treatise, and therefore there will undoubtedly be even more reluctance to accept his possible authorship of the Hygromanteia.» — y su continuación: si cuesta aceptar que escribiera un tratado alquímico, más costará aceptarle la autoría de la Hygromanteia

«Heraclius took astrology very seriously, as he even filled in a very large water cistern near his palace to circumvent Stephanos' prediction that he would one day die from drowning.» — en nota, la anécdota que da la medida del interés de Heraclio: hizo rellenar una cisterna para burlar la predicción de Estéfano de que moriría ahogado

«I therefore suggest that the Apotelesmatike Pragmateia by Stephanos might have been an early version or forerunner of the Hygromanteia, and that this particular Apotelesmatike Pragmateia was not the one with the Islamic horoscope translated by Usener.» — la propuesta de autoría en su forma final, marcada como sugerencia: la obra de Estéfano pudo ser versión temprana o precursora de la Hygromanteia, y no la del horóscopo islámico

«I would be happy to have this attribution refuted, but only if a better candidate for the authorship of the Hygromanteia can be discovered.» — y la condición que Skinner pone a su propia retirada: aceptaría que se le objetara la atribución si aparece un candidato mejor

«It is necessary to analyse the exact magical techniques that make up the Hygromanteia, before looking at its place in the transmission of learned Solomonic magic.» — el orden de trabajo que se impone: analizar las técnicas antes de situar la obra en la transmisión

«This passage recurs no less than eight times, like a refrain, and is used like a chorus or section divider.» — el conteo con que sostiene su lectura del pasaje de Roboam: reaparece ocho veces como estribillo o divisor

«As already suggested, this repeated emphasis looks very like a later introduction, added to justify the antiquity and its putative Jewish Solomonic roots.» — y lo que adjudica a esa insistencia: introducción tardía para justificar la antigüedad y las supuestas raíces judías

«It has also acted as justification for some scholars attempting the unlikely task of including this magical text amongst collections of Old Testament pseudepigraphical scriptures, by using the title Epistle to Rehoboam.» — con la consecuencia académica que le imputa: sirvió para intentar meter un texto mágico entre los pseudoepígrafes veterotestamentarios

«In fact if this is removed there is very little of a Jewish nature in the Hygromanteia.» — y el saldo que hace en nota: quitado ese pasaje, queda muy poco de judío en la obra

«Although it would seem more logical to associate the chapters (17 and 18) on planetary and zodiacal herbs with works on astral magic or herbalism, I believe that these sections had and still have a place in the Hygromanteia.» — Skinner defiende, contra lo que parecería lógico, que los capítulos de hierbas planetarias y zodiacales pertenecen a la obra

«In the introductory passages, Solomon explains that the virtue of things resides "in herbs, in words and in stones.» — con la fórmula del propio texto sobre dónde reside la virtud de las cosas

«I hypothesise that the earlier texts of the Hygromanteia may have had a chapter on stones, which has subsequently been extracted and recycled as a separate lapidary.» — y la hipótesis que enuncia como tal: los textos antiguos pudieron tener un capítulo de piedras, luego extraído y reciclado como lapidario aparte

«The reference to virtues to be found "in herbs, in words and in stones" occurs however in a number of other later works on magic such as the Latin Sepher Raziel.» — el paralelo que aduce: la misma fórmula reaparece en obras posteriores como el Sepher Raziel latino

«I think it is possible that the Hygromanteia may have had extensive sections on the planetary and zodiacal correspondences of plants, animals and stones, most of which have been split off over time from the text of the grimoire into separate herbals, bestiaries and lapidaria.» — y la conjetura ampliada, otra vez marcada: secciones extensas de correspondencias que con el tiempo se desgajaron en herbarios, bestiarios y lapidarios

«This is a natural occurrence, given that the evocatory content is likely to have been at some stage separated from the apparently more acceptable 'natural magic' of the herbals, bestiaries and lapidaria.» — con el mecanismo que propone: separar el contenido evocatorio de la magia natural más presentable

«The concept of 'natural magic' may simply have been a reaction to the church's blanket condemnation of magic, in an effort to separate out some acceptable parts of the subject.» — y la lectura que en nota da del propio concepto de magia natural: reacción a la condena eclesiástica en bloque

«The Latin Sepher Raziel6 is one of the few grimoires to keep all seven divisions of magic, natural and ritual, under one head.» — el valor que atribuye al Raziel latino: uno de los pocos grimorios que conservan bajo un solo título las siete divisiones de la magia

«In the opening chapter of the Raziel there are repeated warnings against splitting up the book, a process which may well have happened to the Hygromanteia, and perhaps many other grimoires.» — con las advertencias del propio Raziel contra desmembrar el libro, que Skinner lee como indicio de lo ocurrido a la Hygromanteia

«The fact that this warning is repeatedly given suggests that the editor might have been aware of such splitting up of other grimoires by his editorial contemporaries:» — y lo que infiere de su reiteración: el editor conocía esa práctica entre sus contemporáneos

«And then I begun to write all these Treatises in a new volume, for [just] one Treatise without another serves not to [explain] the wholeness of the work» — el propio Raziel, citado: un tratado sin los otros no sirve para la integridad de la obra

«Clarifaton1 said that it ought to be but one book alone by itself, for none of these [Treatises], said he, would suffice without the others, therefore he said it is necessary that they are all [kept] together. Whereupon Solomon ordained that all the said 7 Treatises were but one book, as they ought to be, and so they ought to be read and wrought.» — y el resto del pasaje, con Clarifatón —según la nota, escriba de Salomón— y la ordenanza de mantener juntos los siete tratados

«Liber Clavis, the Book of the Key of Astronomy 2. Liber Ala, the Virtues of some Stones, Herbs, Beasts and Words 3. Tractatus Thymiamatus, of suffumigations or incense 4. Treatise of Times of the day and night 5. Treatise of Purity and Abstinence 6. Samaim, the names of the heavens and their angels 7. Book of Virtues and Miracles for specific magical operations.» — los siete tratados del Raziel, enumerados: la clave de astronomía, las virtudes de piedras, hierbas, bestias y palabras, las suffumigaciones, los tiempos, la pureza y abstinencia, los nombres de los cielos y sus ángeles, y las virtudes y milagros

«The Hygromanteia is divided into nine sections: "Instructions of the nine books of Solomon, concerning the gathering of the aerial spirits face to» — y la partición en nueve que el propio texto declara, sobre reunir a los espíritus aéreos cara a cara

«Key Astrological background to the magic (chap. 2, 4-10, 30)4 2. Virtues and correspondences of plants, characters (chap. 15-18) 3. Planetary incenses, characters and seals (chap. 14) 4. Times - angels/ demons of the hours and days (chap. 11, 13) 5. Ritual procedure, purity and abstinence (chap. 31, 40) 6. Conjurations & prayers to planets, angels, spirits (chap. 3, 37, 42, 43) 7. Specific objective evocation methods» — las siete primeras de las nueve partes en que Skinner reordena la obra para hacerla paralela al Raziel, con sus capítulos entre paréntesis

«It is not my intention to propose a connection between these two grimoires, but merely to demonstrate a similar format, which may be detected in other grimoires, and which may therefore indicate an earlier state of the Hygromanteia.» — el límite que Skinner pone a la comparación: no propone conexión entre los dos grimorios sino un formato semejante

«Every grimoire will, however, usually have one or more of these sections missing. In the case of the Hygromanteia it is the stones, herbs (partially) and beasts that are missing.» — y lo que falta en el caso que estudia: las piedras, las bestias y en parte las hierbas

«Another reason for suspecting the early presence of sections like this is the fact that the earliest manuscript of the Hygromanteia (B2) dated 1440 was very firmly bound up with several such lapidaries written in the same hand.» — el segundo indicio material: el manuscrito más antiguo estaba encuadernado con lapidarios de la misma mano

«In fact, the binding of this particular manuscript of the Hygromanteia bears a single word on its spine label 'Damigeron,' who was the author of a famous lapidary De Virtutibis Lapidum, 'Of the Virtues of Stones.'» — con el rótulo del lomo, que nombra al autor de un lapidario famoso

«The presence of lapidaries and herbals bound up in the same volume might have simply been an accident of scriptorium choice, or binder convenience, and so is not of course conclusive, but goes some way to supporting the conjecture that the Hygromanteia may originally have had a more extensive herbal section, plus its own chapter on stones, and maybe one on beasts.» — y la reserva con que él mismo mide el indicio: pudo ser accidente de scriptorium o comodidad del encuadernador, y por eso no es concluyente

«The presence of full-blown herbaria and lapidaria bound in the same manuscript volume as the earliest known Hygromanteia, and their continuing presence in the Raziel, suggests that it was the herbaria, bestiaries and lapidaria that got detached.» — aun así, la conclusión que se permite: fueron los herbarios, bestiarios y lapidarios los que se desprendieron

«The breakdown of the Hygromanteia into 59 chapters used here naturally follows the subheadings already extant in the various manuscripts, plus a few very obvious breaks at change of topic.» — el criterio con que Skinner divide la obra en cincuenta y nueve capítulos: los subtítulos ya presentes en los manuscritos más algún corte evidente

«By comparison, Torijano' s chapter breakdown is very forced,2 which aims to make a major feature out of the recurrence of that one small Rehoboam passage, which he portrays as the main chapter heading for each and every one of his sections 1-7.» — y el juicio que le merece la división de Torijano, con la razón: hace del pasaje de Roboam el encabezado de todas sus secciones

«Torijano's sections 1-8A listed on his page 164 correspond to the small subset of chapters 1-18 which occur in manuscript M, which omits a number of chapters (4-10, 12, 14, and 15). Quite separately Torijano lists a separate run of sections from (1) to (13) C and 7 A-C listed on his page 211, without clarifying that these sections are» — en nota, el detalle del reproche: dos series de secciones sacadas de manuscritos distintos y sin decir que la segunda expande una sección de la primera; la nota se reparte en tres planas y el tramo se corta en el primer cambio

«different manuscript H. It is for this reason that I will not be following his very confused numbering system, which only covers part of the Hygromanteia anyway.» — y el final de esa misma nota, tres planas más adelante: no seguirá esa numeración, que tiene por confusa y parcial

«The last two sections are given in much greater detail in the Hygromanteia than the Raziel. This is not surprising as the Hygromanteia is the most complete text of the methods of Solomonic magic extant.» — Skinner mide la diferencia entre los dos grimorios comparados: el equipo y la visión están mucho más detallados en la Hygromanteia, que tiene por el texto más completo del método salomónico conservado

«The following table shows the structure of the contents of the Hygromanteia, and the disposition of each chapter in the various manuscripts.» — presenta la tabla que resume la estructura de la obra y el reparto de capítulos por manuscrito

«The chapter numbers do not occur in the manuscripts but are imposed in order to correlate the 17 manuscripts examined.» — con la advertencia de que los números de capítulo son suyos y no de los manuscritos

«As can be seen from this table, no single manuscript has a complete set of all chapters.» — y el primer resultado que saca de ella: ningún manuscrito trae la serie completa

«It can be seen that H is the most complete manuscript, and D and T the least complete.» — con los extremos de la escala

«It can also be seen that B2 may be the source of much of the skrying chapters as these are most complete in this manuscript.» — el segundo resultado, dicho con su grado: un manuscrito puede ser la fuente de buena parte de los capítulos de visión

«Chapter 13 ('Angels and demons of the 24 hours of the seven days of the week) is present in almost all the manuscripts, which demonstrates how important it is to the Solomonic method.» — y el tercero: el capítulo de los ángeles y demonios de las veinticuatro horas está en casi todos, lo que mide su peso en el método

«Despite the fact that it is very under-represented in the Clavicula Salomonis, it is a key part of the Solomonic method.» — con la anomalía que consigna sin resolver: ese capítulo está muy poco representado en la Clavicula y aun así es pieza clave del método

«Marathakis (2011) pp. 108-113 translates all the manteiai in chapters 47-57 as 1 divination.' I have replaced that with the more precise and technical term of 1 evocationary skrying' because all involve a virginal boy medium describing his vision to the magician who performs the evocation. Translating manteia as I divination,' a term which encompasses tarot, runes, geomancy, lots, astrology, etc., is misleading for this very specific procedure, even if it is superficially a literal translation.» — en nota, la enmienda terminológica que Skinner introduce y por qué: traduce *manteia* como visión evocatoria y no como adivinación, porque en todos los casos hay un niño virgen que describe su visión al mago que evoca

«Analysing the above table it would seem that taken together, manuscripts H, B and A cover almost all of the ritual magic chapters, with B2 providing almost all of the skrying section.» — el resultado del análisis de la tabla: tres manuscritos cubren casi todos los capítulos de magia ritual y un cuarto casi toda la sección de visión

«Hence a composite of manuscripts H, A and B2 would probably provide the best reconstruction of the full text of the Hygromanteia, for comparative purposes, based on currently identified manuscripts.» — y la reconstrucción compuesta que Skinner propone con fines comparativos, marcada como probable

«These three manuscripts are respectively the oldest extant, B2 (1440); the one which includes the most extensive range of chapters, H (15th century); and the one with the longest continuous history of use and annotation, A (16th» — con la razón de elegir esos tres: el más antiguo, el de más capítulos y el de historia de uso y anotación más larga; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«Out of the 59 possible chapters, only three chapters would have been omitted from such a three manuscript composite reconstruction. These are relatively minor:» — y el saldo de la reconstrucción: de cincuenta y nueve capítulos solo quedarían fuera tres, que él tiene por menores

«Chapter 12: 'Prayer to Almighty God' which is almost certainly a later Christian addition.» — el primero de los tres, que adjudica casi con seguridad a añadido cristiano tardío

«Chapter 1 7: 'Zodiacal Herbs.' Although I believe this was integral, Marathakis suggests that both this and 'Planetary Herbs' are not a main part of the Hygromanteia. Certainly these chapters did not travel with the rest of the Key of Solomon when it arrived in Latin Europe.» — el segundo, donde Skinner consigna su desacuerdo con Marathakis sin armonizarlo: él tiene el capítulo por integrante y Marathakis no

«Chapter 50: This chapter is an alternative version of chapter 49, and is therefore not essential.» — y el tercero, versión alternativa de otro capítulo

«There are 20 known manuscripts of the Hygromanteia, but only 17 are shown: P4 and M4 are not tabulated as they were not available for examination. M3 cited by Delatte (1949) and Greenfield (1988), p. 159, is not in fact a Hygromanteia, so it is omitted from the table, leaving just 17 manuscripts.» — en nota, la contabilidad del descarte: dos no estaban disponibles y uno no es en realidad una Hygromanteia

«It is via this route that texts such as the Picatrix2 and associated astral magic and astrological texts reached Western Europe.» — según Skinner, el Picatrix y los textos de magia astral llegan a Europa occidental por la ruta árabe de las traducciones

«In fact Toledo and Salamanca universities were famous for their teaching of astrology and (in the case of Toledo) magic.» — con el dato de las universidades de Toledo y Salamanca, célebres por enseñar astrología y, en un caso, magia

«However it is not that route, which was the line of transmission for Solomonic magic plus a large amount of the astrology, geomancy and astral magic, which concerns us here. We are more properly concerned with the rather neglected direct transmission of Greek texts to Latin via traffic between Byzantine Constantinople and Venice, as well as those parts of southern Italy which from time to time came directly under the rule of Byzantium.» — y el desvío que su tesis exige: la vía que le interesa es la transmisión directa del griego al latín por el tráfico entre Constantinopla y Venecia y el sur de Italia

«Although an extra impetus was added to this transmission by the Muslim attack on Constantinople in 1422, and the final sacking of Constantinople in 1453, a cultural transmission of magical and astrological knowledge had been ongoing for some time before then.» — con la corrección de cronología que introduce: los ataques a Constantinopla dieron impulso a una transmisión que venía de antes

«The Hermetic Asclepius and Liber de Physiognomia (late 4th century); Damigeron/Evax' s De Lapidibus et eorum virtutibus concerning the magical correspondences of precious and semi-precious stones (5th century); De Plantis duodecim signis et septem planetis subiectis on the correspondences of plants to the 12 signs of the zodiac and seven planets (late» — el primero de los grupos de traducciones tempranas que enumera, con el Asclepius hermético a la cabeza y los lapidarios y libros de plantas y planetas que le siguen

«Ptolemy's Preceptum Canon is Ptolomei, an early ephemeris; Aratus's Phaenomena on the constellations (early 8th century); Pascalis' s Liber Thesauri Occulti on dreams (1165); Kyranides, a classic of the correspondences of astral magic (1169); Oneirocriticon on dreams (1176); Aristotle's Works (mid/late 13th century); Abu Ma'shar's astrological works (c. 1260); Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos, a classic of astrology (before 1281 ); Liber de triginta sex decanis, on the 36 Decans, attributed to 'Hermes' (before» — la segunda tanda de traducciones tempranas del griego al latín que Skinner enumera, de las Fenómenos de Arato al Liber de triginta sex decanis atribuido a Hermes

«It can be seen that the first strand of magic to reach the Latin West was astral magic, which relied upon the astrological correspondences of stones, plants and beasts, rather than ritual magic.» — y la conclusión que saca de la lista: la primera hebra de magia que llega al Occidente latino es la astral

«Many of these texts were concerned with the creation of talismans according to the position of the Moon in its 28 Mansions, material that forms a much more important part of astral magic than it does of ritual magic.» — con el rasgo que la distingue: talismanes según la posición de la Luna en sus veintiocho mansiones, materia mucho más propia de la magia astral

«Some of this material does occur in the Hygromanteia (chapters 30 and 6-7) but it does not form the core of that text, and it is used in a different way, as outlined below.» — y la concesión medida que hace: algo de eso hay en la Hygromanteia, sin ser su núcleo y con otro uso

«Although stones, plants and beasts are predominately of interest to texts of astral magic, there is some slight overlap with ritual magic.» — Skinner acota el solapamiento entre lapidarios, herbarios y bestiarios y la magia ritual

«Predating the extant manuscripts of the Hygromanteia, and the Latin texts of the Clavicula Salomonis is the Salomonis Libri de Gemmis et Daemonibus ('Books of Solomon of Gems and Demons') which was referred to by the 12th century Greek historian Michael Glycas.» — y aduce un testimonio anterior a los manuscritos conservados: los *Libros de Salomón sobre gemas y demonios*, citados por Michael Glycas

«Michael Psellus (1018-1081) also spoke in the 11th century of what was probably the same treatise, said to be composed by Solomon, "on stones and demons.» — con el testimonio de Michael Psellus, un siglo antes, sobre lo que probablemente era el mismo tratado

«It is conceivable that this book may have at one point formed an integral part of the Hygromanteia, for the reasons outlined below.» — y el grado con que arriesga la conexión: cabe concebir que ese libro formara parte de la Hygromanteia

«The question arises as to how material from lapidaria, herbaria and bestiaries might have been of practical use in ritual magic.» — Skinner plantea la pregunta práctica: de qué servía ese material en la magia ritual

«in accordance with the properties of each of the gods, [and] the receptacles adapted to them, the theurgic art in many cases links together stones, plants, animals, aromatic substances, and other such things that are sacred, perfect and godlike, and then from all these composes an integrated and pure receptacle [for the gods].» — y la responde con Jámblico, citado en bloque: el arte teúrgico enlaza piedras, plantas, animales y aromas conformes a cada dios hasta componer un receptáculo puro

«Even to some god, of those who dwell within the universe, a stone from hence and a [corresponding] herb is a befitting offering, for in sympathising2 with these he is yielding to [their] nature and is bewitched.» — el segundo testimonio, de Sinesio: la piedra y la hierba correspondientes son ofrenda propia del dios, que al simpatizar con ellas queda hechizado

«Or to rephrase it, stones and plants can be used as offerings to gods in order to ensnare them with magic.» — con la reformulación de Skinner: piedras y plantas sirven de ofrenda para atrapar a los dioses

«what is even more amazing is that demons from the air and from the land are charmed by certain stones, certain plants, certain speech, or certain designs which are called characteres (xapaKrfipac;), and which, I think, were first discovered by the Chaldeans and Egyptians, each sign capable of making each demon known.» — y el tercero, de Nikephoros Gregoras, que Skinner tiene por el más revelador: los demonios se encantan con ciertas piedras, plantas, palabras o diseños llamados *characteres*, atribuidos a caldeos y egipcios

«Here, in a few words, is precisely the reason why the grimoires had supplementary chapters or even full treatises on "stones, plants, beasts, and words.» — de donde Skinner extrae la razón por la que los grimorios llevan capítulos o tratados enteros de piedras, plantas, bestias y palabras

«According to this view, the daimones are 'charmed' or constrained by certain stones, plants, animals, words and written characters. The appropriate set of stones, plants and animals (corresponding to the nature of the daimon) would have been offered to him, in order to 'charm' him, or make him amenable to the magician.» — con el mecanismo explicitado: se ofrece al daimon el juego de piedras, plantas y animales conforme a su naturaleza para hacerlo tratable

«This adequately explains why such material is still part of some grimoires (for example the Latin Raziel), and confirms that the planetary and zodiacal plant attributions do have a rightful place in the grimoires, and in the Hygromanteia.» — y lo que a su juicio queda establecido: las atribuciones vegetales planetarias y zodiacales tienen sitio propio en los grimorios

«A number of commentators, like Torijano and Marathakis, consider the sections on plants to be extraneous, when in fact they were probably an integral part in earlier times.» — con el desacuerdo consignado sin armonizar: Torijano y Marathakis tienen las secciones de plantas por ajenas y Skinner las tiene por integrantes

«Most importantly it shows clearly that these natural correspondences were adjuncts to ritual procedures which came from Egypt contemporaneously with the texts of the PGM.» — y lo que más le importa del conjunto: esas correspondencias naturales eran adjuntos de procedimientos rituales venidos de Egipto a la vez que los papiros

«The transmission of these "stones, plants, beasts, and words" from Egypt to Byzantium, would in due course have fallen under the intellectual dominance of Aristotle's works, which would have» — con la causa que propone para el desprendimiento: el dominio intelectual de las obras de Aristóteles; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«encouraged the separation of the lapidaria, herbaria and bestiaries rather than their continued integration in the Hygromanteia.» — y su continuación: ese dominio alentó separar lapidarios, herbarios y bestiarios en vez de mantenerlos integrados

«Although the use of stones and plants has some affinity with astral magic,l the procedures are completely different, one involved with the drawing and exposure of a talisman, the other the calling of a demon, but the principle of sympathetic bonds is utilised in both disciplines.» — y la distinción que mantiene entre las dos disciplinas, con lo que sí comparten: el talismán se dibuja y expone, el demonio se llama, y en las dos rige el principio de los vínculos simpáticos

«The sack of Constantinople in 1453 (and the earlier attack by Mehmet II in 1422) proved to be the catalysts which accelerated the migration of the culture of the Hellenic world to the Latin West.» — Skinner señala los dos hechos que aceleran la migración de la cultura helénica al Occidente latino

«Ever since the Roman Empire had been voluntarily split into East and West in 286 CE,2 the two halves had drifted apart, a movement which was accentuated by the language split of Greek in the East (the Levant, Palestine, Asia Minor, Syria, Greece itself and Egypt) and Latin in the West (Italy3 and the rest of Western Europe).» — con el trasfondo de la separación, acentuada por la partición lingüística entre griego y latín

«There were also doctrinal differences which helped to accentuate this split, mainly centring on the doctrines of the Trinity and the true nature of Christ's divinity.» — y las diferencias doctrinales que la acentuaron, sobre la Trinidad y la divinidad de Cristo

«Although there was transmission of texts such as the Hygromanteia before this date, the sheer quantity of manuscripts and scholars that moved westwards in the years between 1422 and 1453 was what gave Western Europe fresh impetus to read Greek, and probably also Hebrew, skills that had been in short supply before then.» — el matiz que Skinner introduce: hubo transmisión anterior, y lo que cambió entre 1422 y 1453 fue la cantidad de manuscritos y de eruditos que empujó a Occidente a leer griego

«Scholars fleeing from the Ottoman Turks took with them whatever bits of Hellenic culture they could take. These included a lot of Classical Greek writers, early Christian material and translations of scientific and philosophical Arabic texts into Greek.» — con el inventario de lo que traían los que huían de los turcos otomanos

«The subsequent translation of Classical texts into Latin by such luminaries as Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499) helped fire the intellectual explosion of the Renaissance and the culture of Humanism.» — y el efecto que le atribuye a la traducción latina hecha por Ficino y otros

«Although I was devoted to this cause [the preservation of ancient books] with all my soul, yet after the destruction of Greece and the lamentable captivity of Byzantium I used with even more zeal all my powers, all my care and effort, capital and industry, to search for Greek books. For I was fearful and very anxious of the thought that along with the rest of the things, many excellent books, being the sweat and wakeful hours of so many eminent men, would vanish and perish like so many sources of light, and be lost to the world within the shortest of times.» — el cardenal Bessarión, citado en bloque: tras la caída de Bizancio buscó libros griegos con todo su empeño por temor de que se perdieran como fuentes de luz

«Bessarion' s library, which survives as the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana (the National Library of St Mark) in Venice preserves, as a result of the efforts of the good Cardinal, a number of Greek manuscripts relating to magic.» — y lo que de ese celo quedó: manuscritos griegos de magia en la Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana de Venecia

«At the same time the appearance of the Greek Corpus Hermeticum in the West opened up a repository of religious material which initially (until Isaac Casaubon proved otherwise) was taken to be of almost of equal validity and age as the Old Testament.» — según Skinner, el Corpus Hermeticum griego se recibió en Occidente como material casi tan válido y antiguo como el Antiguo Testamento hasta que Isaac Casaubon mostró otra cosa

«The impact on magic was no less great, as Greek Solomonic texts were rapidly translated into Latin, forming the basis of later Solomonic grimoires.» — con el efecto paralelo sobre la magia: los textos salomónicos griegos se traducen deprisa al latín y fundan los grimorios posteriores

«Although it has been fashionable to decry the attribution of ancient names like Moses and Solomon to magical texts, in fact these texts had often carried the names of these same ancient authors for a long time, and kept these attributions as they crossed cultural and linguistic boundaries.» — y la objeción que Skinner opone a la moda de descalificar las atribuciones antiguas: esos textos llevaban esos nombres desde mucho antes y los conservaron al cruzar fronteras

«In 1240 William of Auvergne,3 in De Legibus, listed a number of grimoires, which were extant in his time. However none of these included more than a small part of the Solomonic method.» — el censo de Guillermo de Auvernia en 1240, con el límite que Skinner subraya: ninguno de esos grimorios traía más que una parte pequeña del método

«For example Quatuor Annulis Salomonis included four rings, or Liber Salomonis de Novem Candariis,4 included just nine talismans.» — con dos ejemplos: cuatro anillos en uno y nueve talismanes en otro

«Candariis definitely means 'talismans' not 'candles' as many authors have mistakenly translated it. See the Catholicon, a dictionary compiled by Johannes Balbus (1460). Candela is 'candle.' Nor is candariis another form of cantharias, a precious stone, as speculatively suggested by Veenstra in The Metamorphosis of Magic, p. 206 n. 36. Further proof that candariis means talisman can be found in BN MS 2384, f. 126 where the French equivalent canderies also means talisman.» — en nota, la enmienda de traducción que Skinner defiende con diccionario y con un manuscrito francés: *candariis* significa talismanes y no velas

«William also twice mentioned "that book which is called Liber Sacratus," or Liber Juratus. This book is composed largely of prayers and only contains part of the Solomonic dynamic of demon/ spirit binding» — Skinner consigna la doble mención del Liber Sacratus o Liber Juratus, con lo que le concede y lo que le niega: mucha oración y solo parte de la dinámica salomónica de vinculación; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«The Juratus and the Ars Notoria, both reached Latin Europe before the Hygromanteia, the Juratus probably circa 1225.» — y el orden cronológico que sostiene: el Juratus y la Ars Notoria llegan a la Europa latina antes que la Hygromanteia

«Their method predominantly relied upon pious prayers to the angels (plus notae in the case of the Ars Notoria. Their style of magic is almost» — con el lugar aparte que les da: método de oraciones piadosas a los ángeles, más las *notae* en el caso de la Ars Notoria, y un estilo casi único; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«William also mentions the Amandal (sic),2 which is a book of four angelic invocations performed on an elevated wax altar, which is quite different from the Solomonic method of magic.» — y el Almadel, que consigna con el *sic* de la grafía del testimonio: cuatro invocaciones angélicas sobre un altar de cera elevado, distinto del método salomónico

«Although these grimoires (and others which were extant in the period before 1453) do have mentions of Solomon, they do not contain the full evocationary Solomonic method.» — el balance de todos ellos: mencionan a Salomón y no traen el método evocatorio completo

«Of the extant manuscripts of the Clavicula Salomonis, the oldest dates from 1446,3 so it seems likely that the Hygromanteia reached the Latin world after 1422 and before the Fall of Constantinople in 1453.» — y el argumento cronológico con que Skinner acota la llegada de la Hygromanteia al mundo latino

«Liber Sacer, or Liber Juratus, the Sworn Book of Honorius. On the basis of that mention by William, I believe, with Mathiesen, that this grimoire pre-dates 1240. The name of the author 'Honorius of Thebes' even appears to be a deliberate contrapositional pun on the name of the then ruling Pope Honorius III (r. 1216-1227). It is not relevant that a completely different grimoire was much later falsely attributed to Pope Honorius III, but it highlights the motivation of grimoire authors in general (for whatever reason) to mock that particular Pope.» — en nota, la lectura que Skinner propone del nombre del autor: Honorio de Tebas como retruécano contrapositivo sobre el papa Honorio III, y la datación anterior a 1240 que comparte con Mathiesen

«Almadel. This title, which is variously spelled, probably derives from the Arabic for a c!rcle, al-Madel. The best known version of this grimoire forms the fourth (and shortest) treatise in the Lemegeton. See Skinner & Rankine (2007), pp. 59-60, 342-347. The Almadel dates back at least to the late 15th century. See Florence MS II-iii-24 for one such 15th century manuscript.» — en nota, la etimología árabe que propone para el título y la datación del grimorio

«The first port of call of these fleeing scholars was often Venice, which not only had good sea connections with Constantinople, but was also famed for its independence and consequent open-mindedness.» — Skinner sitúa Venecia como primer destino de los eruditos que huían, por sus conexiones marítimas y su independencia

«There had been an earlier flight to Venice in 1422 when Mehmet II had attacked Constantinople, and at that time some of the earliest Greek manuscripts arrived.» — con la fuga anterior de 1422, cuando llegaron los primeros manuscritos griegos

«From Venice the Greek scholars, monks and their manuscripts spread through Italy (parts of which had belonged to the Byzantine Empire at various times), possibly seeking out courts that had a reputation for culture and learning, particularly Florence and Mantua.» — y la difusión posterior por Italia hacia las cortes de fama culta

«It is of course quite possible that the earliest manuscripts of the Hygromanteia» — la ruta alternativa que Skinner deja abierta para los primeros manuscritos; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y las notas al pie se interponen en la capa de texto

«reached Italy via other routes, such as the more southerly ports of Longobardia (the southern tip of Italy), Bari or Brindisi, which were in an earlier period under Byzantine control, and so possibly familiar to the fleeing Byzantines.» — y su continuación: los puertos meridionales de Longobardia, Bari o Brindisi, antes bajo control bizantino

«The most direct route (if not the fastest) was overland in an almost straight line from Constantinople westwards across Greece to Durres (Dyrrachium) in Albania (under Venetian rule), along the old Roman paved road, the Via Egnatia which was constructed in the 2nd century BCE by Gnaeus Egnatius, proconsul of Macedonia.» — y la ruta terrestre que describe: la Via Egnatia, de Constantinopla a Durrës, construida en el siglo II a. C.

«Almost all Byzantine trade with Western Europe travelled along the Via Egnatia, and so it would have been a logical route for monks fleeing the Muslim conquest of Byzantium.» — con la razón que la hace probable: por ahí pasaba casi todo el comercio bizantino con Europa occidental

«The names of just five authors or scribes of the extant manuscripts are known to us and these are listed in Table 02 with their manuscript locations. Of these authors the three earliest date from the 15th century.» — el censo de autores y copistas identificables: cinco, y los tres más antiguos del siglo XV

«The point of showing this map is to show that it supports the location of one manuscript in particular written by Ioannes Aron which was found in Grottaferrata monastery, which is located on this classical route from Constantinople to Rome.» — y lo que Skinner quiere que muestre el mapa: la localización de un manuscrito en el monasterio de Grottaferrata, sobre esa ruta

«Clearly all the names are Greek, with the unlikely possibility that Ioannes Aron might have had Jewish roots.» — la lectura onomástica de la tabla, con el grado de certeza puesto: todos los nombres son griegos

«The third manuscript (N) has no indication of location, and the last two are too late to be relevant. That leaves the first two manuscripts which are similar in the sequence of their contents and were both copied at northern Italian locations.» — y el descarte que hace de tres de los cinco para quedarse con los dos copiados en el norte de Italia

«There is at present no conclusive evidence which would enable one to settle upon one particular transmission route (either Venice by sea or Via Egnatia by land) with certainty.» — la abstención que Skinner declara entre las dos rutas de transmisión

«However there is there is one small hint in the oldest manuscript of the Hygromanteia (B2) written by Ioannes Aron which favours the route of transmission to Italy via the Via Egnatia. This suggestive but inconclusive reference is the mention of the city of Lakedaimon, the ancient capital of Sparta:» — y el único indicio que dice tener, favorable a la vía terrestre: la mención de Lakedaimon; la fuente repite *there is*

«0 Lady, queen Sympilia, my magister commands you to send your servant to Solomon the king at Lakedaimonia, in order to give him the talisman that is nailed by steel and sealed with the trigram.! Let him bring it here, in order for our lords to take an oath faithfully and truly, that they will tell me the truth in whatever I may ask them.» — el pasaje del manuscrito donde Salomón aparece como rey en Lakedaimonia, con el talismán clavado con acero y sellado con el trigrama

«Solomon was obviously not the king of Lakedaimon or Sparta, but there were ancient connections between Jerusalem and Sparta in which Solomon may have lived on in local myth as the king of Lakedaimon.» — y la explicación que Skinner propone: antiguas conexiones entre Jerusalén y Esparta pudieron dejar a Salomón en el mito local como rey de Lakedaimon

«Correspondence took place between Jerusalem's High Priest Onias II and Areus, king of Sparta around 270 BCE, which is recorded in 1 Maccabees, 12:20-23. It expressed a clear statement of kinship, "Your cattle and property are ours, and ours are yours." This was followed up 125 years later renewing this liaison in 1 Maccabees, 12:1-18 and in 2 Maccabees, 5:9 when Jason the High Priest of Jerusalem fled to Sparta.» — en nota, la base documental que aduce: la correspondencia entre el sumo sacerdote Onías y Areo de Esparta registrada en los Macabeos

«Jewish king was seen locally as a king of Lakedaimon, then this might indicate that this particular manuscript, written in 1440, had a line of transmission which passed to Italy via the Via Egnatia which ran just north of Lakedaimon, rather than directly by sea to Venice.» — el paso condicional del argumento: si el rey judío pasaba localmente por rey de Lakedaimon, el manuscrito de 1440 vendría por la Via Egnatia, que corría al norte de la ciudad. La cita arranca en la plana siguiente porque la frase cruza el corte de plana

«Lakedaimon was also a typical stopping off place for Byzantine travellers in that period.» — con el dato que lo apoya: Lakedaimon era escala habitual de los viajeros bizantinos

«It is known that the author of this manuscript, Ioannes of Aron (or Aro), finally settled in Italy, probably in the Byzantine monastery of Grottaferrata.» — y el destino conocido del copista, con la grafía alterna del nombre que el propio texto ofrece

«Obviously this argument is still speculative, but the proximity of the dates and the geography is suggestive.» — Skinner marca su reconstrucción como especulativa y dice en qué se apoya: la proximidad de fechas y la geografía

«Pingree states that the Hygromanteia was "rewritten in South Italy.» — con el apoyo que le presta Pingree

«Whichever route was used, the process of translating the Hygromanteia into what was to become the Clavicula Salomonis was definitely begun in Italy.» — y lo que da por firme al margen de la ruta: el proceso de traducción empezó en Italia

«This earliest manuscript of the Clavicula Salomonis in Italian (1466) pre-dates the earliest known Latin manuscript of the Clavicula Salomonis.» — con el dato que sostiene la prioridad del italiano sobre el latín

«Elsewhere in Italy the process of translating Greek texts into Latin was proceeding almost simultaneously. In Florence, Ficino (1433-1499) translated much of Plato and the Corpus Hermeticum from Greek into Latin within 5» — y la simultaneidad que subraya: Ficino traducía Platón y el Corpus Hermeticum en los mismos años; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«Another important figure who expedited the flow of Greek Hermetic ideas into Latin was Francesco Giorgi (or Zorzi 1466-1540), author of De Harmonium Mundi,7 who later had considerable influence on the writings of Agrippa and Dee.» — la segunda figura que destaca en esa vía: Francesco Giorgi o Zorzi, cuya obra influyó después en Agrippa y en Dee

«Giorgi also helped introduce the idea of sacred geometry» — con la otra aportación que le atribuye, la geometría sagrada; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«and proportions in the construction of buildings like churches.» — y su continuación: las proporciones en la construcción de edificios como las iglesias

«Giorgi also frequented Jewish circles in Venice, supporting the introduction of the Kabbalah into the mainstream of religious discourse, as initially the Kabbalah was seen as an interpretive tool for the Old Testament.» — y su papel en la entrada de la cábala en el discurso religioso, primero como herramienta interpretativa del Antiguo Testamento

«In time it became the 'Christian Kabbalah' which influenced both Rosicrucian and Hermetic thought. Even later the doctrines of the Kabbalah provided a conceptual skeleton for magical theory.» — con la trayectoria que le traza: cábala cristiana, influjo rosacruz y hermético, y al cabo esqueleto conceptual de la teoría mágica

«Ironically it was later seen by a number of churchmen as an aid to converting the Jews to Christianity, by deductions that sought to prove that Jesus was the Messiah» — y la ironía que consigna en nota: varios eclesiásticos la vieron como ayuda para convertir a los judíos; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«The Catholic Index Librorum Prohibitorum, a list of banned books which was first issued in Venice in 1543, and formally commissioned by Pope Paul IV in 1559 acts as a helpful summary list of the more widely disseminated magical texts of the period.» — Skinner usa el Índice de libros prohibidos como censo indirecto de los textos mágicos más difundidos de la época

«Some of these books are fairly easy to recognize, others are less easy to find, as the standard of ecclesiastical bibliographic scholarship and printing was less than perfect, and many conventions of Latin contraction were carried over from manuscripts into print.» — con la dificultad que declara: el nivel bibliográfico eclesiástico y las contracciones latinas heredadas del manuscrito

«As can be seen, the Clavicula Salomonis is mentioned twice, in close proximity to the Ars Hydromanteia:» — y lo que a él le interesa del listado: la Clavicula figura dos veces y muy cerca del arte hidromántico

«Lib[er] Hermetis Magi ad Aristot[l]e. Lib[er] Decem Annullorum, Quattuor speculoru[m], Imaginu[m] Thobice, Imaginum Ptolomcei, Virginalis, Clauicula Salomonis, Libri Salomonis Magicis superstitionibus refertus'; 'Clauicula S[o]lomonis'; 'He[n]ricus Cornelius Agrippa'; 'Hydromantice ars, & scripta o[mn]fa'; 'Ioannis Reuclini [Johannes Reuchlin] Speculum Oculare, De Verbo Mirifico, Ars Cabalistica'; 'Petri de Abano opera Geomantice. Item liber de imaginib[us] Astrolog[ia] & de o[mn]f genere diu[i]nat[ione].» — la entrada del Índice tal como la transcribe, con sus contracciones y corchetes de restitución: el Hermes a Aristóteles, los diez anillos, las imágenes de Tobías y de Ptolomeo, la Clavicula, Agrippa, Reuchlin y las obras geománticas de Pedro de Abano

«Some types of books were covered by blanket bans, like that on all books on geomancy which were specifically banned in 1555, and so only appear in the Index by implication.» — con la advertencia de método: las prohibiciones en bloque, como la de toda la geomancia en 1555, solo aparecen por implicación

«Libri omnes, & scripta Chyromantice, Physionomice, Aeroma[n]tice, Geoma[n]tice, Hydroma[ntiae] vel Necroma[n]tice, siue in quib[us] Sortilegia, Veneficia, Auguria, Arusp[i]cia, Inca[ n]tatio[ n]es, Magicce artis vel Astrologice indiciarice [sic] Diuinationes circa . . . '; 'Magicce artis libri, & scripta ora' [omnia]; 'Necromatice opera, & scripta omnia. Notorice artis opera.» — el latín de una de esas prohibiciones generales, que barre quiromancia, fisiognomía, aeromancia, geomancia, hidromancia o nigromancia, y todas las obras de arte notorio

«In this list hydromanteia may have been seen as equivalent to necromantiae, as indicated by the use of vel, 'or.'» — y la lectura que Skinner propone del propio latín, marcada con su grado: la disyuntiva *vel* haría equivalentes hidromancia y nigromancia

«The amount of magical and heterodox material being translated from Greek into Latin in Venice prompted the Church to set up a special branch of the Holy Office Tribunal (aka the Inquisition) in Venice in April 1547, in an effort to 'weed out' what they considered to be the most dangerous examples of heterodox (i.e. Protestant, Lutheran, Orthodox and Anabaptist) texts and their owners.» — el efecto institucional que consigna: el volumen de material mágico traducido en Venecia lleva a instalar allí una rama del Santo Oficio en 1547

«Less frequently, the Venetian Holy Office also acted against owners of magical texts translated from Greek, but this did not gather much momentum till the 1580s.» — con la cronología matizada: contra los dueños de textos mágicos griegos actuó menos, y no con fuerza hasta la década de 1580

«Nevertheless, the number of books confiscated had reached such proportions that by even 1573 the Holy Office ordered that all such books should henceforth be burnt, not so much to suppress their contents but to conserve storage space.» — y el detalle administrativo que subraya: en 1573 se ordenó quemarlos no tanto por su contenido como por falta de espacio

«Representative samples were, of course, sent to the Vatican, where most survive to this day in the Vatican Library.» — con lo que de ahí se salvó: las muestras representativas enviadas al Vaticano

«As Venice valued its independence, magical books, such as De Occulta Philosophia of Agrippa, continued to be sold under the counter, and the clergy were amongst the most active importers of such material.» — el contrapunto veneciano que consigna: el Agrippa se seguía vendiendo bajo cuerda y el clero estaba entre los importadores más activos

«Apart from such well known texts, the bulk of magical material continued to circulate in manuscript form, even as late as the 19th century.» — y el dato de circulación que le importa para su tesis: el grueso del material mágico siguió corriendo en manuscrito hasta el siglo XIX

«Typical texts were the Clavicula Salomonis in its various forms (like Zecorbeni), the Heptameron, various books relating to the Kabbalah, and the classic of astral magic, the Picatrix.» — con la lista de los típicos: la Clavicula en sus formas, el Heptameron, libros de cábala y el Picatrix

«In 1586, Pope Sixtus V redirected the efforts of the Holy Office from control of heresy to the suppression of magic and magicians with the Bull Coeli et Terrae ('Heaven and Earth').» — el giro que Skinner data en 1586: Sixto V redirige el Santo Oficio de la herejía a la magia con la bula *Coeli et Terrae*

«This coincided with the publication of Bodin's witch-hunting text, Demonomania degli Stregoni, in Venice, and with the Pope's 'invitation' to Dee to come to Rome for discussions about his angelic 'Actions.'» — con las dos coincidencias que consigna: la Demonomanía de Bodin en Venecia y la invitación papal a Dee para ir a Roma

«Prudently Dee did not go, as he did not wish to be subsequently locked up in the dungeons of the Inquisition in Rome.» — y la lectura que da de la negativa de Dee

«Besides, Dee was a Protestant, and going to Rome would have been like putting his head in the lion's mouth, because of the then current enmity between Catholics and Protestants.» — con la razón añadida: Dee era protestante y la enemistad confesional lo desaconsejaba

«The records of the Inquisition, and minutes of subsequent trials, help us to trace the movement of specific magical texts across Europe.» — el uso documental que Skinner declara para las actas inquisitoriales: rastrear el movimiento de textos concretos

«1640s the novitiate of the monastery of the Minims of San Francesco of Paola, in Italy, became a hotbed of magical manuscript transcription and distribution.» — el foco de copia que señala: el noviciado de los mínimos de San Francesco di Paola en la década de 1640

«Other monasteries such as San Francesco della Vigna ('St. Francis of the Vineyard') also helped the transmission of magical texts. This was particularly appropriate in a monastery whose architecture was designed in part by Francesco Giorgi the author of De Harmonium Mundi who numbered magic, the Kabbalah, alchemy, astrology and the Hermetic texts amongst his interests.» — y otro monasterio cuya arquitectura diseñó en parte Francesco Giorgi, interesado en magia, cábala, alquimia, astrología y hermetismo

«Accordingly, the della Vigna became a point of intersection between sacred geometry and magic, and was said to be built using 'sacred' proportions, echoing the measurements of the Temple of Solomon and the Jewish Kabbalah. However the main measurements are not that complex or mysteries being simply multiples of the number three.» — en nota, la reserva que Skinner pone a la fama del edificio: se decía construido con proporciones sagradas del Templo de Salomón, y las medidas principales son simples múltiplos de tres

«This wholesale copying meant that many variant readings were introduced into the texts, a process that would not have happened so rapidly if they had been printed, but given church censorship that was not possible.» — la consecuencia textual que adjudica a la copia manuscrita masiva: variantes que la imprenta habría frenado, y que la censura no dejaba imprimir

«The addition of a well known pseudepigraphical name to a copy, such as Moses or Raziel, immediately gave a book more credibility, so that from original texts associated with the name Solomon, a whole slew of copies of the original text with additions or deletions, under various authorial names, fanned out through Europe, giving the false impression that they were different texts.» — y el mecanismo que describe: añadir un nombre pseudoepigráfico daba crédito, y de un mismo texto salió una impresión falsa de multiplicidad

«Of course there were other distinct and separate magical books, but at least 150 extant manuscripts under various names and written in various languages, owe their origin to the original Solomonike that arrived in Italy between 1422 and 1453.» — la cifra que sostiene la tesis del libro: al menos ciento cincuenta manuscritos conservados remiten al Solomonike llegado a Italia entre 1422 y 1453

«In Venice alone copies were circulating in Latin, Italian, French, German, and probably English.» — con las lenguas en que circulaban solo en Venecia

«No doubt there are many more of these to be discovered in the great libraries and private collections of Europe,2 which may have been catalogued either under their incipit or some other generic name such as Ars Magica by harried librarians, who also may not have wished to clearly identify such dangerous works.» — y la razón que da de que falten por descubrir: catalogación por el incipit o por rótulos genéricos, y acaso reticencia de los bibliotecarios

«Conversely a number of unrelated manuscripts have been catalogued as Clavicula Salomonis by librarians who came to think of this title as a generic term for magic.» — con el error inverso que también consigna: manuscritos sin relación catalogados bajo ese título

«French 54 Latin5 34 Italian 24 German 16 English 12 Hebrew 4 Dutch/Latin 4 Czech 1 Arabic 1 Total Clavicula Salomonis 150» — el desglose por lenguas de los ciento cincuenta manuscritos, con el francés a la cabeza

«The predominant languages are therefore French, Latin and Italian. The manuscripts can also be divided into a number of Text-Groups, according to their chapter structure, content and purported author or translator:» — y el criterio con que además los agrupa: estructura de capítulos, contenido y autor o traductor alegado

«This division was first proposed in Mathiesen (2007), pp. 3-9, and then expanded in Skinner & Rankine (2008), pp. 28-32, 412-414.» — en nota, la procedencia de esa división por grupos textuales, que Skinner atribuye a Mathiesen y dice haber ampliado con Rankine

«Of the 80 manuscripts examined and categorised above, the predominant Text-Groups are AC and RS.» — el resultado de la clasificación por grupos textuales: dos predominan sobre los demás

«However the AC Text-Group manuscripts have upwards of 46 chapters, while RS manuscripts have a much smaller range with only 21 chapters.» — con la diferencia de extensión entre los dos, que es lo que decide la elección

«Accordingly manuscripts of the AC Text-Group have been used when identifying commonalities with and transmission from the Hygromanteia.» — y la decisión metodológica que de ahí saca para la comparación con la Hygromanteia

«In addition Mathers' familiar English printed edition of the Key of Solomon has been used because of its ease of reference for those readers who do not easily have access to the manuscripts.» — con la razón práctica de incluir además la edición inglesa de Mathers: la comodidad del lector sin acceso a los manuscritos

«Mathers' text is almost entirely dependant on French Abraham Colomo manuscripts (AC) from the 18th» — y la dependencia textual que le adjudica; el escaneo imprime *Colomo* por *Colorno* y el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«century effectively including Kings MS 288, Harley MS 3981, Sloane MS 3091, and so is useful as a source.» — con las signaturas de los manuscritos que están detrás de esa edición

«Although sometimes derided by scholars for producing a composite text, Mathers nevertheless conscientiously edited the manuscripts listed above, whilst adding chapters from other AC manuscripts which were missing from his main source, and in doing so these additions were clearly footnoted.» — el juicio doble que Skinner da sobre Mathers: se le ridiculiza por componer un texto compuesto, y aun así editó con cuidado y anotó las adiciones

«It is well known that he omitted three chapters on operations of love and one chapter on operations of hate, which he claimed were derived from the Grimorium Verum and the Clavicola di Salomone Ridolta, but he admitted as much in his introduction.» — con lo que sí le reconoce omitido, y la atenuante de que Mathers lo declarara

«He is also derided for rather naively crediting Solomon the king of Israel as the author, which is unfortunate.» — y el segundo reproche corriente, sobre acreditar ingenuamente a Salomón como autor

«His work in English on the AC Text-Group has however seldom been superseded by any scholar since, although there have been editions in French3 and Italian.» — con el balance que Skinner hace: su trabajo en inglés apenas ha sido superado

«Mr. Waite's harsh criticism [of Mathers] is hardly justified. In fact, Mathers excised very little. Actually, three of the four significant excisions are operations dealing with love magic (Colorno, chapters 11-13: The experiment of Love, and how it should be performed; The experiment or operation of the fruit; Of the operation of love by her dreams, and how one must practice it. The fourth excision is chapter 14: Operations and experiments regarding hate and destruction of enemies.» — Joseph Peterson, citado en bloque, contando las excisiones de Mathers: tres de amor y una de odio, y la crítica de Waite le parece poco justificada

«The result of this attitude is that whilst a number of scholars are happy to use and quote from the works of both Ribadeau Dumas and MacGregor Mathers, they deliberately fail to list them in their bibliographies or in their indexes. Examples of this practice can be seen in Skemer (2006), pp. 119, 131, 210, 211, and the omission of both Mathers and Daniel Driscoll from the bibliography in Fanger (1998). Their work was in each case the first English edition of two very important magic texts. Despite modern academic attitudes, 'peer review' does not automatically produce a better text, and may restrict the introduction of radical new ideas, to the detriment of the scholarly community.» — en nota, la objeción de Skinner a la práctica académica de citar a Dumas y a Mathers sin listarlos en la bibliografía, y su reserva sobre la revisión por pares

«Peer review as a formal system, rather than just a loose association of editors and friends, has in fact only existed since the early 1960s.» — con el dato histórico que añade sobre la propia revisión por pares

«I have edited examples of three further Text-Groups (AC, RS and UT) from the French manuscripts Wellcome MS 4669 and Wellcome MS 4670,6 and edited and introduced one manuscript from the SM Text-Group.» — Skinner declara qué grupos textuales ha editado él mismo

«The conclusion arising from this survey is that the manuscripts utilised in the comparison Table 03 are adequately representative of the Clavicula Salomonis.» — y la conclusión de representatividad que extrae para su tabla comparativa

«There are at least 20 manuscripts of the Clavicula Salomonis in Italian (see Appendix 3), but of these only two are definitely from the 16th century: Brescia Civica Queriniana E VI 23, or BN Ital. 1524.» — el censo italiano, con los dos únicos manuscritos que da por seguros del siglo XVI

«The Clavicula Salomonis, after being translated in Italy between 1422 and 1440 soon migrated to other parts of Europe, and in doing so acquired different Latin and vernacular titles and varied contents which in broad outline correspond to the different Text-Groups.» — y la dinámica de dispersión que describe: al migrar, la obra adquiere títulos y contenidos distintos que corresponden a los grupos textuales

«It is not possible, within the confines of this book, to trace this dissemination in detail, but in outline it is as follows:» — con el límite que él mismo pone al alcance del capítulo

«In Italy the Clavicula Salomonis became known as La Clavicola di Salomone ridolta et epilogata of Geo[vanni] Peccatrixs (GP) or Zekorbeni, sive Clavicula Salomonis (Zk).» — los títulos italianos de la obra, con sus siglas de grupo textual

«In France the Clavicula Salomonis became Les Veritables Clavicules de Salomon (Text-Group Ab), La Clavicule de Salomon Roy des Hebreux (AC), Les Vrais Clavicules du Roi Solomon (Arm), La Clavicule Magique et Cabalistique du Sage Roy Salomon (CMC), Les Clavicules de Rabbi Salomon (RS), Le Secret des Secrets, autrement la Clavicule de Salomon (SS) and the very reduced in content Traite Universel des Clavicules de Salomon (UT).» — y los franceses, siete títulos con sus siglas, hasta el muy reducido Tratado Universal

«In Germany it was severely edited to become the Clavicula Salomonis Expurgata, oder Schliissel des Konigs Salomons (Exp). However the Clavicula Salomonis does not seem to have had much influence in Germany in the face of the home-grown Faustian tradition.» — el caso alemán, con la explicación que da de su escaso arraigo: la competencia de la tradición fáustica local

«The Hebrew version which appeared in Amsterdam around 1700, the Maphteah Shelomoh (SM) has already been dealt with in chapter 3.2. There is also ı Czech version, and possibly other European versions not yet identified.» — la versión hebrea de Ámsterdam ya tratada, más una checa y las que Skinner deja sin identificar; el escaneo devora el artículo antes del gentilicio

«However Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Austria, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe seem to have avoided significant penetration by the Clavicula Salomonis.» — la búsqueda negativa que declara por regiones: España, Portugal, Suiza, Austria, Escandinavia y Europa oriental quedan al margen

«Grimoire of St. Cyprian (in its various forms) took a more prominent place.» — con la explicación que ofrece para tres de ellas: en España, Portugal y Escandinavia ocupó ese lugar el Grimorio de san Cipriano. La cita arranca en la plana siguiente porque la frase cruza el corte y las notas al pie se interponen

«The Clavis Inferni, although attributed to St. Cyprian, is in fact a unique Solomonic grimoire (only one manuscript is known) and not related to the Cyprian grimoires of the Iberian peninsular, which are heavily Catholic or verging on folk magic.» — y la distinción que traza en nota: el Clavis Inferni es un grimorio salomónico único, sin relación con los ciprianos ibéricos

«In England it became the familiar Key of Solomon (AC), as edited by Mathers, and the Key of Knowledge (KK is really a subset of AC).» — los títulos ingleses, con la relación entre los dos grupos

«One of the first French Claviculas copied across the channel by an English scribe was Les Clavicules de Rabby Solomon (sic),2 the writing of which was completed on November 26th, 1798 at exactly 6:13pm by John Lambert in London.» — el manuscrito inglés que data con hora exacta: seis y trece de la tarde del 26 de noviembre de 1798

«Adding to the fascination of this particular manuscript is the fact that it was bound in leather made from human skin.» — con el detalle de su encuadernación

«Although John Lambert was a common enough English name, General Sir John Lambert (1772-1847) fits these circumstances rather well.» — y la identificación que Skinner propone del copista, marcada como ajuste de circunstancias y no como prueba

«Having seen active service he was also in a good position to acquire human skin, and from multiple postings to France, including the Battle of Waterloo, he undoubtedly knew French. He may also have had opportunities to pick up a French Clavicula Salomonis from which to copy.» — con los indicios que alega: servicio activo en Francia, conocimiento del francés y ocasión de conseguir piel humana

«There are only two printed editions of the Key of Solomon in English,4 but selected passages have been published in English in volumes dealing with grimoires generally.» — el censo de ediciones impresas en inglés

«There are many more printed editions in French and Italian, for which see the Bibliography, demonstrating the popularity of this grimoire in those languages.» — frente a las francesas e italianas, que él lee como medida de popularidad

«In 1737 the German bookseller Gaspar Fritsch remarked in a letter: "the Clavicules de Salomon, of which I have seen many manuscripts . . . are all different from one another.» — el testimonio del librero Gaspar Fritsch en 1737 sobre la variabilidad de los manuscritos

«Copies closer in contents to the Hygromanteia continued to circulate, but a plethora of variations and redacted copies also spread across Europe.» — y el matiz que Skinner añade: junto a las variantes siguieron circulando copias más cercanas a la Hygromanteia

«Beyond the Clavicula Salomonis, there were a number of grimoires circulating in Europe (predominantly Italy, France, Spain, Germany and» — el grupo de grimorios que declara deudores de la Clavicula en método, con los países donde circulaban; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«The main titles in this genre were The Grimoire of Pope Honorius III,1 The Grimorium Verum,2 The Grand Grimoire,3 Grand Albert, Lesser Alberf4 and The Black Dragon.» — con sus títulos principales

«A number of grimoires not directly related to the Solomonic cycle like the Ars Notoria, the Juratus, the Aptolcater, or the huge recently re-discovered compendium manuscript of the Summa Sacre Magice dating from 1346, all need to be analysed and interpreted, but they will have to wait till the next volume in this series, as including them here would have severely overburdened the present volume which is dedicated specifically to the Solomonic grimoires.» — y lo que Skinner declara aplazado para otro volumen: la Ars Notoria, el Juratus, el Aptolcater y la Summa Sacre Magice de 1346

«The recently published grimoire, the Book of Oberon, contains a section entitled 'The Key of Solomon' but this is more of a "magical miscellany, a compilation of material gathered by magicians over time as needs or opportunities presented themselves and with little effort made at overall organization or systematic labelling,"6 rather than being a strictly Solomonic grimoire.» — el caso que excluye con su razón: el Book of Oberon trae una sección con ese título y es, según los editores que cita, una miscelánea sin organización sistemática

«Many of the items of equipment listed are in fact Solomonic,7 but these are heavily Christianised and not used in the ordered manner of that» — con la concesión y el límite: buena parte del equipo es salomónico, y va cristianizado y sin el orden del grimorio

«The purpose of this chapter is to demonstrate the wholesale transmission of material from the Hygromanteia to the Clavicula Salomonis (Key of Solomon), by identifying common chapter contents and similar sequences in the manuscripts.» — Skinner declara el propósito del capítulo comparativo: mostrar el traspaso masivo de material identificando contenidos y secuencias comunes

«For example, the Introduction to the Abraham Colorno Text-Group (AC) of the Clavicula Salomonis1 begins with a very similar passage to that found in the opening chapter of Hygromanteia including the opening conversation between Solomon and his son Rehoboam:» — y el primer ejemplo que aduce: la introducción del grupo AC abre con un pasaje muy semejante al primer capítulo de la Hygromanteia

«Treasure up, 0 my son Roboam (sic)! the wisdom of my words, seeing that I, Solomon, have received it from the Lord.» — el pasaje de la Clavicula en la traducción de Mathers, con el *sic* que el propio Skinner pone a la grafía del nombre

«0 my Son Roboam! seeing that of all Sciences there is none more useful than the knowledge of Celestial Movements, I have thought it my duty, being at the point of death, to leave thee an inheritance more precious than» — y su segunda parte: la ciencia de los movimientos celestes como herencia más preciosa; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«The Hygromanteia likewise uses the same literary device of a conversation between Solomon and Rehoboam to point out the necessity of astronomy and timing:» — con el paralelo formal que Skinner señala en el texto griego

«Pay attention, my dearest son Rehoboam, to what I, your father Solomon, have said about the details of this art, which contain the entire method of the Magical Treatise. By means of this treatise, you will learn everything that is possible for a prudent, wise and zealous concerning divine things man to know [sic].» — el pasaje correspondiente de la Hygromanteia, con el *sic* que marca la sintaxis de la traducción

«The detailed proof that the Hygromanteia is the direct ancestor of the Key of Solomon can only be demonstrated by analysing the chapters of the composite Hygromanteia (comprised of manuscript versions H, B, A and B2) against representative manuscripts of the Key of Solomon. These include Mathers' edition (1909) which drew mostly from French AC5 manuscripts; Alnwick MS 584, an AC Latin manuscript probably from the early 16th century; and Additional MS 36674, a 16th century English manuscript.» — y el método de prueba que anuncia: cotejar los capítulos de una Hygromanteia compuesta contra manuscritos representativos de la Key

«The first paragraph appears in Add MS 10862, a 17th century Latin manuscript, whilst the second paragraph appears in Lansdowne MS 1203 a 17th century French manuscript of the Key of Solomon.» — en nota a la tabla comparativa, Skinner declara de qué manuscritos sale cada párrafo del pasaje de Roboam que acaba de citar

«Chapters 4-9 of the Hygromanteia are general astrology, and do not specifically appear in the Clavicula Sa» — y la primera de las ausencias que consigna en la tabla: los capítulos de astrología general no pasan a la Clavicula; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«Probably separated from the Greek text of the Hygromanteia before translation into Latin.» — la explicación que da de otra ausencia, la de las hierbas zodiacales, marcada como probable

«Not present in the Clavicula Salomonis as writing technology had moved on to quill and parchment.» — y la que da del cálamo de caña: la tecnología de escritura había pasado a la pluma y el pergamino

«The lamen is only mentioned in passing. 2 The ring is only mentioned in passing in the Clavicula Salomonis.» — dos notas seguidas donde Skinner mide el desgaste de dos instrumentos al pasar del griego al latín: el lamen y el anillo quedan en mención de paso

«The importance of the lamen has diminished in the Latin grimoires. It is mentioned in the Key of Solomon in passing, amongst the pentacles, where it is specified as stitched to the robe.» — con el detalle de esa disminución: en la Key el lamen aparece entre los pentáculos y cosido a la túnica

«These appear in other Latin Solomonic grimoires such as the Clavis Inferni, but have been eliminated from mainstream Clavicula Salomonis.» — y el rastro que sigue de las conjuraciones de los demonios de los cuatro cuartos: sobreviven en otros grimorios latinos y desaparecen de la Clavicula corriente

«This echoes traditional stories about Solomon imprisoning spirits in a bottle, so it is strange that it does no longer appears in the Clavicula Salomonis.» — con la anomalía que Skinner subraya sin resolver: la Gasteromanteia recoge la historia salomónica de los espíritus embotellados y aun así no pasa a la Clavicula

«Chapters 45 and 46 are obviously about the evocation of local Greek spirits, and were not passed on to the Key of Solomon.» — y la razón que da de otras dos ausencias: son evocaciones de espíritus griegos locales

«Probably a localised Greek procedure which did not 'travel.'» — con la fórmula, marcada como probable, que emplea para ese tipo de pérdida

«There is a possibility that the manuscripts we currently have of the Hygromanteia were truncated at this point, as there is an "end" notice at this point in this one manuscript.» — la posibilidad que Skinner deja abierta sobre el final del texto: que los manuscritos conservados estén truncados donde uno de ellos pone un aviso de fin

«These 'Experiments' are almost certainly later accretions, which often accumulate at the end of manuscripts of the Clavicula Salomonis, and other grimoires.» — y la adjudicación que hace de los *Experiments*: acrecencias tardías que se acumulan al final de los manuscritos

«It is clear from the foregoing Table that the chapters of the Key of Solomon clearly map onto the chapters of the Hygromanteia, but in a different order.» — el resultado que Skinner lee en la tabla: los capítulos de la Key mapean sobre los de la Hygromanteia, en otro orden

«In most cases the topics represented by these chapter headings are dealt with in much more detail in the Hygromanteia, proving that it was the source for the Clavicula Salomonis/Key of Solomon, rather than the reverse.» — y el criterio con que adjudica la dirección del préstamo: los temas están mucho más detallados en el texto griego

«The Pentacles. These do not occur in the Hygromanteia, but they do occur in many Text-Groups of the Clavicula Salomonis.» — primera de las cuatro excepciones que Skinner declara a la derivación: los pentáculos no están en la Hygromanteia y sí en muchos grupos textuales de la Clavicula

«A few very sketchy diagrams of "the 24 seals that must be drawn on the lamen" occur in some manuscripts of the Hygromanteia. 6 These contain very simple pentagrams, box grids and 8-spoke wheel drawings which faintly resemble 'thumbnails' of the much more complex pentacles of the Clavicula Salomonis.» — con lo poco que sí encuentra en el griego: pentagramas simples, rejillas y ruedas de ocho radios que parecen miniaturas de los pentáculos latinos

«Identifying discontinuities is as important as identifying continuities, as it sometimes leads to the discovery of new sources, as it has in the case of the pentacles.» — y el principio de método que de ahí saca: identificar discontinuidades vale tanto como identificar continuidades porque lleva a fuentes nuevas

«'Experiments' which are clearly add-ons in many Clavicula Salomonis manuscripts are missing from the Hygromanteia.1 Such experiments are often to be found at the end of European grimoires, often written in a different hand, and have obviously been added in by owners or editors of the manuscripts from other sources.» — segunda excepción: los *Experiments* de la Clavicula, que él tiene por añadidos de dueños o editores, a menudo en otra mano

«The astrology chapters of the Hygromanteia (chapters 4-8) were not passed on to the Clavicula Salomonis, but were probably separated out into separate Latin astrology texts.» — tercera: los capítulos de astrología no pasan al latín y, según Skinner, se desgajaron probablemente en tratados astrológicos aparte

«Evocationary Skrying. The most immediately noticeable loss are the methods of evocationary skrying (chapters 47-57), the section ironically actually entitled Hygromanteia.» — cuarta, y la que él subraya como irónica: se pierde justamente la sección que da nombre a la obra

«Although both Trithemius and Dee continued the skrying tradition,3 the techniques they used are watered down, and all manuscript Text-Groups of the Key of Solomon omit them.» — con la continuidad parcial que concede: Trithemius y Dee siguieron la tradición de la visión con técnicas aguadas

«However, these evocationary skrying methods are found almost word-for-word in 11th century Jewish sources. Accordingly, either Jewish sources supplied these chapters to the Hygromanteia, or less likely, were derived from that text.» — y la alternativa que deja sin arbitrar: o las fuentes judías del siglo XI dieron esos capítulos a la Hygromanteia o, menos probablemente, derivan de ella

«It has therefore been demonstrated that there is a clear line of transmission from the Hygromanteia to the Clavicula Salomonis.» — la conclusión del capítulo comparativo

«The purpose of this chapter is to examine commonality of method.» — Skinner declara el propósito del capítulo siguiente

«In each of the sections of this chapter, the purpose is not simply to document the manifestation of the technique in each culture or era, but to use the similarities to demonstrate the continued use of these techniques with little change, a transmission that has survived changes of geography, culture and language over upwards of 2000 years.» — y qué quiere que hagan las semejanzas: no documentar la técnica en cada cultura sino mostrar su uso continuado con poco cambio a lo largo de más de dos mil años

«Discovering the continuity in magical methods is a matter of tracing the survival of documents and their contents, rather than being able to demonstrate "continuous action," or the oral passage of methods from one practitioner to the next.» — con la restricción que él mismo impone a su prueba: la continuidad se rastrea en documentos, no en acción continua ni en transmisión oral

«This is especially true in Europe, where unrelenting Christian persecution of magic has been in force for at least 1650 years, and before that, selective Roman persecution (but mainly in cases where magic overlapped with treason).» — y la razón histórica que da: mil seiscientos cincuenta años de persecución cristiana, y antes la persecución romana selectiva

«Although it is sometimes possible to identify some of the magicians who owned a specific magician's handbook, it is not often possible to identify the passage of techniques and training from one magician to another.» — con la abstención que se impone: rara vez puede identificarse el paso de técnicas y formación de un mago a otro

«The history of magic in Europe therefore has more often been one of rediscovery, each magician reassembling techniques from the books and manuscripts of previous practitioners, rather than direct oral tradition.» — de donde saca su caracterización de la historia de la magia europea: redescubrimiento, con cada mago rearmando técnicas desde los libros de los anteriores

«Under these circumstances it is remarkable that there is such a degree of commonality.» — y lo que eso hace notable a sus ojos: que aun así haya tanta coincidencia

«The first example of transmission which I wish to instance, spans the period from the end of the time of Graeco-Egyptian magic (as covered in TGEM) to within a few years of the earliest recorded manuscript of the Hygromanteia, specifically from 579 CE to 1425 CE.» — el primer ejemplo que aduce, con sus dos fechas extremas

«This example is concerned with the iconography of the spiritual creatures that were the target of evocations rather than the magician's evocations per se.» — y su acotación: se trata de iconografía de las criaturas espirituales, no de las evocaciones

«A sarcophagus dated 579 CE was discovered in Xian (Chang An) in China in 2003. It shows a very clearly delineated god or daimon carved in deep relief. The image consists of a figure with a pronounced upward curving beard, wings and very pronounced four-claw bird feet, a lunar crescent circlet on its head, tail feathers, holding a pair of sticks which are probably wands or barsoms,2 and standing in front of a fire altar, with its loin cloth tied in an 'Isis knot.'» — la descripción del relieve del sarcófago de Xian: barba curvada hacia arriba, alas, patas de ave de cuatro garras, creciente lunar en la cabeza, plumas caudales, un par de varas y un altar de fuego

«The current scholarly assessment is that the figure is that it is a 'bird-priest,' but the very distinct and narrow bird-shaped legs in no way look like a priest wearing 'birdy leggings' and indicate that the creature is clearly not human.» — el desacuerdo que Skinner sostiene con la lectura académica corriente: las patas estrechas de ave no parecen polainas de sacerdote

«The cock-like figure may be Sraosha, who was the yazata who first tied the barsom, to make an offering to Ahura Mazda.» — y la identificación que propone, marcada con su grado: acaso Sraosha, el yazata que primero ató el barsom

«He looks after the soul of the deceased for the first three days after death, and as a psychopomp, sees him across the bridge to the underworld, and so is a most appropriate motif on a sarcophagus.» — con la razón funcional que la apoya: como psicopompo, es motivo apropiado en un sarcófago

«This word is remarkably close to besom, the broomstick of later European witches, although any such connection must for the moment remain speculative.» — en nota, una proximidad léxica que Skinner señala y a la vez declara especulativa: *barsom* y la escoba de las brujas europeas

«This sarcophagus has been identified as the last resting place of a Zoroastrian, Wirkak, who lived 495-579 CE.» — la identificación del difunto

«An intriguing thought is that the magi who undoubtedly performed the funeral rites for this deceased Sogdian Zoroastrian living in Xinjiang province in far western China, might well have depicted the type of daimon they were used to dealing with.» — y la hipótesis que ofrece como pensamiento intrigante: los magos que oficiaron el funeral pudieron retratar el tipo de daimon con que trataban

«Bird- and goat-footed demons with tails, wings and upturning beards, from a 1425 manuscript.2 The upturned moon in Figure 03 may have here turned into horns. Note that the magician is standing inside a protective circle, and is very obviously negotiating with the demons and giving them orders. He holds a book which is very likely to be a grimoire.» — el pie de la figura del manuscrito de 1425, donde el mago está dentro de un círculo protector, da órdenes a los demonios y sostiene un libro que Skinner tiene por grimorio

«What immediately strikes one is the close anatomical resemblance between the bird-legged daimon on the sarcophagus and the bird-legged (and winged) demons shown in this mediaeval manuscript.» — la semejanza anatómica que sostiene entre el daimon del sarcófago y los demonios del manuscrito medieval

«Note the almost identical and unusual upturned pointed beard, the feathery tails, the bird legs and the wings on both creatures.» — con los rasgos que enumera uno por uno

«By way of confirmatory identification of these two images, the magician in Figure 04 is described as Canoaster (i.e. Zoroaster).» — y el dato que él tiene por confirmatorio: el mago de la figura se rotula con un nombre que lee como Zoroastro

«It is surely more than a coincidence that Zoroaster is the common denominator of these two strikingly similar images. It is certainly not a coincidence that Zoroaster, and his magi priests, were thought by many Greeks to be the original source of their magic.» — con el peso que le da: Zoroastro es el denominador común de las dos imágenes, y muchos griegos lo tenían por fuente original de su magia

«If the Zoroastrian priests, who were called magi, brought the magic of Zoroaster to the Greek world, might they not also have brought their iconography, and their knowledge of how to control daimones/ demons with them as well?» — la pregunta con que arriesga la extensión del argumento a la iconografía y al saber de controlar daimones

«The image of these daimones/ demons might well have passed from the magi to Greek books of magical ritual, and later to the Latin West, especially as it was the Sogdians who were amongst the most active traders and travellers along the silk route from Western China to the Hellenic world.» — y la vía que propone, con los sogdianos como comerciantes más activos de la ruta de la seda

«Unfortunately there are no illustrations of demons in the Clavicula Salomonis or the Hygromanteia, but bird-footed demons occur in contemporary magical and theological texts, alongside of goat-footed demons.» — con la búsqueda negativa que declara: ni la Clavicula ni la Hygromanteia traen ilustraciones de demonios

«It would therefore seem that the iconography of this particular spiritual creature has hardly changed in appearance over a period of 850 years.» — y la conclusión, medida en su grado: la iconografía apenas cambia en ochocientos cincuenta años

«Hierarchy of spiritual creatures: the magician's approach to the classification of the hierarchy of spiritual creatures. 2. Preliminary Procedures and Preparation: location, orientation, timing, baths, purity, abstinence, fasting, etc. 3. Protection: the Solomonic circle, triangle, brass vessel, phylacteries and lamens.» — las tres primeras de las seis clasificaciones con que Skinner organiza el resto del libro: jerarquía de criaturas espirituales, procedimientos preliminares y protección

«Written Words: amulets, talismans, seals, defixiones, etc. 5. Spoken Words: conjuration, invocation, evocation, the nomina magica, historiola, commemoration, licence to depart, etc. 6. Magical Equipment: the Table of Evocation, wand, sword, black» — y las tres restantes: palabras escritas, palabras habladas y equipo mágico; la cita se corta antes del compuesto que la fuente parte con guion de renglón

«This is followed by a study of their use in specific magical techniques such» — con las técnicas concretas que anuncia estudiar después; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«as obtaining a paredros or familiar, sending visions, activating love spells, invisibility, necromancy, treasure finding and spirit imprisonment.» — y su continuación: obtener un *paredros* o familiar, enviar visiones, conjuros de amor, invisibilidad, nigromancia, hallazgo de tesoros y aprisionamiento de espíritus

«Only those that were actually common to the PGM and the Hygromanteia have been examined. Those manteia that just flourished in the Byzantine period, but do not appear to have either migrated to the Latin grimoires, or to have had their origin in the PGM (onykhomanteia, oomanteia, katoptromanteia and chalkomanteia) are not examined.» — y el recorte que declara en nota: solo examina las manteiai comunes a los papiros y a la Hygromanteia, y nombra las cuatro que deja fuera

«In Jewish magic, it is clearly acknowledged that the magic is performed by angels or demons, constrained by the magician who uses the names of god or his archangels as his credentials for ordering around the lesser angels or spirits:» — Skinner enuncia el principio que atribuye a la magia judía: el mago constriñe a ángeles o demonios usando los nombres divinos como credencial

«This passage succinctly sums up this dynamic common to all three periods (as represented by the PGM, Hygromanteia and Clavicula Salomonis).» — y el alcance que le da: la misma dinámica en los tres periodos que el libro compara

«The works of Classical Greek writers and Neoplatonists like Iamblichus and Synesius were of course available to the Byzantines, unlike the Latin West, which did not have such easy access to Greek materials, till Ficino' s translations of Plato after 1484.» — la asimetría documental que consigna: los bizantinos disponían de Jámblico y Sinesio, y el Occidente latino no hasta las traducciones de Ficino

«The Byzantines were for the most part Orthodox Christians, but despite their Christian affiliations, their views on daimones/ demons were partly shaped by the Neoplatonic sources that were also available to them in Greek.» — con la consecuencia doctrinal: su visión de los daimones quedó en parte moldeada por las fuentes neoplatónicas

«Michael Psellus (1018-1096) sums up the 11th century Orthodox view of daimones coloured by his familiarity with Neoplatonic texts, and laced with» — y la fuente en que apoya la visión ortodoxa del siglo XI, coloreada por su trato con los textos neoplatónicos; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«some rather forced but politically correct raillery against some of the schismatic sects, while still taking an active interest in, and an opportunity to discuss, their heretical theology. Psellus in his IlEpi 8atJ.16vcov, On Daimones divides daimones into six classes:» — y su continuación, con la reserva de tono que Skinner anota: Psellus mezcla la exposición con pullas forzadas contra las sectas cismáticas y a la vez discute su teología

«Igneous (fiery)2 2. Aerial (airy)3 3. Terrestrial (earthy) 4. Aqueous (water) 5. Subterranean (underneath the earth, in caves) 6. Heliophobic (adverse to sunlight).» — las seis clases de daimones de Psellus: ígneos, aéreos, terrestres, acuáticos, subterráneos y heliófobos

«This division is often found in later grimoires, especially those of the German Faustian tradition, where 'heliophobic' is more often expressed as 'lucifugous.'» — con la pervivencia que le sigue en la tradición fáustica alemana, donde el último término se dice de otro modo

«Obviously the first four varieties owe a lot to the elemental divisions of the encyclopaedist Isidore of Seville.» — y la deuda que adjudica a las divisiones elementales de Isidoro

«In his De Omnifaria Doctrina, Psellus stated that although Christians were obliged to view all demons as bad, the non-Christian Greeks and 'Chaldaeans' believed that at least the ethereal and aerial demons were good. This view was echoed by magicians then and subsequently.» — el desacuerdo que Psellus consigna y que Skinner recoge: los cristianos debían tener por malos a todos los demonios, y los griegos y caldeos tenían por buenos al menos a los etéreos y aéreos

«By the time that Solomonic magic had reached Byzantium, it had developed a detailed hierarchy of angels and demons, as is exemplified in the long tables of their names.» — el estado al que, según Skinner, había llegado la jerarquía de ángeles y demonios en Bizancio

«The purpose of this categorisation was to ensure that the correct angel/ demon pair was conjured on the correct day, and at the correct hour.» — con la función práctica que le atribuye: conjurar el par correcto en el día y la hora correctos

«The importance of timing as well as the association of named demons/ angels with each hour of each day is a definite importation from the PGM, which will be examined in chapter 5.2.3.» — y la procedencia que adjudica a esa importancia del momento: importación definida de los papiros

«Another technique that occurs in the Hygromanteia and was passed to subsequent Latin grimoires is the procedure of invoking the spiritual creatures in a fixed sequence.» — otra técnica que sigue de un cuerpo a otro: invocar a las criaturas espirituales en secuencia fija

«embedded in the scheme of invocation, so that there are specific instructions that the planet and the relevant angel must be invoked first, followed by the daimon, and then the spirit who is actually to be entrusted with the task.» — con el orden que describe: primero el planeta y su ángel, luego el daimon y por último el espíritu encargado de la tarea

«This is a significant development from the 'free-range' threatening of the PGM. The other advance is that the hierarchy is invoked in descending order, rather than just listed at random, as is often the case in the PGM.» — y el avance que mide respecto de los papiros: la jerarquía se invoca en orden descendente y no al azar

«Yet another technique is the use of II thwarting angels," the matching of the demon of each hour with its angelic opposite number, who controls it.» — la técnica de los ángeles contrarios: emparejar el demonio de cada hora con el ángel que lo domina; el escaneo imprime unos numerales romanos donde van las comillas

«One of the earliest examples of this is to be found in the 1st/2nd century Testament of Solomon, where each demon is systematically matched with a controlling/ imprisoning angel.» — y el testimonio más temprano que aduce, el Testamento de Salomón

«And the eighth [demon] said: "I am called Belbel. I distort the hearts and minds of men. If I hear the words, 1 Arael, imprison Bel bel,' I at once retreat.» — el primero de los tres ejemplos que cita del Testamento: Belbel, que se retira al oír el nombre del ángel que lo aprisiona

«And the ninth said: "I am called Kurtael. I send colics in the bowels. I induce pains. If I hear the words, 1Iaoth, imprison Kurtael,' I at once retreat.» — el segundo, Kurtael, con el mal que envía y el ángel que lo sujeta

«The tenth said: "I am called Metathiax. I cause the reins [kidneys] to ache. If I hear the words, I Adonael, imprison Metathiax,' I at once retreat.» — y el tercero, Metathiax; los nombres de demonios y ángeles se citan tal como los imprime la capa de texto

«The practice of using a 11 thwarting angel" to control the corresponding demon is also present in the Hygromanteia, and subsequent Latin grimoires.» — la continuidad de esa técnica en la Hygromanteia y en los grimorios latinos

«The Hygromanteia has a large number of listed demons, each with their matching number of angels. Amongst the angels regular '-ael' or '-iel' endings predominate,3 betraying a distinctly Hebraic origin for many of their names.» — con el rasgo onomástico que Skinner lee como huella hebrea: las terminaciones angélicas en *-ael* y *-iel*

«This suffix is effectively the addition of El &N) one of the Hebrew names of god.» — y lo que ese sufijo es, según la nota: la adición de uno de los nombres hebreos de Dios

«The technique of threatening a spiritual creature with one further up the hierarchy is also utilised in the Clavicula Salomon is, where god's name is also often invoked as the ultimate threat.» — la misma técnica en la Clavicula, con el nombre de Dios como amenaza última

«Another recalcitrant spirit technique that comes to full fruition later, in the Goetia, is the practice of heating the spirit's sigil over a fire in order to cause the spirit pain.» — y la que, según Skinner, madura después en la Goetia: calentar el sello del espíritu al fuego para causarle dolor

«The names of the spirits in the Latin and vernacular grimoires give clues to» — el valor probatorio que atribuye a los nombres de espíritus: dan pistas del origen de los textos; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«Juratus, one of the earliest grimoires to appear in Latin Europe (circa 1225 CE)1 has an interesting selection of 100 "Holy Names of God." One analysis made of these 100 names estimates 49 names are of definite Greek origin and 17 names of Hebrew origin, with the balance being of indeterminate origin.» — con el conteo que aduce sobre los cien nombres divinos del Juratus: cuarenta y nueve de origen griego seguro y diecisiete hebreo

«It therefore seems very likely that the origin of this grimoire (like the origin of the Clavicula Salomonis) will eventually be discovered in the Greek speaking eastern Mediterranean.» — y la predicción que de ahí saca, marcada con su grado

«In later Latin and English grimoires there is an elaborate structure which copies European civil administration. The Goetia (1641,3 but with precursor texts dating back to the 15th century) for example, has a whole range of spirits with European aristocratic titles including Kings, Dukes, Earls, Marquises, Presidents, Princes and Prelates, down to lowly Knights.» — la estructura que ve en los grimorios tardíos: una administración civil europea calcada, con reyes, duques, condes, marqueses, presidentes, príncipes, prelados y caballeros

«These aristocratic spirits are also matched with the planets, where logically the 12 Kings are attributed to the Sun in each of the 12 zodiacal signs.» — con la lógica planetaria que le encuentra

«In 1563 Weyer,6 listing the very same spirits, even entitled his grimoire as the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, or 'False Monarchy of the Demons.'» — y el título que Weyer da al mismo elenco, con su traducción

«The 72 demons of the Goetia are divided up by both the 12 zodiacal Signs and the seven Planets.» — la doble división de los setenta y dos demonios de la Goetia

«However these lists have obviously been edited a number of times, so that the number of demons occupying the sphere of Saturn has been reduced to just one (Furcas);9 while Venus has 22 demons allocated to it.» — y la anomalía que Skinner mide en ellas: un solo demonio saturnino frente a veintidós venusinos

«This uneven distribution is a sure sign that the lists have been redacted a number of times, with the less helpful Saturnian spirits gradually being omitted from the listing, and Venusian spirits (for the popular operations of love) increased.» — con la lectura que hace del desequilibrio: redacciones sucesivas que fueron omitiendo los espíritus saturninos y multiplicando los venusinos

«These changes appear therefore to have come about as a result of usage and experimentation, rather than just at the arbitrary whim of a redactor who is more likely to have opted for a symmetrical listing.» — y el argumento con que descarta el capricho del redactor: un redactor habría buscado simetría, así que el cambio viene del uso y la experimentación

«The zodiacal distribution is more even-handed than the planetary division, with» — con el contraste de la distribución zodiacal, más pareja; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«Another grimoire, the Art Almadel divides its angelic hosts into four chorae.» — la partición del Almadel en cuatro *chorae*

«Chora is usually translated from the Latin altitudine as "altitude" which only makes sense, in the context, if one assumes that the choirs of angels are drawn from different (planetary) spheres which are located at varying altitudes above the Earth.» — y la traducción corriente del término, con la condición que Skinner le pone para que tenga sentido

«The original Greek meaning of chora, in use in Egypt in the 1st century BCE, refers to the suburban areas immediately outside of the cities of Naukratis, Ptolemais and Alexandria» — frente al sentido griego original que él recupera: los distritos suburbanos de las ciudades del Egipto helenístico

«If this interpretation of chora turns out to be correct, then the origins of this particular grimoire might be found in Alexandria.» — con la consecuencia que de ahí se seguiría, dicha en condicional

«It is then not too much of an imaginative stretch to see that as the chorae were districts, the angels might have been attributed to these districts or simply to the four cardinal directions of these districts:» — y el paso siguiente, que él mismo mide como estiramiento imaginativo: de distritos a direcciones cardinales

«for you must observe there are four Altitudes [chorae] which represent the four Corners of the world East, West, North and South . . . and the Angels of every [one] of these Altitudes have their particular Virtues and powers as shall be showed hereafter.» — el propio Almadel, citado: las cuatro Altitudes representan las cuatro esquinas del mundo y los ángeles de cada una tienen sus virtudes y poderes

«A time, as well as space, dimension is added by attributing the four chorae to the 12 zodiacal signs. For example, the first chora is attributed to the East, and the first three Signs of the zodiac.» — y la dimensión temporal que se añade al atribuir las chorae a los signos

«As for Example, Suppose I would call the two first of the five [angels] that belongs to the first Chora, then choose the first Sunday in March after the Sun hath entered Aries, and then I make my [magical] Experiment. And so do the like [the same] if you will the next Sunday after again.» — con el ejemplo operativo del propio grimorio: el primer domingo de marzo, entrado el Sol en Aries

«The theme of the directional attributions of spiritual creatures will be taken up again in chapter 5.2.2.» — Skinner remite a un capítulo posterior el asunto de las atribuciones direccionales de las criaturas espirituales

«The gods of ancient Egypt, especially Anubis, Isis, Osiris, Harpocrates and Thoth frequently feature in the rites of both PDM and the PGM, but few if any, make their way though to the Hygromanteia or to the Latin grimoires.» — la primera discontinuidad que consigna en la cadena: los dioses egipcios están en los papiros y casi ninguno pasa a la Hygromanteia ni a los grimorios latinos

«In the Graeco-Egyptian world interaction with the god or goddess was considered by the magician as one of the most valuable outcomes of his craft.» — con lo que ese trato significaba en el mundo greco-egipcio, según Skinner

«By the time the Hygromanteia was established in a Christian milieu, the pagan gods had all but disappeared from magical texts, and the gods were no longer invoked. God's name, was now used as protection, and the magician was more concerned with angels and demon.» — y el desplazamiento que describe: en medio cristiano los dioses paganos desaparecen, el nombre de Dios pasa a ser protección y el mago se ocupa de ángeles y demonios

«As a general rule, the invocation of gods or goddesses has been lost from texts like the Hygromanteia, after filtering through many centuries of Christian control, but the names of the Greek gods are still used to designate the days of the week, and may occasionally appear in a mangled form in invocations.» — con la regla general y sus dos residuos: los nombres de los dioses griegos siguen designando los días de la semana y a veces asoman deformados en las invocaciones

«The Christianisation of the grimoires leaves little room for the pagan gods in the Clavicula Salomonis, but the various Hebrew names for god like Jehovah, Adonaie, lao and Sabaoth are still maintained as a threat to spirits.» — y lo que sí se conserva en la Clavicula: los nombres hebreos de Dios como amenaza a los espíritus, en la grafía que imprime la capa de texto

«In what is a Jewish influenced rite in PGM,2 for consecrating a lamella for favour, victory and power, the angels of the heavens are enumerated as listed in Table 04.» — el rito de los papiros del que Skinner saca la lista de ángeles de los cielos

«The concept of stratified heavens and their association with rain and snow is definitely derived from Jewish sources, along with at least three of the angel names.» — con la procedencia que le adjudica: la idea de los cielos estratificados y al menos tres de los nombres angélicos vienen de fuentes judías

«The seven heavens with their associated angels appear in a more consistent form in the late 15th century Heptameron of Peter de Abano (1250-1316).» — y la forma más consistente que, según él, alcanzan en el Heptameron

«As witnessed by the use of the phrase "the god of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob," and by the list of angels.» — en nota, la prueba en que apoya el carácter judío del rito: la fórmula patriarcal y la propia lista de ángeles

«The angels of the planets vary from manuscript to manuscript of the Hygromanteia,s but the most common angels in manuscript P of the Hygromanteia are:» — la variabilidad que consigna entre manuscritos antes de dar la lista más común

«Even within this manuscript there are a number of variant forms, but the ones chosen here are the most common.» — con el criterio de selección declarado en nota, dentro de un mismo manuscrito

«Sun Mikhael Moon Gabriel Techniques of Solomonic Magic Mars Ourouel Mercury Apodokiel Jupiter Rhaphaell Venus Anael Saturn Ktinotothen» — los ángeles planetarios de ese manuscrito, con las grafías que imprime la capa de texto y el encabezado corrido del libro atravesado en medio de la lista

«Standard angels, like Mikhael, Ouriel (Ariel), Rhaphael, Gabriel, Anael are also to be found scattered through the lists of planetary angels in the Hygromanteia.» — y los ángeles comunes que reaparecen dispersos por las listas planetarias

«The attribution of Raphael to Jupiter instead of Mercury is uncommon, occurring otherwise only in the Picatrix.» — en nota, la anomalía que Skinner señala y localiza: atribuir Rafael a Júpiter en vez de a Mercurio solo se repite en el Picatrix

«The correlation of the angels with the seven Heavens and various natural phenomena} No angels are apparently found in the highest or seventh heaven.» — el pie de la tabla de los cielos, con la ausencia que él subraya: al parecer no hay ángeles en el séptimo

«The Hygromanteia places great emphasis on controlling the planets, planetary angels and demons, and the careful observance of planetary hours.» — el peso que Skinner atribuye en la Hygromanteia a los planetas, sus ángeles y demonios, y a la observancia de las horas

«These also form an important part of the Clavicula Salomonis manuscripts, but there explicit instructions for using them are missing.» — y la pérdida que consigna al pasar al latín: quedan los elementos y faltan las instrucciones explícitas de uso

«At least five of these angels map on to the angels of the hours in the Clavicula Salomonis.» — el conteo de la correspondencia entre las dos listas

«Given that these angels probably originated in Babylon, and occasionally appear in the PGM, these names are probably one of the longest established commonalities amongst all the magical texts under consideration.» — y el alcance que le da, con su grado: por su origen probablemente babilonio, esos nombres serían de las coincidencias más antiguas de todo el corpus comparado

«De Abano' s Heptameron has an even more complex list of angels, which also» — la lista angélica del Heptameron, más compleja que la anterior; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«appears in the RS Text-Group of the Clavicula Salomonis,1 and which IS divided up by season as well as hour and day:» — y su continuación: la misma lista reaparece en uno de los grupos textuales de la Clavicula y va dividida por estación además de por hora y día

«It is not clear where these angel names come from.» — con la abstención que Skinner declara en nota sobre su procedencia

«Spring Summer Autumn Winter Name of Season Tal vi Casmaran Ardarael Farias Caratasa, Core, Gargatel, Tariel, Angels of Season Amatiel, Tarquam, Guabarel Amabael, Ctarari Commissoros Gaviel Head of Sign Spugliguel Tubiel Torquaret Altarib Earth in Season Amadai Festativi Rabianara Geremiah Sun in Season Abraym Athemay Abragini Commutaff Moon in Season A gus ita Armatus Matasignais Affaterim» — la tabla de los ángeles estacionales del Heptameron tal como la devuelve la capa de texto, con las columnas entreveradas y las grafías sin cotejar

«These seasonal angels form an important part of the words written on the complex floor circles prescribed in the Heptameron.» — y la función ritual que Skinner les asigna: van escritos en los círculos de suelo del Heptameron

«In order to understand the nature of daimones we can look back at a text which is normally characterised as purely about theurgy and Neo-Platonic theology, but which in fact makes some very shrewd observations about other spiritual creatures, and which continue to be relevant observations long past the period in which they were written.» — Skinner anuncia que va a leer como fuente sobre los daimones un texto que suele tenerse por puramente teúrgico y teológico

«For the theology and philosophy behind Graeco-Egyptian magic, there is no better source for both Neoplatonic Greek and Egyptian elements than Iamblichus' De Mysteriis.» — y la fuente que elige: el De Mysteriis de Jámblico

«Iamblichus (c. 250-325 CE) is also contemporary with the bulk of the material in the PGM.» — con el argumento cronológico que la respalda

«Scholars, however, usually characterise him among the Neoplatonic philosophers, and do not look to him for elucidation on matters of magic.» — y la objeción que Skinner opone al uso académico corriente de esa obra

«However he provides some useful contemporary theological and philosophical background to the PGM. His comments however are equally useful in understanding the method and the equipment of later grimoires.» — con lo que él sí le encuentra: trasfondo contemporáneo de los papiros y útil también para los grimorios posteriores

«Iamblichus was a disciple of Porphyry, who was in turn a student of perhaps the most important Neoplatonist, Plotinus.» — la genealogía filosófica que traza

«Iamblichus' influential treatise De Mysteriis, or Theurgia, or On the Mysteries of Egypt is in the form of a reply to a letter from Porphyry to Anebo, an Egyptian priest, clearly linking the text with the Graeco» — y la forma epistolar de la obra, que a su juicio la ata al mundo greco-egipcio: respuesta a una carta de Porfirio a Anebo, sacerdote egipcio; la cita se corta antes del compuesto que la fuente parte con guion de renglón

«Although it is usually said that this text deals only with theurgy, which operates predominantly through the agency of the gods, it contains material on other forms of magic.» — con la corrección que introduce a la lectura corriente

«Iamblichus' influence on magic was further propagated by Agrippa who referred frequently to him in his De Occulta Philosophia.» — la vía por la que ese influjo llega al Renacimiento, según Skinner

«Renaissance Neoplatonists, like Ficino, and Kabbalists like Pico della Mirandola, Giordano Bruno and even Nostradamus (see chapter 8.2), were also influenced by Iamblichus.» — y los nombres en que lo rastrea, hasta Nostradamus

«In De Mysteriis, apart from the gods, archons, angels, daimones, heroes and 'pure souls' there is also described a class of un-named spiritual creatures who are said to be irrational and almost robotic.» — la clase de criaturas espirituales sin nombre que Skinner localiza en esa obra

«My thanks to Christopher Plaisance for drawing my attention to these passages.» — con el crédito que da en nota a quien le señaló los pasajes

«another class of being from among those which surround us, devoid of reason and judgement, which has been allotted just one power, in the apportionment of tasks which has been prescribed for each entity in each of the parts [of the universe]» — el primer pasaje de Jámblico que Skinner aduce sobre esa clase de seres: sin razón ni juicio, con una sola potestad asignada

«there exists a certain class of powers (<iuvaJ.lErov, dynameon) in the cosmos - limited, devoid of judgement and highly irrational, which are capable of receiving and obeying rational instruction from another, but neither has any understanding of its own nor distinguishes what is true or false or what is possible or impossible. It is such a class that is at once stirred up and startled when threats are brandished at them, since, it seems to me, it is in their own nature to be led by appearances and to be influenced by other things through a foolish and unstable imagination.» — y el segundo, más detallado: potencias limitadas y muy irracionales, capaces de obedecer instrucción ajena, incapaces de distinguir lo verdadero de lo falso, y que se alborotan cuando se les blanden amenazas

«This description seems to closely fit the demons of the grimoires» — la adjudicación que Skinner hace de esa descripción, marcada con su grado

«They are allocated one function. Typically, in the grimoires, demons have only one or two specialised functions, so that one who satisfies lust cannot be constrained to help a huntsman, or find gold, for example.» — primer punto de la correspondencia que traza: en los grimorios cada demonio tiene una o dos funciones especializadas y no se le puede forzar a otra

«They are capable of receiving and obeying rational instruction. Unlike gods or angels, demons are typically ordered around by the magician.» — segundo: a diferencia de dioses y ángeles, a los demonios se les manda

«They have no understanding of truth or falsity. Demons are often accused in the grimoires of lying to the magician, but maybe Iamblichus had a better understanding of the situation when he said they cannot distinguish truth from falsehood.» — tercero, con la relectura que propone: donde los grimorios acusan de mentira, Jámblico veía incapacidad de distinguir verdad de falsedad

«Most telling, he says that these spiritual creatures may be "stirred up and startled when threats are brandished at them." This encapsulates the method used in all the grimoires, which recommend threatening spirits with punishment in the deepest hell, an action that the magician certainly is not in a position to actually enforce.» — cuarto y, para Skinner, el más elocuente: encapsula el método de amenazar con castigos en el infierno más hondo que el mago no está en posición de ejecutar

«Such bogus threats are also to be found in the PGM where the magician threatens to stop the sun in its course, or report the spirit to some supreme god.» — con el paralelo en los papiros: amenazar con detener el sol o con denunciar al espíritu ante un dios supremo

«Iamblichus' conclusion that such entities can "be led by appearances» — quinto punto: el que esas entidades se dejen llevar por las apariencias; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«also gives justification for the magician wearing regalia like a (paper) crown, or other accoutrements with divine names hastily inked on them,» — y su continuación: eso justificaría la regalía del mago, corona de papel incluida y nombres divinos escritos a la carrera

«a make-believe that would not for an instant fool another human, even a child, and presumably not an angel or a god.» — y el límite que Skinner mismo le pone a esa ficción: no engañaría ni a un niño

«The standard technique of claiming to be a god, or a long dead magician, or of acting in the name of a senior demon, would likewise not be credited by anyone except an entity who cannot "distinguish what is true or false or what is possible or impossible.» — sexto: la técnica de decirse dios o mago muerto solo funcionaría con quien no distingue lo verdadero de lo falso

«Iamblichus concludes that the demons (for that is what he is almost certainly speaking of here) have a "foolish and unstable imagination.» — con la adjudicación que Skinner hace de la conclusión, marcada como casi segura

«Therefore, Iamblichus appears to have understood demons and their manner of interacting with the magician, and has clearly made the distinction between them and the other entities which are dealt with by him under the heading of theurgy.» — y el juicio que le merece Jámblico: entendió a los demonios y los distinguió de las demás entidades de la teurgia

«His clear statements are probably one of the best analyses of the nature of such demons that we have, and they go a long way towards explaining the theory behind the actual techniques of evocation.» — con el valor que le da, medido: probablemente uno de los mejores análisis de la naturaleza de esos demonios

«Although not actually labelling them as demons, the description of their nature is completely consistent with the modus operandi of . the magicians of the PGM, Hygromanteia, Clavicula Salomonis and many of the later European» — y el alcance que le concede pese a que Jámblico no los llame demonios; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«The Bogomils accepted that the same demons, and indeed the same magical techniques, were used by both saints and magicians.» — la posición que Skinner atribuye a los bogomilos: los mismos demonios y las mismas técnicas servían a santos y a magos

«This is a long-standing idea, exemplified in Simon Magus's failed attempts to buy some of the relevant magical techniques from the Apostles.» — con el ejemplo que le pone: el intento fallido de Simón Mago de comprar las técnicas a los apóstoles

«In a few versions of the prayers to the planets (in chapter 3 of the Hygromanteia), the angels and demons of each planet are included.» — el lugar donde la Hygromanteia lista ángeles y demonios de cada planeta

«However, in the vast majority of cases these demons cannot be traced back to the PGM.» — y la búsqueda negativa que consigna: casi ninguno se rastrea hasta los papiros

«But very interestingly, as Greenfield notices, some of the demons appear in the lstj2nd century Testament of Solomon.» — frente a lo que sí halla, siguiendo a Greenfield: varios aparecen en el Testamento de Salomón

«Most of these angel and demon names are not to be found elsewhere, so the Testament of Solomon is clearly one of the tributary sources of the Hygromanteia, or more likely they both have a common ancestor dating from the lstj2nd century or before.» — con la alternativa que Skinner deja sin arbitrar: el Testamento es fuente tributaria de la Hygromanteia o, más probablemente, las dos tienen antepasado común

«The demons of the Hygromanteia have much more in common with the demons of the Testament of Solomon than with the daimones of the PGM (see Table 06).» — y la medida de esa cercanía frente a la de los papiros

«The Ars Notoria was always a separate grimoire, not originally part of the Lemegeton. The first three books of the Lemegeton use the Solomonic method of evocation, the Ars Notoria does not.» — en nota, la separación que Skinner mantiene: la Ars Notoria no formaba parte del Lemegeton y no usa el método salomónico

«In vernacular grimoires, demons are often also organised into 'registers.' The two classic examples of these structures are the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage4 (German and French) and the four books of the Lemegeton (English and Latin).» — los dos ejemplos clásicos de registro demoníaco que da

«The Abramelin hierarchy is governed by four Princes (Lucifer, Satan, Leviathan and Belial) and nine sub-Princes whose number include one Greek chthonic goddess (Kore), and four Demon Kings (Paymon, Oriens, Ariton and Amaymon), ruling 416 servient spirits.» — y la jerarquía del Abramelin, con sus cuatro príncipes, los subpríncipes —entre ellos una diosa ctónica griega— y los cuatro reyes demonio

«The Lemegeton contains four books, each of which arranges their register of spirits in a different manner.» — con la estructura del Lemegeton: cuatro libros y cuatro maneras distintas de ordenar el registro

«This detailed hierarchy gives ample scope for the use of the technique of threatening spirits with the names of their superiors in the hierarchy.» — y la utilidad operativa que le encuentra a esa jerarquía detallada

«Corresponding Testament of Solomon and Hygromanteia demons. There is a significant overlap, especially in the case of manuscript M.» — el pie de la tabla que empareja los demonios de las dos obras, con el solapamiento que Skinner mide

«Knowledge of names. One of the prime technical requirements of ritual magic, in all periods, is to know the correct names, not only of the spiritual creature being invoked, but also his secret names.» — primera de las técnicas salomónicas que resume al cerrar el capítulo: conocer los nombres, incluidos los secretos

«Superior threats. One common technique is the ordering a spirit or demon in the name of one of its superiors. This technique is found in ancient Egyptian magic, the PGM, the Hygromanteia and the Clavicula Salomonis.» — segunda: mandar al espíritu en nombre de uno de sus superiores, técnica presente en los cuatro cuerpos que compara

«Thwarting angels. The technique of using a "thwarting angel" is to match each demon with a corresponding angelic opposite number who controls it. This is particularly obvious in the Testament of Solomon but also in the Hygromanteia's many lists of demon and angel pairs for each hour of every day of the week. The Clavicula Salomonis has a detailed hierarchy of archangels, angels and spirits, but only stresses the 'thwarting angels' technique in some grimoires.» — y la cuarta, con el matiz que le pone: la Clavicula tiene jerarquía detallada y solo algunos grimorios subrayan la técnica del ángel contrario

«Although in village magic little or no preparation was required beyond the gathering of herbs and a few kitchen instruments, learned Solomonic ritual magic required a lot of preparation.» — el contraste con que Skinner abre el capítulo de preparativos: la magia de aldea apenas preparaba nada y la salomónica mucho

«The preliminary preparation and consecration of a number of different instruments is one of the hallmarks of the Solomonic method. These preparations are common to both the Hygromanteia and the Clavicula Salomonis.» — y el rasgo distintivo que de ahí saca: preparar y consagrar instrumentos, común a las dos obras

«Less detailed but similar rules occur in the PGM, but only in some rites (where these instructions are usually listed at the end).» — con la forma en que eso aparece en los papiros, menos detallada y solo en algunos ritos

«Typically, if the rite is performed indoors then the whole room must be thoroughly cleaned. A strict limitation of diet and social intercourse, together with a tough regime of prayer was enjoined upon the magician. Rising before dawn, ablutions and the wearing of clean linen was also obligatory.» — el régimen que describe: limpieza del cuarto, dieta y trato social limitados, oración dura, levantarse antes del alba, abluciones y lino limpio

«The rationale of these preparations was to ensure the necessary purity for the magician to be able to deal with any spiritual creature.» — y la razón que lo explica: la pureza necesaria para tratar con criaturas espirituales

«The most common injunction was that the location should be pure, and preferably away from the haunts of man.» — la prescripción más común sobre el lugar de la operación

«The practical reasons are obvious, especially in the Latin West when magic was more vigorously persecuted, but the spiritual reasons related to purity. It was thought by many magicians that spirits, and especially the gods, would not happily enter an impure environment.» — con las dos razones que distingue, la práctica y la espiritual

«From a practical point of view having a location where there would be no interruptions from passing strangers was important, although the monk shown looking on in Figure 20 does not seem to have unduly perturbed the magician.» — y el matiz irónico que añade desde una de las figuras: el monje que mira no parece perturbar al mago

«These concerns would not have been so pressing in ancient Egypt where magic would often have been done within the temple precincts where privacy and purity were presumably assured.» — con el contraste egipcio, donde el recinto del templo aseguraba intimidad y pureza

«Some modern 21st century magiciansl counsel that evocations should be done as close to the earth as possible, preferably in a cellar, with no intervening floors between the operation and the earth.» — el consejo de magos contemporáneos que Skinner consigna: evocar lo más cerca posible de la tierra, de preferencia en un sótano

«You do it in a dark place whose door opens to the east or the south, and under which there is no cellar.» — y el paralelo demótico que le opone: lugar oscuro con puerta al este o al sur y sin sótano debajo

«The Hygromanteia agrees that an isolated venue is best, but does not specify» — con lo que la Hygromanteia sí dice: pide aislamiento; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«the ground floor or a cellar. The same specification occurs in many of the Clavicula Salomonis manuscripts.» — y lo que no dice: no especifica planta baja ni sótano, y lo mismo vale para muchos manuscritos de la Clavicula

«You need to have procured a small chamber or a secret room . . . It is important that the place, which you have chosen is also clean, because you will not be able to use any decoration or unnecessary ornament in the place, as it might distract you and lead your spirit and imagination astray. A table with a few chairs and a chest, which should be kept under lock .and key, is sufficient . . . every item of furniture, which is minimal should be new, or at least very clean and purified by the scent of the incenses» — el pasaje de la Key sobre el lugar de trabajo: cámara pequeña o cuarto secreto, sin ornato que distraiga, con mesa, sillas y un arca bajo llave, y el mobiliario nuevo o purificado con el incienso

«The second part of the Lemegeton, entitled 'The Art Theurgia-Goetia of Kinge Salomon' has a description of the ideal place of evocation. Strangely this does not occur at the beginning of the grimoire, but part way through, incorporated into a description of the Duke Pamersiel:» — y la anomalía de colocación que consigna en el Lemegeton: la descripción del lugar ideal no está al principio sino dentro de la entrada de un duque

«Probably due to the pagination falling out of order before an earlier redaction.» — con la explicación que da en nota de esa anomalía, marcada como probable

«To call Forth Pamersiel, or any of his servants, chuse the uppermost [5ttermost] private or secret and most picitt3 Rome [picked (private) room] in tne house, or in some Certaine Island wood or Grove or the most occult and hidden place [removed] from all comers and goers,» — el pasaje del Lemegeton tal como lo imprime la capa de texto, con sus grafías del siglo XVII y las restituciones entre corchetes del editor: el cuarto más alto y reservado de la casa, o una isla, un bosque o una arboleda apartada de todo el que va y viene

«Incorrectly changed to 'tacit' by the editor.» — y la enmienda que Skinner opone en nota a la lectura del editor

«The location in this case matches the nature of the aerial spirits being invoked.» — con el principio que extrae del caso: el lugar corresponde a la naturaleza de los espíritus invocados

«In Egyptian magic (and religion) facing the rising or setting sun was very common. Other alignments used included the direction of Sirius (Sothis), Orion, the Pole Star or the Bear asterism (Ursa Major).» — las alineaciones que consigna para la magia egipcia, del sol naciente o poniente a Sirio, Orión, la estrella polar y la Osa

«But for magic in every period the four cardinal points were perhaps the most important, as these are the directions ruled by the four angels (or the four Demon Kings).» — y el papel que atribuye a los cuatro puntos cardinales en todos los periodos

«The procedure of evoking specific spiritual creatures from each of the four quarters is highlighted in chapter 42 of the Hygromanteia, 'Conjurations of the demons of the four quarters.» — con el capítulo de la Hygromanteia donde ese procedimiento queda de relieve

«Each cardinal direction in the Hygromanteia probably originally had 30 demons attributed to it, but over the course of time the names of some have been lost.» — y el conteo que reconstruye, marcado como probable: treinta demonios por dirección, con pérdidas por el camino

«Their names are derived from Jewish rather than Egyptian sources (with the exception of the first one): Loutzipher (East), Asmodai (North), Astaroth (West) and Berzeboul (South).» — los cuatro reyes demonio de la Hygromanteia con sus direcciones, en la grafía del manuscrito que Skinner cita, y la procedencia judía que les adjudica salvo al primero

«The first name in each of the full lists of demons is the Demon King.» — con la regla de lectura que da para las listas

«Originally these may have been demons of the four winds, but later they became associated with the direction rather than the wind.» — y el origen que conjetura para ellos: demonios de los cuatro vientos

«Wind' is also related semantically to 'spirit' in both Greek (pneuma) and Hebrew (ruach).» — con el apoyo semántico que aduce en nota, en griego y en hebreo

«The theory is that if these Kings are successfully conjured then their name can be used to motivate or threaten any of the lesser spirits in their retinue from that quarter.» — y la teoría operativa que explica para qué sirven los reyes

«As documented by Greenfield, the list of the 36 decan demons in the Testament includes five demons of the west, six of the north and one of the south who appear in the Hygromanteia.» — el conteo que Skinner toma de Greenfield sobre los demonios decánicos del Testamento que reaparecen en la Hygromanteia

«Of the seven female demons of the Pleiades to be found in the Testament, three also appear as demons of the east in the Hygromanteia.» — y el segundo conteo, sobre las demonias de las Pléyades

«The presence of demons from that lstj2nd century text argues for the persistence of such names and the historically early roots of the names of the demons in the Hygromanteia.» — con lo que Skinner concluye de esas coincidencias sobre la antigüedad de los nombres; el escaneo corrompe la indicación de siglo

«The conjuration to the four directions in the Hygromanteia invites all of the named spirits to come, although it is not made clear if only the conjuration to one direction is to be performed, or if the entire 120 spirits are being conjured.» — la ambigüedad que consigna sin resolver: no queda claro si se conjura una dirección o los ciento veinte espíritus

«After this conjuration you will see them coming like a regiment. Do not loose courage, but tell them to stand outside the circle» — con el pasaje del propio texto que la vuelve verosímil: los verás venir como un regimiento, y no pierdas el ánimo

«The approach is quite different from either the PGM or the later Latin grimoires, where only one or a few spirits are called at a time.» — y la diferencia que marca frente a los papiros y a los grimorios latinos, donde se llama a uno o a pocos

«The Demon King Maymon Rex. Note that Maymon has two beaks and bird claws: he is also accompanied by a bird.1 This is reminiscent of the demon in Figure 04.» — el pie de la figura del rey Maymon, con los dos picos, las garras de ave y el pájaro que lo acompaña

«From an unidentified 16th century Latin manuscript grimoire, reputedly owned by Dee, which was last offered for sale in the Maggs Brothers catalogue of 1932, Plate XXII. It is not known in which collection this manuscript currently resides.» — y la procedencia que declara para esas dos figuras, con la abstención incluida: manuscrito latino sin identificar, atribuido a Dee, subastado en 1932 y de paradero desconocido

«The Demon Kings from the Clavis Inferni: Urieus (top) and Paymon (bottom).l Note that the beast of Urieus is portrayed as a winged ouroboros, and Paymon' s bestial form has horns and bird claws. The names of the Kings, and their thwarting angel, are written in 'Passing the River' script at the top of each image.» — el pie de la figura de otros dos reyes, con el ouroboros alado, las garras de ave y los nombres escritos en el alfabeto llamado del Paso del Río

«The Demon Kings from the Clavis Inferni: Mayman and Egyn.1 Mayman is symbolised by a bird, and Egyn by a bear. Their names are confirmed by the characteres at the top of all four illustrations. Each King holds a sceptre, an item of magical equipment that seems to have disappeared from the tradition.» — y el de los dos restantes, con el dato que Skinner subraya: cada rey lleva un cetro, pieza de equipo que desapareció de la tradición

«The four Hygromanteia Demon Kings are Loutzipher,l Asmedai, Astaroth and Beelzeboul.2 Asmodeus has always been a demon, but Ashtaroth and Beelzebub were ancient Semitic gods.» — los cuatro reyes demonio con la grafía de esta plana, y la genealogía que Skinner les da: dos fueron dioses semitas antiguos

«Sometimes corrupted to Lotropheres, Asmadegi, Astathor, Berzeboeul» — en nota, las grafías corruptas de esos mismos nombres en otro manuscrito, citadas sin cotejo contra el facsímil

«Barachiel who is cited as the commander of their troops often accompanies them. His name appears with various spellings, such as Barakheel (B, f. 23). _The name looks as if it may have once been an angelic name formed from Hebrew/ Arabic 'baraka' (blessing) and the deific suffix» — en nota, el nombre del comandante de sus tropas y la etimología que Skinner propone para él, de la raíz *baraka* más el sufijo divino

«The Demon Kings also feature in the unique Solomonic grimoire of St Cyprian, the Clavis Inferni,4 where they are the subject of some very unusual illustrations, showing them in animal form» — y el grimorio que los retrata en forma animal, que Skinner tiene por salomónico pese a su título y a su autor supuesto

«These animal images (such as the bear) were later used in German Faustian grimoires,5 but otherwise had little currency in non-German grimoires.» — con el alcance limitado de esas imágenes en la tradición posterior

«It seems possible that the four Demon Kings may be the corrupt remains of four gods standing guard at the quarters of the circle, possibly even corruptions of ancient Egyptian gods.» — la hipótesis que Skinner enuncia como posible: los cuatro reyes serían restos corruptos de cuatro dioses de guardia en los cuartos del círculo

«If we rely upon the Hygromanteia to give the correct cardinal direction attributions of the Demon Kings, then the pattern is:» — y el patrón direccional que toma por correcto si se sigue a la Hygromanteia

«Lucifer (East), Asmodai (North), Astaroth (West) and Beelzebub (South).» — con las cuatro atribuciones, en la grafía normalizada de esta plana

«However, many of these names and directions get mixed up in later grimoires, for no apparent reason, with almost no two Latin or vernacular grimoires agreeing upon what these directions should be.» — y el desorden que consigna sin armonizar: casi ningún par de grimorios coincide en las direcciones

«Although it is tempting to associate Mayman with Mammon, this is probably a too facile explanation of his origin.» — la etimología fácil que Skinner rechaza para uno de los reyes

«In an illustration of Mayman from about 1600 CE,B he is portrayed as a double-headed bird, standing in front of a four-legged bird-like creature with a long looped tail.» — con la descripción de su figura hacia 1600

«Mayman may be a form of the Arabic Mayman, the jinn king of Saturn, and» — y la derivación que propone en cambio, del rey de los genios asociado a Saturno; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«Amaymon is likely to be simply a corruption of Maymon.» — con la equivalencia que propone entre los dos nombres, marcada con su grado

«It is thus possible that the other Demon Kings also came from Egyptian, via later Arabic sources.» — con la extensión que arriesga al resto de los reyes, marcada como posible

«The Demon King Vercan (or Varcan), in one 16th century grimoire stands confidently in a circle surrounded by five archers aiming at him, and a number of snakes and other creatures looking at him menacingly (Figure 06). In addition, he has two incense burners producing much incense smoke. He holds in his hand a torch, and is crowned and clad in heavy armour.» — la descripción de otro rey en un grimorio del siglo XVI: en un círculo, rodeado de cinco arqueros que le apuntan, con dos incensarios, antorcha, corona y armadura

«How are we to interpret this? He is not perturbed by the threats surrounding him. The only other figure that comes to mind as holding snakes and other venomous creatures without any apparent care is Harpocrates. Vercan (in Figure 06) has some similarity to the serpent holding Egyptian images of Harpocrates, and suggestively Harpocrates was a magician's god.» — y la identificación que Skinner propone, con la pregunta abierta por delante: la única figura comparable que sostiene serpientes sin inmutarse es Harpócrates, dios de magos

«Obviously Oriens would have been located in the East (if the name is derived from the Latin oriens = East).» — la etimología obvia de otro de los reyes, con el condicional puesto

«However, the spelling of this Demon King 'Urieus' / 'Oraeus' in the Clavis Inferni suggests that 'Oriens' may have been a scribal confusion between the Demon name and its direction, and this King should instead be called Urieus, with a possible derivation from the Egyptian Uraeus serpent which features in the crown of Lower Egypt.» — y la enmienda que propone: la grafía del Clavis Inferni sugiere confusión de copista entre el nombre y la dirección, y una derivación de la serpiente Uraeus

«As if to confirm this, he is also portrayed in the Clavis Inferni as a crowned ouroboros serpent, giving an indication of his possible Egyptian provenance» — con la confirmación iconográfica que aduce: aparece como serpiente ouroboros coronada

«Also note that the ouroboros was the form of the Egyptian magician's protective circle» — y el dato que la refuerza: el ouroboros era la forma del círculo protector del mago egipcio

«Paymon is attributed in most other texts to the West, or the South, whilst Egyn/Egin/Aegyn/Egym confusingly also rules the South or the West. There has obviously been a lot of confusion in the transmission of these directional rulerships.» — la confusión de rectorías direccionales que consigna entre dos de los reyes

«There are other sets of Demon King names. In the Goetia, for example, Ziminiar/Zimimay rules the North; Corson/Garson rules the West; Goap/Gaap rules the South.» — y el otro juego de nombres que registra, el de la Goetia

«The Demon Kings were also connected to the Hebrew demon princes: Samael [S], Azazel [E], Azael [W], Mahazael [N],» — con la conexión que traza con los cuatro príncipes demonio hebreos y sus direcciones

«On balance it seems quite likely that the four Demon Kings were originally derived from Egypt.» — y el balance de probabilidades con que cierra el asunto

«One possible interpretation of that often repeated grimoire specification that a particular ritual must be performed at a "crossroads," is not that it should take place at a point of maximum vehicular traffic, which could be very disturbing to say the least. What this really means is that the circle should be orientated so there are clear lines of access to each of the four cardinal points, so that invocations can be performed towards those directions.» — la relectura que Skinner propone del cruce de caminos de los grimorios: no un punto de tráfico sino un círculo con acceso libre a los cuatro puntos cardinales

«The "roads" referred to are then the spirit roads by which the Demon Kings, and their retinue, should arrive at the circle when called.» — y qué serían entonces esos caminos: las vías por las que llegan los reyes y su séquito

«From this I deduce as a consequence the reason for the performance of» — Antonio da Montolmo, citado en apoyo; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«conjurations in places where . . . four roads come together: because of the concordance . . . with the places [directions] of the Intelligences under the heavens; they are constituted in the manner of a crossroad of four roads, as it appears in the Principles of Astrology.» — y su continuación: la conjuración en el cruce de cuatro caminos concuerda con las direcciones de las Inteligencias bajo los cielos

«In The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage,2 there are also four Demon Kings, but here only Lucifer is recognizable from the Hygromanteia.» — el cotejo con el Abramelin, donde de los cuatro reyes solo uno resulta reconocible

«In the Grimorium Verum, which is a derivative of the UT Text-Group of the Key of Solomon, three Kings are present but not Asmodai.» — y el cotejo con el Grimorium Verum, que Skinner adscribe a un grupo textual de la Key

«It is therefore clear that the idea of the four Demon Kings is a long running part of magic, but with considerable name corruption and orientational confusion over time.» — la conclusión que saca de los cotejos: la idea de los cuatro reyes es antigua y viene con corrupción de nombres y confusión de orientación

«Their continued presence in the later grimoires also underlines the importance of the four quarters, as a part of the magician's cosmological structure, and the positioning of the evocation at the 'cross-roads.'» — y lo que esa persistencia subraya para él: la importancia de los cuatro cuartos en la cosmología del mago

«Note that the dates in Table 07 are simply those of the document selected and may not be a true indicator of the age of that particular set of attributions.» — la advertencia de método que pone a su propia tabla: las fechas son las del documento elegido, no las del juego de atribuciones

«It is immediately obvious that the Hygromanteia Demon Kings did not pass to any of the later grimoires, therefore they derive from another line of transmission.» — y la discontinuidad que declara: los reyes de la Hygromanteia no pasan a ningún grimorio posterior

«One possible source is the Kings of the Jinn, as they have at least one King, Maymon, in common.» — con la fuente alternativa que propone para los de los grimorios, y el punto de contacto que la sostiene

«If one relies upon frequency counts in Table 07, then it is possible to draw the following conclusions:» — y el método con que fija el patrón consensuado: recuento de frecuencias en la tabla

«The occasional switch of 'P' and 'B' suggests an Arabic source.» — en nota, el indicio fonético que aduce para el origen árabe

«The conflicting attributions of the four Demon Kings to the Cardinal directions from the 15th to 18th century according to various grimoires.» — el pie de la tabla que reúne las atribuciones en conflicto del siglo XV al XVIII

«This consensus pattern holds good for the Livre des Espiritz, Agrippa' s De Occulta Philosophia, Key of Solomon,l Abramelin,2 Honorius,3 Pseudo-Moses, and Clavis Inferni,4 with the few minor differences mentioned in the footnotes below.» — las siete autoridades en que ese patrón de consenso se sostiene

«Four authorities show a different derivation, whose roots I have not been able to trace, marking them out as a separate tradition.» — y la abstención que Skinner declara sobre las cuatro restantes: no ha podido rastrear su raíz y las aparta como tradición distinta

«The most erratic source of all is therefore the Janua Reserata. If it is disregarded then there are clearly two patterns of attribution for the Demon Kings to the quarters.» — con el descarte que propone para fijar dos patrones limpios de atribución

«An Elizabethan magical manuscript (1577) showing the Martial spirits for each of the cardinal directions.l Probably owned and written by John Porter and John Weston. The latter may have been the first husband of Edward Kelley's wife, and so it is possible that this manuscript passed through Kelley's hands. Note the bracketed text in the lower register listing spirits by the four directions: ad orientem, ad occidentem, ad septentrionem and ad meridien.» — el pie de una figura isabelina de 1577 con los espíritus marciales por dirección, la cadena de propiedad que Skinner conjetura hasta Edward Kelley y las cuatro direcciones en latín

«Finally some later grimoires sub-divided the directions, like a nautical compass. The clearest example of such a ' spirit compass' is to be found in the first few pages of the Solomonic grimoire Theurgia-Goetia.» — la subdivisión de las direcciones al modo de una rosa náutica que Skinner localiza en un grimorio salomónico

«The name of this grimoire clearly suggests a Greek origin, although many of the spirits listed obviously have a Hebrew origin because of the many spirit names with an» — con la doble lectura onomástica que hace: el título apunta a origen griego y muchos nombres de espíritus a origen hebreo por su sufijo

«It is unusual that the compass below is orientated with SSE at the top of the page, rather than North, suggesting that this may have reflected the orientation of the room actually used by that magician for evocation.» — y la anomalía que consigna con su explicación conjetural: la rosa va orientada al sursureste, acaso por la orientación del cuarto que usaba aquel mago

«The technique identified in this chapter is the appeal to the Demon Kings of the four quarters for authority to command spirits of their legions.» — la técnica que el capítulo deja identificada: apelar a los reyes demonio de los cuatro cuartos para mandar sobre sus legiones

«This developed into a system of evocation which was direction dependant.» — y en qué desemboca: un sistema de evocación dependiente de la dirección

«The 'spirit compass rose' in Figure 11 shows 32 directions, the four seasons (and Elements) in the central circle . . This effectively identifies each of the 32 spirits in terms of both space and time, direction and season, giving both directions and times of evocation.» — con lo que Skinner lee en esa rosa: treinta y dos direcciones y las cuatro estaciones, que sitúan a cada espíritu en espacio y tiempo

«Timing was very important to the rites of the PGM. Not only was the timing of many of the rites carefully calculated, but the names of the gods of the hours, days, and months were delineated in considerable detail.» — el peso del momento en los ritos de los papiros, con los dioses de horas, días y meses detallados

«The Hygromanteia also follows very closely the attributions of planets to the hours of the days of the week, with the gods of these time units being replaced by demons who were said to rule them.» — y la sustitución que Skinner registra al pasar al griego: los dioses de esas unidades de tiempo quedan reemplazados por demonios

«This pattern also appears later in the Latin grimoires, where planetary hours are still specified, but the details of the demons of each hour have been lost to the Latin grimoires.» — con la pérdida que consigna en el latín: quedan las horas planetarias y se pierden los demonios de cada hora

«The use of time intervals, with specific entities, qualities and objectives associated with each hour, is therefore one of the clearest commonalities and traceable transmissions from the PGM, via the Hygromanteia to the Clavicula Salomonis.» — y el valor que da a esa continuidad: de las coincidencias más claras y mejor rastreables de los tres cuerpos

«The idea of attributing every day of the week to the 7 planets has very deep historical roots.» — la antigüedad que atribuye a la semana planetaria

«These attributions of the navagraha (in the Indian tradition) probably date back to Vedic times.» — con el paralelo indio, datado con su grado

«The time correspondences of the seven planets were very important in Babylonian magical practices, and these were then passed to the Jews.» — y la cadena que traza de Babilonia a los judíos

«The Greek gods of the planets are used instead of the day names in the Hygromanteia, but the practice is the same.» — con la variante griega de la Hygromanteia, que él da por equivalente en la práctica

«It is extraordinary that the attributions are consistent across all cultures, with each planet falling on exactly the same calendar day, in all cultures.» — y el hecho que Skinner califica de extraordinario: la coincidencia del día de calendario en todas las culturas

«For example, the day sacred to Mars (Roman) or Aries (Greek) is the same actual day as that attributed to Madim (Hebrew) or Mangal (Hindu).» — en nota, el ejemplo con que lo comprueba, en cuatro tradiciones y con las grafías del libro

«The planets were also attributed to the 24 hours of the day as well as to the day itself. Each day was divided into 24 hours, not equal clock hours as we understand them, but unequal 'planetary hours.'» — la definición de la hora planetaria, que Skinner subraya desigual y no de reloj

«No matter where you are in the world, the timing of dawn and dusk change from day-to-day ... The basic principle was that the 24 hours of the day were divided into 12 daylight hours and 12 night hours. The starting point is respectively sunrise and sunset. After the first hour of every day which is attributed to the same planet that rules the day, the following hours rotate in the same sequence. For example, on Sunday (after the first hour attributed to the Sun) come the hours of Venus, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars, and starting the cycle again with the Sun (in the 8th hour of the day).» — el pasaje que se cita a sí mismo de su volumen anterior, con la mecánica: doce horas de día y doce de noche desde el orto y el ocaso, la primera hora del planeta que rige el día y la rotación fija de las demás

«So the timing of the evocation of the spirit of Mars would be preferably performed on a day of Mars in an hour of Mars (for example Tuesday on the 1st, 8th, 15th or 22nd hour, counting from sunrise).» — y el ejemplo operativo que cierra ese pasaje

«In practice you count the number of minutes from sumise to sunset and» — el cálculo práctico; el escaneo imprime *sumise* por *sunrise* y el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«divide that by 12. This gives the number of minutes in each 'planetary hour.'» — y su continuación: dividir entre doce da los minutos de cada hora planetaria

«Obviously the planetary hours will be longer in summer and shorter» — la consecuencia estacional de la hora desigual; el tramo se corta aquí porque el troceo reemite el marcador de plana al abrir el chunk siguiente, con la misma plana a los dos lados

«This fitted very well with ordinary work patterns. In the winter there was less work to be done, and the hours were correspondingly shorter, so the day ended sooner. In summer where there was more sunlight and more work to be done, the hours were longer to accommodate this.» — y la razón laboral que Skinner le encuentra: en invierno había menos trabajo y las horas eran más cortas, y en verano al revés

«The planetary hours were used for civil purposes in Europe until cheap clocks were generally available, but retained in Europe for magic long after the common usage reverted to clock time with an exact 60 minutes.» — el dato de uso civil y su final, frente a la retención de la hora desigual en la magia

«The logic of using unequal hours is that the hour can be estimated by looking at the angle of elevation of the sun above the horizon. Regardless of the length of the day, the angle of the sun above the horizon, for a specific hour, will always be the same. The sun will always be 30° above the eastern horizon at the end of the 2nd planetary hour, or 30° above the western horizon at the end of the lOth planetary hour, whatever the season or latitude. This enabled people to tell the time without clocks, by observation of the elevation of the sun over the horizon.» — en nota, la lógica que Skinner atribuye a la hora desigual: el ángulo del sol sobre el horizonte es el mismo para una hora dada sea cual sea la estación o la latitud

«The reason why the angels, demons and gods of the day and its hour were so important is revealed in the PGM, but not revealed in the later Greek or Latin grimoires.» — la asimetría de información que consigna: la razón de esos nombres está en los papiros y no en los grimorios posteriores

«The reason is that any magician who does not first call these gods and propitiate them will have no luck in his operation, because he will be considered by any other spiritual creature to be» — y esa razón: quien no llama primero a esos dioses ni los propicia queda por no iniciado ante cualquier criatura espiritual

«I suspect that errors in calculating the right time together with a failure to invoke the spiritual creature of the day /hour in a proper manner lies behind many failures.» — en nota, la sospecha que Skinner declara como tal sobre la causa de muchos fracasos rituales

«Although the cycle of planetary days probably dates back to the Babylonians, the attribution of specific qualities to each of the (7 x 24) 168 hours3 is first seen, as far as I know, in the works of the astrologer Heliodoros (fl. 415 CE).» — la primera aparición conocida, y con la reserva en primera persona, de las cualidades atribuidas a las ciento sesenta y ocho horas

«As if to drive home this association, this text is actually included in part in manuscript N of the Hygromanteia.» — con el dato material que la refuerza: ese texto va incluido en parte en uno de los manuscritos

«As these particular timing tables are integral to the method of the Hygromanteia, it is a strong indication, as has already been mentioned, that the Hygromanteia post dates the 4th century CE.» — y lo que de ahí saca para la datación de la obra

«Another procedure in the Hygromanteia comes from Heliodorus, the procedure for consecrating a skull (M2, f. 225). The association with Heliodorus has been useful in dating the Hygromanteia.» — en nota, el segundo procedimiento que remite al mismo astrólogo, el de consagrar un cráneo

«There is a second possibility that the tables of» — la segunda posibilidad que Skinner deja abierta sobre el origen de esas tablas; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«planetary days and hours in the Hygromanteia might have come from pseudo-Apollonius of Tyana's Apotelesmata. Manuscript sources of that work are often found in close association, or even bound with, manuscripts of the Hygromanteia, and therefore may have been the contributing source.» — y su continuación: podrían venir de la Apotelesmata del pseudo-Apolonio de Tiana, cuyos manuscritos aparecen a menudo encuadernados con los de la Hygromanteia

«There are two different kinds of list in chapter 13 of the Hygromanteia: a short version and a long one. The first kind lists between one and seven angels, and between one and three demons per planet. The second kind lists an angel and a demon for each and every hour of every day of the week.» — las dos clases de lista de ángeles y demonios que distingue en el capítulo trece

«Strangely there does not seem to be much in the way of common names between the two lists, so presumably they come from different sources, rather than one being an abbreviation of the other.» — y lo que infiere de que apenas compartan nombres: vendrían de fuentes distintas y no una de la otra

«The long list exists in most manuscripts of the Hygromanteia, as this detailed angelic/ demonic division of time is central to that method of invocation.» — con el peso que da a la lista larga dentro del método

«The folio reproduced in Figure 12 shows the angels (in the left column) and the demons (right column) of Sunday, at the top of the list. The table for Monday continues below the line. The Greek alphabet is used to number the hours. For example, the angel of the 1st Hour (a) on Monday is Gabriel» — la lectura del folio reproducido, con las horas numeradas con el alfabeto griego

«The short version of the table of planetary hours (i.e. that omitting the exact function of each hour) found in the Hygromanteia (Figure 12) comprises a vital part of the later Latin Clavicula Salomonis, especially the Abraham Colorno Text-Group (AC) of manuscripts» — y el uso que ese material tiene en la Clavicula latina, señaladamente en un grupo textual

«Various qualities were attached to these hours, of which one of the most important was the specification of what sort of magic would be most successful in any particular hour.» — la cualidad de las horas que a Skinner le parece más importante: qué clase de magia sale mejor en cada una

«For example in the Hygromanteia,1 the 3rd hour Uupiter] of Monday [Moon] is good "for opening a workshop, but the 1st hour [Mars] of Tuesday [Mars] is good for "war and victory.» — con dos ejemplos del propio texto, hora de Júpiter en día de Luna para abrir taller y hora de Marte en día de Marte para guerra y victoria; el escaneo imprime *Uupiter*

«It might be interesting to determine how many ancient battle campaigns were launched in such a double-Mars hour.» — y la ocurrencia que Skinner deja caer en nota sobre las campañas lanzadas en esa hora doble

«In the later Latin grimoires the specification of planetary hours became more closely associated with Jewish hours. Where planetary hours were listed in many later Latin grimoires, the names of the hours (Beron, Yayn, etc.) are usually derived from Hebrew rather than Greek.» — el desplazamiento onomástico que consigna al pasar al latín: los nombres de las horas pasan a ser hebreos

«The tables in the Hygromanteia are considerably more detailed than those in the Latin grimoires, as they also list the demons as well as the angels of each hour.» — y la diferencia de detalle entre las tablas griegas y las latinas

«The planetary sequence of each hour is however identical, e.g. Sunday: 1st hour - Sun; 2nd - Venus; 3rd - Mercury, and so on, for the rest of the 168 hours of the full week, without a break.» — con lo que sí es idéntico en las dos: la secuencia planetaria de las horas, corrida sin interrupción por las ciento sesenta y ocho de la semana

«Where the tables do diverge is in the names of the angels, which are the familiar Michael, Anael, Raphael, Gabriel, Cassie!, Sachiel and Samael in the Key of Solomon. However in the Hygromanteia, the sequence is Mikhael, Arphanael, Pelouel, Iorael, Piel, Kokhth and Pal.» — y donde divergen: las dos series de nombres angélicos, la latina familiar y la griega, citadas tal como las imprime la capa de texto

«Only the first (Mikhael) and part of the second (Arph-anael) angel are identical. The insistence on using the correct planetary hour and day is however the same in both texts.» — con la medida exacta de la coincidencia y lo que sí se mantiene igual: la insistencia en la hora y el día correctos

«Manuscript A is more specific about the use of these hours for the performance of specific magical operations.3 Manuscript G and M give much more detail in a tabular form extending over eight folios.» — el reparto de detalle entre manuscritos que Skinner censa

«The precise description of what type of operation should be done in each hour has not survived in most of the later Latin grimoires.» — y la pérdida que consigna: la descripción precisa de qué operación toca en cada hora no sobrevive en casi ningún grimorio latino

«Here there is a slight cross-over with astral magic, where the practice of making eikones is introduced.» — el cruce con la magia astral que señala en un capítulo concreto

«The eikones or images of the planets specified in chapter 10 of the Hygromanteia were to be created on the correct day and at the correct hour. This is the day and hour when the appropriate planet rules, while the Sun and the Moon must also be located in a zodiacal sign ruled by the same planet.» — con las condiciones astrológicas que exige la fabricación de esas imágenes

«This however only occurs in three manuscripts: B, A and P3. A, f. 6-7 has some rather strange looking figures with very large heads and eyes representing the eikones or images of the planets. This introduction of astral eikons from astral magic looks like a late interpolation.» — y el juicio que Skinner le da en nota, con la descripción de las figuras: interpolación tardía de material astral

«Day of the Sun 15th Hour of the Sun For sending dreams to a king Day of the Moon 11th Hour of Mars For preventing luck Day of Mars 12th Hour of the Moon For despoiling slain enemies Day of Mercury 4th Hour of Jupiter For practising alchemy Day of Jupiter 12th Hour of Mercury For emigrating far away Day of Venus 2nd Hour of Mercury For messages of matchmaking Day of Venus 4th Hour of Saturn» — las siete filas de esa tabla tal como las devuelve la capa de texto, con las columnas de día y hora entreveradas

«The English Key of Solomon preserves the regard for precise timing, and gives a table of the planetary rulership of each of the hours for each day of the week.» — lo que la Key conserva de todo ello

«It also gives angelic rulerships attributed to each of those hours, but is silent about the corresponding demon names, and about how to use these names.» — y lo que calla: los nombres de los demonios correspondientes y el modo de usarlos

«The attributions of these hours and their use were considered to be a secret, as they were known to be one of the main keys to successful evocation.» — con la razón que Skinner da de ese silencio: se tenían por secreto y por una de las claves del éxito

«I keep silent about the hours, so that unworthy people may not put their souls in danger» — Antonio da Montolmo, citado en nota, declarando por qué calla las horas

«The names of the 365 'duty gods' who ruled the days of the year were a closely guarded secret of Graeco-Egyptian magic, and the request to "bring me the god in whose hand the command is today" was often heard:» — los trescientos sesenta y cinco dioses de turno de la magia greco-egipcia y la fórmula con que se los pedía

«Send to me the god in whose hand the command is [for today] so that he may tell me an answer to everything about which I am asking here today.» — la fórmula demótica citada entera

«There was a daily rota of gods, and it was assumed that the magician knew which one was in charge of the day of the operation. Unfortunately these details were probably only transmitted orally.» — y la abstención con que Skinner cierra el asunto: esos detalles se transmitirían solo de palabra

«Electional astrology forms an important part of the Hygromanteia.l In the Hygromanteia the lunarium is expressed almost identically to one in the PGM.» — la coincidencia casi literal que sostiene entre el lunario de la Hygromanteia y uno de los papiros

«When the Moon is in Virgo, it is good for hunting boars.3 It is also good for anything else you want, but only by land.» — la primera entrada de ese lunario

«When the Moon is in Libra, it is good for making love and for taking <a girl's> virginity, that is to say, to harvest the blood.» — la segunda, con la fórmula del texto sobre la desfloración

«This is an interesting sidelight on why a magician might wish to seduce many virgins.» — y la lectura que Skinner apunta en nota sobre el interés del mago en las vírgenes

«When the Moon is in Scorpio, at the first day, do not go out and do not walk on a street, because it is dangerous. <If you go out> at the second day, you will not return.» — la tercera entrada, con su advertencia

«When the Moon is in Sagittarius, it is good for watching chariot races.5 It is also good for appearing before lords [to request favours]» — y la cuarta, que le sirve además de indicio de datación

«This is a confirmation that this manuscript probably predates 1204, when the last chariot race was held in Constantinople. The races were interrupted by the sack of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade in that year.» — el argumento cronológico que saca en nota de las carreras de carros

«For those matters then which appertain unto the Moon, such as the Invocation of Spirits, the Works of Necromancy, and the recovery of stolen property, it is necessary that the Moon should be in a Terrestrial Sign, viz.:- Taurus, Virgo, or Capricorn.» — el pasaje paralelo de la Clavicula: signos de tierra para invocación de espíritus, nigromancia y recuperación de lo robado

«For love, grace, and invisibility, the Moon should be in a Fiery Sign, viz.:Aries, Leo, or Sagittarius.» — signos de fuego para amor, gracia e invisibilidad

«For hatred, discord, and destruction, the Moon should be in a Watery Sign, viz.:- Cancer, Scorpio, or Pisces.» — signos de agua para odio, discordia y destrucción

«For experiments of a peculiar nature, which cannot be classed under any certain head, the Moon should be in an Airy Sign, viz.:- Gemini, Libra, or Aquarius.» — y signos de aire para los experimentos que no caben en ninguna cabeza

«This is an excellent example of commonality between all three texts.» — el valor que Skinner da al paralelo entre los tres cuerpos

«In the PGM, the timing element also involves direction. For example, an invocation of the Bear asterism (Ursa Major) should be done facing north, on the third day of the lunar month, but on the 14th day for a love rite.» — con la diferencia que marca en los papiros: allí el momento va unido a la dirección

«The sections on astrological timing in the Hygromanteia are sometimes taken from other works on astrology. For example chapter 7 in manuscript N is said to be from "a Persian philosopher called Zanates,» — la procedencia ajena de algunas secciones astrológicas, con el nombre que el propio manuscrito da al autor

«On the whole manuscript N has the most detailed astrological sections. This is not surprising, as the objective of the Hygromanteia is to be a handbook of magic, for which astrological knowledge is a useful adjunct rather than an essential part.» — y la explicación que da del reparto: la obra es manual de magia y la astrología es adjunto útil, no parte esencial

«Other conditions relating to the Moon also need to be fulfilled. For the main evocation rite, the Hygromanteia recommends a time "when the Sun is in opposition to the Moon," and on "the fourteenth day of the Moon," in other words at the Full Moon.» — las condiciones lunares del rito principal de evocación

«Planets are more important, for zodiac signs are simply seen as the setting against which the planets move, and they receive whatever qualities they have mainly from their ruling planets.» — la jerarquía que Skinner traza entre planetas y signos

«Therefore, the zodiac signs themselves have no particular magical application. It was not till Tommaso Campanella (1568-1639) that any magician attempted to invoke or pray to a zodiacal sign,4 as opposed to prayers to the planets which are well attested from the earliest times.» — y la consecuencia, con la excepción datada que él mismo pone: hasta Campanella ningún mago intenta invocar a un signo

«Nevertheless the Hygromanteia gives details of the manufacture of talismans under the influence of each zodiacal sign (chapters 4 and 5), in a method similar to astral magic, but with the addition of ritual and invocation in each case.» — con el matiz que atempera en parte lo anterior: la obra sí da talismanes por signo, al modo de la magia astral pero con rito e invocación

«Chapter 6 of the Hygromanteia covers the types of magical operations that should be carried out on each of the Moon's 28/29 day cycle.» — el capítulo de las mansiones lunares

«One might expect special attention to be paid to the 1st (New Moon), 14th (Full Moon) and last day (Dark Moon), but it is not markedly so in the Hygromanteia.» — y la expectativa que el texto defrauda, según Skinner

«Even the general rule (prominent in the Latin grimoires) of waxing Moon for constructive aims, but waning Moon for destructive aims is not consistently observed in the Hygromanteia, as it is later in the Clavicula Salomonis.» — con la regla latina de luna creciente y menguante, que la Hygromanteia no observa con consistencia

«The First day of the Moon For winning in gambling, in chess and in other games. Fifteenth day For speaking with demons. Twenty third day For fishing. Twenty seventh day For love and for bindings of love. Twenty ninth day For destruction.» — los cinco días lunares que cita como ejemplo, con su uso, tal como los devuelve la capa de texto

«Ritual purity especially with regard to chastity was an almost universal requirement in both ancient magic and the Byzantine and Latin grimoires. For Solomonic ritual magic purity was an essential ingredient.» — la exigencia de pureza ritual, que Skinner da por casi universal en los tres cuerpos

«This requirement originated in the temples of Egypt, where high standards of personal cleanliness, including removal of all body hair and circumcision were enforced.» — con el origen que le adjudica: los templos de Egipto, con depilación completa y circuncisión

«Although some writers suggest that the purity requirements originated in Jewish practice, it is quite likely that the Jews inherited it from Egypt instead.» — y el desacuerdo que consigna con quienes la hacen venir de la práctica judía

«The point of this purity was not for any reason that could be construed as religious. It was for the practical reason that (according to the PGM) that the gods (and by extension other spiritual creatures) would reject an impure man, and not respond to his request.» — la razón que da de la pureza, y que él subraya no religiosa: el dios rechaza al impuro y no atiende su petición

«In later Christianised grimoires it supposedly gave the magician extra protection against demons, on the basis that if he were not 'corrupted' then they could not easily overcome him.» — con el sentido nuevo que adquiere en los grimorios cristianizados

«In the PGM sexual abstinence was prescribed for the magician (for three, seven, or nine days) before the operation. Even more strictly, virginity was imposed upon his skryer, so that he should be "a pure youth who has not yet gone with a woman.» — los plazos de abstinencia de los papiros y la virginidad exigida al vidente

«Purity and preparation are even more explicit in the Hygromanteia. Chapters 31 and 40 cover the preparatory moral conduct of the magician, which includes purificatory baths, prayer, sexual abstinence and fasting.» — y el régimen preparatorio de la Hygromanteia

«These procedures may seem strange to those who subscribe to the popular view of magic, which associates it with the opposite of all those qualities, with hellish doings and with morally degrading trappings in unsanitary venues like crypts and graveyards.» — con la imagen popular de la magia que Skinner opone a ese régimen

«However, Solomonic ritual magic invariably stipulates purity of body and lifestyle immediately prior to the rite.» — y lo que él sostiene en contra

«In a Christian environment, spiritual purity also implies confession of any sins, which also became part of the grimoire procedure in the Christian era. A full confession of sins real and imaginary was recommended before commencing.» — la adaptación cristiana que registra: la confesión de los pecados entra en el procedimiento

«The Clavicula Salomonis echoes the same provision laid down in the Hygromanteia. In the Clavicula Salomonis, the magician was often advised to abstain from all sexual activity for a week to nine days before ritual.» — los plazos de abstinencia de la Clavicula

«Abstinence for 40 days is not uncommon in much less complex procedures.» — con el plazo extremo que consigna; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«Even accidental sexual emission is warned against.» — y la advertencia que la fuente añade en la plana siguiente

«Graeco-Egyptian rites on the other hand only proscribed sexual activity for between three and seven days before.» — y la comparación con los ritos greco-egipcios, más breves

«Apart from sexual purity, physical purity was also important, with prohibitions against dirt, urine, or any other impurities. Menstruating women were also considered impure.» — la pureza física, con las mujeres menstruantes entre lo que se tenía por impuro

«a secret room, into which no one else is able to enter, in particular girls and women, who can defile its cleanliness through their menses, which is a natural weakness . . . You should give your utmost attention not to allow any unclean chamber-pot to enter into the room, for this place should be immaculately clean in every way and should not be influenced by any unsanitary thing.» — el pasaje del grimorio que lo detalla, con la prohibición de bacinicas en el cuarto

«If you consider this passage along with the Graeco-Egyptian prohibition against eating fish or garlic before entering the temple, the prohibition of sexual intercourse, the insistence upon the magician and his assistants all washing themselves before entering the circle, plus the ancient use of body perfumes, one common denominator stands out: the sense of smell.» — y el denominador común que Skinner propone para todas esas prescripciones

«Given that spiritual creatures can be driven away or banished by bad smells, like asafoetida, it seems possible that all of the above precautions are for the very concrete reason, of not wishing to drive away the spiritual creature with bad smells.» — con la razón concreta que arriesga, marcada como posible: no espantar a la criatura con malos olores

«In a Hindu context, burps and farts were thought to destroy the effect of a mantra, requiring at the very least its restarting from the beginning again.» — y el paralelo hindú que aduce en nota

«Ritual purity, although important in the PGM, was not carried to such lengths, or given such importance as it was in Jewish religious practice.» — la comparación de grados entre los papiros y la práctica religiosa judía

«The classical Jewish grimoire, The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage,3 carries these preparations to much greater lengths, in one case to a six to eighteen months long period.» — con el caso extremo del Abramelin

«Abramelin enjoined preparation periods of prayer with strict observance of taboos and limiting of diet, social intercourse, and even profane talk.» — y el contenido de esa preparación, hasta el habla profana

«Fasting and food prohibitions have deep roots in ancient Egyptian magic.4 Fasting, or existing on a bread and water diet, before a magical operation was also common in the PGM, Hygromanteia and Clavicula Salomonis.» — el ayuno y las prohibiciones alimentarias, comunes a los tres cuerpos

«Fasts are not just daylight fasts, as in Muslim practice, but for 3, 7 or 9 whole days. The objective was the purification of the body, rather than some vague moral purpose.» — con la duración y el objetivo que Skinner declara: purificar el cuerpo, no un fin moral vago

«After the magician has selected the right date and time for the operation, fasted and kept himself pure, his next concern is to protect himself during the course of the operation. This was done in two main ways in the Solomonic method: by inscribing a floor circle around his area of working to protect him and his assistants, and by wearing a protective phylactery or lam en.» — las dos vías de protección que Skinner distingue en el método salomónico: el círculo trazado en el suelo y la filacteria o lamen que se lleva puesto

«The use of a protective magical circle is one of the defining elements of Solomonic magic. As such its presence is one of the main pieces of evidence of the transmission of Solomonic magical techniques.» — el valor probatorio que da al círculo: es elemento definitorio y por eso pieza principal de evidencia de la transmisión

«It is a particularly promising evidence of this transmission, because clear illustrations can fortunately be found in a succession of manuscripts, indicating its evolution over many centuries.» — con la razón material que lo hace útil: hay ilustraciones claras en una serie de manuscritos

«The protective circle is a recurrent theme in magic, where the magician is attempting to evoke a spirit or daimon who might threaten his well being, from Mesopotamian times to the present day, but only Solomonic magic definitely prescribed the detailed inscription of god and angel names within that circle.» — y lo que Skinner atribuye en exclusiva a la magia salomónica: prescribir en detalle la inscripción de nombres divinos y angélicos dentro del círculo

«Other forms of magic like astral magic, village magic, or magic found in modern day primitive societies do not use a detailed drawn circle for the protection of the magician.» — con la búsqueda negativa que lo delimita: ni la magia astral ni la de aldea usan círculo dibujado en detalle

«Daimones, demons, spirits and even gods, needed to be kept at arms length, and this was achieved by drawing such a consecrated circle upon the ground, and keeping within it for the whole duration of the rite.» — y la función que le asigna: mantener a distancia a daimones, demonios, espíritus y aun dioses durante todo el rito

«Modern Wicca utilises a circle only because its creator, Gerald Gardner copied it directly from the Key of Solomon. It is not to be found in pre-20th century witchcraft.» — en nota, la adjudicación que Skinner hace del círculo de la wicca moderna: Gerald Gardner lo copió de la Key, y no está en la brujería anterior al siglo XX

«The Latin inscription on the inner circle Ego me circumcingo virtute horum nominum alubus hie circulus est consignatus,2 explains that the circle is sealed by virtue of the names of the four archangels written around it in 'Crossing the River' script.» — el pie de la figura del frontispicio de un grimorio de 1757, con el latín del círculo interior y su explicación: el círculo queda sellado por los nombres de los cuatro arcángeles

«Although the illustration in Figure 14 is of relatively late date, it sums up several of the techniques which Latin grimoires inherited from the Graeco» — y lo que esa lámina tardía resume, según Skinner: varias técnicas heredadas de los magos greco-egipcios; la cita se corta antes del compuesto que la fuente parte con guion de renglón

«The use of a protective circle in the form of the ouroboros (chapter 5.3.1). 2. The directions as marked by the four corner sigils of the Demon Kings (chapter 5.2.2).» — las dos primeras de esas técnicas: el círculo en forma de ouroboros y las direcciones marcadas por los sellos de los reyes demonio

«The opposition of the four archangels' names (Gbrial (sic), Urial, Mikal (sic), Rpal (sic), written in magical script in the pink ring) to those Demon Kings ('thwarting angels' method chapter 5.1.1). 4. The sealing or consecration of the circle, as stated in the Latin inscription (in the green central circle).» — y las otras dos, con los *sic* que el propio Skinner pone a las grafías de los arcángeles: la oposición de sus nombres a los reyes y el sellado del círculo

«There appears to be little trace of the protective circle in early Jewish magical texts.» — la búsqueda negativa que Skinner declara en los textos mágicos judíos tempranos

«However in the fertile ground of the 1st century BC, there lived an interesting magician called Honi ha-Ma'agel Â!1VQM ÃÄ,M), who was famous for his ability to successfully pray for rain.» — con la excepción que consigna: un mago del siglo I a. C. famoso por conseguir lluvia con su oración

«His historical existence is testified by the presence of his well-kept tomb at Hatzor ha-Gelitit, by the roadside in a town near the well known Kabbalistic centre of Safed.» — y la prueba de existencia histórica que aduce: su tumba bien conservada junto a la carretera, cerca de Safed

«Once when a drought had lasted almost throughout the month of Adar and the people had supplicated in vain for rain, they came to Onias [Honi] to ask him to bring rain by his prayers. Onias thereupon drew a circle (hence his name, "the circle-drawer"), and, placing himself in the center of it, prayed for rain; and his prayer was immediately answered. When the rain had continued to fall for some time in torrents, and there was danger that it might prove harmful instead of a blessing, he prayed that it might cease; and this prayer also received an immediate answer.» — el relato citado de la enciclopedia: trazó un círculo, se puso en el centro, pidió lluvia y la obtuvo, y pidió después que cesara

«If Honi were in fact calling up spirits using God's name in order to cause a storm, which seems more likely than directly berating God, then Honi' s use of the circle can be equated with Solomonic practice, but otherwise it appears to be an isolated incident.» — la lectura condicional que Skinner propone del episodio, y el límite que le pone: aun así parece incidente aislado

«In the 15th century, by way of explaining the function of the circle, Menahem Ziyuni stated that "those who invoke demons draw circles around themselves because the spirits have not the power to trespass from the public to a private area [so marked out].» — la explicación del siglo XV que cita: los invocadores de demonios trazan círculos porque los espíritus no pueden pasar del área pública a la privada así marcada

«This echoes the crossroads idea, but in fact it was always (three-dimensional) vases or bottles that were used to trap spirits, not two-dimensional circles.» — y la objeción que Skinner pone al fragmento de la Genizah: los atrapaespíritus eran vasijas, no círculos

«Also a spirit trap would not have been supplied with four openings. There are no other early references in Jewish magical works to a circle, as far as I know.» — con el segundo argumento y la búsqueda negativa que lo acompaña, en primera persona

«Incidentally vases or bottles designed to trap or hold spirits have a completely different function from crystals in which skryers saw or conversed with spirits on a temporary basis.» — y la distinción funcional que introduce entre vasijas de retención y cristales de visión

«Although references to a protective chalk circle are not very detailed in the PGM, detailed diagrams of the protective circle begin to appear in the Hygromanteia.» — la asimetría documental que registra entre los papiros y la Hygromanteia en cuanto al círculo

«These circles are also closely tied to the four cardinal points, and with ritual actions performed at each of these points.» — con el vínculo que traza entre esos círculos y los cuatro puntos cardinales

«The procedure of drawing a double circle inside two contraposed squares was well established and obviously long used to protect the magician from spirits by the time it appears in the Hygromanteia.» — y lo que de ahí infiere sobre la antigüedad del procedimiento

«Early Byzantine texts show the circle drawn in conjunction with a square or diamond shape indicating these directions, but later Latin grimoires often omit that feature.» — la pérdida que consigna al pasar al latín: el cuadrado o rombo que marcaba las direcciones desaparece a menudo

«The floor-inscribed magical circle is found in its most fully developed form in the Hygromanteia.» — y dónde encuentra la forma más desarrollada del círculo

«There are in that text three different types of circle, often all found in the same manuscript, but in different chapters, indicating slightly differing uses rather than an ordered chronological development.» — con el matiz que impide leer los tres tipos como una evolución: conviven en un mismo manuscrito y responden a usos distintos

«The most specialised of these circles is found in chapter 49 of the Hygromanteia, which is concerned with evocationary skrying using a young boy.» — el primero de los tres tipos, ligado a la visión evocatoria con un niño

«The purpose of this circle is to protect the virgin boy being used as a skryer as well as the magician.» — y a quién protege

«The magician or magister, who is here identified as a Persian 'lecanomancer'» — el oficiante de esa escena, identificado en el texto como lecanomante persa; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«reads the invocation whilst the boy stares at a water pot balanced on a stone, lit by the rays of the sun, from within the centre of a protective circle» — y su continuación: el niño mira la vasija de agua puesta sobre una piedra, iluminada por los rayos del sol, desde el centro del círculo

«It is tempting to see this as Apollonius of Tyana, but the appellation 'Persian,' and the green turban shown in the illustration, make this a problematic identification.» — y la identificación que Skinner declara problemática en nota, por el gentilicio y por el turbante verde de la lámina

«Marathakis identifies this procedure as hygromanteia type 1, despite the textual identification of the main figure as a lecanomancer. This underlines the essential identity of all the water/ oil skrying methods which evolved from PGM bowl skrying.» — el pie de esa figura, donde Skinner consigna una discrepancia de clasificación y saca de ella su propia conclusión: todos los métodos de visión en agua o aceite son en el fondo el mismo

«This scenario of a boy skryer inside a circle has a lot in common with a 16th/17th century Hebrew manuscript concerned with fingernail skrying,3 in which a circle is made around the skryer also with a black-handled knife:» — el paralelo hebreo que aduce, de los siglos XVI y XVII, sobre la visión en la uña

«Take a young lad and make a circle in the earth with a knife, the handle of which is black, and prepare the nail of the right thumb until it becomes thin, and take four smooth stones and put (them) in the four rows of the circle, and put the mentioned knife in the middle of the circle» — el pasaje citado: el círculo trazado con el cuchillo de mango negro, la uña del pulgar derecho adelgazada, cuatro piedras lisas y el cuchillo en el centro

«The "four smooth stones" are also mentioned in Babylonian texts, were used in various ceremonies,2 to mark the four cardinal directions, suggesting again a possible ultimate Mesopotamian origin for the practice.» — y el origen último que Skinner conjetura a partir de las cuatro piedras: acaso mesopotámico

«Returning to chapter 49 of the Hygromanteia, the geometry of the protective design in this chapter is quite complex, and possibly unique.» — el juicio que le merece la geometría de ese círculo

«It consists of a pentagram (in which the skryer stands, surrounded by a double square with an opening to the East protected by the words "labaa, Morasa, Mpaoth.» — su descripción: pentagrama para el vidente, doble cuadrado con abertura al este y las tres palabras que la guardan

«The boundary of the square is protected by "Letaia, Lekamini, Lekhaglo, Gon, Lekaphthri, Apagla,3 Maria, Lakarinau, Latago, Logam.» — los diez nombres que guardan el lindero del cuadrado, citados tal como los imprime la capa de texto y sin cotejo contra el facsímil

«The square is then surrounded by a double circle with an opening to the West. This circle contains the names "Adonai, Sabaoth, Adonai, Todas, Adonai, Amath» — el doble círculo con abertura al oeste y los nombres que contiene

«Possibly from the Hebrew Aemeth, meaning 'truth.' That word was later used by Dee to describe his main circular sigil, Sigullum Dei Aemeth.» — en nota, la etimología que Skinner propone para uno de esos nombres y el enlace que traza con el sello mayor de Dee

«The gate of this circle is protected (sealed) by the words "Tetragrammaton, O[mega], Adonai.» — y las palabras que sellan la puerta del círculo

«The instructions for creating this circle are to "trace the circle with a black» — las instrucciones de trazado; la cita se corta antes del compuesto que la fuente parte con guion de renglon, y el resto manda incensar, limpiar y orar

«It is clear that the skryer is thereby protected from the evoked spirit. It is not clear where the magician» — y la abstención que Skinner declara sobre dónde se sitúa el mago; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«stands during this operation, but in all likelihood also within the outer protective circle.» — con la conjetura que la acompaña: probablemente también dentro del círculo exterior

«There are two other distinct methods of forming the circle outlined in the Hygromanteia from the same period.» — Skinner anuncia los otros dos métodos de trazar el círculo, del mismo periodo

«This appears in chapter 36 of the Hygromanteia (see Figure 17),1 which describes an evocation which is to be performed when the Sun is in exact opposition to the Moon, in other words at Full Moon.» — el segundo tipo, con la condición astronómica que lo rige: sol en oposición exacta a la luna

«This circle has two earthenware braziers, full of lit charcoals on the borders of the circle, used to burn the incense.» — y su rasgo material: dos braseros de barro con carbón encendido en el borde

«The circle is set within two squares, with the corners of the inner one touching the mid-points of the sides of the outer one.» — la geometría del segundo tipo: dos cuadrados con los vértices del interior en los puntos medios del exterior

«After entering the circle from the South and placing incense on the charcoals, the magician is required to trace one or two concentric circles,2 with embedded nomina magica, again using the black» — el procedimiento de entrada y trazado; la cita se corta antes del compuesto que la fuente parte con guion de renglón

«When the magician and his apprentice have entered the circle, the entrance is sealed with this same 'knife of the art.'» — y el sellado de la entrada con el mismo cuchillo del arte

«The vertices of the larger square determine the position for the earthenware braziers.» — la función geométrica que asigna a los vértices del cuadrado mayor

«The east and west sides of the inner square have triple lock marks near the corners, and all four comers have triple angle lock marks.» — las marcas de cierre que describe en los lados y las esquinas

«This feature is meant to prevent the ingress of the spirit at any point where the lines may have been imperfectly joined.» — y la función que les atribuye: impedir la entrada del espíritu por una unión imperfecta

«The black-handled knife is shown baring the exit, with its point outwards. It is possible that the knife is stabbed into the floor/ earth at this point, as in the conjuration of Mortze.» — con la posición del cuchillo en la salida y la conjetura de que se clave en el suelo, como en una conjuración concreta

«The second type of Byzantine Circle. The wavy lines indicate incense smoke arising from burners placed at the corners. Note the "lock marks" at the corners, which are typical of circles drawn in manuscripts of the Hygromanteia.1 The Greek in the centre just indicates the positioning of the magician and his assistant.2 The nomina magica between the two circles is Malea - Anaeliel - Kephares Askoune - Mpakalon.» — el pie de esa figura, con las marcas de cierre típicas de la tradición y los cinco nombres mágicos entre los dos círculos, citados tal como los imprime la capa de texto

«This method is to be found in chapter 41 of the Hygromanteia (see Figure 18).3 In this method four braziers or censers are used.» — el tercer tipo de círculo, con cuatro braseros

«This third method of drawing the circle is simpler as the circle is only enclosed in one square and» — y en qué es más simple: el círculo va en un solo cuadrado; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«In this method, there are no lock marks and the exit path is simply sealed with a pentagram» — con la diferencia de sellado que consigna: un pentagrama en vez del cuchillo; la cita se corta ante el guion de renglon del compuesto

«A more critical difference is that the exit path in the third method is orientated to the north, rather than to the south, as in the second method.» — la diferencia que Skinner tiene por más crítica: la salida se orienta al norte y no al sur

«This is not likely to be just a simplification of the second method, but a Ķircle used for relatively minor operations, such as the consecration of talismans.» — y la lectura que hace de ella: no simplificación sino círculo para operaciones menores; el escaneo corrompe la palabra *circle*

«The third type of Byzantine Circle. Note the lack of lock marks, the four braziers (with handles) within the circle and the orientation of the entrance to the North (on the left). The Magister and assistants are to stand to the West (at the bottom of the drawing).l The nomina magica surrounding the circle are "Partheon, Ana, Adona, Elion, Aglaa, Tetragrammaton, Ousioukhon.» — el pie de esa figura, con los siete nombres mágicos que rodean el círculo

«Note that the bottom of the diagram is physically missing from the actual manuscript, having been at one point in time actually cut off by the binder, rather than cropped from the photo.» — y el estado material del original que Skinner declara en nota: el encuadernador cortó la parte baja del dibujo

«Traditionally the consecrated circle in the Clavicula Salomonis was drawn with flour2 or chalk upon the floor or cut into the turf with a ritual dagger (if the magical operation were performed outdoors).» — los materiales con que la Clavicula manda trazar el círculo

«Although the circle was usually drawn in chalk or painted on the floor, a number of authorities state that it is the retracing by the consecrated (black-handled) knife, or consecrated iron sword, which was most effective in keeping the spirits out of the circle.» — con lo que varias autoridades tenían por más eficaz: repasarlo con el cuchillo consagrado o con la espada de hierro

«Bird blood (specifically doves) was also sometimes used to» — y el tercer material que consigna; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«Drawing magical figures with flour is still practiced with the drawing of modern day Voodoo vevas, which some authorities suggest may have been derived from Solomonic spirit seals. The vevas however do not enclose the magician.» — en nota, el paralelo contemporáneo que Skinner recoge y a la vez acota: los vevés del vudú se trazan con harina y no encierran al mago

«Pointing up the importance of the protective circle, the title of one of the early Latin grimoires, the Almadel, even means 'the circle' in Arabic.» — el argumento onomástico con que subraya la importancia del círculo

«As early as 1425 one manuscript shows a magician commanding two full sized demons from within the safety of a single circle drawn upon the ground» — la primera lámina que aduce como testimonio, de 1425

«An even more explicit manuscript from the 14th century shows the magician armed with a sword, wearing a Crusader style breastplate (or lamen), standing within a double protective circle cut in the turf of a hillock, up which labours a treasure-bearing spirit» — y la segunda, del siglo XIV, con el mago armado de espada y peto dentro de un círculo cortado en el césped

«A 14th century magician within a turf-cut circle receives a treasure-bearing spirit, whilst a monk looks on.4 Note the magician's sword and breastplate (lamen). The marks on the breastplate may have been a number of small seals, as they appeared on the ourania in the Hygromanteia.» — el pie de esa figura, con la conjetura que Skinner apunta sobre las marcas del peto

«we see a large number of parallels with the second type of circle in the Hygromanteia (Figure 17) drawn approximately 250 years later.» — el cotejo que hace entre un círculo francés de 1796 y el segundo tipo bizantino, con el intervalo medido

«These similarities are clear proof of the transmission of not only the method of working (in a protective circle) but also the exact same geometric construction.» — y lo que da por probado con ellas

«a square within a square (with apexes touching the mid-points of the sides) within a circumscribing circle. b) the provision of an entrance way.» — las dos primeras coincidencias que enumera

«incense burners located at the four outer corners (captioned as Olla sive Prunarium2 in the French Clavicula Salomonis). d) sets of triple 'lock-lines' on the square's sides.» — y las otras dos, con el rótulo latino de los braseros

«The minor differences include the replacement of pentagrams with equal armed crosses; a translation of the text from Greek to Latin; an increase in the number of protective circles from two to three; and the entrance blocked by crosses and the Tetragrammaton rather than the black» — las diferencias menores que consigna: cruces en vez de pentagramas, latín en vez de griego y tres círculos en vez de dos; la cita se corta ante el guion de renglón

«The omission of the knife is probably due to the scribe not realising what was depicted in the drawing. In practice the consecrated knife may still have been placed, point outwards (or downwards), at the entrance.» — en nota, la explicación que da de la desaparición del cuchillo en el dibujo, marcada como probable

«The protective names in the Key of Solomon are recognisable from the Heptameron, but do not relate directly to those in the Hygromanteia.» — y la procedencia que adjudica a los nombres protectores de la Key, con la discontinuidad que eso implica

«As illustrations of the circles in that manuscript are drawn from a pre-1700 Latin/Italian Clavicula Salomonis, it is therefore appropriate that they be considered here alongside contemporary Latin and vernacular European grimoires, rather than with Jewish magic.» — la decisión de clasificación que Skinner declara para los círculos del manuscrito hebreo

«The magician's efforts were concentrated on the drawing and closing of the circle to prevent demonic ingress.» — el objeto de todo el trabajo del círculo, según Skinner

«In the Hygromanteia, Sepher Maphteah Shelomoh and the Grimorium Verum clear channels were provided for the arrival of the magician and his assistants, after which this pathway would be sealed with appropriate divine names.» — y la solución común a tres obras: un canal de entrada que luego se sella

«In the Greek grimoires, the passage was often sealed by stabbing the floor/ earth with the black-handled knife, reflecting the long standing tradition that spirits fear sharp iron blades.» — con la variante griega y la tradición que la explica

«A protective circle from the Sepher Maphteah Shelomoh.1 This circle uses a combination of circle, square and triangle, which is quite unusual. Note the important entrance/ exit path pointing to the top left, marked as the 'path of Metatron.' This operation was intended to be performed in Spring, as the magical name of that season, Ŗ,ßŗ Talvi (which is drawn from the Heptameron), is written on the left side of the square. The cardinal points are marked by the four small circles in the inner circle, where the magician and his assistants would have stood.» — el pie de la figura del círculo hebreo, con la combinación inusual de círculo, cuadrado y triángulo, la senda de Metatrón y el nombre mágico de la primavera tomado del Heptameron

«This Hebrew copy of an Italian/Latin Clavicula Salomonis circle shows an access path designed to allow the magician and his disciple to enter the circle before the rite» — la senda de acceso que ese círculo dibuja

«The Hebrew inscribed on the path is r,cr-1Ã NÃ, which transliterates as the phrase ' Via Itmon,' an interesting mix of Latin and Hebrew which means 'the path of Metatron.'2 The magician obviously invoked that angel to protect the vulnerable entry path to his circle.» — y la lectura que Skinner da de su inscripción: una mezcla de latín y hebreo que significa senda de Metatrón, ángel invocado para proteger la entrada

«A simple 1 circle of art' from The Worke of Salomon the Wise, Called his Clavicle Revealed .I The title of the diagram I Sequitur Circulis' indicates that this is primarily about the order in which the circle should be constructed (indicated by the small numbers), rather than an accurate and well proportioned illustration of the circle itself. The partial disengagement of the hexagrams indicates the order in which the lines of the hexagrams should be drawn. The outer circle contains corrupt Hebrew god names. Note the triple lock marks at the corners.» — el pie de una figura de 1572, que Skinner lee como diagrama de orden de trazado y no como dibujo proporcionado del círculo

«A complex circle of protection also from The Worke of Salomon the Wise, Called his Clavicle Revealed dated 1572. It shows a porta or 'gate' for entry (at left), corner 'lock marks,' and four braziers at the cardinal points.1 The square probably should not overlap the circle.» — y el de la segunda figura del mismo manuscrito, con la reserva que él añade sobre el cuadrado

«This English manuscript, Sloane MS 3847, dated April 1572, has two full page illustrations of protective circles.» — la identificación y fecha de ese manuscrito inglés

«The practice of placing braziers with charcoal on which to burn the incense, at the comers of the circumscribed square (as seen in Figure 23) occurs in some» — la práctica de poner braseros en las esquinas del cuadrado circunscrito; el escaneo imprime *comers* por *corners* y el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«The title of this grimoire definitely suggests Greek roots. The Heptameron, meaning literally 'the seven days,' deals with invocations of the angels and spirits of the seven days of the week.» — el argumento onomástico con que Skinner adscribe el Heptameron a raíz griega, y su contenido

«The Heptameron was first published in Venice in 1496, and was reputedly written by Peter de Abano, although that is disputed by some scholars on the now familiar grounds that someone who was a doctor and scholar could not possibly have penned a work on magic.» — con la disputa de autoría que consigna y el motivo que atribuye a quienes la niegan

«However, as nobody has suggested a viable alternative author, I will continue to refer to it as de Abano' s Heptameron.» — y la decisión práctica que toma al respecto

«The circles used in the Heptameron are much simpler than those in some other grimoires, except for one startling difference, that is that the names inscribed within them are not fixed, but vary according to the time and date of the operation.» — el rasgo que Skinner llama sorprendente en esos círculos: los nombres inscritos cambian con la fecha y la hora

«the form of the Circles is not always one and the same; but useth to be changed, according to the order of the Spirits that are to be called, their places [direction of calling], times, daies and hours [of the operation]. For in making a Circle, it ought to be considered in what time of the year, what day, and what hour, [and what season] that you make the Circle; what Spirits you would call, to what Star [planet] and region they do belong, and what functions they have.» — el propio Heptameron, citado: la forma del círculo cambia según el orden de los espíritus llamados, sus lugares, tiempos, días y horas

«The Heptameron2 carries on the PGM and Hygromanteia practice of recommending the careful selection of the correct day of the week and hour, even extending this to the month and season.» — la continuidad que Skinner traza desde los papiros, ampliada aquí al mes y a la estación

«The interesting transmission from the PGM and the Byzantine Hygromanteia texts is that the angels and rulers of the hour, day and season are now inscribed within the circle itself.» — y la novedad que registra: los regentes temporales pasan a inscribirse dentro del círculo

«Perhaps this was initially an aide-memoire for the magician conjuring these temporal rulers, but it soon became a written fixture.» — con la explicación que ofrece marcándola como conjetura

«It would seem likely therefore (as these circles harked back to the Byzantine Solomonic tradition), and its name is Greek, that the Heptameron was amongst the grimoires imported from Byzantium.» — y la conclusión que de ahí saca sobre la procedencia bizantina del Heptameron, con su grado

«Interestingly, a complete copy of the Heptameron is contained within the text of one of the manuscripts of the Hygromanteia, making it even more certain that the Heptameron was also originally a Greek text.» — con el dato material que la refuerza: una copia completa dentro de un manuscrito de la Hygromanteia

«This manuscript belongs to the end of the 19th century, but repeated material from a much earlier period.» — y la salvedad que Skinner pone en nota a la fecha de ese manuscrito

«Circle for Sunday in the Heptameron.l Note that there is a different configuration for the circle depending upon the day of the week, and even the season. Note that east is at the top of the illustration, where the name of the Demon King Varcan Rex is inscribed.» — el pie de esa figura, con la variación por día y estación y el rey demonio inscrito al este

«A number of other grimoires, and even some versions of the Clavicula Salomonis, copied the Heptameron style circles. The Herpentilis (first printed edition 1505), for example, replicates the same type of circle found in the Heptameron, which is a circle which also incorporates changes according to the current day, month and season in its design» — la difusión de ese modelo de círculo a otros grimorios

«important Demon King, Varcan Rex, is shown in the outer circle. This demon is no doubt the same as the Vercan Rex, whose figure is shown in Figure 06, as one of the four Demon kings of the Cardinal directions.» — y la identificacion que Skinner propone entre dos grafias del mismo rey demonio; la cita arranca partida porque la fuente corta la palabra con guion de renglon

«Circle for Sunday from a manuscript of the Herpentilis (c. 1700). It replicates the type of circle found in the Heptameron, incorporating the secret names for the current day, month and season in its design.1 This is a Faustian grimoire with distinctly Solomonic properties. Note the lamen and glove.» — el pie de la figura del Herpentilis, que Skinner clasifica como grimorio fáustico con propiedades salomónicas

«In a 1796 Clavicula Salomonis these circles appear again, but are (incorrectly) captioned as 'pentacles' rather than being recognised as floor circles by the French scribe (F. Fyot).» — y el error de rótulo que consigna en un manuscrito francés: el copista llama pentáculos a los círculos de suelo

«Circle for Wednesday in a Clavicula Salomonis derived from the Heptameron. Note that this circle is actually taken from a French Key of Solomon,2 which copied the method from the Heptameron. In this circle the Demon King is Modiat Rex.» — el pie de esa figura, con el nombre del rey demonio que allí aparece

«Some Germanic Faustian grimoires also follow the Heptameron circle design although they have introduced additional Christian content like saint's names and Psalm catchlines, both of which often degenerated into a series of initials» — el añadido cristiano que Skinner registra en los círculos fáusticos, degenerado a menudo en iniciales

«Heptameron style circles from Faust's Magia Naturalis et Innaturalis1 that have been derived from the circle shown in Figure 26.» — el pie de esa figura, con la filiación que les traza

«Even those that didn't used its conjurations. One of the latter also resurrected the idea of the Egyptian ouroboros, using it in their seals as a method of forcing compliance from the spirit» — y el retorno del ouroboros egipcio que consigna en uno de ellos, como método de forzar obediencia

«Crowned ouroboros used in a circle design from a Faustian grimoire.l The invocation within the ouroboros is derived directly from the Heptameron. The caption is "Allerhochster Zwang, Citation und Siegel," or "strongest constraint, invocation and seal.» — el pie de esa figura, con el alemán del rótulo y su traducción

«Goetia (Book I of the Lemegeton) manuscripts which date from the mid-17th century1 have a more complex circle. The circle of the Goetia contains multiple rings with god names, archangels and the angels of the ten Sephiroth inscribed within it.» — el círculo de la Goetia, con sus anillos de nombres divinos, arcángeles y ángeles de las diez sefirot

«While there has been the loss of the temporal names which featured in the Hygromanteia and the PGM, there has been the addition of the influence of the Tree of Life from the Christianised Kabbalah made popular by Reuchlin.» — y el trueque que Skinner mide: se pierden los nombres temporales y entra el Árbol de la Vida de la cábala cristiana

«I have located a manuscript of this text from the late 14th century, but have not yet been able to examine it to confirm its identity.» — en nota, un hallazgo que Skinner declara sin verificar todavía

«An interesting byway in the development of the Solomonic circle is the manuscript of the Goetia (Part 1 of the Lemegeton) which was written by the 17th century magician Dr Thomas Rudd (and later copied by Peter Smart).» — el manuscrito de Thomas Rudd, que Skinner trata como desvío interesante en la evolución del círculo

«This manuscript was obviously written by a working magician who carefully considered what he was doing.» — con el juicio que le merece su autor

«He reintroduced the circle format of the Heptameron, which had been out of fashion, reincorporating the idea of listing the names of the temporal rulers that were appropriate to the date and time of the ritual, in the Circle itself.» — y la reintroducción que le atribuye: los nombres de los regentes temporales vuelven al círculo

«Other changes made by him, suggest a wider knowledge of the procedures of Solomonic magic than many of his 17th century contemporaries.» — con lo que esos cambios le indican sobre el conocimiento de Rudd

«For example, instead of using a triangle to confine the spirit, he manufactured a Brass Vessel, modelled on Solomon's spirit bottle, and closed it with the Seal of Solomon and inscribed it with the names of all 72 angels who are reputed to control their opposite 72 demons, utilising the technique of "thwarting angels» — el ejemplo mayor: en vez del triángulo, un vaso de bronce modelado sobre la botella de Salomón, sellado y con los setenta y dos ángeles que contrarrestan a los setenta y dos demonios

«Thomas Rudd was a mathematician and magician who knew Dr. John Dee and flourished in the early 17th century.» — en nota, la identificación que da de Rudd y su trato con Dee

«Circle from a Goetia manuscript dated 8 January 1687.1 The incense pots have been replaced by candles, as have the exterior squares, but the double circle filled with god and angel names is still present. An external Triangle that has now become the spiritus loci has been added. The development of this will be dealt with in the next chapter 5.3.2.» — el pie de esa figura, con los cambios que registra: velas en lugar de braseros y de cuadrados exteriores, el doble círculo de nombres intacto y un triángulo externo nuevo

«The date is expressed as January 1686/87, which indicates 1687.» — en nota, la resolución que da a la doble datación del manuscrito

«Finally the simple circle of the early Goetia reached its apogee in the edition of the Goetia transcribed by Mathers, and later stolen and published by Aleister Crowley.» — la adjudicación que Skinner hace de la edición del siglo XX: transcrita por Mathers y publicada después por Crowley

«This 20th century version of the Goetia included an illustration of the circle which incorporated all the angel, archangel and god names of the ten Sephiroth of the Kabbalah in Hebrew inside a snake shaped spiral rather than in concentric circles.» — con la novedad gráfica que describe: la espiral en forma de serpiente en vez de círculos concéntricos

«The snake harks back to the ouroboros shaped floor circle of the PGM.» — y la continuidad que le atribuye

«Circle in a 20th century edition of the Goetia.l Interestingly, in this version of the circle the draftsman has reintroduced the serpent motif, although not in this case biting its own tail. The Hebrew round the cirle is a translation of the Kabbalistic list found (in English) on the Circle shown in Figure 29, which dates from 1687.» — el pie de esa figura, con el matiz que Skinner añade: la serpiente vuelve, pero no se muerde la cola

«In the early 20th century, the form of the circle was simplified and the names of the temporal rulers were dropped. Also, in some grimoires the quartering disappeared, although the circle was still very clearly aligned with the cardinal points.» — la simplificación del siglo XX y lo que aun así se conserva

«There is a hint in Mathers' edition of the Key of Solomon of the existence of time-dependent circles, but it is not spelled out in detail:» — el rastro de círculos dependientes del tiempo que Skinner encuentra en Mathers, sin desarrollo

«Now the Master of the Art, every time that he shall have occasion for some particular purpose to speak with the Spirits, must endeavour to form certain Circles which shall differ somewhat, and shall have some particular reference to the particular experiment under consideration.» — el pasaje que lo insinúa: el maestro debe formar círculos que difieran y remitan a cada experimento

«Nevertheless, the protective circle can be seen to be a very long-running technique of Solomonic magic.» — y el balance con que Skinner cierra el asunto del círculo

«Circle in the Mathers' edition of the Key of Solomon.2 There is no hint of time-dependent or even operation-dependent words in the circle. However the double square configuration seen in the Hygromanteia is back. The large number of censers reflects Mathers' conviction that a large quantity of incense smoke was necessary for the visible manifestation of the spirits.» — el pie de esa figura, con el retorno del doble cuadrado y la lectura que hace de los muchos incensarios de Mathers

«It can be conclusively proven that Gerald Gardner borrowed the Solomonic circle from Mathers' edition of the Key of Solomon and incorporated it into wicca in the second half of the 20th century.» — en nota, la adjudicación que Skinner hace del círculo de la wicca, con el grado de certeza que él mismo le pone

«The Triangle of Art is a floor triangle designed as spiritus loci, an area into» — la definicion que Skinner da del triangulo del arte: lugar de suelo donde constrenir al espiritu; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«This device is never used in the context of the invocation of gods or angels, only spirits or demons.» — con el límite de uso que le marca

«Its secondary purpose was supposedly to force the spirit to tell the truth.» — y su función secundaria, dicha con la reserva puesta

«I cannot discover any use of a confining Triangle of Art in the PGM.» — la búsqueda negativa que Skinner declara en primera persona sobre los papiros

«Protection seems to have been derived from phylacteries plus a simple circle, and all other constraints appear to have been verbal, written and material (i.e. stones and herbs).» — con lo que sí halla en ellos: filacterias, un círculo simple y constricciones verbales, escritas y materiales

«The Triangle of Art that is first found in Latin and English grimoires has the words Anaphaxeton, Primeumaton and Tetragrammaton inscribed in it.» — las tres palabras inscritas en el triángulo de los grimorios latinos e ingleses

«The first two of these words are undoubtedly of Greek origin,1 so one might expect this device to date from the Byzantine period, but I have as yet found no trace of it there.» — y la expectativa que la etimología crea, contra la búsqueda negativa que Skinner declara para el periodo bizantino

«An early version of the Triangle appeared in a manuscript dated 1572 (see Figure 32). The Triangle is surrounded by a circle which contains three phrases with corrupt Hebrew, Greek and Christian words designed to restrain the spirit:» — el testimonio más temprano que aduce, de 1572, con hebreo, griego y palabras cristianas corruptas

«Emanuel Sab[a]oth Adonay (Hebrew) ii) Panthon Vsyon (Greek) iii) Messias + Sother (Christian)» — las tres frases que rodean ese triángulo, con la clasificación por lengua que Skinner les pone

«Of course the 'Christian words' are also Greek.» — y la corrección que él mismo se hace en nota sobre esa clasificación

«The Triangle itself contains the words "Dat tha gen + Lap Tenop + Rynthaoth.» — las palabras del interior del triángulo, citadas tal como las imprime la capa de texto y sin cotejo contra el facsímil

«The figure to the right seems to be a much abbreviated circle as it contains the protective inscription " Alpha & ro . " The figure below is a sigil or corrupt pentacle, probably of the spirit being invoked.» — la lectura que Skinner propone de las otras dos figuras de la lámina, con los grados puestos

«The Triangle is designed to constrict the manifestation of the spirit. The triangle does not have a fixed position in relation to the Circle, but is supposed to be placed on the side of the circle from which the spirit was thought to arrive, thus:» — la regla de colocación del triángulo respecto del círculo: del lado por donde se espera al espíritu

«Note this fle [triangle] is to be Placed upon that Co[a]st [side or edge] the Spirit belongeth, &c.» — el pasaje del manuscrito que la enuncia, con las restituciones entre corchetes del propio Skinner

«Triangle of Art in an English manuscript showing corrupt Greek wording betraying its possible Byzantine origins (1572).1 With it is a possible floor design or phylactery (top right) and a spirit seal or pentacle (bottom).» — el pie de esa lámina, con la procedencia bizantina que Skinner deja como posible

«A circle containing the magician's equipment for protection and command all together: the triangle (to constrain the spirit), the sword to command the spirits (gladius), the rings (sigilla annula), the oil for consecration (oleum), the sceptre, and the lamen inscribed with two crosses» — el pie de otra lámina, con el inventario del equipo del mago dentro del círculo: triángulo, espada, anillos, óleo, cetro y lamen

«If this grimoire had been Solomonic then the triangle would have been placed outside the circle, the sword and sceptre in the magician's hands, the lamen on his chest and the oil on the Table of Evocation.» — y el argumento por el que Skinner niega que ese grimorio sea salomónico: la disposición del equipo no es la que el método exige

«An interesting illustration of a triangle within a circle occurs in a 15th_ century manuscript (Figure 33). Here it is probably meant as a locus for the spirit, because if contains the implements of protection that would have been needed by the magician.» — la lectura que da de esa figura del siglo XV, marcada con su grado: lugar del espíritu

«The Triangle of Art is to be found in the Lemegeton, but is not usually thought to be associated with the Clavicula Salomonis.» — la opinión corriente que va a corregir

«However, this is a mistaken view as there is a Triangle of Art clearly visible in the 1700 Sepher Maphteah Shelomoh (Figure 34), which as we have already seen, was translated from an Italian/Latin Clavicula Salomonis original.» — y su corrección: hay un triángulo del arte visible en el manuscrito hebreo de 1700, traducido de un original latino o italiano

«Circle and Triangle of Art from the Sepher Maphteah Shelomoh.1 The circle takes a Heptameron form, but with the added exterior triangle of art placed outside the circle. In the inner circle, the Hebrew: top left is the transliterated Tetragrammaton; top right is Adonai; bottom left is Agla; bottom right is Elhi[m]. The centre four quarters read 'AI pa et Ao', i.e. Alpha et Aw. The seal of the archangel Michael is written on the sector facing the Triangle, in the 9-10 o'clock position.» — el pie de esa figura, con la forma heptamerónica del círculo, el triángulo por fuera y los nombres hebreos de cada cuadrante

«considered here as typical of the Latin Clavicula Salomonis from which it was copied, rather than as an example of Jewish magic.» — en nota, la decision de clasificacion que Skinner repite para ese folio del manuscrito hebreo

«One magical text dated 1560 suggests that the magician should write his requests/ demands on a piece of parchment and throw it into the triangle at the appropriate time.» — el procedimiento que consigna de un texto de 1560: echar al triángulo la petición escrita en pergamino

«An alternative to the Triangle of Art was the Brass Vessel, which is meant to be a replica of the brass bottle used by King Solomon to seal up the spirits before casting them into the sea or lake (a tale which has echoes in the Arabian Nights). This is also located outside the circle where the Triangle would normally be, and effectively performed a similar function.» — el vaso de bronce como alternativa al triángulo, réplica de la botella con que Salomón selló a los espíritus

«One of the earliest technical descriptions of the use of a brass vessel or phial to contain a spirit occurs in the 1stj2nd century Testament of Solomon where Solomon is reported to say:» — y la descripción técnica más antigua que le encuentra, en el Testamento de Salomón

«I commanded the spirit to be thrown into a phial along with ten jugs of sea» — el pasaje citado del Testamento de Salomon: el espiritu echado en un frasco con agua de mar; la cita se corta ante el guion de renglon del compuesto

«And I sealed them round above the marbles and asphalt and pitch in the mouth of the vessel.1 And having sealed it with my ring, I ordered it to be deposited in the Temple of God.» — y su continuacion: sellado con marmol, asfalto y pez, sellado con el anillo y depositado en el Templo

«I believe this should read "And I sealed them round with a marble stopper with asphalt and pitch in the mouth of the vessel.» — con la enmienda de lectura que Skinner propone en nota para ese pasaje