Black Abbot・White Magic
Next week, on Wednesday 27 May, Scarlet Imprint will open preorders for the second volume of the Holy Daimon Cycle, Black Abbot · White Magic: Johannes Trithemius and the Angelic Mind. Meanwhile Jose Gabriel Alegría Sabogal’s stunning artwork has traveled safely from Lima to Cornwall (see a clipping above), and Alkistis Dimech’s skilled hands are putting the finishing touches to a text that is indeed very close to my heart.
When I first began to read about the history of Western magic, almost thirty years ago now, I remember how upon first glance his name seemed strangely familiar: Johannes Trithemius. The name appeared like a memory, like a tide returning, promising to bring back something that in reality was lost forever. And so it seemed for a very long time. Irrespective of how much I tried to research the man - his magical self seemed shy and elusive, its marks missing from the few German biographies I could get my hands on.
Many years have passed since. Time enough to learn that life has a strange kind of irony: Just when we give up on a dream, when it escapes our sight and maybe our memory too, the long locked door that leads towards it can spring open. Little did I know when I visited the first Leipzig Grimoire Conference in 2018 that it would lead me to reencounter Johannes Trithemius - and this time, finally, he brought his magical self with him.
Black Abbot · White Magic is an invitation to accompany me through this open door - and to meet Trithemius through the lens of his own magical writings. The role of his legendary teacher, Pelagius Eremita, is critical in this context.
Within the field of ritual magic in the 15th century new developments are essentially due to one man, Pelagius of Majorca, who in the second half of the 15th century does not hesitate to break the common law of pseudepigraphic attribution (to Solomon, Hermes, Toz the Greek and other old authorities) to indulge his own speculations. (Julien Véronèse, 2006)
As scholars have previously called out, and as our book goes on to show in great detail, the man Pelagius Eremita never existed. The figure is nothing but a complex ruse - imagined, birthed and buried by Trithemius himself - all in a daring attempt to fulfill his lifelong dream of founding an authentic ‘theologia magica’, a form of white angelic magic. Thus it is through the alleged Majorcan hermit Pelagius that we gain access to Trithemius’ personal view and direct experiences of a magic filled with mystical integrity and angelic presence. Furthermore, we begin to see that without the writings of Trithemius-Pelagius - that is, without the intercession of an imaginary figure - the entire modern tradition of Western magic would not be the same.
I have provided a brief overview on the content of Black Abbot · White Magic here. Also, in a previous post we took time to familiarise ourselves with the slightly overused term 'white magic' - and to position it in the way that it will be used in the book, and how I believe it was intended by Trithemius. Finally, the link to Scarlet Imprint’s pre-order page will be live on Wednesday 27 April.
— May you enjoy the journey as much as I did. And even more importantly: may your practice be as much inspired as mine was, by the light that shines from the Janus face of Johannes Trithemius and Pelagius Eremitae.
“Finitis modum dedimus ad infinita.
We show a way to the infinite.”
