Brian Johnson

I feel like the corpus of medical/scientific/astrological/magical manuscripts would have a lot to offer a project like this, especially if we allow the 15th century into "the Middle Ages". Big "this was just some guy's Mead notebook" vibes.

The Black Raven Dr Cummins & Brian Johnson Book Review

An astute and empathetic review of Dr. Al Cummins and my _Black Raven_, with its particularly empathetic slant on dealing with intrusive ghosts. thirteenthirtyfour.substack.com/p/the-black-...

Largely!

A short passage of Latin script on a page from a 15th-century manuscript.

My translation of the Latin in the previous image: "...you shall say, Shalom, shalom, so that [the dead person] deigns to say 'Ave'. I come to you seeking your counsel. I ask of you, by those names of the Creator with which He revives the dead and places souls and spirits into their bodies and into [those of] animals, that you arise, and your spirit come and be obedient to me in all things, by the names of Ascymor and his entire host."

It's like you can hardly open any remotely magic-oriented book from prior to, say, 1800 without tripping over necromancy. I swear, I don't actually go looking for this stuff specifically! It's just lying around everywhere!

[Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt, 14 B 36; my translation]

I don't believe there's anything book-length, but there is a solid chapter: "A biography of Edward Kelly, the English alchemist and associate of Dr. John Dee" by Michael Wilding, in _Mystical Metal of Gold: essays on alchemy and Renaissance culture_ edited by Stanton J. Linden.

Give me obscure scribal abbreviations. Give me grammatically tortuous nested clauses. Hell, give me huge swaths of text obliterated by bookworms. Just spare me from scribes who can't differentiate their Ns and Us when writing otherwise unattested spirit names 😭 (grimoire translation problems, a 🧵)

While many of the divergences are inexplicable, it seems very likely that Nacdyras/Nacclyras is the result of "cl" being read as "d" (or vice versa). On the other hand, Hacaptena and Sachocych are identical in both manuscripts, and so probably correctly represent their archetype.

...and moreover, that at least one of these scribes has mis-copied parts of it.

Abguitasy = Abguytay or Abguytas
Karasceman = Karacemoy
Nacdyras = Nacclyras
Petharcetays = Petarcechar or Pecatycayg
Hacaptena = Hacaptena
Yegnypedaya = Yeguepedagh or Yegnypedays
Sachocych = Sachocych

Each set, taken in isolation, might at first glance appear legible (if not easily so) and textually independent, though one scribe does offer alternative readings of several names. But, when we begin comparing the series, it quickly becomes clear that they must derive from a common source...

Latin script in an Italian humanist bookhand, reading: "...cora[m] facie mea propter ista no[m]i[n]a quae sunt, Abguitasii, Karasceman, Nacdyras, Petharcetays, Hacaptena, Yegnypedaya, Sachocych. O, deus qui creasti Gabriele[m]..."

Latin script in a rather haphazard hand (Italian semigothic? I'm not a palaeographer), reading: "...cora[m] facie mea propter ista no[m]i[n]a quae sunt, Abguytan vel Abguytas, Karacemoy, Nacclyras, Petarcechar vel Pecatycayg, Hacaptena, Yeguepedagh vel Yegnypedays, Sachocych. O, deus qui creasti Gabriele[m], Raphaele[m]..."

Medieval scribes were clearly no less susceptible than modern scholars to the confusion that could arise from sloppy handwriting.

Here we see two copies of the same litany of divine names, taken from manuscripts both produced roughly some time in the 15th century.

Always re-post: vimeo.com/109377646

And image #3 depicts the insuperable conundrums this state of affairs causes when attempting to transcribe other names in 14 B 36 which don't appear in plut. 89 sup. 38.

Image #2 depicts that name in the same passage of text in MS Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt, 14 B 36.

This image depicts the name "Valendy" (highlighted in red) in MS Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, plut. 89 sup. 38. (click to expand)

Give me obscure scribal abbreviations. Give me grammatically tortuous nested clauses. Hell, give me huge swaths of text obliterated by bookworms. Just spare me from scribes who can't differentiate their Ns and Us when writing otherwise unattested spirit names 😭 (grimoire translation problems, a 🧵)

To: Jeffrey Epstein[jeevacation@gmail.com] From: Sent: Wed 7/15/2009 1:56:13 AM Subject: Re: florida visit? good typing! oh well, looks like it's a long flight anyhow... edmonton is so far away from EVERYTHING. On Tue, Jul 14, 2009 at 7:49 PM, Jeffrey Epstein <jeevacation@gmail.com> wrote: i am tied up until aug On Tue, Jul 14, 2009 at 9:41 PM, wrote: You planted a seed with your invite today. I have next Wed thru Sunday off (July 22-26), my last vacation for months. I was going to take polo lessons in Calgary but I (DON'T) think my body can handle it! I pull a muscle every time, and I'm starting to realize my budding polo career might have to take a back seat to my actual job. think What are you doing next week?

The word don't is censored. Don't, or Don T. If you're looking for just some fun proof they're doing control+f censoring

One of the reasons I so greatly dislike the “can men and women be friends?” nonsense (yes, full stop, shut up) is that it casts suspicion on people with opposite-sex friends instead of where it more often belongs: on people with no opposite-sex friends.

And primarily responsible for the evil reputation of the historical "Doctor Faustus", Georg von Helmstadt.

Just to help clarify, the light blue dot under "share" at the bottom of the blog post is a twitter link. Probably a bit of old code that hasn't been updated.

Going to start responding to every AI booster with "OK, Ramon Llull."

5 jobs I've had:
- Lawn-mower
- Grocery store shelf-stocker
- Hardware store clerk
- Community college janitor
- Cultural resource management archaeological field technician

I'm willing to bet that was an accurate, verbatim quote of what the DHS official actually said.

...or fails to limit ICE and Border Patrol’s ability to conduct dragnet arrest operations and target people based on their race, language or accent, place of employment, or location at the time of the apprehension. 5/5

It is to prevent this outcome that I ask you to refuse to vote for any FY2026 appropriations bill that includes increased funding for ICE or Border Patrol, including funds for detention... 4/x

...but we have every reason to believe it is only a matter of time before the Trump administration decides to wield this unaccountable force as a weapon of terror against "Democratic" cities in our state as well. Tragedies like the murder of Renee Good can happen here. 3/x

The bill fails to place any checks upon the ongoing illegal violence, intimidation, and other excesses of the ICE agency; ICE has not yet been directed to focus those tactics on [your state] in the same way it has in Illinois, Minnesota, and elsewhere... 2/x

Hello Senator [name],

As you know, the House of Representatives has recently passed an appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security. As one of your constituents, I urge you to vote NO on this bill in its current form when it reaches the Senate. 1/x

The DHS appropriations bill is going to the Senate. Contact your Senators to tell them what you think about it.

Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, MS Germ. Fol. 903: Summa Sacre Magice, Book 3 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive A 16th-century German translation of book 3 of the Summa Sacre Magice, originally composed in Latin by Berengar Ganell circa 1346. Digitized by the Berlin...

So, in the meantime, I have taken it upon myself to upload the images, to which I have access, in pdf format to the Internet Archive. They should thus be available for scholarly reference in perpetuity. archive.org/details/staa... 3/3

That German manuscript has, in fact, been digitized by the Berlin Staatsbibliothek and is listed as open-access, but it appears that the library has not yet had time to actually upload the digitized images in question. stabikat.de/Search/Resul... 2/3