Frances A. Yates points to Ars Notoria as another
connection between magic and the art of memory, which can be linked to tarot,
as it involves the method of sigil and talismanic magic. Before delving into
her considerations and references, I would like to focus more on this form of
magic. Namely, the medieval textbook of angelic magic known as Ars Notoria
originates from northern Italy and claims to be a divine secret revealed to
King Solomon by an angel. The magic textbook asserts that it provides the practitioner
with enhanced mental abilities for memory and speech, spiritual abilities for
communication with angels, as well as the acquisition of scholarly and heavenly
knowledge through prayers and the memorization of special magical imaginative
images. And all this in a short period of time. The author of Ars Notoria is
unknown, but its creation has a complex history, beginning with the legend of
King Solomon and encompassing several historical texts written between the 13th
and 17th centuries. Ars Notoria builds on the biblical story in which King
Solomon has a divinely inspired visionary dream the night after performing a
religious sacrificial ritual. In that dream, God asks King Solomon what he
desires, to which Solomon responds by asking for wisdom and understanding. Ars
Notoria informs that God sent angels to teach King Solomon magical ways to
quickly gain knowledge over the course of four days.
The
art of Ars Notoria is supposedly governed by four angels, and the text of their
instructions was allegedly written on golden plates given to King Solomon. This
fact is very reminiscent of the legend of the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith, who
received the original Book of Mormon from an angel also on golden plates. After
receiving the teachings and books, King Solomon compiled a series of extracts
from these books known as the florilegium (The Book of Heavenly Learning
Flowers - Liber Florum Caelestis Doctrinae). The mentioned "Book of
Flowers" was written in a mixture of languages, which formed the
mysterious prayers asking the angels for the improvement of mental and
spiritual abilities and the rapid acquisition of knowledge.
Later
practitioners of Ars Notoria adopted the method of emulating the biblical story
in which Solomon had a dream. The practitioner spiritually prepares through
confession, prayer, and fasting to be worthy and receive divine approval to
proceed with the great ritual of Ars Notoria under angelic guidance. After
completing the preliminary preparations according to certain astronomical and
astrological regulations, and after receiving permission from heaven (!), the
practitioner begins the ritual by reciting mysterious prayers and staring at
magical images in a specific way. Essentially, the practitioner memorizes the
imaginative images to feed them into their mind and thus acquire knowledge of
the desired art or science. Special magical imaginative images are assigned to
certain liberal arts, moral virtues, or even forbidden arts. Each of these
images is called a "nota." A magical imaginative image is like a
visual definition of the art or science it is associated with. Through a
mnemonic process of visualization, such an image is imprinted into the memory
to form a foundation around which the knowledge the practitioner acquires
through regular means is grouped. These images thus serve as templates that the
practitioner personalizes by inserting their own mnemonic signs into them
through a process of creative visualization. With additional guidance from
angels, the practitioner’s mental capacity for memory is enhanced, accelerating
their learning.
Following
in the footsteps of King Solomon, Apollonius of Tyana compiled his florilegium
in the 1st century AD, calling it Golden Flowers (Flores Aurei). Apollonius'
Golden Flowers were composed of selected and deciphered excerpts from Solomon's
Book of Flowers and translated into Latin. Additionally, Apollonius wrote his
own commentaries on Ars Notoria. The core text of Ars Notoria is essentially
the only surviving fragment of the Golden Flowers. Since that fragmentary text
was evidently insufficient, centuries later, an unknown author from northern
Italy supplemented it with new text. Where that author acquired the knowledge
for these additions remains unknown. In this supplemented version, Apollonius'
Golden Flowers represent Ars Notoria in three chapters that provide
instructions for ritual magic aimed at enhancing mental and spiritual abilities
and quickly acquiring knowledge. These instructions involve the piety of the
practitioner and contain a series of prayers, their Latin prologues, and a set
of imaginative images. Ars Notoria also offers the promise of acquiring skill
in the forbidden knowledge of necromancy and astrology. Perhaps it is for this
reason that Ars Notoria gained a notorious reputation.
The idea of using tarot cards as magical images
by animating or charging them with magical power has its origins in the alleged
practice of Egyptian priest-magicians described in the Asclepius. They would
invoke celestial influences into the statues of gods with special incantations
and spells, thereby animating them for magical or divinatory purposes. Frances
A. Yates, in her book The Art of Memory, mentions that Marsilio Ficino, in his
work De vita coelitus comparanda, describes how to draw life from the stars,
capture astral currents that descend from above, and use them for life and
health. According to Hermetic sources, celestial life is transmitted through
air, or spiritus, with the Sun being the strongest transmitter. Yates points
out that Ficino, for this reason, turned to the Sun, and his therapeutic astral
cult represents a revival of sun worship. In the mentioned work of Ficino, the
foundation of an organic worldview, celestial forces, the World Soul, and
correspondences are laid out. Relying on Plotinus and the Hermetic tradition,
Ficino asserted that each planet and each house of the Zodiac has its demon and
ruling angel, who transmit the will of the World Soul to the lower spheres. In
this way, the harmony of the macrocosm is maintained. The human soul, as a
microcosm, has the ability to absorb the influences of the World Soul through
the rays of the Sun or Jupiter.
Some modern occultists have applied the principles of Ars Notoria to tarot cards as well as to the process of magical sigilization. In magical practice, a sigil represents the signature of the force we engage to achieve our intent. Additionally, a sigil can be a compressed or concentrated diagram of our desire. A sigil is an aesthetic and graphic expression of our desire, which we intend to manifest through magical means. We can use a sigil by purposefully visualizing it or by drawing it in the air, on paper, parchment, warm wax, or engraving it on wood, metal, stone, etc. In short, for a sigil to have magical power, it must be imbued with the operator's intent, which somehow animates it. Sigils are used in talismanic magic as well as in specific purely mental operations. Frances Yates describes a talisman as an object imprinted with an image thought to have gained magical properties, or to have magical effects because it was made according to certain magical rules. She mentions the Picatrix, an Arabic manual of talismanic magic, which describes procedures to make a talismanic image magical by infusing it with astral spiritus.
Yates says that Ficino used talismanic magic and that his procedures aimed to bring the imagination into a state capable of receiving celestial influences. According to Ficino's understanding of magic, as conveyed by Yates, an image containing elements of astral mythology can be imprinted internally into the human mind with such strength that when a person, with such an imprint in their imagination, goes out into the external world, there is a merging of the two, thanks to the power of the internal image derived from a higher world. Sigils in this sense can be part of a talisman, but even on their own, under certain conditions, they can serve as talismans. Typically, sigils are inscribed on a talisman and then charged or "magnetized" with magical power. The difference between a sigil and a talisman is that a talisman is a more complex structure, more of a composition, primarily consisting of a certain image that may or may not be accompanied by specific sigils or signs. Tarot cards, in this sense, are a form of talisman and can play such a role independently or in combination with several cards. It is common for modern occultists to consecrate their tarot decks and use them ritually. Thus, a deck of cards becomes a magical instrument. The occult design and accompanying lore facilitate the transformation of beautifully illustrated pieces of paper into magical tools.
