Francis Barrett's The Magus (1801): Occult Philosophy in English

The Magus, or Celestial Intelligencer is an English handbook of occult philosophy and ceremonial magic published in London in 1801 by Francis Barrett. Compiled largely from Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy, the pseudo-Agrippan Fourth Book and the Heptameron, it presented natural magic, talismans, Kabbalistic names, conjuration and crystal-gazing in one illustrated volume. Though unoriginal, it was the main printed source of ritual magic in Britain for most of the nineteenth century and a bridge between Renaissance magic and the Victorian occult revival.

The Magus, or Celestial Intelligencer§

The full title promised "a complete system of occult philosophy", covering natural magic, alchemy, magnetism, talismanic art, Kabbalah and ceremonial magic, with the lives of famous adepts. At a time when the Enlightenment had made learned magic unfashionable and grimoires circulated mainly in manuscript, the book offered British readers a substantial printed digest of Renaissance occultism at a single purchase.

The work is in two books, each divided into parts. The first deals with natural magic, the occult virtues of stones, herbs and animals, and the "constellatory practice" or talismanic magic of the planets, including their magic squares and seals. The second treats magnetism and sympathetic cures, cabalistic and ceremonial magic, and ends with a series of short biographies of philosophers and magicians from antiquity to the Renaissance. The material on magic squares and planetary seals was especially influential, as it gave many later readers their first sight of these tables.

Francis Barrett: Chemist, Teacher and Balloonist§

Very little is known about Barrett. Research by Francis X. King indicates that he was probably born in 1774 to a family of modest means in London; his later life and the date of his death are uncertain. He described himself as a student of chemistry, metaphysics and natural occult philosophy, and contemporaries recorded him as an eccentric.

Barrett also had a brief public career as an aeronaut. In 1802 he attempted balloon ascents, including one from Greenwich, which went badly and drew newspaper ridicule; King's biography takes its title, The Flying Sorcerer, from this episode. Other works have been attributed to him, most notably The Lives of Alchemystical Philosophers (1815), though his authorship of that compilation is not certain.

Barrett's Debt to Agrippa and the Heptameron§

The Magus is essentially an anthology. Barrett took large sections from the 1651 English translation of Agrippa's Three Books, modernising spelling and syntax and reordering chapters. For practical ceremonial magic he drew on Robert Turner's 1655 English version of the Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy and the Heptameron, reproducing their methods for deriving spirit names, their consecrations and their day-by-day angels. Other passages come from Giambattista della Porta's Natural Magic and from older works on sympathy and magnetism.

Barrett seldom identified these sources, and his reputation among historians as a plagiarist is deserved by modern standards. Yet the practice was common among compilers of the time, and his selection and arrangement had real consequences. By reducing Agrippa's sprawling encyclopedia to a manageable, practical outline, he created the form in which many Victorians first met Renaissance magic.

Talismans, Crystals and the Plates of Spirits§

Much of the book's lasting appeal lies in its illustrations. Barrett's plates include planetary seals and characters, talismans, magical alphabets, the pentacles of the Fourth Book and the designs of magic circles. The most famous are hand-coloured engravings of the heads of evil spirits, among them figures labelled Asmodeus and Mammon, presented as "vessels of wrath". These images, part grotesque and part theological, became some of the most reproduced pictures in occult literature.

The second book also contains a short ritual called "The Art of Drawing Spirits into Crystals", presented as a translation from a manuscript of Johannes Trithemius. Modern editors regard the attribution as doubtful, since the text relies on material from the Heptameron that circulated only after Trithemius's death (see the catalogue entry). It describes a consecrated crystal set in gold and engraved with angelic names, in which an angel of the day is called to appear and answer questions. Through The Magus, this procedure became one of the best-known crystal-gazing rituals in English, practised by Victorian scryers such as Frederick Hockley.

Barrett's own comments are relatively sober. He argued that witches did not need the devil to work harm, and that true magical power lay in the inner disposition of the operator, a view in keeping with the Romantic interest in imagination and will.

Barrett's Circle and the Advertisement for Students§

Near the end of the second book Barrett inserted an advertisement offering private instruction to a small circle of students, limited to twelve, in natural philosophy, the Cabala, chemistry, the talismanic art, astrology and related subjects. The stated aim was to investigate the hidden treasures of nature and to promote human perfection and welfare.

Whether such a circle ever met is unknown. Later writers claimed that Barrett trained a handful of pupils, and some nineteenth-century practitioners presented themselves as heirs of his teaching; a Lincolnshire cunning-man, John Parkins, has been linked with him. Stories that Hockley or Edward Bulwer-Lytton belonged to a Barrett school are not supported by firm evidence, but they show how quickly The Magus acquired a legend of its own.

Influence on the Victorian Occult Revival§

For much of the nineteenth century The Magus was the most accessible printed guide to ceremonial magic in English. Collectors and copyists around the London bookseller John Denley used it alongside manuscript grimoires; cunning-folk drew charms and seals from it; and it shaped the image of the magus in popular fiction. Bulwer-Lytton's occult novels drew on the same body of Renaissance lore that Barrett had made available.

When the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was founded in 1888, its leaders were familiar with The Magus, and the planetary seals, angel names and Agrippan correspondences Barrett popularised entered the Order's teaching through many channels. Facsimile reprints from the later nineteenth century onwards kept the book in circulation, and it remains a standard item in occult libraries. Historians such as Owen Davies and Ronald Hutton treat it as a key link in the continuity of learned magic in Britain, discussed more widely in our survey of British occultism.

Frequently asked questions§

Who was Francis Barrett?§

Francis Barrett was an English writer on the occult, probably born in 1774, who published The Magus in 1801. He also attempted balloon ascents in 1802. Little else is known of his life, and the date of his death is uncertain.

Is The Magus original?§

Mostly not. Barrett compiled it from Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy, the pseudo-Agrippan Fourth Book, the Heptameron and other sources, often copying them closely without acknowledgement. Its importance lies in its selection, plates and influence rather than its originality.

What is in The Magus?§

It covers natural magic, the virtues of stones and herbs, talismans and planetary magic squares, magnetism, Kabbalistic names, ceremonial magic and a crystal-gazing ritual, followed by biographies of famous philosophers and magicians. It is illustrated with plates of seals, talismans and the heads of evil spirits.

Did The Magus influence the Golden Dawn?§

Indirectly, yes. It was the best-known English printed source of ceremonial magic for most of the nineteenth century, and its Agrippan correspondences and angel names were familiar to the founders of the Golden Dawn and their contemporaries.

Sources and further reading§

• The Flying Sorcerer: Being the Magical and Aeronautical Adventures of Francis Barrett — Francis X. King, 1992
• Grimoires: A History of Magic Books — Owen Davies, 2009
• Cunning-Folk: Popular Magic in English History — Owen Davies, 2003
• The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft — Ronald Hutton, 1999
• Victorian Occultism and the Making of Modern Magic: Invoking Tradition — Alison Butler, 2011
• The Theosophical Enlightenment — Joscelyn Godwin, 1994
• Three Books of Occult Philosophy — Henry Cornelius Agrippa, 1533