The Olympic Spirits of the Arbatel: A Historical Account

The Arbatel of Magic, printed anonymously at Basel in 1575, is one of the most unusual books of Renaissance magic: a short, devout treatise of forty-nine aphorisms that teaches magic as a gift of God to be used in piety and charity, and that introduces seven planetary "Olympic spirits" governing the world. Because the book's practical core is the calling of spirits, it is presented here as history only, with no working instructions, in keeping with the Spellbook's rule against summoning spirits.

How it was done§

The Arbatel claims to be the first of nine "tomes", of which only this introductory Isagoge was ever printed. Its aphorisms are arranged in seven "septenaries" and are largely moral and theological: the magician should live in the fear of God, love his neighbour, keep silent about secrets, and receive knowledge as a divine gift rather than seizing it.

The third septenary describes the Olympic spirits, said to dwell in the firmament and to administer the universe under God. There are seven, one for each planet: Aratron (Saturn), Bethor (Jupiter), Phaleg (Mars), Och (the Sun), Hagith (Venus), Ophiel (Mercury) and Phul (the Moon). The universe was divided into 196 "Olympic provinces", of which Aratron governed 49, Bethor 42, Phaleg 35, Och 28, Hagith 21, Ophiel 14 and Phul 7. Each spirit was said to rule the world in turn for a period of 490 years, and the text dates the successive periods of their rule in history.

The book credited each spirit with characteristic gifts in the idiom of Renaissance natural philosophy: Aratron with teaching alchemy and natural secrets, Bethor with honours and treasures, Phaleg with military glory, Och with medicine and gold, Hagith with beauty and the transmutation of copper, Ophiel with the liberal arts and the fixing of quicksilver, and Phul with healing and the transmutation of metals into silver. Each had a "character" or sigil, printed in the text.

According to the Arbatel, the spirits were approached on the day and in the hour of their planet, with the spirit's character before the practitioner, by means of a prayer addressed to God asking that the spirit be sent, followed by a courteous dismissal. The book insists that results depend on God's will and the operator's faith and purity, and it warns sharply against curiosity, vanity and greed. It also teaches that every person has a guardian spirit, a doctrine later elaborated in many esoteric schools.

Origins and history§

The Arbatel de magia veterum was printed in 1575 by Pietro Perna, a Basel publisher of Paracelsian and heterodox works. Its author is unknown; scholars have pointed to its Paracelsian vocabulary and its spiritual Protestantism, and it is often associated with the circle of physicians and reformers around Perna, though no attribution is secure. The name "Arbatel" has no agreed meaning.

The book circulated widely in Latin and was read in German theosophical circles, among Paracelsians and, plausibly, in the milieu from which the Rosicrucian manifestos emerged in the 1610s. Its aphorisms were cited by Christian theosophists who valued its piety more than its spirits. In 1655 Robert Turner published an English translation alongside the Heptameron and the pseudo-Agrippan Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy, which you can read as the complete Arbatel of Magick; the Latin text is described under Arbatel de magia veterum.

The Olympic spirits passed into the nineteenth-century occult revival through Francis Barrett's The Magus (1801) and then into the Golden Dawn, whose members used their characters in planetary work. Modern editions, especially Joseph H. Peterson's of 2009, have restored the Latin text and its context. Historians such as Owen Davies place the Arbatel among the "white" or theurgic grimoires that sought to distance learned magic from demonic pacts, a contrast it shares with Agrippa and Ficino.

Why this is presented as history§

The Olympic spirits are, in the book's own terms, spiritual beings to be called by prayer and sigil. The Spellbook does not give instructions for summoning spirits of any kind, so the procedure above is described only in outline and in the past tense. Readers drawn to the Arbatel often value its aphorisms, which can be read as a guide to devotion, humility and generosity.

Safety and good sense§

Historical grimoires are best approached as literature and evidence for the religious history of Europe. Anyone who feels distressed by experiences of presences or voices should seek support from a doctor or mental-health professional. Esoteric study is no substitute for medical, legal or financial help.

Sources and further reading§

• Arbatel: Concerning the Magic of the Ancients — Joseph H. Peterson, 2009
• The Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy — Henry Cornelius Agrippa (attributed), 1978
• Grimoires: A History of Magic Books — Owen Davies, 2009
• Invoking Angels: Theurgic Ideas and Practices, Thirteenth to Sixteenth Centuries — Claire Fanger, 2012
• Ritual Magic — E. M. Butler, 1949
• The Occult Philosophy in the Elizabethan Age — Frances A. Yates, 1979