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Plato, Pythagoras, the Greeks, Persians, Indians and the Arabs
[among whom perhaps Jabir Ibn Hayyam was the most
famous]. There are even passages within the Picatrix taken
directly from the Rasa'il, implying that the author shared some
of the views expounded by the Ikhwan. Clearly, this sort of
synthesizing reflects the tendencies of later Hermetic
philosophers who were trying to unify all spiritual and
philosophic traditions. It is unfortunate if not surprising that
there is little information available in English about the Ikhwan
al-Safa.
The Picatrix, like the writings of Jabir, could be an important
connection between Hermetic philosophy in the West and the
esoteric traditions of the Middle East. Its importance was first
recognized by Alphonso the Wise in the thirteenth century, who
had it translated into Spanish. Why Alphonso thought the
Picatrix was worthy of his attention remains a mystery at least
to the present editor. Nonetheless we have him to thank for the
transmission of this work to the West and, while the
significance of this document as compared to the Rasa'il is
slight, it remains an important link in the history of
Hermeticism. Brought out of the obscurity of the Middle East it
passed through the hands of such prominent figures as Marsilio
Ficino, Pico della Mirandola, Peter of Abano and Henry
Cornileus Agrippa. A Latin translation made its impression on
the Bard Rabelais and the Venetian Inquisition cites it as a cause
for the arrest of Casanova. With such colorful figures
surrounding the Picatrix, it is no wonder that scholars such as
Lynn Thorndike and Francis Yates would dedicate many pages
to it. Citing Henry Corbin, Christopher Mcintosh suggests that
it may even have influenced Johann Valentin Andrea when he
wrote the Fama Fraternataties. 1 Here we read the words of
See his Rosicrucian Legacy in The Rosicrucian Enlightenment Revisited, 1999
Lindisfarne Books.
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