Magus #12: Cornelius Agrippa

This month on Magus, for our penultimate episode of the series, we're exploring the life and work of the father of Western esotericism, Cornelius Agrippa!

Born into a Europe wracked by wars, he attends university in Cologne at thirteen, earns his MA by sixteen, and then he abandons the Holy Roman Empire for France.

There, under the noses of the House of Valois, he begins to establish a hidden brotherhood of occult learning stretching from England to Catalonia to Italy and Switzerland.

Influenced by Erasmus and Martin Luther, and mentored by the court necromancer of Emperor Maximilian I, Agrippa then pioneers a new, coherent, rational model of the universe which bridges the gap between Medieval and Renaissance thinking, combining esoteric learning from the ancient world with cutting edge humanist philosophy.

Was he really accompanied everywhere he went by a demonic magical hound that aided him in his research?

Were his writings cursed such that if an unwitting person read from them alive they risked being strangled by demonic spirits?

Also, how did Agrippa not realise that embarassing the Inquisition, and then insulting your patrons in print, might be hazardous to the health?

We'll be answering these questions and many others - but fair warning going in: these are knotty concepts that Agrippa himself would argue should not really be known to common people like thee and we...

Speak with you again on Wednesday for our monthly Update Episode all about the folkloric fun of July, if not our Patreon Exclusive Flim Club episode about Black Narcissus, all before a new double bill of Lang fairy tales and chats about them on Thursday!

Three Ravens is an English myth and folklore podcast hosted by Eleanor Conlon and Martin Vaux.

Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...

Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.

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