Ofterdingen and Kropotkin

biosphere 0.999d

An interesting example of applied magic, or power magic, is the Steganographia of Johannes Trithemius, Abbot of Sponheim, printed in 1606 but known in manuscript before that. [...] The Steganographia purports to be, and perhaps really is to some extent, about cryptography or ways of writing in cipher. It is also, however, Cabalist angel magic. The first book is about summoning district angels, or angels which rule over parts of the earth; the second is about time angels who rule the hours of the day and night; the third is about seven angels higher than all these who rule the seven planets. (Footnote: The names of these are: Oriffiel (Saturn), Zachariel (Jupiter); Samael (Mars); Michael (Sol); Anael (Venus); Raphael (Mercury); Gabriel (Luna), according to Johannes Trithemius, Steganographia, Frankfort 1606, p. 162) Trithemius aims at using this angelic network for the very practical purpose of transmitting messages to people at a distance by telepathy; he also seems to hope to gain from it knowledge "of everything that is happening in the world". The technical side of this science is very complex, involving pages and pages of elaborate calculations, both astrological and in conncetion with the numerical values of the angelnames; for example, Samael, angel of the first hour, equals 4440, which is the sum of the numbers of his eight inferior angels. [...] Trithemius lived too soon. He would be very happy in putting through a trunk-call to a friend at a distance, or in watching everything that is going on in the world with his television set. This is perhaps a little unfair, since there is a vast esoteric background to Trithemius' magic.

Yates, Frances. Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition, Chicago 1964, p. 146

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