I’m doing research for a personal work of fiction, and I’m interested in using runic/geometic/whatever you want to call it* magic as a mechanic. Hermetic (and of course, Hellenistic) magic and Alchemy are two (rather related) big sources of this sort of this imagery.
Of course, on a personal level I’m interested in the philosophy and non-visual components (and have been studying that for a long while), but all that comes secondary for my practical purposes. I’m looking for good examples of the symbols, what they mean, how they would be chained together, used, or invoked. I know most of the basics (symbol for Air, Sun, Jupiter, Aqua Regia etc), but lack any real “examples” from old philosophical or “practical” (a word I use loosely) works that used these symbols.
Unfortunately, most of the books you find focus on modern day (i.e. nondescript “spiritual” crystal magic chakra stuff) interpretations, often in the “New Age” section of the bookstore. This is fine! However, since they’re so easy to find, I’m mainly asking (from you guys) for more of an approach focusing on the more “traditional” aspects. I’d prefer if the source took a more scholarly approach, and explained the texts and symbols in an academic (if layman accessible) fashion, as opposed to rambling on about we can use it for personal spiritual enlightenment and it’s a shame we’ve ceased its practice and the Philosopher’s Stone EXISTS damnit… but I’ll take what I can get.
Older Alchemic and Hellenistic focus is, of course, perfectly fine too, and possibly even preferable in many cases. However, don’t just link me to Riply’s 12 Gates or somesuch, since, again, I’m focusing on the VISUAL symbols and their meanings, and the language is dense enough that a modern day reduction is more penetrable without having to have three encyclopaedias, an archaic dictionary, and a linguist at your disposal.
I should, perhaps clarify that the precise symbols themselves aren’t necessarily the problem, other than wanting a little more information on their deeper meanings. I understand that they were often just shorthand in work, much like saying HCl + blah blah -> stuff in chemistry. The mystical elements, however, have more interesting uses for them, such as how some new age rituals use tracing a Pentacle in certain patterns or directions empowering or repelling an element. In other words, I have a decent understanding of the VOCABULARY, but I’d like some analysis of the grammar and syntax used by various orders and practitioners in history.
Of course, I reserve the right to change anything if it’s more practical, interesting, visually appealing, or overwhelmingly simpler for my purposes, but I’d rather do research first to have a strong foundation. Either book or online resources are fine. Electronic resources are slightly preferable, but not overwhelmingly so. I’d prefer if the books weren’t excessively expensive or rare, though.
- Think Fullmetal Alchemist or Negima in visual appeal. The exact symbols I’m talking about are these kinds: http://static.modcult.org/mc/images/thumbs_1777-1ee9eecb9f854bde95de4b154eb69fae7e9bd7a6_m.jpg?1254943390
