c. 1050 CE (Arabic) — 1256 CE (Latin) · Andalusia, attributed to Maslama al-Qurṭubī
Picatrix · Ghāyat al-Ḥakīm
The Goal of the Sage
The most influential grimoire of astral magic in the Western tradition. Four books of planetary talismans, decanic spirits, and sympathetic rites — translated for King Alfonso X of Castile and read by every Renaissance magician from Ficino to Agrippa to John Dee himself.
Table of Contents
Begin reading →- 01On the Excellence of Wisdom11mKeeper's
- 02On the Nature of the Sphere11mKeeper's
- 03The Eighth Mansion: Al-Nathra9mKeeper's
- 04Examples of Planetary Elections for the Making of Talismans12mKeeper's
- 05Section 5 — Book I — Foundations of Astral Magic11mKeeper's
- 06A Talisman for Catching Fish10mKeeper's
- 07On Celestial Images10mKeeper's
- 08Regarding Degrees Separated by Intervals11mKeeper's
- 09A Chapter: On the Fundamentals of Configuration and the Construction of Talismans11mKeeper's
- 10The Precession of the Sphere10mKeeper's
- 11On Natural Properties and Material Disposition10mKeeper's
- 12Planetary Dignity and Mutual Aspect10mKeeper's
- 13On the Degrees of the Natures9mKeeper's
- 14On the Forms of the Planets13mKeeper's
- 15Of Lunar Images11mKeeper's
- 16The Working of Lead10mKeeper's
- 17On the Oil of Sulphur and Its Properties9mKeeper's
- 18Chapter Four10mKeeper's
- 19The Invocation of the Celestial Dignities13mKeeper's
- 20To Draw the First Triangle10mKeeper's
- 21Section 21 — Book III — Materia Magica & Ritual Technique13mKeeper's
- 22Conjuration of the Exalted Name11mKeeper's
- 23To Bind the Heart11mKeeper's
- 24An Additional Chapter on Increased Effects [reading uncertain]10mKeeper's
- 25Section 25 — Book IV — Invocations of the Exalted Spirits11mKeeper's
- 26The Third Operation11mKeeper's
- 27Section 27 — Book IV — Invocations of the Exalted Spirits11mKeeper's
- 28Section 28 — Book IV — Invocations of the Exalted Spirits10mKeeper's
- 29**To Dispatch a Spirit to Bring a Person**11mKeeper's
- 30Various Operations11mKeeper's
- 31Colophon6mKeeper's
Primary — authentic public-domain translation · Keeper's — interpretive synthesis authored for this app
The Hidden Author
Long attributed to the astronomer al-Majrīṭī (d. 1007), the Picatrix is now believed to be the work of Maslama al-Qurṭubī of Córdoba (c. 1050). It compiles 224 earlier sources — Hermetic, Sabian, Indian, Greek — into a single labyrinthine handbook of how the lower world is moved by the upper.
The Four Books
Book I: the heavens and the planets. Book II: the spirits and zodiacal influences. Book III: the materia (stones, herbs, animals) tuned to each planet. Book IV: the deeper philosophy — the Hermetic 'as above, so below' applied to talisman-making.
The Decans & Spirits
The 360 degrees of the zodiac are grouped into 36 decans, each a 10-degree slice ruled by a spirit with its own face, talisman, and ritual hour. To draw down a decan's power you fashion its talisman in the right metal, on the right day, at the right hour, beneath the right star.
The Translation
Around 1256 CE, in the court of Alfonso X 'the Wise' of Castile, Jewish and Christian scholars translated Ghāyat al-Ḥakīm into Castilian, then Latin. The Latin version called itself Picatrix — likely a Latinization of the author's nickname. From Toledo it spread across Europe and shaped 400 years of Renaissance magic.
The Lineage
Marsilio Ficino's De Vita Coelitus Comparanda (1489) draws openly on the Picatrix. Cornelius Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy (1533) absorbs it whole. Giordano Bruno's memory-magic, Tommaso Campanella's solar rituals, John Dee's planetary work — every thread of Western ceremonial magic passes through this book.
How to Read It
The Picatrix is not a how-to. It is a long initiatic essay disguised as a recipe book. Its central teaching: the cosmos is a single living being, and the magician's work is to listen for the resonance between a stone, an hour, a planet, and a soul — then bring them into alignment.
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