title: Commentaries on the Occult Philosophy of Agrippa
author: Willy Schrodter
description: AGRIPPA, THE 16TH-CENTURY PHILOSOPHER, published a well-known and often referenced esoteric classic -- Three Books of Occult Philosophy (Natural Magic, Celestial Magic, and Ceremonial Magic). Until recently these three volumes were hard to find in English, although they had been translated in the 17th century and published in England. Willy Schrodter saw the value in these texts from a contemporary point of view, and compiled copious notes and commentary on many of the subjects mentioned in Agrippa's opus. His research makes Agrippa understandable, providing scientific confirmation for Agrippa's seemingly outlandish claims with carefully documented parallel cases. It is Schrodter's illuminating examples, taken from the most varied fields of research, that constitute the real and lasting value of this compilation.
zlib_text: The Agrippa Legend
   
  The great spell books of Hell …
   
  No one knows how many there were in Hell, but each dealt with a particular type of spell-
  casting, all of it fiendish, of course. Some legends use any combination of magical numbers:
  Three? Seven? Eleven? Stolen from Hell in antiquity, many were lost to time. Others became the
  property of ordinary men, the curse of their family, for an Agrippa attaches itself to a family
  bloodline, and only the complete death of that bloodline allows the Agrippa to find a new “host”
  family. Agrippas have been known to suddenly appear to some poor soul who never knew that
  somewhere in their bloodline there was an illegitimate member of an Agrippa family. It cannot be
  given away, or sold. It will always return, and be very, very angry with you.
   
  Each Agrippa is six feet tall, and nearly as broad. It is bound with leather straps and
  many iron locks, as well as magical enchantments of great complexity that are deadly to any but
  a family member. The th