Minerva Britanna

Book excerpt: Minerva Britanna, written in the early seventeenth century by Henry Peacham, is an enigmatic magical book of poetry and images that mixes together Renaissance faery magic, Elizabethan codes, Hermetic wisdom, and echoes of kingly advice. It is a puzzle book of those magical Mysteries that have to do with the land, the monarch, the sacred duties of the nobleman, and the faery secrets of Britain. It also deals with ascent and inner rebirth, central parts of the early Rosicrucian pattern. Any adept magician who reads this book will spot its messages, advice, reflections, humour, and its finger pointing the way to the future. It is a book of visionary constructs, gateways, and keys, hidden among flattery, mathematical puzzles, and historical reflection, all rooted within the sacred land of Britain and the sacred kingship. For those wishing to delve into the deeper Mysteries of traditional English Renaissance faery magic, Minerva Britanna is the perfect book to work with. Nineteenth-century magicians took us away from the land and locked magic in vaults and temples, far away from the trees, the birds, and the Faery Queene. By peering back into the soul of English Renaissance magic through Minerva Britanna, we can recover that wildness in our magical practice, and bring back to our work some of the love of playfulness and puzzles, and the shadow of the Faery Queene. This edition is a facsimile of the original manuscript that has been carefully hand restored and cleaned, and is presented with an introduction by adept magical author Josephine McCarthy.