Didascalicon, Book VI: how Scripture is to be read
Chapter XV. On magic and its parts
The first discoverer of magic is believed to be Zoroaster, king of the Bactrians, whom some assert to be Ham himself, the son of Noe, but with the name changed. Ninus, king of the Assyrians, afterwards overcame him in war and killed him, and caused his codices, full of the arts of sorcery, to be burned with fire. Aristotle, however, writes of this same man that his books handed down to the memory of posterity as many as twice two hundred thousand verses dictated by him on the art of magic. This art Democritus afterwards enlarged, at the time when Hippocrates was held eminent in the art of medicine. Magic is not received in philosophy; but is outside it, by a false profession, the mistress of all iniquity and malice; lying about the true, and truly harming souls, it seduces from divine religion, persuades the worship of demons, brings in the corruption of morals, and impels the minds of followers to every crime and wickedness. This, taken generally, embraces five kinds of sorceries: mantike, which means divination; and vain mathematics, sorcery by lots, evil-working, and illusions. Mantike contains five species under it. The first is necromancy, which is interpreted as in the dead; for nekros in Greek is dead in Latin, and nekros also means corpse. Hence the divination which is made through the sacrifice of human blood, which the demons thirst for and delight in; the second geomancy, that is divination in the earth; the third hydromancy, that is divination in water; the fourth aeromancy, that is divination in air; the fifth divination in fire, which is called pyromancy. For Varro said there are four in which divination consists: earth, water, air, fire. The first, then, necromancy, seems to pertain to hell, the second to earth, the third to water, the fourth to air, the fifth to fire. Mathematics is divided into three species: haruspicy, augury, horoscopy. Haruspices are so called as it were horuspices, that is observers of hours, who observe the times in things to be done; or haruspices as inspecting the haras: who in the entrails and fibers of sacrifices consider things to come. Augury or auspicy sometimes pertains to the eye, and is called auspicy as it were avispicium, because it is observed in the motion and flight of birds; sometimes it pertains to the ears, and then is called augury as it were garritus avium, the chatter of birds, which is perceived by the ear. Horoscopy, which is also called constellation, is when the deeds of men are sought in the stars, as the genethliacs do, who observe nativities, who were formerly specially called magi, of whom we read in the Gospel. Sorcerers by lots are those who seek divinations by lots. Evil-workers are those who by demoniacal incantations, or bindings, or any other execrable kinds of remedies, accomplish by the cooperation of demons and the instruction of wickedness. Illusions are when by phantastic delusions concerning the change of things the human senses are mocked by demoniacal art. There are, then, all together eleven: of mantike, five, that is necromancy, geomancy, hydromancy, aeromancy, pyromancy. Under mathematics, three, that is haruspicy, auspicy, horoscopy. Then three others, that is sorcery by lots, evil-working, illusion. Illusions Mercury is said to have first invented; auguries the Phrygians invented. Haruspicy and sorcery by lots Tages the Etruscan first handed down; hydromancy first came from the Persians.