Magia Adamica

Name: Magia Adamica
Author: Thomas Vaughan

The Antiquity of Magic · With the Complete Coelum Terrae

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Magia AdamicaTo the Reader · Unnumbered Preliminary 27 · Passage A

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Facing Pages · Branch 54 of 318

To the Reader · Unnumbered Preliminary 27 · Passage A

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Original English

the Earth concocted. Behold! I have in a few words discovered unto thee the whole system of Nature, and her Royal High-way of Generation. It is thy Duty now to improve the Truth, and in my Booke thou mayst, if thou art wise, find thy Advantages. The foure Elements are the Objects, and implicitly the Subjects of Man, but the Earth is invisible. I know the common Man will stare at this, and judge me not very sober, when I affirme the Earth, which of all substances is most gross and palpable, to be invisible. But on my soule it is so, and which is more, the Eye of Man never saw the Earth, nor can it be seen without Art. To make this Element visible, is the greatest secret in Magic, for it is a miraculous Nature, and of all others the most holy, according to that Computation of Trismegistus, Coelum, AEther, Aer, & sacratissima Terra. As for this Faeculent, gross Body upon which we walk, it is a Compost, and no

Modern English

earth digested. See: in a few words I have disclosed to you Nature’s whole system and her royal highway of generation. It is now your duty to develop this truth; and if you are wise, you may find your advantages in my book. The four elements are humanity’s objects and, implicitly, its subjects; but earth is invisible. I know the ordinary person will stare at this and judge me scarcely sober when I declare earth—the grossest and most tangible of substances—invisible. Yet, upon my soul, it is so. More than that: the human eye has never seen earth, nor can it be seen without art. Making this element visible is the greatest secret in magic, for it is a miraculous nature and, of all the others, the most holy, according to Trismegistus’s reckoning: “Heaven, ether, air and the most holy earth.” As for this foul, gross body upon which we walk, it is a composite,

About This Reading Edition

Thomas Vaughan’s complete 1650 Magia Adamica publication, with all historical preliminaries and the complete appended Coelum Terrae, original and modern English, fresh translations of Latin, Greek and Hebrew, full poems, eight historical marginal notes, the complete recovered printed corrections, 312 annotations and the complete supplied Diotimos study apparatus.

Historical Text and Translation

Thomas Vaughan (Eugenius Philalethes), Magia Adamica: or The Antiquitie of Magic, with Coelum Terrae. London: T. W. for H. Blunden, 1650. Governing transcription: EEBO-TCP A64768.0001.001. The Getty Research Institute copy supplies surviving first-edition page images; the 1656 issue supplies explicitly disclosed missing or defective material. The complete shared 1650 errata are recovered from the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica copy of The Man-Mouse.

About Diotimos Editions

This historical edition credits Diotimos Editions as its English translator.

Rights

The historical text is public domain; the EEBO-TCP Phase I transcription is released under CC0. The supplied 2026 reading, translations and Diotimos editorial material are published with the site owner’s authorization.