The Studio Esoterico Cornelio and Agrippa's name

Among the websites curated by the Studio Esoterico Cornelio, The Occult Philosophy is the one most directly connected with its name. The Studio, active online since 2014, works in the field of esotericism and the esoteric tradition and curates a network of educational websites on history, symbols and traditions. It was natural that one of them should be devoted to the author and the age that the name Cornelio recalls.

A name and a cultural reference

The name of the Studio evokes Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (1486-1535), author of De occulta philosophia. The reference rather points to an idea of esotericism as part of European culture, something to be known through books, sources and history.

Agrippa suits this role well. His work gathers almost the entire esoteric tradition of the Renaissance, from Ficino's Neoplatonism to the Christian Kabbalah of Pico and Reuchlin, from astral magic to the theory of the elements. A few years later, in De vanitate scientiarum, the same author cast doubt on all human knowledge. In this tension between enthusiasm and scepticism one recognises the fascination and complexity of the Western tradition.

History of ideas, not a manual

The site tells the story of occult philosophy as historians tell it: a system of ideas to be understood in its context. The tables of correspondences, the planetary squares or the divine names of the third book are explained for what they meant in the sixteenth century, without practical instructions and without attributing any efficacy to them. Alongside Agrippa's texts appear his sources, his contemporaries and his critics.

Legends are treated as legends. The black dog said to have accompanied him as a demon, his reputation as a necromancer, his transformation into a model for Faust are recounted starting from those who put them into circulation, such as Paolo Giovio, and those who refuted them, such as his pupil Johann Weyer. The articles, written in Italian and translated into English, also draw on the modern studies of Frances Yates, Eugenio Garin, D. P. Walker and Paola Zambelli.

Beyond this website

The name and trademark of the Studio Esoterico Cornelio are registered. Anyone who wishes to know more about the Studio, its activity and the other sites in its network can visit the official website studioesotericocornelio.com.