Samizdat

“The Ars notoria, which is ascribed to Solomon and his “friend and successor” Apollonius, is a fairly widespread work of medieval ritual magic and theurgy. If we are not trained in the field of learned magic, we will easily mistake it at first glance for an innocent religious text, because the ritual of the Ars notoria is nothing other than an elaborated liturgical program composed of prayers and orations addressed to transcendent agents.

Only a closer look reveals that the text, by means of its large variety of prayers, invocations of divine and angelic names, and numerous rituals, actually promises intellectual perfection, learning, the acquisition of memory, and the ability to understand difficult books.

To use its procedures one must first practice a course of confession, fasting, chastity, penitence, and the cultivation of physical and psychological purity lasting several months.

However pious this text may seem, its emphasis on the efficacy of words and names of God to help the user attain power, and the purposes for which a user might turn to it— the acquisition of absolute knowledge, moral perfection, and unlimited memory— bring it close to other magical arts.”

–Benedek Lang, Unlocked Books: Manuscripts of Learned Magic in the Medieval Libraries of Central Europe, 2008. Pg. 165.