Views of the Magus in the Renaissance
Cynthia King

In today’s world, magic and those who use it still find a home within literature. J.K. Rowling gave the world a boy wizard by the name of Harry Potter struggling his way through adolescence. Harry Potter’s story took the world by storm selling millions upon millions of books. However within her novel, Rowling gives us an example of a modern magus in the form of Dumbledore. Dumbledore is a man, who uses magic to meet his own needs, yet he also uses magic to assist others and society in general. He stands as Headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry advising teachers, students and other prominent members of society. In this, Dumbledore stands as the wise man of the tale imparting his wisdom to others, but in particularly Potter, who he is training to be the next great magus. In general a magus contains both the elements of magic and the societal role of a wise man or learned man. By holding up this modern day recreation of the magus, one can start to understand what a magus was during Renaissance, what it was to be a real life magus, and how Shakespeare uses the magus as the center of his play, The Tempest.

The History of Magic and the Occult gives a great introduction and definition of what is considered a magus. Seligmann writes,
We think of the magus as the possessor of occult secrets, a master of esoteric wisdom, who makes use of this knowledge for his own good as well as for that of his fellow men. He is a “white” magician, less fond of prodigies than of the contemplation of nature, in which he discovers marvelous active forces where others only see familiar things. For him the power of God is not concentrated in this One, but permeates every being of the universe. (Seligmann 206)

The magus used occult secrets to carry out their plans. For the most part, these occult secrets appeared in the form of magic requiring demons or spirits. Demons or spirits could be good or bad. In the cases of both, they served as servants bond to the magus through some means. The great “medieval magicians – Merlin, Faust and Simon Magus –“ each had different ways of contracting with the spirit(s) or demon(s) that gave them power (Peters xii).

First, Merlin commanded great magical powers that gave him control of nature and its spirits. The stories of Merlin speak of him being of faerie birth, which is how he got his magical powers. Contrasting Merlin, Faust makes a contract with a demon to receive magical capabilities and knowledge of the universe. His story ends with him being damned to hell even after being given the opportunities to repent in order to save his soul. Lastly, Simon Magus “converted to Christianity and asked to purchase the magical powers of the Apostles for his own benefit” (Peters 7). Simon receives his apostle like powers through a “demon operating in him” (Peters 8). The story of Simon Magus paints “a sharp picture of the Christian sense of the difference between real miracles and the deceits and demonic connections of the magi” (Peters 8). The gist of the story is that Simon faces off with St. Peter. St. Peter uses the name of God to denounce the demon working for or within Simon; thus showing the Christian mentality that God’s miracles supersede the pagan traditions that the magus operates with.

By taking a look at these medieval magi, one is able to see what shaped the mentality towards the magus during the Renaissance. The distinction of “white” and “black” magic does not concern the Christian views. The Christian church sees magic as a demonic force regardless of its use and purpose. One can see how this view developed in the stories of Faust and Simon Magus. Faust, who is given a chance for redemption, finds himself unable to obtain it due to losing his connection with God through the use of demonic magic. This tale shows how the power of the magus corrupts and endangers the mortal soul. Simon Magus crumples in defeat by word St. Peter, who uses the name of God as his weapon. This story shows that magic lacks the power that true miracles of God have. The view of the magus being evil continued showing itself in the persecutions of the real magi. Men seen against the church were said to be magi consorting with demons. Yet, the line the church made against the magus did not stop magi from rising and being respected at times. However, the church deemed magi to be quacks, frauds, or evil and thus shaped the perception of the work of living magi for several centuries.

The most prominent of the real life magi during the Renaissance was Dr. John Dee. He was an accomplished man of science, who studied mathematics, astronomy and geography. Dee received both a B.A and M.A. and “now [is] the most respected of Elizabethan scientists” for his work (French 72). However, he was denounced until recently “as a quack because he had been actively interested in astrology and alchemy” (French 72). It was Dee’s interest and skill in astrology that made him Queen Elizabeth’s personal astrologer and advisor. This status gave him the ability to build a well-equipped laboratory. There he conducted many scientific experiments. In addition, he went on alchemy’s grand pursuit of turning lead into gold and secrets of the philosopher’s stone.

In Dee’s later years, he devoted himself to being an alchemist and “white” magician. In order to communicate with spirits, he worked with Edward Kelley, a skilled medium. Ever the scientist, Dee “left written transcription of conversations with angelic spirits whom he had summoned with the help of … Kelley” (Traister 16). His experiments in science and magic were all apart of his quest for wisdom and knowledge. The quest for knowledge in the mystical and the scientific realms stand as the murky middle ground between pure magic and modern day science. In fact, the real life magi of the Renaissance were associated with being the precursors of modern day scientists.

With this knowledge in hand, Shakespeare models his magus in The Tempest in part on Dr. John Dee and other literary magi. Prior to being shipwrecked on the island, Prospero basically lives in his library studying. It was widely known that Dee had an extensive library and applied himself to great studying. When Dee discovered his magical powers he absorbed himself in study and communicating with holy spirits. Prospero gains magical power through his studies and uses it to command spirits while on the island. However, unlike Dee, Prospero’s magical use is outside the conventions of the real world. The island serves as a second world where it is acceptable for him to wield magic. Motives as well are different. Dee was a man of science learning for the sake of knowledge, power and a little bit of fame. Prospero is out to get revenge on his brother. As a grand magician he orchestrates the events to get his daughter married and to carry out his revenge plot. Essentially the play revolves around Prospero and his magical orchestrations.

Yet, Prospero remains a “white” magus despite the temptation of using his power for ill. In the beginning of the play, Shakespeare gives his readers a contrast between “good” magic and “bad” magic. In Act 1, scene 2, starting around line 240 to line 305, Prospero and Ariel, an airy spirit, discuss Ariel’s freedom and how he came to be bond to Prospero’s service. It is within these lines the reader hears about the witch Sycorax and how evil she was. Prospero rescued Ariel from the evil witch for nobler work. It is within this conversation that “Shakespeare clearly include[s] this account of Prospero’s indirect competition with Sycorax to strength Prospero’s credentials as a ‘good’ magician” (Traister 126). At the end of the play another conversation takes place between Prospero and Ariel. In scene 5, act 1, Prospero inquires about his revenge against his brother and the king. Ariel reports back that the damages incurred by the prisoners. In addition to reporting the status of the prisoners, he asks Prospero to “become tender” (Bevington 874). Prospero is awakened away from the temptation to carry out further revenge for him being usurped by Ariel’s human reaction of pity or sympathy. After sending Ariel to release the prisoners, Prospero in line 33 starts his monologue on how he is giving up magic and hereby burying his book.

The giving up of magic serves two purposes. The first is to remove him from the temptation of evil, which he nearly succumbed to. The second is so he can return to the real world. Given the structure of society, Prospero would not find acceptance if he maintained his magical skills. In Heavenly Necromancers, Traister talks about how Prospero knew he would be giving up his magical powers from the beginning of the play and how all his magical working succeeded due to knowledge of limits. These limits allowed him to orchestrate the scenes within the play to meet his objectives, as any true magician manipulates his stage to affect the audience. However, it is the promise to Ariel that he would get his freedom and Prospero’s understanding of society’s limits against magic that ends his career as a magic practicing magus.

Unlike the stories of Faust and Simon Magus, Prospero knows when to give up magic. Though he essentially is losing everything at the end of the play, he retains his soul and respect. Prospero gets to return home, see his daughter married and live the rest of his life in some semblance of peace. Shakespeare does not subject Prospero to the damnation that Faust was subjected due to Faust’s inability to recognize or set limits for himself. However, despite the lack of working magic, Prospero remains a magus upon his return to Milan. By the definition so neatly given by Seligmann, Prospero need not take part in conjuring since he holds the occult secrets and the esoteric wisdom.

Shakespeare takes the tradition of magus and spins it with his own agenda. Other than the loss of magic, Prospero pays no price for his magical working. It is okay for Prospero to work magic; however it had to be done in a different world. Rowling emulates Shakespeare in Harry Potter. Her modern day magus found in Dumbledore is very much like Prospero. He is a good man serving his needs fighting the good fight with his magic. Yet, like Prospero, Dumbledore has to work his magic in the magical world. With Shakespeare inputting his own voice on controversial subject matters of the time like the magus, it has opened the door for modern writers like J.K. Rowling to write and experiment in the same vein. Through Shakespeare the positive tradition of the magus continues to today.

Work Cited

Bevington, David. The Necessary Shakespeare, 3rd edition. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009.

Briggs, K. M. Pale Hecate’s Team: an examination of the beliefs on witchcraft and magic among Shakespeare’s contemporaries and his immediate successors.. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1962.

Butler, E. M. The Myth of the Magus. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1948.

French, Peter J. John Dee The World of the Elizabethan Magus. New York: Routledge, 1987.

Levack, Brian P. Renaissance Magic: articles on witchcraft, magic, and demonology. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc, 1992.

Peters, Edward. The Magician, the Witch and the Law. University of Pennsylvania, 1978.

Seligmann, Kurt. The History of Magic and the Occult. New York: Gramercy Books, 1948.

Shumaker, Wayne. The Occult Sciences in the Renaissance: A study in intellectual patterns. California: University of California, 1972.

Traister, Barbara Howard. Heavenly Necromancers: the magician in English Renaissance Drama. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1984.

Woolley, Benjamin. The Queen’s Conjurer: The science and magic of Dr. John Dee, Adviser to Queen Elizabeth I. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2001.