The Magic of Giordano Bruno

Italian philosopher, Giordano Bruno, had a fascinating system of magic consisting of a synthesis of philosophy, metaphysics, and esoteric tradition heavily influenced by Hermeticism, Neoplatonism, and Renaissance Humanism.

Giordano Bruno (1548-1600) viewed magic as an intellectual and spiritual instrument, aimed at transforming one's individuality through a connection to the occult forces of the Universe.

His vision of an infinite cosmos filled with the Divine's presence fueled his views on the subject. Bruno’s ideas on magic are especially outlined in such works as De Magia, De Vinculis in Genere, and in De Imaginum Compositione, both published in 1591.

His cosmology, which views the universe as infinite and teeming with life, is the bedrock of his magical system, which draws inspiration from such medieval Hermetic fragments as the famous “Deus est sphaera infinita cuius centrum est ubique, circumferentia nusquam.” (God is an infinite sphere whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere), and of course from the Emerald Tablet.