Hi, a brief note – this isn’t your episode for the week. There are two things involving my writing I’d like to highlight. David, who did the layout for the free Sabrina’s Rest material surprised me with a really beautiful bit of work on my Cornwall writing. Imagine my Cornwall supplement edited cleanly and then…
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Precious Stones : Hematite, Jacinth, and Jasper
Another little bit of Kunz’s “Curious Lore of Precious Stones“. Hematite Azchalias, as cited by Pliny… asserted that the hematite, when used as a talisman, procured for the wearer a favorable hearing of petitions addressed to kings and a fortunate issue of lawsuits and judgments. It is a red oxide of iron, which when abraded…
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Levana and Our Ladies of Sorrow
Four goddesses described by Thomas de Quiincey. He was famous for his “Confessions of an English Opium Eater” and his time in Cambridge seems to coincide with his experiments with psychoactive substances. Statistics will arrive, once per month, for the next few months. Levanna appaears to be a Roman goddess. The three Ladies of Sorrow…
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Venice: The election of the first Doge
Edgecumbe Stanley’s history if the dogeressas has a lengthy section on the election of the first doge, but it’s not of great interest to us. I’ve cut it down so it contains only the pieces which Ars Magica characters, six hundred years later, might interact with. “The Greek protection of Veneto and the lagunes was…
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Precious Stones: Moonstone, Onyx, Opal
In a return to Kunz’s “Lore of Precious Stones”, we find an interesting covenant site, we discover that the Pale Mountains are even more enchanting than we recall, and we discover how Roman soldiers kept their spirits up. Moonstone As a gift for lovers the moonstone takes a high rank, for it is believed to…
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A horological demon from Jules Verne
There’s an odd little demon in Master Zacharius by Jules Verne. He’s a little too technologically sophisticated for 1220, but a similar idea may be used for any mastercrafter, or for a Verditus magus. The horological demon has sent a plague against the master clockmaker’s works so that, in defiance of physical laws, the springs…
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Venice – Female Warriors and the Death of Attila
I’m recording a biography of the Dogaressas of Venice over at Librivox, and as I’m going I’m pulling out folklore which is of particular interest to Ars Magica players. In this episode, the author of the biography goes to some length to describe the militancy of the forebears of the Venetians. Venice’s history begins with…
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A saint for Hermetic Magi: notes from “El Magico Prodigioso”
Vast oceans of time ago, I noted an almost-saint for Hermetic magicians. Cyprian was a student who sold his soul for infernal tutoring in spellcasting. He then turned on his tutor, and became a Christian martyr. In Hermetic Europe he became a saint. He’s the St Cyprian of Antioch after whom the church at Valnastium…
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Venice: City of Women
This week an introduction to Venetian women, as part of the ongoing series of Venetian episodes. When I originally designed the Venetian episodes, I was going to write a cumulative story like “Thirty Objects of Desire” or the Rosaline stories. As such there was a twist at the end and I’d been keeping the twist…
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Unprofessional Tales: Nerida by Normyx (Norman Douglas)
This is a tiny episode that I’ve snuck into the last few minutes of my monthly podcasting plan. There’s a story, in Unprofessional Tales by Normyx, called “Nerida”, which he later expanded it into a full novel. I’m going to stat Nerida up eventually: she’s a succubus but here are the perambulations away from that…
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