Waa a INN PICATRIX S=GHAYAT AL-HAKIM= The Goal of the Wise TRANSLATED FROM THE ARABIC BY HASHEM ATALLAH AND GEYLAN HOLMQUEST EDITED BY WILLIAM KIESEL ® vou ee SSOUROBOROS PRESS= 2008 - SEATTLESIntroduction= his is not as much an introduction tothe Picatrix as it isa recognition of the transmission ofits knowledge to English speakers of the West. The Ghayat Al Hakim has been well known in the history of western ‘sotericism, yet it had evaded being translated into English for many centuries. The four books ofthe Pictrx, of which vyolume two embodies books I and IV, was a large compilation of magical, cultural and hermetic knowledge boasting of over 200 sources. A variety of practices are @vident in the author's descriptions of various cultures toch as the Sabians, Kurds and Nabataears. Many of these teferences are quoted from older sources, some recognized by scholars, others obscure and unconfirmed as yet. Thus (one can read the words of bn Wahshija as he describes the regional practices derived from the Nabataean Agriculture as well as the esoteric doctrines of the [einean al-Safe among others. ‘There is a decidedly practical aspect to the anonymous author's presentation of the material. Whereas admonitions to the reader warn against the practice of magic as unorthodox we yet find the most detailed descriptions of magical rites and alchemical operations. (Qhe of the significant aspects ofthe text can be seen in that it employs the doctrine of correspondences, which were 10 ‘become the trademark ofa steady stream of esoteric works by the likes of Agrippa, Ficino, Mirandola and Brun. it