Treasure Magic - Historical Sorcery to Find Hidden Treasure
Mar 3, 2022 18:58:11 GMT -6
Zenopus, waysoftheearth, and 6 more like this
Post by krusader74 on Mar 3, 2022 18:58:11 GMT -6
Treasure Magic - The Lore of Lost Riches and the Historical Sorcery Used to Find Hidden Treasure
Here is a brief summary (followed by a detailed outline) of the YouTube video Treasure Magic by Dr. Justin Sledge, released on the ESOTERICA channel February 11, 2022.
Dr. Sledge credits Dungeons & Dragons four times during this video for sparking his interest in treasure magic as a child, and says that now as an adult he still collects Medieval coins.
TL;DR
The most interesting parts of this talk concerned the pre-modern magical conception of treasure. Here are my top 10 takeaways that I would try to incorporate into future D&D games:
The notes below expand on these ideas...
I. Common locations of late Medieval European treasure hoards
A. On the Roman border with Germania, Roman soldiers often buried their pay before going into combat. If that soldier never came back, it lay there until an accidental plow unearthed it.
B. Pre- and post-Roman pagans often buried their high-caste/high-status individuals in elaborate tumuli or conspicuous barrows.
C. The Protestant Reformation saw the closure and the looting of the monasteries, and of course monks would secret away valuables. Many gold and silver religious objects like candelabra, and many such buildings were positively honeycombed with crypts and underground vaults.
D. Several actual treasure hoard discoveries are mentioned:
E. Several fabled treasure hoards are mentioned:
F. A couple of modern (20th and 21st century) quasi-magical treasure hunters/expeditions are mentioned:
II. Legal issues related to treasure hunts
A. The Crown, the landowners, and the treasure finders all wanted a cut when treasure was discovered, and European law did vary widely on this issue. Some legal codes saw all treasure as the property of the state. Others divvying it up between the concerned parties, with the state taking a cut. Sometimes this got divvied up in three separate ways and further.
B. At this time, almost all treasure hunting was linked with magic. And that's the period of the witch hunts. The state took a keen interest in those associating with any form of magic.
III. Magical properties of treasure
Treasure itself had magical associations and was always very nearly tinged with some element -- perhaps a very high degree -- of danger.
A. Sentience. Treasure was thought to be somewhat sentient (semi-sentient) and had a desire to avoid being detected. Treasure could hear approaching treasure hunters, and so treasure hunts were conducted in silence.
B. Shape-shifting. One of the more amazing feats of treasure was its ability to shapeshift. To avoid detection, treasure could transform itself into rubbish, only being transformed back into treasure by using magic. Paracelsus notes that alchemical fire would undo the shape-shifting effects of treasure, rendering the seeming rubbish back into treasure.
C. Mobility. Treasure could sense being sought out and could move itself around, burrowing deep into the earth to avoid being captured. It could run away from you.
D. Treasure baiting. In keeping with the pre-modern conception of magical sympathy that "like attracts like," it was a common feature of treasure hunting to use some small amount of gold and silver (typically in coin form) to actually bait a treasure, kind of like going fishing. Here, one would bury a small amount in the earth near this suspected treasure, then dig around that area, thus stopping the treasure from being able to escape.
IV. Fortuitous places and times for treasure hunting
Treasure was thought the easiest to detect at certain times of the year or in specific astrological conditions. Typically liminal periods were thought best for treasure hunts:
V. Commonly encountered treasure guardians
Treasure was invariably thought to have a host of hostile guardians.
A. Demons
There was a general conception that about a meter into the earth was kind of the domain of various spirits: fairies, demons, and other kinds of supernatural creatures. Further, many treasure hunts also took place in ruins: basements, crypts, and caves; and these are also places thought to be inhabited by very similar kinds of dangerous supernatural creatures. Wealth in general for medieval Christians was always morally ambiguous, and treasure was often associated with Mammon, the demon of greed.
Thus, such beings had to be appeased, bound, and banished, if they couldn't be avoided during the treasure hunt. You don't want a kobold or orc bothering your treasure hunting. As you might imagine, interacting with such beings was almost always the purview of magic, and often the frightful arts of necromancy. Thus, the discovery of magic was almost always wrapped up with some tinge of black magic. Many treasure narratives simply end with the hunters being frightened away by demonic illusions.
Paracelsus, ever the maverick if there ever was one, actually says that the treasure hunting party should laugh and joke during the hunt, going against all the received wisdom of that age, precisely in order to endure the terrible illusion magic of the treasure demons: If you're having fun you don't mind the treasure demon.
B. Ghosts
Ghosts are by far the most common treasure guardian in the literature. Inevitably in life they secreted away their treasures and perished before it could be spent according to their wishes.
Paracelsus seems to actually have held that hidden treasure alone was the cause of all hauntings. Thus the presence of any ghost actually indicated treasure.
VI. Treasure indicators
Despite the elusive nature of treasure, it did have a singular giveaway to its presence: a mysterious and otherworldly flame admitted by the treasure. This legend probably has its origins in connection with the supernatural power of saintly relics, though a pre-Christian origin is just as possible. We see something like this in the early sagas. These relics were thought to emit perfume, light, and flames; and treasure also was thought to emit a very faint flame that burned but did not consume -- burning bush style. One could even tell the nature and burial depth of the treasure based on these flames, which were typically bluish in color but could vary, depending on the type of treasure.
VII. Composition of the typical treasure hunting party
In medieval and early modern narratives the treasure hunting band is surprisingly uniform. Rarely was treasure hunting done alone, because of the specialized roles required in the hunt itself, from legal legitimacy to magical powers.
VIII. Risks of treasure hunting
Treasure hunts were dangerous, e.g.,
IX. Practical treasure magic
A. Prayers to invoke (and banish!) saints
The most common form of treasure magic was also the closest to standard religion: prayer. Specifically, there was a set of prayers to Saint Christopher and Saint Corona. While primarily known today as the patron saint of travelers, Saint Christopher was then in the late medieval/early modern period primarily known as a patron of treasure hunting. Dozens of volumes from that period include incantation-like prayers for summoning the Saint, employing his power to locate buried treasure and then, interestingly enough, banishing him.
B. Spells to summon demons
If you can't get a saint to help you, well, you might switch teams and go with demons. Various necromantic volumes that survive from the middle ages in the early modern period contain magic for summoning a host of different demons. Some of which are specific for finding buried treasure in the infamous Clavicula Salomonis AKA the Key of Solomon describes spirits useful for finding treasure, especially the angel Sarakiel. In other necromantic texts from the middle ages we find a demon named Barbarus Asiel Chloron, sometimes known as Floron, associated with a magical mirror. These are all helpful for finding treasure. Further, a host of magical sigils and symbols could also be used to detect the presence of treasure or protect from danger those seeking it out.
C. Sample spell
There are numerous spells (or experiments as they are called the middle ages) found in the necromantic manuals of that time period for the detection of treasure. One such example taken from CLM 849 AKA the Munich Necromancer's Manual details how to discover the location of a buried treasure via a spirit inside of a dream. This spell is relatively straightforward, but may betray some cross-cultural magic as well.
D. Spell books
Virtually all medieval books of magic contain at least one spell for finding treasure, thus making treasure magic as common as spells for things like invisibility, binding or just generic cursing people.
X. The treasure hunting toolbox
A. Candles, crystals and mirrors
The treasure sorcerer had a wide range of magical tools at their disposal so if you couldn't get a saint or a demon to help you, then you just whipped out the magical technology. This is everything from candles made from human fat which hissed near treasure, to crystals, mirrors which revealed the location of treasure via something like remote viewing or scrying.
B. Divining rods
The most important and ubiquitous was the divining AKA the dowsing rod. Often cut by a virginal child, these wooden rods -- sometimes two rods, sometimes one rod shaped like a wishbone -- were thought to be drawn to treasure, metallic veins, or water, or many other things, for a host of reasons.
Metal rods were thought to obey the law of sympathy. Remember, in the middle ages, like attracts like. The first systematic treatise on divining or dowsing was probably prepared by the quasi-legendary alchemist Basilius Valentinus, who claimed that metallic exhalations were detected by the rods.
C. Plants
Magical plants could also assist in treasure hunting. The most common magical plant here were "fern seeds," which had the distinct problem of not exactly existing! Though, William Shakespeare and Ben Johnson both mentioned them as having magical powers for finding treasure.
Another treasure-finding herb was the alleged radix efractoria or the erupting root, sometimes linked in the English world with moonwart, which would cause the earth to burst asunder if placed near treasure. It was also alleged to make horseshoes pop off any poor horse that ran over them. And apparently you could also use it to break open a lock: you just put an herb in a lock and it bursts open -- no strength check required!
XI. Treasure magic vs witchcraft
While treasure hunters were nearly always associated with magic, it was very rare for them to actually be accused of witchcraft, and generally speaking received rather light punishments when caught. Why? It has to do with a specific crime of maleficea -- the legal term for what we now use and what we now translate as "witchcraft" -- because the treasure sorcerer didn't make pacts with the devil or demons. They weren't trying to undermine all of Christendom as the alleged witches were thought to do. These conjurers were more likely seen to be something as sacrilegious frauds by the authorities. (Fraud was the rule here: Virtually no cases of treasure magic working are known from judicial records. But dozens of cases of treasure magic related fraud are.)
XII. The decline and fall of treasure magic
As the early modern period gave way to the enlightenment, treasure narratives greatly declined, typically giving way to tales of pirate's treasure, often in quasi-magical maps sometimes in codes.
References
The single best volume on treasure magic is without a doubt Johannes Dillinger's Magical Treasure Hunting in Europe and North America:
Several medieval sagas are also mentioned:
Some modern treasure hunting fiction is mentioned:
The spell entitled "Experiments involving visions in sleep" excerpted from the Munich Necromancer's Manual is reproduced in the book Forbidden Rites by Richard Kieckhefer available on Kindle and in paperback here on Amazon and also here on Archive.org.
Here is a brief summary (followed by a detailed outline) of the YouTube video Treasure Magic by Dr. Justin Sledge, released on the ESOTERICA channel February 11, 2022.
Dr. Sledge credits Dungeons & Dragons four times during this video for sparking his interest in treasure magic as a child, and says that now as an adult he still collects Medieval coins.
TL;DR
The most interesting parts of this talk concerned the pre-modern magical conception of treasure. Here are my top 10 takeaways that I would try to incorporate into future D&D games:
- Treasure is sentient; for example, it can hear treasure hunters approaching; so treasure hunts were mostly silent affairs.
- Treasure can shape-shift; it will appear as rubbish; a magician needs to dispel magic in order to restore it to its true form.
- Treasure is mobile; it can burrow deeper into the earth in order to evade capture; in some cases, it can even run away from treasure hunters!
- Magical empathy, the principle that "like attracts like," means that treasure hunters can "bait" treasure with gold and silver coins just like one can bait a fishing pole to catch fish; and you can find treasure using a metal divining rod.
- Treasure emits magical light, fire, and perfume.
- Treasure attracts magical guardians like demons and ghosts.
- Treasure is most easily found in magical "in between" places (like crossroads) and at liminal times (like in between Sundays and Mondays).
- The typical treasure hunting party consisted of a minor aristocrat (who secured required permits), a treasure sorcerer, laborers (engineers, miners, cooks), investors, and a mob of onlookers and mockers.
- Treasure sorcerers used spells to find treasure. Often these spells invoked saints and demons. Treasure sorcerers also used scrying, divining rods and plants. Most spell books contained a spell to help find treasure.
- Treasure sorcerers were in constant danger of being accused of witchcraft or fraud.
The notes below expand on these ideas...
I. Common locations of late Medieval European treasure hoards
A. On the Roman border with Germania, Roman soldiers often buried their pay before going into combat. If that soldier never came back, it lay there until an accidental plow unearthed it.
B. Pre- and post-Roman pagans often buried their high-caste/high-status individuals in elaborate tumuli or conspicuous barrows.
C. The Protestant Reformation saw the closure and the looting of the monasteries, and of course monks would secret away valuables. Many gold and silver religious objects like candelabra, and many such buildings were positively honeycombed with crypts and underground vaults.
D. Several actual treasure hoard discoveries are mentioned:
- Staffordshire Hoard
- Herculaneum in Pompeii
E. Several fabled treasure hoards are mentioned:
F. A couple of modern (20th and 21st century) quasi-magical treasure hunters/expeditions are mentioned:
- The SS (Nazi) Ahnenerbe
- The Lagina brothers out on oak island
II. Legal issues related to treasure hunts
A. The Crown, the landowners, and the treasure finders all wanted a cut when treasure was discovered, and European law did vary widely on this issue. Some legal codes saw all treasure as the property of the state. Others divvying it up between the concerned parties, with the state taking a cut. Sometimes this got divvied up in three separate ways and further.
B. At this time, almost all treasure hunting was linked with magic. And that's the period of the witch hunts. The state took a keen interest in those associating with any form of magic.
III. Magical properties of treasure
Treasure itself had magical associations and was always very nearly tinged with some element -- perhaps a very high degree -- of danger.
A. Sentience. Treasure was thought to be somewhat sentient (semi-sentient) and had a desire to avoid being detected. Treasure could hear approaching treasure hunters, and so treasure hunts were conducted in silence.
B. Shape-shifting. One of the more amazing feats of treasure was its ability to shapeshift. To avoid detection, treasure could transform itself into rubbish, only being transformed back into treasure by using magic. Paracelsus notes that alchemical fire would undo the shape-shifting effects of treasure, rendering the seeming rubbish back into treasure.
C. Mobility. Treasure could sense being sought out and could move itself around, burrowing deep into the earth to avoid being captured. It could run away from you.
D. Treasure baiting. In keeping with the pre-modern conception of magical sympathy that "like attracts like," it was a common feature of treasure hunting to use some small amount of gold and silver (typically in coin form) to actually bait a treasure, kind of like going fishing. Here, one would bury a small amount in the earth near this suspected treasure, then dig around that area, thus stopping the treasure from being able to escape.
IV. Fortuitous places and times for treasure hunting
Treasure was thought the easiest to detect at certain times of the year or in specific astrological conditions. Typically liminal periods were thought best for treasure hunts:
- Especially the period from Christmas to Epiphany.
- Overnight, between Sunday and Monday.
- The conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn.
- Even in-between places such as crossroads are generally thought to be magical (if not also mildly demonic). That whole "X" marks the spot business probably has its origins in just such a concept, known in the middle ages as "cross digging."
V. Commonly encountered treasure guardians
Treasure was invariably thought to have a host of hostile guardians.
A. Demons
There was a general conception that about a meter into the earth was kind of the domain of various spirits: fairies, demons, and other kinds of supernatural creatures. Further, many treasure hunts also took place in ruins: basements, crypts, and caves; and these are also places thought to be inhabited by very similar kinds of dangerous supernatural creatures. Wealth in general for medieval Christians was always morally ambiguous, and treasure was often associated with Mammon, the demon of greed.
Thus, such beings had to be appeased, bound, and banished, if they couldn't be avoided during the treasure hunt. You don't want a kobold or orc bothering your treasure hunting. As you might imagine, interacting with such beings was almost always the purview of magic, and often the frightful arts of necromancy. Thus, the discovery of magic was almost always wrapped up with some tinge of black magic. Many treasure narratives simply end with the hunters being frightened away by demonic illusions.
Paracelsus, ever the maverick if there ever was one, actually says that the treasure hunting party should laugh and joke during the hunt, going against all the received wisdom of that age, precisely in order to endure the terrible illusion magic of the treasure demons: If you're having fun you don't mind the treasure demon.
B. Ghosts
Ghosts are by far the most common treasure guardian in the literature. Inevitably in life they secreted away their treasures and perished before it could be spent according to their wishes.
Paracelsus seems to actually have held that hidden treasure alone was the cause of all hauntings. Thus the presence of any ghost actually indicated treasure.
- Sometimes these ghosts rave in greed/madness to protect their hoard -- their gold lust keeping them from entering the afterlife.
- But in other narratives they wish for their treasure to actually be found and to be righteously dispersed. In these accounts, the treasure hunter is actually setting free trapped souls, giving some of the treasure to charity and some to the church, thus distancing themselves from that whole taint of necromancy.
VI. Treasure indicators
Despite the elusive nature of treasure, it did have a singular giveaway to its presence: a mysterious and otherworldly flame admitted by the treasure. This legend probably has its origins in connection with the supernatural power of saintly relics, though a pre-Christian origin is just as possible. We see something like this in the early sagas. These relics were thought to emit perfume, light, and flames; and treasure also was thought to emit a very faint flame that burned but did not consume -- burning bush style. One could even tell the nature and burial depth of the treasure based on these flames, which were typically bluish in color but could vary, depending on the type of treasure.
VII. Composition of the typical treasure hunting party
In medieval and early modern narratives the treasure hunting band is surprisingly uniform. Rarely was treasure hunting done alone, because of the specialized roles required in the hunt itself, from legal legitimacy to magical powers.
- Minor aristocrat. Often the party leader had some legal standing. A minor aristocrat might be able to get a treasure hunting permit of sorts -- something that was keenly needed for the legitimacy of the treasure hunt and to avoid charges of stealing from the crown just in case the treasure was found; or they just needed to avoid being condemned as a band of treasure necromancers.
- Treasure Sorcerer. There was inevitably a ritual expert, or treasure sorcerer, or at least someone experienced with magical practice and the detection of treasure. This ranged enormously in terms of their magical powers. Often this person was a kind of charming stranger. For whatever reasons Venetians were thought to be the best of all treasure sorcerers. In a lot of cases, wandering vagrants would fall into this role. Occasionally, virginal children would lead. Even rarer women -- there's only a couple of cases of women leading treasure hunts. Treasure sorcerers were typically literate and had some general expertise in magic. With various magical books (or just any kind of book with weird stuff in it) it wasn't uncommon for those in religious orders to also take on this role. And who else better to exercise a treasure demon than a local monk or priest?
- Support staff. The third group were the support staff for the hunt which included laborers, cooks and even engineers.
- Investors. Also, some of those folks were willing to invest money to get the treasure hunt off the ground. This wasn't exactly cheap.
- The mob. And a final group could basically include gawkers -- just curious spectators to leering mockers. There are people who just follow treasure hunters around to make fun of them. Why have such a crowd following you around like that? Again witnesses help to secure your right to the treasure and can also help you resist charges of any un-Christian magic in the process of the search.
VIII. Risks of treasure hunting
Treasure hunts were dangerous, e.g.,
- Personal and religious tensions
- Cave-ins
- Demons and ghosts.
IX. Practical treasure magic
A. Prayers to invoke (and banish!) saints
The most common form of treasure magic was also the closest to standard religion: prayer. Specifically, there was a set of prayers to Saint Christopher and Saint Corona. While primarily known today as the patron saint of travelers, Saint Christopher was then in the late medieval/early modern period primarily known as a patron of treasure hunting. Dozens of volumes from that period include incantation-like prayers for summoning the Saint, employing his power to locate buried treasure and then, interestingly enough, banishing him.
B. Spells to summon demons
If you can't get a saint to help you, well, you might switch teams and go with demons. Various necromantic volumes that survive from the middle ages in the early modern period contain magic for summoning a host of different demons. Some of which are specific for finding buried treasure in the infamous Clavicula Salomonis AKA the Key of Solomon describes spirits useful for finding treasure, especially the angel Sarakiel. In other necromantic texts from the middle ages we find a demon named Barbarus Asiel Chloron, sometimes known as Floron, associated with a magical mirror. These are all helpful for finding treasure. Further, a host of magical sigils and symbols could also be used to detect the presence of treasure or protect from danger those seeking it out.
C. Sample spell
There are numerous spells (or experiments as they are called the middle ages) found in the necromantic manuals of that time period for the detection of treasure. One such example taken from CLM 849 AKA the Munich Necromancer's Manual details how to discover the location of a buried treasure via a spirit inside of a dream. This spell is relatively straightforward, but may betray some cross-cultural magic as well.
- You have to confess your sins on a Sunday under a waxing moon when the sun is in Leo very early in the morning.
- Sprinkle yourself with some holy water reciting a short Missal formula along with Psalm 50 in the vulgate while facing the crucifix.
- Afterward, one must intone a specific prayer: "O rabbi, rabbi, my king and my God, and Lord of lords, you who are creator of all things, hear the prayer which I, a wretched and unworthy creature, make, and [be mindful?] of your redemption in this hour and always, and may my unworthy cry come unto Thee.
- Further supplications are made facing east.
- And then before bed another prayer is made.
- In your dream, a spirit will come to you and help you locate the treasure.
- The next day you can go locate the treasure that the spirit showed you in the dream.
- You have to give a set of alms and thanks for the newly found treasure that you have.
- And then you have to order three masses said in the honor of the trinity, the dead, and for keeping one safe.
D. Spell books
Virtually all medieval books of magic contain at least one spell for finding treasure, thus making treasure magic as common as spells for things like invisibility, binding or just generic cursing people.
X. The treasure hunting toolbox
A. Candles, crystals and mirrors
The treasure sorcerer had a wide range of magical tools at their disposal so if you couldn't get a saint or a demon to help you, then you just whipped out the magical technology. This is everything from candles made from human fat which hissed near treasure, to crystals, mirrors which revealed the location of treasure via something like remote viewing or scrying.
B. Divining rods
The most important and ubiquitous was the divining AKA the dowsing rod. Often cut by a virginal child, these wooden rods -- sometimes two rods, sometimes one rod shaped like a wishbone -- were thought to be drawn to treasure, metallic veins, or water, or many other things, for a host of reasons.
Metal rods were thought to obey the law of sympathy. Remember, in the middle ages, like attracts like. The first systematic treatise on divining or dowsing was probably prepared by the quasi-legendary alchemist Basilius Valentinus, who claimed that metallic exhalations were detected by the rods.
C. Plants
Magical plants could also assist in treasure hunting. The most common magical plant here were "fern seeds," which had the distinct problem of not exactly existing! Though, William Shakespeare and Ben Johnson both mentioned them as having magical powers for finding treasure.
Another treasure-finding herb was the alleged radix efractoria or the erupting root, sometimes linked in the English world with moonwart, which would cause the earth to burst asunder if placed near treasure. It was also alleged to make horseshoes pop off any poor horse that ran over them. And apparently you could also use it to break open a lock: you just put an herb in a lock and it bursts open -- no strength check required!
XI. Treasure magic vs witchcraft
While treasure hunters were nearly always associated with magic, it was very rare for them to actually be accused of witchcraft, and generally speaking received rather light punishments when caught. Why? It has to do with a specific crime of maleficea -- the legal term for what we now use and what we now translate as "witchcraft" -- because the treasure sorcerer didn't make pacts with the devil or demons. They weren't trying to undermine all of Christendom as the alleged witches were thought to do. These conjurers were more likely seen to be something as sacrilegious frauds by the authorities. (Fraud was the rule here: Virtually no cases of treasure magic working are known from judicial records. But dozens of cases of treasure magic related fraud are.)
XII. The decline and fall of treasure magic
As the early modern period gave way to the enlightenment, treasure narratives greatly declined, typically giving way to tales of pirate's treasure, often in quasi-magical maps sometimes in codes.
References
The single best volume on treasure magic is without a doubt Johannes Dillinger's Magical Treasure Hunting in Europe and North America:
Several medieval sagas are also mentioned:
- The Saga of the Völsungs and the Elder Edda
- The Rhine Gold
- Beowulf
Some modern treasure hunting fiction is mentioned:
- The Goonies
- The Hobbit's tale of Smaug and his loot-filled lair
The spell entitled "Experiments involving visions in sleep" excerpted from the Munich Necromancer's Manual is reproduced in the book Forbidden Rites by Richard Kieckhefer available on Kindle and in paperback here on Amazon and also here on Archive.org.
