Clearing the Waters : A Monograph on Saint Cyprian Divination

In Clearing the Waters: A Monograph on Saint Cyprian Divination from the 17th to the 19th Century, author José Leitão collects an extensive body of divinatory and sorcerous practices from the records of the Portuguese Inquisition to unravel the mystery of Cyprian’s seafaring incantation, and how it has come to be associated with contemporary Cyprian divination.

Along the way, this documentation reveals an untold history of four hundred years of Iberian urban magic, traversing coscinomancy, favomancy, and hydromancy, finishing in the divinatory techniques found in the Book of Saint Cyprian. Besides offering historical clarification on the seafaring incantation, Clearing the Waters aims to be a bountiful resource and reference work by offering all the Inquisitorial documentation examined in detailed appendixes, most of which have been transcribed and translated into English for the first time.

Card divination has long been a particularly iconic aspect of the Portuguese Book of Saint Cyprian, featuring in the cover illustrations of most of its nineteenth-century editions. Included in many of the cartomancy systems within this grimoire is a small pseudo-hagiographical narrative and incantation, which mentions a supposed seven-year seafaring journey made by Saint Cyprian himself.

An excellent book if the reader is interested in Bone-casting, card reading, hydromancy rituals and Cyprianic magic. These systems of magic and divination are not only analysed, but also given instruction and explained.

Why we love it

If you’re interested in older systems of folk magic and divination, this book is invaluable. It is clear, concise and has just the right amount of information- but with a bibliography and appendices if you want to delve in deeper. A truly excellent book.

142 pages.

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