On The Shadows Of Ideas now available through Kickstarter

 

When I first started out working on Giordano Bruno's works on the Art of Memory, it was a bootstrap affair, and even then, the translations barely found their way into press. But On The Shadows Of Ideas has been a consistently popular title among Renaissance scholars, memory artists, those with an occult interest, and others who have come to visit with Bruno through their own doors.

Because of this interest, I'm now able to release this title in a form that makes no compromises. The new hardback Scholar's Edition and deluxe King's Edition are both made with the finest of archival-quality materials by master printers and bookbinders. We live in a time of great small specialty presses, and I wanted to make the most beautiful and well-made version of the book that it is possible to imagine.

From now until October 14th, 2021, the book will be available as part of a Kickstarter campaign. 

You can help bring this book into being today. Thank you.

Announcing Windcastle Press

UPCOMING PROJECT: I am opening the reservation lists for hardback and deluxe editions of De Umbris Idearum: On the Shadows of Ideas, the first book of the Collected Works of Giordano Bruno.

The paperback and eBook versions have been selling steadily since they were first released in 2013. I've received a number of requests over the years for the hardback and deluxe from collectors and academic buyers. If you want one, then I highly recommend signing up for the reservation list, as I will be scaling the size of the print run based on the size of this list, and based on the number who actually pre-purchase either edition, and all indications are that both editions will sell quickly.

The current plan is to publish a matched/coordinated edition of all seven books in the series, provided there is adequate demand for each book. If this reservation/publication model works well, then additional publications will be made, both classic and new works. For example, Trithemius's Steganographia is undergoing translation right now, and could be made ready later this year. I have requests for three more Bruno works, another by Trithemius, and several others in the queue.

Sign up to reserve your copy and to receive further information here.

Dilwyn Knox on Frances Yates on Giordano Bruno

Bruno Borges

A 24 year old Brazilian man named Bruno Borges disappeared on March 27th, leaving behind a room covered in elaborate art and containing a life-sized statue of Giordano Bruno and fourteen numbered notebooks. The name Bruno Borges is a little on the nose, as my friend Ted Hand puts it, since it's a combination of Giordano Bruno, whose statue appears in the room, and Jorge Luis Borges, author of numerous labyrinths and literary games. The whole thing feels like a Borges story, anyway.

Bruno Borges story on reddit.
Daily Mail article on Borges.
El Globo's story on Borges.

An update on the Bruno Borges disappearance, connecting it to Cicada #3301, can be found here.



I have no idea what to make of it all. It's awfully neat handwriting for someone who's experiencing mental problems, which suggests that it's an art project or part of the Cicada scavenger hunt.

Update: It may all have been part of a book marketing scheme.
http://www.surrealista.com.br/2017/05/amigo-de-bruno-o-desaparecido-do-acre-e-preso-e-caso-ja-e-tratado-como-jogada-de-marketing

It seems that the season of the "Boy from Acre" case, Bruno Borges, mysteriously disappeared on March 27, is coming to an end. The Civil Police made two operations at the home of two friends of Bruno and found, among other things, two contracts signed giving friends part of the income from the sale of the 14 books he left in his room, along with scrawled walls and the statue of 2 meters. Bruno's cousin, Eduardo Borges, could also be involved in the case.

One of Bruno's friends, Marcelo Ferreira, was arrested, reports the G1 , for omitting information about the case, which would constitute false testimony. In the house of another friend, Mario Gaiote, the bed and the rack of Bruno's room were found, set aside for the setting of the scene found after his disappearance. Both Marcelo and Mario had signed contracts at home to distribute the proceeds of the sale of the books, drawn up in a notary's office on the very day Bruno disappeared.

"On the day Bruno left, he went to the notary's office and recorded the contract. So, for us, it is very conclusive that it was not a disappearance whatsoever, it was in fact a conscious plan of remoteness, and the contract shows that there is a deadline for disclosure of these books, deadline for publication, percentage allocation for those who helped him, in the case , These three people who helped him right away. For us, this is very clear, "said Alcino Júnior, the delegate of the case, to the G1 .

Update 6/11/17: More from the police investigation here.

Giordano Bruno on Prudence

Prudence is the state of things that leads a person to happiness and bliss in their life, and maintains them there, and ultimately returns great value. In this, children and fools differ from a man, and there are many who, regardless of their age, would reach the end of their course of days without having taken the counsel of maturity; these decrepit old men who have become worn out and unfit with age are the same ones who once tamed and subdued bulls and lions and bears. A prudent man is he who has proper regard for the things that must be done, who meditates upon the present, recollects the past, and provides for the future with forethought; it is not only that which is observable to the eyes which prudence considers, not judging only by what the eyes see or what the ears hear, but thinking over what possibilities and contingencies may truly happen in the future. He comes always by the correct path of nature and the divine, never by the broad path to Perdition, but travelling by the true ways of the past, by that called the hard, steep road by the Pythagoreans, diverting neither to the left or the right. He is prudent, wise and rational, who takes his seat in the stern of his soul, takes his counsel of the Almighty, in which he is preserved, exalts in the good he is able to do for others, and does not fear the murmuring of the fearful, insidious and wicked.

-Lullian Combinatoric Lamps

Section II, Chapter II, Member II 

 

 

From the first English edition of Bruno's commentaries on the works of Ramon Llull, coming out later this month.

Lullian Combinatoric Lamps - Giordano Bruno

Chapter VI
Member III

The width of the scale permits many ways of examination: | first, the extension of the meanings of the terms (of which more is said later), that is to say that goodness not only extends to its physical meaning but also to its ethical one (similarly applicable to greatness and the others); second by duplication of them in their concrete and abstract forms, so to speak, goodness and good, greatness and great; third by distinctions of -ivi, -abilis, and -are, for example, bonificativum [the capacity of goodness or to do good], bonificabile [the capacity to receive goodness or to be improvable], bonificare [to improve, reclaim, restore], where ivum signifies the active principal part, abile the passive principal part, and are the copulative principal part, or ivum the principal effective or communicative part, abile the principal receptive or participatory part, and are the principal connective or actual part; fourth, by distinctions of affirmative and negative, additive and subtractive, thus to the extent that one can be said to be taken affirmatively, the other is take negatively, where one is excessive, the other is deficient; fifth, by distinctions of explicit and implicit, because they are in terms not solely contained in their system, but also everything that can be said and imagined through absolute predicates, as is made clear in the Tract Regarding the Multiplication of the Terms; sixth by distinction of proper and appropriated, insofar as some of these have a natural convenience, some by and from themselves [per se & a se, instrinsically], others extrinsically and from others, some I say are from natural substance, some from infusion, some from acquisition.

Magnetic Memory Podcast

Anthony Metivier was good enough to interview me over at Magnetic Memory Method Podcast. We talked about Giordano Bruno, memory palaces, and how you can improve your techniques for learning and memory.

So, if you've enjoyed seeing me burble on in print, now you can get the definitive audio experience as well. Hope you enjoy.

Book Release: Giordano Bruno - On the Infinite, the Universe and the Worlds

The new English translation of Giordano Bruno's On the Infinite, the Universe and the Worlds is now available in several locations online and in the real world. Buy it at:

Amazon:

 

Barnes and Noble

For NOOK eBook

 

 

On the Infinite is one of Bruno's most insightful cosmological works. Written in 1584, it argues for a boundless, infinite universe, containing innumerable planets, all of which are inhabited. This was a revolutionary idea for the day, opposed to the traditional Aristotelian model of a unique Earth-centered system, encapsulated within a set of planet-bearing crystalline spheres, and surrounded by an outermost sphere of fixed stars.

Bruno's ideas and struggle with the Church authorities were recently featured on an episode of Cosmos, and excerpts from the book 

Nicholas da Cusa - On Learned Ignorance

De Docta Ignorantia
II,3

“God enfolds all things, and so all things in Him are Himself; He unfolds all things, and so He is all things in themselves.”

II,4

“ Therefore, that which was written the Absolute Maximum in Book One, appropriate to the Maximum Absolute absolutely, all of this applies to the contracted maximum in a contracted way…God is the Absolute Maximum and Absolute Oneness, who preceeds and unifies all distance and difference,… an absolute which is everything, in which everything absolutely begins and ends, and in which it has its absolute being and in which all are without plurality in that same Absolute Maximum, most simple, indistinct, as are infinite lines in every figure. Similarly, the world or the universe is a contracted maximum or unity as opposed to one that preceeds contraction…existence is contracted, and includes all that begins and ends in contraction, exists in contraction, infinite contraction or contracted infinity, in which all pluralities are contained within this maximum contraction, with contracted simplicity and indistinguishability, as maximal lines are contracted by and contract all figures.” So that God is the absolute quiddity of the universe; the universe is that same quiddity, but contracted, that is, implemented (as that which is spoken is to the speaker, so to is the effect of existence to [God]). The absolute unity of God is free of every plurality “But a contracted unity such as a universe is a maximum unity even though contracted and not a greater absolute…this is a unity through the contraction of plurality, as infinitude from finitude…God, since He is immense is neither in the Sun nor in the Moon, though in them He is absolutely that which they are…Since the universe is a contracted quiddity, it is neither the Sun nor the Moon, but is neverthess when it is in the Sun it is the Sun, and when it is in the Moon it is the Moon; the identity of the universe is in diversity, as the unity of it is in plurality…So our universe, though it is neither Sun nor Moon, is yet the Sun in the Sun and the Moon in the Moon, where it is the Sun and the Moon without plurality and diversity.”

-from Nicholas da Cusa

De Docta Ignorantia

On Learned Ignorance 

Giordano Bruno

For here is a philosophy that opens the senses, contents the spirit, glorifies the intellect, and produces the humane and true state of blessings that humanity desires, consists through balance, frees from care and pacifies sorrow, causes one to rejoice in the present and not to fear the future; for that Providence or fate or chance in life which determines our course through our particular vicissitudes neither wants nor permits us to know about one thing without ignorance of another, so that at first glance, we are always doubtful and perplexed. But, when we consider more profoundly the being and substance of the universe in which we immutably dwell, we see that neither we nor any real substance truly dies; for nothing is diminished in its substance, but all things that travel in infinite space change in aspect. And since we are all subject to the same Ultimate Efficient Cause, we should not believe, expect or hope otherwise than that, since everything comes from good, all is good, for the good and to the good; from good, through good, to good; anyone who believes the contrary apprehends nothing but what is present, as the goodness of a building is not manifest to one who sees only a tiny piece of it, like a stone affixed with a bit of cement to a garden wall, but which is visible  to one who sees the whole inside and out, who has the ability to see how each part converses with all the others. We have no fear that what has accumulated in this world could, through the vehemence of some errant spirit, or the wrath of Jove’s thunderbolt, be dispersed through this little sepulcher or cupola of the heavens, or shaken or scattered like dust throughout this starry mantle; and in no other way could nature be made to empty itself of subsistence, except when to our eyes it appears that air compressed within the concavity of a bubble vanishes on release, because there is nothing known in the world where one thing does not always succeed another, nor is there some ultimate deep of the world where being is finally dispersed into nonbeing by the Maker’s hand. There are no ends, boundaries, limits or walls which defraud or deprive us of the infinite multitude of things. Therefore, the earth and sea are fecund, therefore the sun burns forever, eternally supplying fuel for the voracious flames, as vapors feed diminished seas, therefore the infinite perpetually bears forth new material.

Giordano Bruno

On the Infinite, the Universe and the Worlds

Prefatory Epistle

Giordano Bruno - On the Infinite, the Universe and the Worlds

Prefatory Epistle

Written for the most illustrious

Signeur Michel de Castelnau

Signeur of Mauvissiere, Concressault and Joinville

Councilor of the Privy Council,

Captain of 50 men at arms,

And Ambassador to Her Serene Majesty of England.

O most illustrious Knight, if I had driven a plow, herded sheep, cultivated a garden, or trimmed a garment, then no one would have held me in much regard, few would have seen me, and even fewer chosen to deal with me, and then I could well try to please everyone. But, because I have tried to describe the field of nature, consider the disposition of the soul, partake of the life of the mind, and travel like a master artificer through the maze of the intellect, those who have regarded me have threatened me, those who have seen me have assailed me, those who have encountered me have tried to bite me, and those who have understood me have tried to destroy me; not just one, nor a few, but many, or virtually all. If you want to understand why this is so, I will tell you the reason: everyday people displease me, commoners are odious, the multitude discontent me, and only the singular one is my beloved: through her I have freedom in subjection, happiness in sorrow, wealth in poverty, and life in death; through her I escape envy of those who are servants in freedom, have pain even in pleasure, are poor despite their wealth, dead though living; for in their body is that chain that binds them, in their spirit is the hell that oppresses them, within their soul is the sin that sickens them, within their mind is the sloth that kills them; for they lack the magnanimity that grants resolve, the endurance for success, the splendor of the illustrious, and the knowledge that enlivens. Thus, I do not avoid the arduous path for want of energy, nor spare my arm from this work for laziness, nor in cowardice shrink from the enemy who confronts me, nor, dazzled, turn my eyes from the splendor of the divine; I am aware that I have a bit of a reputation as a sophist, more interested in seeming to be clever than in truly being wise, more ambitious to establish a new and false sect than to support that which is old and true; a bird catcher, trying to capture splendor and glory; an unquiet spirit, trying to undermine the foundations of good discipline by using siege engines of perversity.

Therefore, My Lord, let the saints disperse those who unjustly hate me, may I always do what is pleasing before my God, may I gain favor with the rulers of this world, may the stars grant me fertile land for my seed and abundant seed for my land, that I might harvest abundant fruit from my labors, that the spirits be awoken and the hearts be opened of all who suffer in darkness: for I certainly make no falsehood, if I err, it is by accident, and I do strive for love of victory itself (because empty success and hollow victory are enemies of God, vile and without honor, and such are not truly triumphs); rather, I suffer, torment and tire myself for love of true knowledge and true contemplation. All this shall I make manifest through demonstrative arguments, dependent on lively reasoning, supported by moderated senses, admitting no false particulars, rather arriving like true ambassadors of objective Nature, presenting themselves to the searcher, appearing to the observer, clear to those who would understand, plain to those who would comprehend. So here I present my contemplation of the infinite, the universe and the innumerable worlds.

---

[1] Literally: to do what Daedalus did.

Cosmos - Giordano Bruno segment

Philosophy and Magic

New post up over at DeUmbrisIdearum.com on Philosophy and Magic. Multiple readings of both the term "magic" and the role of "magical" material are discussed.

Wheels

There's a new post up over at the De Umbris Idearum site.

Includes notes on the combinatoric wheels in Bruno's memory system: why they're there, where he took them from, and what some potential additional functions they might have.

On Memory Palaces

New content up on DeUmbrisIdearum.com: a short post containing the basics of the memory palace system, according to Giordano Bruno.

Links for Later 9-26-13

1. Giordano Bruno's prediction of the infinite worlds and an infinite God made the Catholic Church freak out.
2. Using vector space mathematics to resolve linguistic problems.
3. Entrepreneurial sales: five models, four steps to success.
4. Urban exploration with Bradley Garrett.
5. Steve Albini's letter to Nirvana about producing.
6. Brad DeLong about the economics of global warming. Can we afford to do something? Can we afford not to?
7. OODA loops and markets.

Bruno, De Umbris, 12th Concept (M)

Deformed animals take beautiful forms in the heavens. Metals which lack luster shine when in their own planets. For neither man, nor animals, nor metals, exist here as they there exist. For whatever happens here, occurs there with greater vigor. The virtues, which separate and multiply in matter, there combine and unify. Clearly, as the Platonists say: ideas are not the only part of living life and developing reason; illumination, lifebringing and unification, conforming to superior agencies; these are the reasons by which one develops intelligence and memory of the forms.

-Giordano Bruno

De Umbris Idearum

Twelfth Concept M

Bruno, De Umbris, 23rd Intention (Z)

For shadows, there is no time save this time, no space save this space, no motion save this motion. It is abstracted from all truth, yet is not without it. But, it’s also not impossible to think (if this is an ideal shadow) that the opposite, or something else is also true, since it is all one. With shadows, there is no opposite, neither darkness nor light. So man took refuge in the Tree of Knowledge, and knew shadow and light, truth and falsehood, good and evil, when God called out to him: “Adam, where are you?”

-Giordano Bruno

De Umbris Idearum

Twenty-Third Intention: Z

 

Links for Later 1-18-13

1. John Crowley on death, infinity and Giordano Bruno in Lapham's Quarterly
2. N+1's Gary Sernovitz profiles Steven Cohen, hedge fund manager and art collector
3. WG Sebald's writing tips
4. The Platonist of the Midwest (via @t3dy)
5. Writing on a windy day

On the Shadows of Ideas

From a rough translation of Giordano Bruno's memory text, De Umbris Idearum. It's a big work in progress at this point. I'm sure someone with very good latin could make short work of it, but it's not easy to translate precisely. This is from the introductory dialog amongst Hermes Trismegistus, Philothimus (who represents Bruno), and Logifer (a pedant, representing Bruno's critics).

HERMES:  

Continue freely; indeed, you know it is the same sun, the same art, that will both receive praise and also blame. That sorrowful night presents witches, toads, the basilisk, screech owls, and Plutonian rites, but [that day] activates the rooster, phoenix, swans, geese, eagles, rams and lions. When he’s in the East, creatures of darkness gather in their dens, while by his light, man and the creatures of the day come out to do their work. He invites them to this work, away from idleness. Heliotropes and lupines turn toward the sun, while the night flowers and herbs turn away. Rarefied vapors rise to form clouds, while more earthly vapors condense to form waters. Some shed a perpetual, continual light, others shine irregularly. The intellect teaches that they remain still, but the false sense tells us that they move. That which rises in this part of the rotating earth, sets in the Antipodes.  The same in the arctic: sometimes, things appear to circle from left to right will at other times appear to move vertically. In some hemicircles, they move quickly, while in the opposite, they move much more slowly. The land which appears nearby appears to be larger, while more distant lands (from our perspective) smaller than the others. The most southerly of the North lands is the most northerly of the South. For those who have the horizon at right angles, the left and the right will be of equal size, but they will be unequal for those who look obliquely. The same distributes the darkness and the light in equal measure in the region between two parallels, but differently at different times. In this, the divine house of Earth, we receive slanting sunbeams, instead of ones precisely vertical. The planets (which some believe to be lesser gods under a second prince) likewise receive varying light upon their bodies (which they call the light of conception), turning different faces to him from the apogee to the aux, by latitudes and intervals.  (Even so the Moon (which many among the philosophers think is a second Earth), turns a face to that light, while turning the other face into shadow, where the Earth interposes its sad shadow on a hemisphere of the Moon.

            The sun, therefore, while remaining the same forever, may also change its disposition, sometimes one way or another, depending on where one sits. Likewise this solar art, for ourselves, for other people, others yet to come, we believe that there may be differences in how it is received.