Hermes

There is a legend according to which Hermes carved a text of wisdom with the tip of a diamond on an emerald tablet.

The Liber de quattuor confectionibus ad omnia genera animalium capienda is the Latin translation of an Arabic treatise about natural magic. Handed down from a single manuscript, the text in dialogical form is mentioned by the author of the Speculum astronomiae and by William of Auvergne in De universo.

The book includes some notions of astronomy and describes only the first phase of training in geomancy, with the definition of the figures but without providing further guidance to the learner on how to practice the art of divination.

It is an anthology of one hundred astrological aphorisms of Arab origin, written by Stephen of Messina between 1258 and 1266, and dedicated to Manfredi of Sicily.