Of Oracles of Dreams; How to Prepare for Them
Perrone Compagni — Table of Comparison
1533 edition (3:32): W, 3: 54 + W, 3: 55 (with a modification in the se quence of passages) + many additions
This chapter, 3:32 (“Of Oracles of Dreams; How to Prepare for Them”), occupies a significant place in Agrippa's systematic exposition of occult philosophy. In the 1533 Cologne printed edition (De occulta philosophia libri tres, sigla K in Perrone Compagni's critical apparatus), the text represents Agrippa's mature formulation of the ideas it addresses, the product of over two decades of reading, travel, and revision since the composition of the Würzburg draft.
This chapter derives from W 3:54, W 3:55 of the Würzburg draft, but has been substantially expanded — Perrone Compagni notes many additions. The scale of interpolation suggests Agrippa rethought and broadened the original argument considerably; the 1533 text is in essence a new development of the earlier material rather than a simple revision.
The extent of revision in this chapter illustrates the dynamic character of Agrippa's rewriting process. Rather than simply updating facts, he appears to have substantially reconfigured the argument. Comparison with the partial edition A — which represents an intermediate stage — may reveal whether the additions were introduced gradually or in a single later revision.
Scholarly Perspectives
The soul and prophecy chapters describe the conditions under which the human soul can transcend ordinary cognition and receive divine knowledge directly. Lehrich (2003) reads this cluster as the culmination of the ascending programme: the magician who has mastered natural and celestial correspondences can now, through ecstasy and prophetic states, achieve direct encounter with the divine intelligences. Newman (1993) connects Agrippa's treatment of ecstatic states to his Hermetic and Neoplatonic anthropology, in which the soul's highest faculty is capable of direct union with God.